Generation Z, the snowflake generation, the tech generation, the digital generation, the slacker generation, the psychiatric patient generation, the enlightened face generation, the miscommunication generation, the artificial intelligence generation, the LGBT+ generation, the hypercorrect generation, the information generation.

Humanity has begun to wade through the endless amount of information it produces and willingly surrounds itself with in the name of goodness. Today we are overwhelmed, suffocating, drowning, losing our bearings, and where the shore is, who knows. We are disoriented without realizing it – words are losing their value and meaning. We do not know how to ration, to choose, to be frugal in our consumption.
And so excess affects our communication, our lives.

Current studies report that today’s “young” (our) generation can maintain full attention while watching a picture or listening to audio for 15 seconds. And so we click and switch, open and skip. We get stuck and never get to the end because the amount of information has long since outstripped not only the capacity of our brains but also the speed of our motor skills.
So many headlines, so much information, so many comments, so many responsibilities and so little attention!

We have phones, tablets, computers, digital cameras, digital photography, vacuum cleaners that move on their own and report on our consumption behaviour. We have thousands of them. How do we make sense of it all?

Sometimes we want to press stop. To stop when we’re looking to see if the tram will be here in less than three minutes. Stop the brain that can’t be calmed. To have time to clear our heads… or at least our homes.

Press stop. A deep sigh would be heard around the world.

People would look around and see for the first time. They would hear for the first time.

But that’s utopia. Don’t wait for a stop sign. Speed is part of us, it’s ingrained in us, it’s our credo, it’s the code deep under the skin of Generation Z.

So we thought… what if we indulged in all of this? What if we slowed it down for real? Give ourselves and everyone else a few minutes, time after our day shifts. Allow ourselves to look around.

Contrast all that slowness with the uncontrollably fast world. Forget the endless to-do lists. Take a walk, take a stroll, slide. Try to just exist. Slowly.

The noise and speed can’t be taken back. We live in them every day. So let’s slow down together. Shock ourselves by not rushing. Break out of the frantic reality of our crowded lives. Let’s press stop. Together.