Recurring time-pressure complaints indicate constant acceleration, not a high absolute pace
Evidence
Since the heightening of the pace of life should be understood as a result of the scarcity of time resources, which means that the increase of the quantity of actions exceeds the technical enhancement of the speed of performance (cf. figure 2.5), subjectively it is expressed in the growing sense that one lacks time or is pressed for time and in a stressful compulsion to accelerate as well as in anxiety about “not keeping up.” … Yet the fact that this experience of time has accompanied modern society in continually repeated waves since at least the eighteenth century does not prove that the pace of life in modernity has always been high, but rather strongly indicates that it constantly accelerates: it is a result of ever more scarce time resources. Strictly speaking, it says nothing at all about the “absolute” tempo of life. — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 266
Categorization
- DEFINE: Clarifies the distinguishing criterion: scarcity of time (quantity of actions outrunning speed gains), which frames later analysis of the pace-of-life experience.
- QUESTION: Worth chasing: what evidence would distinguish constant acceleration from a merely high static pace of life? Rosa says the historical waves settle it, but the measurable ‘absolute’ tempo claim seems hard to test.
- XREF: connects to: The stretched or simultaneous present is an effect of acceleration, not its successor — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 124; Total daily travel time stays constant regardless of transport speed — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 241; Perceived stress tracks the rate of acceleration, not absolute pace of life. — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 378 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Perceived stress tracks the rate of acceleration, not absolute pace of life.
#corroborates(0.95) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 378 - Apparent slowdowns are not counterforces but products of acceleration itself
#expands(0.80) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 294