For this post, I wanted to explain the inspiration from two sources that drove my last image. The first I have referenced before, The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli, and the second is the Netflix documentary film Take Your Pills.
The film explores the increased need and distribution of Adderall and other prescription drugs that were developed to treat people with ADHD. While treatment is the primary use, its over prescription has led to wide use of the drug for other purposes. Legal controversy over athletes using this drug, as well as a more hidden controversy between employees and students, have led to many ethical discussions of its use. Furthermore, while there are people who truly need the drug, the quickly decreasing attention span of the common public has greatly blurred the lines between when someone needs treatment or not.
What I wanted to look at from this documentary was the fact that so many employees and students are finding illegal means of getting this drug because they feel like they have to in order to keep up with modern work demands. Today, you are expected to have so much work, and complete it, even if that means staying up all night, or never getting more than four hours of sleep. And while losing all this sleep, you are still expected to function, work and think at a highly advanced and productive level. The fact that people feel that they cannot even complete their workload without Adderall goes to show just how demanding and unhealthy society has become.
When I was reading The Order of Time, I noticed a connection to this point. For most of human history, time was not measured so precisely. There were no clocks counting down the seconds, or even the minutes. The daylight was simply split, and the system was significantly less rigid. With the development of a more rigid time structure, where we must plan everything down to the last minute, if not the last second, it has created a society obsessed with controlling time by using it as efficiently as possible. Most people work on a strict schedule every single day. Personally, I start planning my weekend more than a week in advance, and every single interaction is accounted for and noted in my calendar. By Friday, if anyone wants to plan with me, the only window they have may be a few house the next weekend. It is this obsessive planning and need to control time, based off of our perception of time and how we measure it, that has led to this insanely paced, and, often, insanely stressful society.
The irony of everything is that it is greatly a result of the fact that with our new technology in communication, in transportation, we have saved so much time for ourselves. And yet, our lives have become more fast paced than ever. It almost seems a paradox that as we create more time, we seem to lose time.
And, as is (hopefully) clear, this is the idea that drove my last image. The face and identity of the person has been replaced with a clock that is constantly being tugged on, while even her body is bound by this same rope. Her shirt and skin are worn away till you can even see the most basic of her foundation (her skeleton).
The film explores the increased need and distribution of Adderall and other prescription drugs that were developed to treat people with ADHD. While treatment is the primary use, its over prescription has led to wide use of the drug for other purposes. Legal controversy over athletes using this drug, as well as a more hidden controversy between employees and students, have led to many ethical discussions of its use. Furthermore, while there are people who truly need the drug, the quickly decreasing attention span of the common public has greatly blurred the lines between when someone needs treatment or not.
What I wanted to look at from this documentary was the fact that so many employees and students are finding illegal means of getting this drug because they feel like they have to in order to keep up with modern work demands. Today, you are expected to have so much work, and complete it, even if that means staying up all night, or never getting more than four hours of sleep. And while losing all this sleep, you are still expected to function, work and think at a highly advanced and productive level. The fact that people feel that they cannot even complete their workload without Adderall goes to show just how demanding and unhealthy society has become.
When I was reading The Order of Time, I noticed a connection to this point. For most of human history, time was not measured so precisely. There were no clocks counting down the seconds, or even the minutes. The daylight was simply split, and the system was significantly less rigid. With the development of a more rigid time structure, where we must plan everything down to the last minute, if not the last second, it has created a society obsessed with controlling time by using it as efficiently as possible. Most people work on a strict schedule every single day. Personally, I start planning my weekend more than a week in advance, and every single interaction is accounted for and noted in my calendar. By Friday, if anyone wants to plan with me, the only window they have may be a few house the next weekend. It is this obsessive planning and need to control time, based off of our perception of time and how we measure it, that has led to this insanely paced, and, often, insanely stressful society.
The irony of everything is that it is greatly a result of the fact that with our new technology in communication, in transportation, we have saved so much time for ourselves. And yet, our lives have become more fast paced than ever. It almost seems a paradox that as we create more time, we seem to lose time.
And, as is (hopefully) clear, this is the idea that drove my last image. The face and identity of the person has been replaced with a clock that is constantly being tugged on, while even her body is bound by this same rope. Her shirt and skin are worn away till you can even see the most basic of her foundation (her skeleton).
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