We've been working on a system for measuring the speed of change in societies around the world. We thought it might be working pretty well when we plugged in the data, ran the formula, and it spit China out as the world's fastest-changing society. (Among developed nations, Taiwan came out as the fastest-moving, which also seemed about right.)
A recent Washington Post article revealed what this could mean in people's lives.
It told the story of Huang He, who left China in 1996 to study media in the United States. After 10 years, he has returned, and finds himself in an unfamiliar land.
"China is not the same China I remember. People's values have changed," he says. "People think in a more complicated way."
His once-proud father seems to feel that Huang has been left behind: "Many of your peers who did not study overseas, they all seem to be better off. Many of them were not as outstanding as you were in school. But those who didn't leave got caught up in the fast-paced development of China."
Huang sees the results of that pace of development everywhere. Propaganda goals have been replaced by the quest for ratings in Chinese media. Even the buildings have changed: old houses are gone, with "modern brick and tile boxes" in their place.
Facing 10 years of change in one of the world's fastest-moving societies would strain anyone's capacity for newness. For Huang, it may be too much: he is thinking of leaving again.
Image: Point-Shoot-Edit (Flickr)
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