Slow-Tech: Manifesto for an Over-Wound World by Andrew Price
Atlantic Books, £19.99
There is a growing movement of people who want to get off the merry-go-round of modern life and just enjoy things. Joining this chorus against over-consumption is Andrew Price, Professor of Biosciences at Warwick University, who believes that while the modern world may boast ever more ingenious technologies, they are fragile and often cause more problems than they solve.
He uses as examples a monster of a Bentley which his father bought and which has lasted for 80 years. The beast probably does a couple of revolutions to the gallon but, for Price, the lesson is in its design. Its robust construction and redundant systems makes it the tortoise to the hares of the grand prix cars we see racing in Formula 1 which, typically, last fewer than two races.
He makes a similar claim for the Aga as an example of how to design a tough yet sufficient cooking system. These are luxurious examples and Slow-Tech can come across as a middle-class fantasy about living the good life. A discussion about slow-tech yachts doesn’t have quite the resonance for those of us who don’t have one.
Nonetheless he makes his points well. Modern design is flimsy and prone to failure. Business models are based on just in time and just enough. Solutions have to be high-tech rather than efficient because there is no slack and no time.
From foot and mouth to MRSA, he shows how this approach creates problems. A kind of technological blow-back. In New Orleans, clearing the swamps around the city made for better shipping routes but removed a low-tech flood defence system which was brutally exposed by Hurricane Katrina.
Much of what Price writes about is familiar to people in the burgeoning transition town movement who are preparing for life after peak oil by making their communities more resilient. That is, sourcing what they need locally, re-learning and sharing lost skills, and cutting back on needless consumption. It’s an idea which has been developed over many years by permaculture theorists.
Unfortunately this barely rates a mention in Price’s book and that is a shame. Indeed, for those looking to put into practice the ideas that Price preaches, references to such thinking would have been very useful. As it is, a significant and complementary area has been missed. Slow-Tech is a useful read but it’s not the manual it could have been for those hoping to get off the merry-go-round.
Phil Chamberlain
