Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now (39 page)

Paul, Ron, 53

Perren, Jeff, 60
n

Pew Internet and American Life Project, 52

Pew Research, 51

Pinchbeck, Daniel, 253

Pinker, Steven, 227–28

planking, 43

plastic surgery, 149–51

play.
See
games

politics: citizen journalism and, 52–53; fractalnoia and, 209, 212, 216; generational issues and, 18; narrative collapse and, 7, 18, 28, 43–50, 52–53, 64, 67; overwinding and, 134, 157; real-time, 43–50.

See also
Occupy Movement

popular culture, 7, 23–34, 247.

See also
culture

pork belly trades, 185–86

post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

See
stress

Prechter, Robert, 229–30

present/presentism: blocking out of, 17; digiphrenia and, 86; as form of time travel, 259–60; futurism and, 17; hunter-gatherer society in eternal, 76–77; impact of, 4; multiple timescales and, 135; narrative collapse and, 17, 31, 50; negation of, 85; new “now” and, 1–8; overwinding and, 141; past as wound up into, 156–57; real-time news and, 48.

See also
now

present shock: answers to, 8, 265–66; characteristics/manifestations of, 3–5, 6–7; as end of time, 252; as existence outside time, 251; hardest part of living in, 247; as temporally destablizing, 259.

See also specific manifestation

Prezi, 199–200

primitive societies, 100, 189.

See also
timescales

Prisoner’s Dilemma, 193, 194, 220, 222, 248

privacy, 158, 169, 204

production, 81, 127, 161–62, 165

productivity, 81, 82, 95, 98, 106, 111, 117, 143

programmers, 85, 87, 96–97, 98, 128, 231–32

programs, 84, 87, 93, 98, 101–2, 107, 113–14, 263

progress, 86, 253–54.

See also
change

Prometheus, 190

public, sophistication of, 45

public relations, 205, 207, 214, 217, 223

publishing, 97

Pulp Fiction
(movie), 30–31

Quetzalcoatl (Mayan god), 253

railroad industry, 82

RAM, 5, 140, 140
n
, 181–89

Ramo, Joshua, 236–37

RAND Corporation, 220–21, 225

The Real World
(TV show), 35–36

reality: apocalypto and, 262, 264; chronobiology and, 88; digiphrenia and, 113; fractalnoia and, 216–17; games and, 60; narrative collapse and, 50, 66; overwinding and, 165, 169; temporal, 165.

See also
reality television

reality television, 2, 35–43, 66, 136, 149–50

“The Relationship Economy” (Michalski), 238–39

religion, 8, 28, 76–77, 78–79, 101, 212, 260–62, 263–64

remote control: for television, 21; warfare by, 7, 120–22

Rifkin, Jeremy, 78–79

Rinne, April, 238

Ritalin, 92, 124

Rizzo, Albert “Skip,” 65–66

Roberts, Kevin, 211

Robertson, Joel, 102–3, 104

Romero, George, 249

RPG (role-playing game), 60–61, 62–63

runners, 101–2

Rushkoff, Douglas: car accident of, 65–66; father’s clock and, 83–84; first exposure to computers of, 230–31; Michalski meeting with, 237–38; TripTik experience of, 109; writing of book by, 264–65

Santa Fe Institute, 227, 228

schedules, digiphrenia and, 84, 85, 93–109

screech, fractalnoia and, 208, 210

SEALS, Navy, 136

Second Life, apocalypto and, 263

Second Life (online virtual world), 258

self: digital/virtual, 69–76, 88; representation of, 96.

See also
MyLifeBits; TheBrain

self-confidence, narrative collapse and, 53

self-consciousness, digiphrenia and, 111

self-determination, 66

self-interest/selfishness, 193–94, 221, 223, 248, 250

senses: conflict of, 109–10; digiphrenia and, 109–10, 114–15

September 11, 2001, 3, 10–11, 17–18, 48, 198, 207, 216

serious games, 63

Shaate Zadek Medical Center, 191

share/sharing: fractalnoia and, 203–5, 211, 238–40; overwinding and, 142, 155, 156, 169, 192, 194; sports and, 40.
See also
cooperation/collaboration

Sheen, Charlie, 31, 203, 219

Shirky, Clay, 93, 116

“Shooters” (game), 62

shopping.
See
consumers

short forever.
See
overwinding

SimCity (game), 62

Simmons, Bill, 41

simplification, 220, 247

The Simpsons
(TV show), 23, 25–26, 28

simulations, digiphrenia and, 84

singularity, 3, 8, 252, 253, 254, 256, 258, 260, 263

situation comedies, 30

skaters, 132–33

Skype, 70

Slavin, Kevin, 179–80

sleep, polyplastic, 95

smart phones, 83, 84, 99, 211

Smith, Adam, 226

Smith, Zadie, 34

soap operas, 33

social games, 62–63

social interaction: digiphrenia and, 85, 96, 109; overwinding and, 169, 184; television and, 24

social issues, games and, 63–64

social media/networks: fractalnoia and, 199, 204, 209, 211, 214, 215, 216–17; narrative collapse and, 64.

