There’s a feeling; more than a thought, more than a trend, that time is speeding up. Not in the cosmic sense, not in the way a physicist might measure, but in the way we live. Everything is faster: how we consume, create, connect, and even think. The question is, did we design it this way, or did we simply stumble into it, like unwitting characters in an elaborate prank orchestrated by the universe itself?

In the world of pataphysics, the science of imaginary solutions, we might consider that our entire fixation on acceleration is less a matter of logic and more a cosmic joke, a self-imposed absurdity where we sprint endlessly toward some undefined finish line, only to find the race has no end. Perhaps we didn’t plan for this. Perhaps we are part of an elaborate equation where the variables technology, attention, time-fold into themselves, creating a feedback loop where desire is never quite satisfied, only momentarily subdued.

The System and The Hunger

Instant gratification isn’t new. The moment we figured out how to automate, to optimize, to compress time, we did. Drive-thrus made food faster, email made communication instant, and now, algorithms predict our desires before we even articulate them. Every tap, swipe, and notification feeds into a loop of immediate response. We expect it. We demand it. But are we the designers, or just subjects in some metaphysical experiment where the parameters keep shifting just out of reach?

It’s easy to say this was all by design. That tech giants and capitalistic mechanisms created a system where patience is a liability and attention spans are currency. But what if this system is not a machine, but a living entity? What if we are not its architects, but its fuel?

A Perfect Storm of Evolution and Paradox

Human nature is wired for immediate rewards. Our ancestors didn’t store dopamine for later; they took what they could in the moment food, shelter, safety. The digital world didn’t invent this impulse; it supercharged it. But in doing so, it has created a paradox: the more we consume, the hungrier we become.

This is where pataphysics sneaks in through the back door. What if acceleration isn’t just a human impulse but a universal one? A glitch in the grand system of existence? Maybe time itself is conspiring against us, bending its own rules just to see how fast we can run before we notice we are moving in circles.

Where Do We Go From Here?

The question isn’t whether we can slow down, it’s whether we even want to. We chase faster technology, instant access, real-time everything, but to what end? Is there a way to design systems that balance speed with depth, efficiency with meaning? Or are we just playing along in some cosmic joke, the punchline of which we haven’t yet figured out?

Maybe the real revolution isn’t about speed at all. Maybe it’s about stepping outside of the race, looking at the absurdity of it all, and laughing. Not because there’s nothing we can do, but because acknowledging the paradox is the first step in reclaiming control. Maybe pataphysics has had the answer all along: the only way to win the game is to stop believing in its rules.