The Cycles of Modern Life: Urgency, Control, and the Illusion of Comfort

Is the accelerated pace of modern life the work of our old friend (and nemesis) the neocortex? Is it just another unintended consequence? Do our minds override messages from the rest of the organism—stress, anxiety, uncertainty, ulcers, and heart attacks—so that we can whiz along with the world, hustling from meeting to meeting, checking our emails... See more

With artificial light, we believe we defeat the sleep-wake cycle; with climate control, the seasonal cycle; with refrigeration, the agricultural cycle; and with high-tech medicine, the rest-recovery cycle. Triumphal linearism has shaped the very style of Western and (especially) American civilization. Before, when cyclical time reigned, people valu... See more