Pace Yourself: The Pace of Time around the Globe
"Anthropologists list the toughest things to cope with in a foreign land. Second only to language is the way we deal with time"
Lienhard
Think carefully for a moment about the place where you live and your everyday life: your country, your culture, your town or city, your daily habits and customs? What is the pace of life in the society that you live in? Is it rushed and fast paced most of the time, or slow and tranquil? Maybe the pace of your society is a mixture of both, or it shifts between the two extremes. All around the world, people are living their daily lives at a different pace. Of course, the pace of life is relative. Most countries, cultures, or societies, can be associated with a pace that can be described as either comparatively fast, or comparatively slow.
There have been a great number of studies done about that aspect of time and life called pace. Researchers have traveled around the globe collecting data and collaborating with colleagues to give them some idea of what the pace of time is like in various countries and cultures. A common denominator in many of these studies concerns walking pace—testing how fast people walk in the cities and towns of various countries. Do you feel that you take your time when you walk, or are you more often rushing to get somewhere? Other common data collection methods include checking the accuracy of important town clocks, and timing simple, local business transactions.
One particular study that used all three of these methods was successful in collecting data from 31 different countries. Specifically, the study tested the following things:
“(1) walking speed—the speed with which pedestrians in downtown areas walk a distance of 60 feet;
(2) work speed—how quickly postal clerks complete a standard request to purchase a stamp; and
(3) the accuracy of public clocks” (Levine). As a result, this study found that Japan and a collection of Western European countries had the fastest pace. Switzerland was a top contender, in particular because of the accuracy of its clocks.
“Whether Japan or Switzerland deserves the gold medal for speed remains an arguable issue, but without question the most remarkable finding at the front end of the rankings was the consistently fast scores from Western Europe. Eight of the nine Western European countries tested (Switzerland, Ireland, Germany, Italy, England, Sweden, Austria, and the Netherlands) were faster than every other country other than Japan.” (Levine)
Other studies have found that the United States also tends to come in as an extremely fast-paced country—in many cases competing with Japan for the fastest pace. Within the United States, Boston and Kansas City have been seen as two of the fastest paced individual cities (Lienhard). After reviewing the results of these studies, it almost seems as if these fast paced countries are in a race to get through life as quickly and as efficiently as they can each day.
As time goes on, slower-paced countries and cultures are harder and harder to find. Unlike America and the Western European countries mentioned above, “Being late to an appointment, or taking a long time to get down to business, is the accepted norm in most Mediterranean and Arab countries” (Devereaux and Johanson). Latin American countries and Native American countries are also known to have a slower paced lifestyle, partially due to the fact that much of their lifestyle is controlled by the past, whereas fast-paced countries like America are constantly rushing into the future. Although Italy tends to be placed among the faster paced countries, it too has been regarded as a slower-paced country by some, when compared to its fellow Western European neighbors.
“Italians take things slow — they wander, they spend hours at a table talking about their family and their church, they ride bikes instead of driving cars. They do not really have a schedule, except for their scheduled breaks. This is especially hard for us to comprehend.” (King)
Greece is another European country that most people consider, without question, to be slow-paced. In an article about vacationing in Greece, one person reflects that visitors to this country are tempted to simply “…let the day unfold. Slow your pace of life to that of the locals, philosophize, read a good book, bathe, snooze” (Whitaker). After learning about these two lifestyles, which kind of pace do you think your world runs on? Which pace would you rather it ran on?
There is a common tie-in between the faster-paced countries of the world. Usually, what is found in these studies is that the more industrialized and economically developed a country is, the more fast-paced it will be. Less developed or developing countries tend to have slower paced lifestyles. (Levine and Norenzayan). As the world continues moving forward, both technologically and economically, faster paced lifestyles are working their way into more and more countries and cultures. Still, many people who live in a fast paced society should keep in mind that it is important to slow down every once in a while. A healthy balance of fast-pace and slower-pace may be key to a happier, healthier and more smoothly run daily life.
Time in Our Lives: The Role of Time in Various Cultures
Not everyone in the world views the concept of time in the same way. In fact, some cultures don’t even make time a part of their lives. Some cultures are wary of time passing by, while others run their lives by the clock. Imagine for a moment what would happen if you took someone living in a hectic society controlled by time and let them switch lives with a second person living in a culture without time. How do you think the two individuals would react? Would the first person be able to function without a schedule? Would the second be able to function with one? This article explores three distinct versions of cultures and their views on time: cultures run by time, cultures without time, and cultures with unique perspectives on time. Each category gives two examples of specific cultures which represent that category.