Would you slow down the world if you could?

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All through my life I have found the speed of the world too fast for me. I was always being chivvied to go faster, get ready quicker, do my work more quickly... my reports were full of ‘Oakling’s work is of a high standard, but she needs to work more quickly to keep up...’ in group situations I can’t keep up with what people are saying and struggle to make my points when I’m only ready to speak them after the topic has moved on. I just wish everything would slow right down. I can’t process my sensory experience, my emotional experience and my cognitive experience at the speed others seem to and I believe this is what contributes most significantly to my high levels of anxiety. There’s just too much too fast. How about you?

Not really.

But I'm more than certain that I do want to be faster for the world, than make the world slower for me.

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I sometimes wonder where we are headed with the speed of life these days.

Some of us do get left behind.

There are many aspects of the world we live in that I wish would slow down and technology is one of them - too many people are being pushed out of work because of automated solutions can do the job quicker or are stronger.

I do not want the world of research and medicine to slow down. Some cures cannot come quick enough for me.

It would be reassuring to see more people caring about the amount of waste we produce especially plastic. I see this as a result of a rushed world. Convenience too.

I would slow down culture.

There would be no plastic bottles, ballpoint pens, Keurig coffeemakers.

No 65-mph speed limits, no bicycles confined to bike lanes, no turbochargers on sedans.

I'd get rid of vinyl siding and prefab everything, slow down the production of electronic devices, get rid of AirPods (read Fahrenheit 451 and tell me what you think about the Seashell) and rap music listening would require a license.

Music would be uplifting (which is why rap would stay and country would cease in favor of bluegrass.)

People would take the train instead of flying. We'd wake up in the morning and go to bed when it was dark. Food would be unapologetically agricultural. A piece of cheese would be that--cheese--rather than something mauled into a prefabricated form. Bread would be in loaves and you would slice it yourself.

SINCE IT WOULD BE WEIRD To do this to the whole world, I am doing it in my own life and that is why a lot of people think I'm in a living-history group.

I definitely. People in the world, events move too fast for me to take them in. I've always been a turtle compared to other people and this bothers fast-paced people. On the flip side, I get stressed and overwhelmed by people who do things quicker.

My brain processing things a little slower than average is partially what puts me at a disadvantage to others. Don't get me wrong, there are other attributes and factors, but that is a big contributor.



This clip sums it up, and Kongwe the tortoise is me, and Fuli is the rest of the world. xD

I would. I just don't have enough time to think in all kinds of situations to act or respond in a satisfactory way. I think for example social interaction would be a lot more fun for me if I would have just a little more time to think of the kind of response that would be most beneficial to the conversation.

No, I don't have a problem with being different, in a bit of a dream.

I would. I need more time to think. My brain has always taken longer than most people to process things and now 3 year olds are more technically competent than I am. I was amused to see a 2 yr old get frustated because she couldn't turn the page of a book by swiping it like an ipad.

Definitely.

I am happiest when on a wilderness canoe trip. No electronics. No conveniences as one would have in a home. Get up when I want, when the sun comes up and go to bed when the sun goes down. When I am by myself, I don't even have a fire. I can go as slowly as I want and there is no one badgering me to get things done.

If I live long enough, I want to be retired and live a much slower life.

Thanks for all the replies, it is interesting to read everyone’s experiences.

After a Nov/Dec when I was trying far too hard to keep up and then ended up ill for the last three weeks, I’ve decided I have to take this more seriously and stop trying to keep up. My own pace will have to do, and I’ll just have to find a way to fit that into the world I suppose.

Yes, I'd slow down the world, or find some safe way to speed me up to the world's speed. People on the spectrum have neurological problems that often include a time issue. Those of us with this problem move both mentally and physically at a slower speed than the norms do. I am always behind the rest of the world, and am never able to keep up. This has caused tons of problems throughout my life. Fortunately, I'm old enough now, so that people don't expect me to be as fast as I was supposed to be, but wasn't when I was younger. I also have health issues now that keep me from being fast even if I was inclined to try to keep up. Even so, I still get grief over not being fast enough to suit the people around me.

I've always had problems playing board games with others, as I can't analyze what moves to make as quickly as the other players. When I was young my relatives would start playing around me, leading to melt downs, as I thought they were cheating, when they were just trying to play the game at what was a normal speed for them. I finally stopped playing games with other people, as it wasn't worth the emotional upsets it caused me.

I truly can't understand how norms can get so much done in every day. Fortunately, I've lived alone now for some years, so I don't have to deal with norms as much as I had to when I was younger.

One day, a woman called her elderly husband on his cell phone even though he was driving, because the TV news said that there was a driver going the wrong way on the freeway, and she wanted to warn him. "I can't talk now" he shouted back "It's not just one car, it's hundreds of them!"

Rather than slow the whole world down, I would speed one person up. I tend to work slowly, but I can also mechanize my chores, and speed up more than John Henry. To work quickly, I have to be interested enough to be thinking of the next step, instead of philosophy.