10 11 12 24 1 9 2 8 3 7 CONTENTS 4 SLAVES TO THE 6 5 machinE ? ay nd Mo 15 18 Digital technology is constantly evolving, enabling us to complete tasks ever faster and more efficiently. So why, asks Judy Wajcman, M day do we still feel as if we’re pressed for on time? 15 10 O 11 12 1 2 3 10 n Tuesday 30 June 2015, at a 4 moment 9 before 5 8pm Eastern 8 7 Time, the entire 6 planet got a bonus “leap” second. Leap seconds are a way of taking account of the fact that the earth’s rotation is gradually slowing down. Our atomic clocks make this adjustment, as they are now better at keeping time than the earth is. The leap second is our periodic reminder that time as we know it is but a construct. Yet everywhere we hear that the pace of life is speeding up, that the rate of technological innovation is accelerating – and that these two things are causally linked. From high-speed trading to speed dating, the world seems to be spinning ever faster. Being busy has become a lifestyle, something else that needs to be fitted into our lives. So time is at a premium. If we believe the cyber-gurus of Silicon Valley, this speed will make our lives better by making us more efficient, allowing us to do many more things, faster and simultaneously. Digital devices are sold as time-saving tools that promote an exciting action-packed lifestyle; every new gadget is said to revolutionise the relationship between people and technology. Marketed 11 12 93 1 9 2 8 3 for a busy life on the 7 move, 4 they will help 6 5 us make the most of time. But if modern machines are supposed to free up time, why do so many of us feel rushed and harried? Instead of the post-industrial leisure society technological advances were supposed to deliver, we seem instead to be time-pressured, running ever faster to stay still. It’s as if digital technology is pushing us into the fast lane, that we have become hostages to the machine. This is the paradox of time in our digital age. Is the pace of life really faster and, if so, what role does technology really play? Why do we vacillate between regarding digital devices as the cause of time pressure and turning to them as the solution? One of the many ironies of our networked age is that it intensifies our nostalgia for a slower, pristine past. Hardly a month goes by without a new book bemoaning our current state of busyness and distraction, blaming the hyper-connectivity of digital devices and advising on how to deal with digital addiction. Digital Detox vacations are on the rise, offering the chance to disconnect from technology and “reconnect with yourself”. But, of course, it’s not just a matter of unplugging your devices. It is certainly true that people feel rushed and pressed for time, with numerous surveys indicating a widespread perception of everyday life as harried, and a sense that leisure time is scarcer and more hectic. Time- use studies, however, where people keep detailed diaries about what they actually do, show that, overall, the amount of leisure time we have has in fact not declined over the last 50 years. If we look at “quality time” with children, again, all the statistics tell us that the amount of time both mothers and fathers are spending with their children has actually been increasing, not decreasing. Furthermore, this increase is in active childcare, such as talking and playing, suggesting that parenting is becoming more intensive. This gap between objective time and how we subjectively experience it points to the importance of the quality or character of time, and not simply the amount of time we have. And this is where technology comes in. I have been researching technological change for 30 years, and one thing I “TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS HAVE ALWAYS RESHAPED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPACE AND TIME; THINK FOR A MOMENT OF THE IMPACT OF THE CLOCK, THE TELEGRAPH AND THE RAILWAYS” 21 I LSE Connect I Winter 2015 I