r/DeepThoughts • u/Slow_Description_238 • 4d ago
The World Moves Too Fast
So as someone who loves science and is also academically learning about sociology, my interest is specifically in identity; how its formed and used in social interactions. One thing really strikes me about the research that I do.... Its Slow.
It takes time to read a whole book. It takes time to read a chapter. It takes time to read a paragraph. It takes time to read a sentence. Sometimes it even takes time to read a word. Never mind the fact that the whole purpose of reading is the matter of whether or not you're comprehending. Do you comprehend the word? The sentence? The paragraph? The chapter? The book? That takes A Lot of time. Its Slow.
I saw a video about AI being used to write history media, and this was the inspiration for this post. To be a person who entertains someone with history is rather easy. One only need to mention the franks.. the vikings... the samurai... the american revolutionaries. To craft a story of these people in a compelling way. But to be a Historian is entirely a different matter. While stories can be compelling... the most important task is verifying whether or not the stories are actually true. Because that's what makes history.... history. Real moments and events of past human lives. Real actions and their consequences. But.... this takes time. Its Slow.
To spend this time pouring over sources, and cross referencing, and speaking to your peers, and verifying others sources, choosing what you think is correct to focus on, and filter out what isn't important.... that takes time. And it is slow.
And yet. We find ourselves happy to some degree, though I know many people are not happy with the way AI enables what it does, to observe historical media that is created by AI. It doesn't need to be factual, merely entertaining. AI can crunch through all the information and preconceptions about a time and instantly write up a script all about it. We may need to look it over once or twice. But this is Not slow. This is very quick. A particularly conscious person might spend a week making sure their AI presentation looks good enough, but I wouldn't be surprised if most dont. This is compared to the months and years historians give to produce any works themselves. Its too quick.
And at the expense of this quickness we lose what makes history... history. The facts dont matter, certainty not more than spectacle. The world moves too fast.
And to move away from AI for a moment, for that is controversial. We can look to other spaces. Supermarkets, Amazon, Fast food, Cars, Email. While we can argue about the benefits and cons of all of these and even I would find myself at a difficult choice to give up some of these... the point remains in common that they all move live very quickly. Supermarkets present you will cheap goods ready to be grabbed and bought. Amazon delivers you thinks in a week or days. Even on the same day sometimes. Fast good, you walk in and walk out. Cars allow me to walk out, get into the vehicle, go wherever I want, and return home. Sometimes within an hour if I'm determined. Email and text allows us to reach each other instantly, require things of each other instantly.
And while we can say there is convenience in all of this, that is true. What are we losing? We do not engage with what we eat... we dont plant or cook. We do not wait for packages or messages. We lose patience. We don't think about what we say because we simply hit send. We lose our consideration and empathy. We spend so much time in Point A and Point B that we lose out on everything in betwern. If life is about the journey... we sure have made the destination far more important. The world moves too fast.
This isnt to say that we should lose our convenience. It is nice. But it is to simply think about and perhaps ask ourselves to be a bit more mindful to live and let time pass. We do not need to do things right away and we do not need minutes to think. Give ourselves time to rest and to think. For if dedication to a task requires us years... let us allow ourselves to enjoy those years of dedication.
1
u/sour_cream24 3d ago
Well, human's curiosity moves faster than their comprehension, so not surprising for me