Acceleration persists out of fear of falling, not by choice
Evidence
The voiceless man who walks keeps on carting his black sand from a distant volcano known only to himself, to the beaches he pretends to share with us. How can he run faster when he is growing so desperately thin? One of us whispers: “He goes faster and faster because if he stops, if he slows down-he will faIl.” … We are not going any faster, we are aIl hurtling onwardfor fear of falIing. — Édouard Glissant, Poetics of Relation, 653
Categorization
- XREF: The paradox of collective movement driven not by volition but by fear of stopping resonates with the reader’s question of whether ironic/strategic identity can be sustained collectively — a collective that moves only to avoid collapse. — connects to: Acceleration reaches a point where it abandons autonomy and produces rigidified time despite dynamization — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 121; Apparent slowdowns are not counterforces but products of acceleration itself — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 294; Apparent deceleration is often itself a strategy of acceleration — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 280 (+1 more)
- FICTION: The image of the voiceless man carrying black sand who cannot slow lest he falls is a melancholy figure usable in a story.
Broader Connections
- Apparent slowdowns are not counterforces but products of acceleration itself
#expands(0.85) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 294 - Acceleration generates slowdowns and stoppages as its own side effects
#expands(0.82) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 276 - Apparent deceleration is often itself a strategy of acceleration
#expands(0.80) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 280 - Acceleration reaches a point where it abandons autonomy and produces rigidified time despite dynamization
#expands(0.78) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 121