So, anticipating the development of the NANOTECHNOLOG IES of the infinitely small of 'p rogress' , b ut also the development of the NANOCH RONOLOG I ES of the infinitely short-term of cybernetic instantaneity - in o ther words, the definitive powerlessness of our awareness of the facts and of our judgement of values in the face of the sudden metamo rphosis of our environment - we still have to figu re out the actual nature of our responsib il ity regarding the 'polluti on' caused by technological progress, as well as by the exhaustion of the chrono-diversity of the i nstant, an instant from now on not so much present as absent fro m our awareness of our behaviours.
Just after attempting to commit suicide, Catherine Kokoszka, the head of the Paris department of legal p rotection of mi nors, wrote:
'Anything that goes too fast drives you insane, destroys you . I almost died because I spent my life at my j o b , quite convinced I was upholdi ng the ed ucational val u es o f the insti tuti o n . I alm o st died of the deafness of an i nstitution that didn't understand that everyth ing was goi ng roo fast, so fast we could no longer keep up [ . . . ] and that the acceleration of change was undermining the institution's educational mission and producing abuse . The infernal machine presses on, alas, without worrying about h uman beings.' 1
THE GREAT ACCELERATOR
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