Speed Limits: Where Time Went and Why We Have So Little Left

Mark C. Taylor

Published by Yale University Press 2014

Speed Limits

Where Time Went and Why We Have So Little Left

Mark C. Taylor

https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300210187

Overview
Contents

About this book

A leading thinker asks why “faster” is synonymous with “better” in our hurried world and suggests how to take control of our runaway lives

We live in an ever-accelerating world: faster computers, markets, food, fashion, product cycles, minds, bodies, kids, lives. When did everything start moving so fast? Why does speed seem so inevitable? Is faster always better?

Drawing together developments in religion, philosophy, art, technology, fashion, and finance, Mark C. Taylor presents an original and rich account of a great paradox of our times: how the very forces and technologies that were supposed to free us by saving time and labor now trap us in a race we can never win. The faster we go, the less time we have, and the more we try to catch up, the farther behind we fall. Connecting our speed-obsession with today’s global capitalism, he composes a grand narrative showing how commitments to economic growth and extreme competition, combined with accelerating technological innovation, have brought us close to disaster. Psychologically, environmentally, economically, and culturally, speed is taking a profound toll on our lives.

By showing how the phenomenon of speed has emerged, Taylor offers us a chance to see our pace of life as the product of specific ideas, practices, and policies. It’s not inevitable or irreversible. He courageously and movingly invites us to imagine how we might patiently work towards a more deliberative life and sustainable world.

Author / Editor information

Mark C. Taylor is professor and chair, Department of Religion, Columbia University. He lives in Williamstown, MA and New York, NY.

Reviews

“Taylor's observant thought process inspires and promotes the kind of dramatic cultural change necessary to unplug and reflect.”—Kirkus Reviews

;

“A major scholar’s culminating and engaging vision of

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction: Speed Traps Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Addiction to Speed Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	4
2. Invisible Hands Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	37
3. Time Counts Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	58
4. Windows Shopping Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	87
5. Net Working Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	116
6. Inefficient Market Hypothesis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143
7. Dividing by Connecting Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
8. Extreme Finance Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	219
9. Reprogramming Life— Deprogramming Minds Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	266
10. Meltdowns Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	300
Appendix:Final Exams, Spring 1922 Arendtsville High School Arendtsville, Pennsylvania Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	351
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	359
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	379

Language: English
Publisher: Yale University Press
Pages
- Main content: 408

eBook

Published: October 28, 2014
ISBN: 9780300210187