This TED Talk features social scientist Catherine Bouskill, recorded live at TEDx Manhattan Beach, 2018.

Do you ever wonder why we're surrounded with things that help us do everything faster and faster and faster?

Communicate faster, but also work faster, bank faster, travel faster, find a date faster,

cook faster, clean faster, and do all of it, all at the same time? How do you feel about cramming

even more into every waking hour? Well, to my generation of Americans, speed feels like a birthright.

Sometimes I think our minimum speed is Mach 3, anything less, and we fear losing our competitive

edge.

But even my generation is starting to question whether we're the masters of speed or if

speed is mastering us.

I'm an anthropologist at the Rand Corporation,

and while many anthropologists study ancient cultures,

I focus on modern-day cultures

and how we're adapting to all of this change happening in the world.

Recently, I teamed up with an engineer, Seifu Chande,

to study speed.

We were interested both in how people are adapting

to this age of acceleration

and its security and policy implications.

What could our world look like in 25 years

if the current pace of change keeps accelerating?

What would it mean for transportation or learning, communication, manufacturing,

weaponry, or even natural selection?

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