Slow down!

BOOK NOTES by Joan Ruddiman

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   What does an author who wrote a book titled "Chaos" do for an encore? James Gleick, obviously immersed in our compulsive multitasking society, follows with "Faster: The Acceleration of Just about Everything."
   Consider the moments of impatience we all share, like waiting for the microwave to heat the left-overs, sighing over the minutes wasted while waiting for the copy machine to run 50 copies of a double-sided, four-page document collated AND stapled, or, worst of all, having to wait for the jeans to be finished in the dryer. THAT takes forever!
   Ah, how we all recognize ourselves going through our foolish fast paces. Gleick’s thesis is that we are in the age of acceleration. The more we add time- saving devices to our lives — like automatic dryers, micowaves and sophisticated copy machines — the more rushed we feel. "Faster" is witty to be sure (look at the chapter on sex and paperwork), but also wise in the analytical reporting of this frazzled state we are in.
   Gleick begins with deconstructing Type A behavior. Cardiologists Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman coined this term in the late 1950s to describe men who are prone to heart attacks. Gleick reviews the research, which was more than a bit faulty, including the disregard that the 80 white male executives of the study drank, smoked and weighed more than the average. Decades later, medical science has limited evidence that Type A personalities are more prone to heart attack. However, the concept of the Type A is firmly entrenched in social science.
   We know them (us!) when we see them — those people who walk fast, finish sentences for you, feel guilty about relaxing and always do two or more things at one time, like read and watch television, or shave and drive, or talk on the phone while doing all of the above and more.
   If use of the phone is an indicator of our accelerated society, we really are in deep. Cell phones have made us a society of multitaskers. No matter what the accident statistics of driving while using cell phones, we will drive and chat until Uncle Sam takes our cell phone away.
   In a chapter dedicated to this concept, Gleick explains that the term "multitasking" came from computer scientists in the 1960s who arranged for a single computer to serve multiple uses on a network. Now WE are the network as we serve multiple users by "e," phone and conversation as we eat (of course), and peruse reading materials. Most likely the radio is playing in the background, and perhaps a television as well. As he does throughout the book, Gleick contrasts what was with what is. "Now it is rare for a person to listen to the radio AND DO NOTHING ELSE," he emphasizes.
   Good grief! That would be a waste of time!
   Where Gleick takes an analytic stance, Sue Shellenbarger in her column on work and family for the Wall Street Journal looks at the practical side of the self-imposed life in the fast lane. She shares real life adventures and lessons learned from her readers, many of whom are reformed multitaskers. One woman put away her cell phone in airports after seeing a male version of herself barrel over a little old lady. Another mom regrets taking the magazine to the park with her child. The woman writes, "Now that she is 15, I recall nothing of what I read, and, sadly, have no images of her on the swings."
   The next evolution in our time management skills may be to understand the concept of full immersion — doing one thing at a time with full attention and full enjoyment of the task. Children model this for us. Though their attention spans are short, they tend to play in one mode intensely before they move to a new attraction.
   Our animals can also teach us a few new tricks. There are interesting studies that show how having pets can reduce stress-related strokes and heart attacks. On the flip side are the studies that say dogs need 15 minutes of attention a day. Truth be told, dogs most likely realize that those few quiet moments when nothing else is happening except loving them is more important for our health than it is for their gratification.
   Maybe we need to approach this new year in a young century not faster, but fuller — with an attitude of appreciation for the moment we are in.
Joan Ruddiman is a teacher and friend of the Allentown Public Library.