Social change below the multigenerational threshold is perceived as societal acceleration
Evidence
When structurally relevant social change generally requires more than the length of the three to four generations that coexist at any given time, there is little perception of a change of society as such. Beneath this multigenerational threshold, however, a sense that society itself is undergoing changes within the living memory of coexisting generations becomes endemic. The approach toward a generational pace of change is experienced as an acceleration of society with an accompanying shrinkage of the amount of time during which expectations formed on the basis of past experience are reliable guides for action (a phenomenon Rosa calls, following Hermann Lübbe, “the contraction of the present”). — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 32
Categorization
- DEFINE: Introduces ‘contraction of the present,’ an acceleration-theory core concept worth retaining.
- XREF: connects to: Epidemics of speed-induced sickness mark phases of societal acceleration — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 177; Social acceleration concerns frequency of change, not speed over distance — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 226; Social acceleration first enabled then collapsed modernity’s promise of autonomy — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 23 (+5 more)
Broader Connections
- Generational effects alter society even when individuals stay the same
#corroborates(0.80) — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 858 - Social acceleration first enabled then collapsed modernity’s promise of autonomy
#expands(0.75) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 23 - Social acceleration is the irreducible master principle of modernization
#corroborates(0.74) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 762 - Social acceleration concerns frequency of change, not speed over distance
#qualifies(0.72) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 226 - A theory of social acceleration must unify heterogeneous phenomena across unrelated social domains
#expands(0.72) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 225 - Rapid social change deflates age as a prestige cue for knowledge and wisdom.
#exemplifies(0.70) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 444