One thing I’ve learned in my travels is that most cultures of the world consider the pace of life in America with bewilderment. I’ve heard things such as “Are you happy working such long hours; do you ever see your family; can’t you ever relax; why are you driving yourself so hard; can’t you ever just kick back, hang out, and relax?”
In our culture we are high pressured to fix things, create things, sell things, make money, and achieve the next level. Happiness must just be around the corner if I only push just a little harder. We don’t seem to realize that we often lack balance, neglect relationships, and foment conflict.
In medicine, we have the same tendencies – often with a paradoxically negative results especially in geriatrics. The geriatrician will often listen carefully to your story, try to minimize your meds, avoid over-testing, and help to achieve whatever goals you value. This is now called “slow medicine.”
And there are other reasons, even in academia, to try to slow things down. Barbara Seeber, an English Professor has published a book The Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy (2016). She posits that “the academy has moved to the fast lane. Corporatisation has sped up the clock, compromising teaching, scholarship and collegiality. The ‘slow movement’ – originating in slow food – challenges the frantic pace and homogenisation of contemporary culture. We believe that adopting the principles of slow into the professional practice of academia is an effective way to alleviate time poverty, preserve humanistic education, and resist the destructive effects of the corporate university.”
As great golfer/philosopher Ben Hogan said, “As you walk down the fairway of life you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round.