Not So Fast
This past weekend's edition of The Wall Street Journal (Aug 22-23, 2009) included an essay by John Freeman, editor of GRANTA magazine, adapted from his soon-to-be-published book 'The Tyranny of E-Mail.'
Mr. Freeman's essay is a manifesto for slow communication.
Actually, it isn't really, simply, a manifesto for slow communication. It is a manifesto for appropriate communication.
There's a very funny scene in the movie 'Joe Versus The Volcano' in which Dan Hedaya's office manager character, on a seemingly never-ending telephone conversation, repeats, over and over and over, 'I know he can get the job, but can he do the job?'
Monkey: What the heck are you talking about now? Joe Versus the Volcano?
DAH: Tom Hanks movie. By John Patrick Shanley. I love John Patrick Shanley.
Monkey: Who?
DAH: The guy who wrote Moonstruck. I love that movie.
Monkey: Right, OK. But what does that have to do with e-mail and 'Not So Fast'?
DAH: I know I can do it fast, but should I do it fast?
Monkey: Now there, again, I still don't get it.
DAH: Just because we are able to communicate more quickly, that doesn't mean that quick communication is the best way to share information.
Monkey: Now we're getting somewhere!
DAH: Being able to do something, and doing something WELL, are not the same thing.
Monkey: I've got it! I've got it! Hurry up!
DAH: Not so fast.
Monkey: You think you're so damn funny.
DAH: Most of the time, I am.
Monkey: I feel like I'm just the straight man in this partnership.
DAH: Duh.
Here's what Mr. Freeman writes, in a nutshell:
1. Speed matters. The speed at which we do something - anything - changes our experience of it.
2. The Physical World matters. We may rely heavily on the Internet, but we cannot touch it, taste it, or experience the (togetherness of) face-to-face interaction.
3. Context matters. We need context in order to live, and if the environment of electronic communication has stopped providing it, we shouldn't search online for a solution, but turn back to the real world.
Over the past few generations we have increasingly associated progress with speed, to the extent that we often consider them as one and the same. They are not. Speed is an attribute or an ability, while progress is a value, maybe a virtue.
Think before you hurry. Just because you're going fast doesn't mean you're going good.
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