It is important that we are coming up on the millennium because what I am experiencing, just being one person... — Terry Riley

It is important that we are coming up on the millennium because what I am experiencing, just being one person out of billions, is the feeling of acceleration. I experience this through my contact with other people.

Author: Terry Riley

Insight: There's something almost haunting about how this observation from decades ago has only intensified. That feeling of acceleration—of time somehow moving faster, of more happening in less space—isn't just about technology or schedules. It's about the sheer volume of human contact and awareness we're absorbing. You might check your phone and suddenly know what five different people across the globe are doing, feeling, or fighting about. Each connection is like adding velocity to your inner experience, even when you're standing still. What makes Riley's insight surprising is that he pins this acceleration to contact with other people, not to clocks or deadlines. It's the relational texture of modern life that does it—the constant micro-interactions, the overlapping conversations, the awareness that you're one consciousness among billions who are all aware of each other now in ways that would have seemed impossible before. You feel busier not just because you have more to do, but because you're somehow present to more people's lives and struggles simultaneously. The real twist is that this might be inescapable now. You can't opt out of the acceleration by working less if the acceleration itself comes from being known and knowing others. The solution isn't fewer connections—it's learning to metabolize them differently, to choose which accelerations actually matter to you.