Accidental time machines - The pace of consumption vs the pace of creation.

We've all done it; just a quick scroll, just 5 more minutes, one more image, post, video... and hours pass in that swipe, that tap, that "single" piece of content. Yes these glass boxes are time machines, but they do not take us from one time to another, they merely take the time in between.

This ever growing feed of information and stimulation, from the invention of endless scrolling to the now hyper manufactured algorithms, has preyed upon our instincts and left us permanently short on time despite all their efficiencies, as any gap they create in your schedule they seek to fill so as to retain your attention.

In doing so they, we, have fostered a pace of consumption which leaves little room for acts of creation pursued over years, months, or even weeks, they are all too slow a pace for the demands of "feeding time" upon the timeline.

And i know the responses some will bring here, that its just "part of the game" that we have to "adapt" to this. But quite frankly that is ridiculous. Why should we strip ourselves down to content, constantly filming, recording, watching and aping trends to catch a wave on an algorithm solely designed to enrich 10 blokes in a boardroom. Why on earth would you surrender autonomy, innovation, exploration and the beautiful lessons of failing, all for anothers profit you will never see a piece of.

Why should we adapt to a worse version of life.

It took Michelangelo 3 years to sculpt David, I doubt there are many of us here who feel like they can devote 3 years to a single work of art, and if we did, the algorithms wouldn't care unless we filmed every step of the way in the de jour style of the minute.

By continually accepting and feeding in to this relentless pace of consumption and creation we are inevitably leaving less time for the act of creation. In doing so we are continually hampering the quality of those creations.

"We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want."