Much like many people living in North America, I have a complex relationship with speed. On the one hand, I profit enormously from the extraordinary benefits that speed provides in the form of fast transit systems and high-speed Internet connections; yet, on the other hand, I am frequently at odds with what appears to be […]
Some things cannot, should not, be sped up. Read More »
There was a time, so my grandparents told me, when humans strolled—not sprinted—through their days, occasionally stopping to sniff flowers or make eye contact. But now, we measure life in calendar blocks and caffeinated checklists, outsourcing everything from dog walks to dinner just to gain 17 more seconds of “productivity.” We don’t just walk down
25 Signs You May Be Living A Fast Life Read More »
In his epic first TEDx talk back in 2011, Jon Jandai—farmer, earthen builder, seed saver, teacher, philosopher, and gentle rebel—stands on stage and announces, with all the calm of a man who’s figured a few things out, that Life is easy. Then, with a knowing smile, he asks the rest of us: So why do we make it
Why Do We Follow The Fast Fashion Monster? Read More »
Way back in 1995, during my harebrained days, I — along with a motley crew of naive backpackers — clambered onto the top of a rickety old bus rattling its way out of Kathmandu, bound for Besisahar, where we would begin hiking the Annapurna Circuit. A quick Google search will tell you everything you need
When Slow Travel Wasn’t a Thing, It Was a Thing Read More »
Recently, I read that our love of speed taps into something deep within our psychological nature—that when humans first encountered rapid movement in the mid-1800s, they took to it like ducks to water. We, at The Slow Human, see things differently. Still, this apparently ingrained desire for acceleration—and the accompanying feelings of exhilaration and freedom—was
Keep to the maximum speed, idiot. Read More »
The current government in Quebec may owe its mandate to a “gaffe” made by outgoing premier Philippe Couillard in 2018. The then liberal leader famously said that it was possible for a family of four in Quebec to live on $75 a week for groceries. In doing so, he briefly became the poster boy for
The Turtle in the Kitchen Read More »
In the winter of 1967, Donald Campbell, a British world land and water speed record breaker, attempted to regain his water speed record in the tranquil setting of Coniston Water in England’s Lake District. Having already rocketed to a spectacular speed of over 310 mph (500 km/h), Campbell decided to make an even faster second run immediately.
Is the cult of speed killing us slowly? Read More »
When ninetieth century British statesman Robert Lowe declared rather conceitedly “if it’s not cheap it shall be efficient; if it is not efficient it shall be cheap,” he was capturing the essence of the Revised Code, a scheme warmly introduced into British education in the mid-nineteenth century. To say that the Revised Code was all
Education: If we have to do it, keep it bloody cheap and efficient as possible, I say! Read More »
Have you ever wondered how in virtually every sphere of life in the modern age, from transportation to food production and from medicine to farming, slow persists alongside fast? Yet, when fast and slow time meet, fast time wins. For much of modern society, particularly from the mid-20th century onwards, speed and efficiency triumph over
Guilty as charged! Fast technology is to blame for our unquenchable immediacy Read More »
William Blake retired at times to mental institutions to paint his lovely portraits. This was back at the start of the Industrial Revolution and Blake was having none of it. He was known for taking too long and going too slowly at his main job, being an engraver. At around the same time, on the
Blake’s Pearl of Wisdom Read More »
