May 11, 2004
To go faster, slow down
If you enter the phrase, "To go faster, slow down" into Google, you won't find the name "John Brunner" in your returns. The closest you will get is,"To go faster, slow down. Everybody who knows about orbital mechanics understands that.? attributed to Scott Cherf of Cisco.
This is kind of sad since that bit of advice, I culled from Brunner's "Shockwave Rider", is one that really works if you can do it.
All though Brunner's best books were written some thirty years or so ago, they largely seem as relevant today as when they were first published. Thankfully, after a long period of neglect, the good ones, "Shockwave Rider", "The Jagged Orbit", "Stand on Zanzibar" and "The Sheep Look Up", seem to be going through something of a revival.
Posted by richard at May 11, 2004 2:37 PMRichard, thanks for recognizing the reference.
Yes, it is John Brunner not me and I did read it first in 'The Shockwave Rider'. Someone asked me for my favorite quote once and though I couldn't remember it exactly I got out what I could.
How many people can stand on zanzibar?
See you later, accelerator.
Posted by: Scott Cherf at January 3, 2005 8:24 PMI just wanted to mention that although the principal of the quote might have been derived from Brunner's work (of which I must admit I am a fan), the quote is actually mine. Brunner never said that.
Scott
I didn't mean imply any criticism of you in this post - just to express my sadness at that way that John Brunner's work had disappeared from public view.
And, yes, of course, you are right, the Brunner quote was, "To go faster, slow down" the full quote was yours.
Posted by: richard Oliver at November 2, 2007 12:14 AMAs it turns out, it looks as if I was wrong about the Brunner quote.While I have been using the phrase, "To go faster, slow down" since some time in the Seventies and had always attributed to Brunner, it looks as if it falls into the category of misquotes, such as "Play it again, Sam".
After having a quick skim of my copy I noticed number of references to slowing down in Shockwave Rider:
In the section SPELLED "WEEKEND" BUT PRONOUNCED "WEAKENED" (page 228 in my copy)
"Go faster in order to drop back to a lower order? Doesn't work. Drop back to a to a lower orbit; you go faster!
In the section PART LINE (page 249 in my copy)
"The way to go faster is to slow down," Kate said with conviction.
But not, sadly, "To go faster, slow down"
Posted by: richard Oliver at November 2, 2007 11:44 PM