Speed

I've been re-reading Vince Poscente's The Age of Speed: Learning to Thrive in a More-Faster-Now World (2007) while juggling my time between virtual worlds, real world land management in an agricultural area, and dealing with third world bureaucracy in Trinidad and Tobago. It is interesting to read the book in these contexts, to say the least.

Consider - a few days ago I pulled off from a light in a Mazda 2.5L Turbo diesel 4x4, and a newer Toyota HiLux 3L 4x4 Turbo diesel pulled away from me as if I were standing still. The truth is that on Trinidad roads, it doesn't really matter because traffic and potholes tend to balance everything - some people think it is smart to lower their cars, but they grind to a halt at the slightest bump in the road. There is a balance that is struck with vehicles, and I'm more fond of a durable vehicle in Trinidad than a fast vehicle. But here was another durable vehicle that was faster (and had more low end torque). This prompted an animated discussion with a friend last night about the price of such vehicles. When it is all said and done, while I am managing the land I may well get such a vehicle because I can use the low end torque in 4x4 Low for getting around off the agricultural paths (with the right tires, of course) - but the first seduction was not that.

The first seduction was speed.

I recalled returning from the United States to Trinidad and Tobago. When in the US it would take me less than 15 minutes to renew my driver's license, in Trinidad it takes about 2-4 hours. In the US, vehicle license registration takes about an hour on a good day. In Trinidad, it can take 2-4 hours, and depending on what time you start, you may have to continue the next day. Speed. And that differential in what I consider to be wasted time created stress - I see it all the time in people who return from the developed nations to the developing nations. It's sort of like the people with lowered cars coming to an almost complete stop to navigate potholes. In fact, it is exactly the same.

Speed. It's a funny thing. And I wonder if it reinforces brain drain. After living at a higher speed, slower speeds seem so much more intolerable. If developing nations could harness this stress of people returning from faster environments and use it positively, don't you think that they might get... faster...