The Feiler faster thesis (FFT) is a

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

, or supported argument, in modern

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

that suggests that the increasing pace of society is matched by (and perhaps driven by) journalists' ability to report events and the public's desire for more information.

Origin

The idea is credited to

Bruce Feiler Bruce Feiler (born October 25, 1964) is an American writer and television personality. He is the author of 15 books, including '' The Council of Dads'', a book that describes how he responded to a diagnosis of a rare cancer by asking a group of ...

and first defined by

Mickey Kaus Robert Michael "Mickey" Kaus (; born July 6, 1951) is an American journalist, pundit, and author, known for writing Kausfiles, a "mostly political" blog which was featured on ''Slate'' until 2010. Kaus is the author of ''The End of Equality'' and ...

in a February 24, 2000

Kausfiles Robert Michael "Mickey" Kaus (; born July 6, 1951) is an American journalist, pundit, and author, known for writing Kausfiles, a "mostly political" blog which was featured on '' Slate'' until 2010. Kaus is the author of ''The End of Equality'' a ...

blog post and ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'' online magazine article, "Faster Politics: 'Momentum' ain't what it used to be". In an article published two weeks later, on March 9, 2000, Kaus gave the theory the name "Feiler faster thesis". In the original article, Kaus describes two trends: the speeding up of the

news cycle The 24-hour news cycle (or 24/7 news cycle) is 24-hour investigation and reporting of news, concomitant with fast-paced lifestyles. The vast news resources available in recent decades have increased competition for audience and advertiser attent ...

and the compression of the schedule of

primaries Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

for the 2000 U.S. general election. Kaus wrote: "Feiler's point is that we should put these two trends together--and that when we do, Trend 1 considerably softens the impact of Trend 2." Kaus uses the observation to reassess the concept of momentum in politics, suggesting that there are now simply more opportunities for turns of fortune and that voters are able, for the most part, to keep up.

Definition refined

Kaus's second interpretation in a later article is broader and more succinct: {{quote, The news cycle is much faster these days, thanks to 24-hour cable, the Web, a metastasized pundit caste constantly searching for new angles, etc. As a result, politics is able to move much faster, too, as our democracy learns to process more information in a shorter period and to process it comfortably at this faster pace.

Application

The idea is based on

James Gleick James Gleick (; born August 1, 1954) is an American author and historian of science whose work has chronicled the cultural impact of modern technology. Recognized for his writing about complex subjects through the techniques of narrative nonficti ...

's 1999 book ''Faster'', which makes the argument that the pace of

Western society Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...

in general, and American society in particular, has increased and that "a compression of time characterizes the life of the century now closing". Gleick documents the ways technology speeds up work and the time people spend doing various tasks, including sleeping. He points out that "we have learned to keep efficiency in mind as a goal, which means that we drive ourselves hard." Gleick's key observation is that "some of us say we want to save time when really we just want to do more". The thesis is sometimes misinterpreted as merely describing the shortening of the news cycle, which is actually covered as part of Gleick's original observations. Kaus recognized the difference in a 2005 posting: "The FFT, remember, doesn't say that information moves with breathtaking speed these days. (Everyone knows that!) The FFT says that people are comfortable ''processing'' that information with what seems like breathtaking speed."Mickey Kau
Faster History, Faster Democracy?
March 15, 2005 mphasis in the original

References

External links

''Kausfiles'': "Faster Politics"
the Kausfiles blog post where Kaus first described the thesis
''Slate'': "Faster Politics"
the Slate version of the same article
''Slate'': "''Kausfiles'' Battles for the Vital Center!"
Kaus's second, broader, definition of the idea
"Do You Wanna Go Faster?"
Kera Bolonik's review Mass media theories Journalism