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The ethical value of time: between "already done" and "to do"

In a world where everything is simultaneous, “taking time” becomes a revolutionary act: only in the space between project and action, it is possible to imagine a change and the strength to start over

"Festina lente", or rather " Hasten slowly". When in 1985, during one of his famous lectures "Six Memos for the Next Millennium" and talking about the paradoxical nature of time, Italo Calvino cited this ancient Latin motto, already used as an emblem by humanist and publisher Manutius- the audience at Harvard could do nothing but being impressed by that.  

Speed ​​and slowness, stasis and change: if this motto continues to fascinate us, it’s because it reminds us not only that time is a relative matter but also that its usage is an ethical issue, a way of understanding and carrying out the action, taking responsibilities.  

Thus, a minimum interval can last infinitely, if occupied by a possible idea, a genuine intention, a real desire to design and change. This paradox is the central matter of discussion and reflections taking place in the new edition of the Oscar Pomilio Blumm Forum, dedicated to the concept of the "meantime."

The meantime is the space between saying and doing, between theory and implementation. It is the space in which a person imagines what he/she is going to carry out, without knowing whether it will be something great or not. It’s a space of possibilities and projects, where thought proliferates, ranges and produces, allowing us to "fill the unforgiving minute", as Kipling wrote, made of 60 seconds worthy of being lived, whether they are 3 seconds in which you play a World record or the infinite present moment in which new technologies are forcing us to live.

In a world where the present moment oppresses and crushes us, where everything is simultaneous and instantaneous, "taking time" becomes an ethical and even revolutionary act, a choice to reset and start over, rebuilding the future with new strength and confidence. 

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