Thinking Activity : Technoculture, Speed and Slow Movement

Hello Readers!

This is my academic blog on thinking Activity of Techno culture and Speed and Slow movement. This task given by Dr. Dilip Barad head of English department.

• Introduction 

Risk theory for cultural studies reveals the extent that society culture thrives on risk, providing information about risk potential, possible solutions and so on. Risk theory is reflects on the psychological impact of techno-culture where cultural response to new devices are based upon an awareness that they create new risk. Most systems social, political and technological are now self referential : they generate risks and provide solutions ; they talk only within the system and rarely to the outside.

• Main Theorist and Theory 

1. Ulrich Beck   :  The Risk Society 
2. Carl Honore  :  In Praise of slowness
3. Jean Baudrillard : Simulation and Simulacra 
4. Paul Virillio  :  Speed and politics. 

• Simulation and Simulacra 

Simulation and Simulacra is a 1981 philosophical treaties by Jean Baudrillard, in which the author seeks to examine the relationships between reality, symbols, and society, in particular the significations and symbolism of culture and media involved in constructing and understanding of shared existence.

Simulacra are copies that depict things that either had no original, or not longer have and original. Simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real - world process or systems over time.

The Slow Movement 

A movement that started out with food and ended Up touching Millions 

It all began when in 1986, Carlo Petrini founded Slow food to counter fast food and fast life. The idea quickly grew into an international movement,  reflecting an overwhelming desire for a cultural shift towards slowing down life's pace. This sparked off the beginning of a broader Slow Movement, which has now evolved into Slow Travel, Slow Cities,  Slow Companies, Slow parenting. 

Going slow is about doing everything slow it is simply a gentle reminder to all us that   :

1. We need to rushing through life so fast that we looses track of ourselves, our own values and what makes common sense. We need to reunite with inner voice that used to guide us - because without it was tend to make really shitty decisions both as individuals, parent, entrepreneurs and politicians. 

2.  We need to stop applying the same turbo - Speed to everything that we do.  Certain things are not cmeant to be rushed (such as a raising a child or cooking a nice meal)  so we need to back to doing things at the right speed and learn to slow down when life really matters. 

Carl Honore,  author of the international best -selling book,  "In Praise of Slowness"  that has been translated into over 30 languages, has recognized the importance of Slow brilliantly :

" Today we are addicted to speed, to cramming more and more into every minute. Every moment of the feels like a race against the clock,  a dash to a finish line that we never seem to reach.  This roadrunner culture is taking a  toll on everything from our health,  diet and work  to our communities, relationship and diet and work  to our communities,  relationships and the environment."

👉Paul Virillio  :  Speed and politics

Speed and Politics (first published in France in 1977) is the matrix of Virilio's entire work. Building on the works of Morand, Marinetti, and McLuhan, Virilio presents a vision more radically political than that of any of his French contemporaries: speed as the engine of destruction. Speed and Politics presents a topological account of the entire history of humanity, honing in on the technological advances made possible through the militarization of society. Paralleling Heidegger's account of technology, Virilio's vision sees speed—not class or wealth—as the primary force shaping civilization. In this "technical vitalism," multiple projectiles—inert fortresses and bunkers, the "metabolic bodies" of soldiers, transport vessels, and now information and computer technology—are launched in a permanent assault on the world and on human nature. Written at a lightning-fast pace, Virilio's landmark book is a split-second, overwhelming look at how humanity's motivity has shaped the way we function today, and what might come of it.

👉TED-Talk on 'In Praise of Slowness'

A world obsessed with speed, with doing everything faster, with cramming more and more into less and less time. Every moment of the day feels like a race against the clock. To borrow a phrase from Carrie Fisher, which is in his bio there; he'll just toss it out again -- "These days even instant gratification takes too long." (Laughter) And if you think about how we to try to make things better, what do we do? No, we speed them up, don't we? So we used to dial; now we speed dial. We used to read; now we speed read. We used to walk; now we speed walk. And of course, we used to date and now we speed date. And even things that are by their very nature slow -- we try and speed them up too. So he was in New York recently, and he walked past a gym that had an advertisement in the window for a new course, a new evening course. And it was for, you guessed it, speed yoga. So this -- the perfect solution for time-starved professionals who want to, you know, salute the sun, but only want to give over about 20 minutes to it. He mean, these are sort of the extreme examples, and they're amusing and good to laugh at. 

very serious point, and I think that in the headlong dash of daily life, we often lose sight of the damage that this roadrunner form of living does to us. We're so marinated in the culture of speed that we almost fail to notice the toll it takes on every aspect of our lives -- on our health, our diet, our work, our relationships, the environment and our community. And sometimes it takes a wake-up call, doesn't it, to alert us to the fact that we're hurrying through our lives, instead of actually living them; that we're living the fast life, instead of the good life. And I think for many people, that wake-up call takes the form of an illness. You know, a burnout, or eventually the body says, "I can't take it anymore," and throws in the towel. Or maybe a relationship goes up in smoke because we haven't had the time, or the patience, or the tranquility, to be with the other person, to listen to them. 

Citation :

“Slow Movement (Culture).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Feb. 2020, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_movement_(culture).

Thank you....