Our lives are at least 50 times faster than our grandparents’ lives
Last Saturday, I went for my monthly long walk covering 40 kms from my place Meyrin to Rolle in Switzerland. It took me 8 hours 37 mins including the three breaks that I took during the course of the walk. I reached Rolle and took a train back to Geneva. It took me 21 minutes. It was 25 times faster than my walk. My grandfather would have roughly taken the same time to cover 40 kms 100 years back and the trains back then would have taken roughly 2 hours to cover the 40 kms distance. Aren’t we moving very fast these days?
Yesterday, I went to Glacier 3000 which is 2 hours 45 mins from my place. I took a tram to go to Geneva main station. From there, took a train to Aigle and from Aigle, a mountain train to reach Les Diabalarets which is at an altitude of 1560m. Then from there, I took two cable cars to reach Glacier 3000 which is at an elevation of 3000m. The entire ride was so smooth and easy.
Imagine if someone has to reach that point at 3000m by walk from my place.
Meyrin to Geneva (6 kms)
Geneva to Aigle (109.7 kms)
Aigle to Les Diabalarets (19.7 kms) — elevation gain of 1140m
Les Diabalarets to Glacier 3000 (4.3 kms) — elevation gain of 1500m
We reached in 2h45 mins in comfortable trams/trains/cablecars with heating systems and cozy interiors. Imagine walking by foot in the cold mornings in Switzerland and then, hiking in the glaciers at -15 degrees. This would have taken at least 4–5 days or slightly more with the elevation. Also, without the cable car, to reach that glacier by foot in that rocky terrain would have been next to impossible for 99% of the people unless they are avid snow trekkers. A massive cable car effortlessly carried 25–30 people(roughly 2000kgs) over 4.3 kms at a 1500m elevation gain.
Think of all the systems and machines that we use on a daily basis. We use far sophisticated systems on a moment by moment basis and life has become far more comfortable than we can even imagine. Be it the car or the smart phone or the flights or the online ordering of items, everything has become so convenient and easy.
A Boeing 747 carries roughly 45,000 kgs (450 passengers at 60kg weight per person plus 30 kgs per baggage per person) in addition to its own weight of 400,000 kgs. A non-stop flight from Amsterdam to Tokyo or Mexico City takes roughly 13.5 hours. Visualize the fact that it carries roughly half a million kilos at at altitude of 30,000 feet (10 kms above us) for 13.5 hours. How many such flights fly everyday? At least 100 destinations at the least?
Already, the lifespan of humans from my grndfather’s era to my father’s era has increased by 10–15 years. On top if it, every aspect of life has accelerated by 50–100 times. So we have plenty of time at our disposal. And still, we say that we don’t have time.
How?
And why?