See also specific media/network

Somaspace.org, 103

The Sopranos
(TV show), 33, 39, 213

sound, digiphrenia and, 113, 114, 129

sports: digiphrenia and, 101–2, 103–4; as entertainment, 41; freestyle/extreme, 42–43; narrative collapse and, 39–43, 67; overwinding and, 131–33, 136; traditional team, 40–41, 42; values and, 40

spring-loading, 136–37, 176, 182, 184, 186, 187, 189, 190–92

Star Trek
(TV show), 16, 151, 152

stealth technology, 178–79

Steam (game platform), 217–18

Sternbergh, Adam, 151–52

Stevens, Hampton, 28

stock market.
See
financial world

storage: apocalypto and, 265; digiphrenia and, 77; fractalnoia and, 238, 240; of information, 5, 142–49; new “now” and, 4, 5; overwinding and, 136, 142, 143, 145–49, 171, 184, 186, 188, 189, 190, 194; of time, 141–49

store windows, 165, 166

storytelling: accelerating change and, 14–16; audience participation in creation of, 61, 63, 64; benefits of, 13–14; content of stories and, 22–23; as creating context, 13–14; as cultural value, 13; digiphrenia and, 72–73, 85; endings in, 32–34, 62; failure of, 18; as influencing the future, 16; and learning from earlier generations, 138; linear, 7; manhood and, 39; as means of storing information values, 16; mechanics of, 19–20; narrative collapse and, 7, 18–23; new “now” and, 6; overwinding and, 138; and perpetuation of story, 32–33; and players as story, 64; as predicting the future, 16; responses to living in a world without, 39–43; role of, 13; as spoofs, 28; structure and, 22; traditional linear, 18–34, 61, 62, 66; as way of experiencing world, 13–14; as way of talking about the world, 13.

See also
narrative collapse

stress: apocalypto and, 247, 250; on computers, 140
n
; digiphrenia and, 7, 73, 89, 100, 103, 121–22, 126, 128; narrative collapse and, 49, 65–66; overwinding and, 132, 136, 139, 140
n
, 144.

See also
tension/anxiety

Surowiecki, James, 228

sync, digiphrenia and, 100–101, 106, 109, 121, 122, 126, 127, 128

systems theory, 200, 226–28

Taleb, Nassim, 229

Tarantino, Quentin, 30

Taylor, Frederick, 81

Tea Party, 53–55, 264

technology: apocalypto and, 249–50, 254, 255, 256–58, 259, 260, 263; development of new, 192; digiphrenia and, 7, 93–109; exploitation of, 30; fractalnoia and, 231–32; interactive, 211; narrative collapse and, 20, 30; new “now” and, 3; as partner in human evolution, 256–57; time as a, 76–87, 88–90; unintended consequences of, 249–50.

See also type of technology

television: apocalypto and, 247–48, 250; audience for, 20–23; cable, 22, 55, 94, 216; captivity and, 21, 31; commericials on, 20–21, 167; fractalnoia and, 199, 210, 214; human interaction and, 24; humor on, 25; narrative collapse and, 20–28, 31, 32, 33–34, 35–50, 58, 66, 67; new “now” and, 2; news on, 43–50, 51, 54, 55; overwinding and, 167; popular culture and, 23–29; reality, 2, 35–43, 66, 136, 149–50; remote control of, 21; situation comedies on, 31; soap operas on, 33; storyless shows on, 23; zombies on, 247–48, 250

temporal diversity, 133–34, 139

temporal reality, 165

“tensegrity,” 104

tension/anxiety, 20, 21, 26, 33–34, 122, 194.

See also
stress

terrorism, 10–11, 17–18, 48, 203, 207, 246–47, 261.

See also
September 11, 2001

Tetlock, Philip, 232–33, 234

text: digiphrenia and, 114; invention of, 77–78; overwinding and, 142, 143; stages in human evolution and, 77–78; stored, 143

TheBrain, Michalski’s, 238, 239, 240

thinking, as collective activity, 203–5

time: chronobiology and, 87–93;
chronos,
112–20, 235–36, 259; digital, 7, 82–86, 112–20; end of, 3, 250, 252, 253–54, 262; as equivalent and interchangeable, 94; flowing, 141–42, 145–49; free of, 88; importance of, 199; as information, 86;
Kairos,
112–20, 236, 259; kinds of, 140–49;

time (cont.) linear, 3, 87, 113, 263–64; measurement of, 7; as money, 135, 170–80; new “now” and, 3, 6; no, 140; present shock as existence outside, 251; slowing of, 151; stored, 141–49; as a technology, 76–87, 88–90; 10,000-year spans of, 134, 140; zones of, 82, 111.

See also
calendars; clocks;
specific topic

time binding, 137–40, 194, 261

Time Dollars, 149

timescales: multiple, 131–37, 140–49; overwinding and, 7, 131–37, 140–49, 190; temporal diversity and, 133–34

Timewave Zero, McKenna’s, 252

Toffler, Alvin, 4, 9, 14–15, 16

trade, international, 80, 175

trading, investment.
See
financial markets

tragedy of the commons, 192–93

transparency, 64, 216, 222, 223

TripTik, Rushkoff’s experience with, 109

trucking industry, 127–28

Trump, Donald, 36

trust/distrust, 39, 53, 80–81, 171, 213, 233

truth, 50–51

Turner, Mark, 13

Turner, Ted, 46

28 Days Later
(movie), 249–50

28 Weeks Later
(movie), 249–50

Twitter: apocalypto and, 265; digiphrenia and, 72, 74, 99, 119; fractalnoia and, 203, 205, 210, 211; narrative collapse and, 47, 51, 64; new “now” and, 2, 3, 6; overwinding and, 142, 143; real-time news and, 47

Unabomber, 256

University of Southern California (USC), Institute for Creative Technologies at, 65–66

U.S. Behavioral Finance Group (JPMorgan Chase), 174

values, 7, 16, 40, 63, 64, 86.

See also
ethics; morality

Vietnam War, 29, 45

Vivos, 245

Walker, Alice, 18

The Walking Dead
(TV show), 247–48, 250

Wallace, David Foster, 34

Walmart, 159, 160

Wanamaker, John, 165

war, 7, 202, 225.

See also specific war

Wiener, Norbert, 224–25

Willis, Bruce, 30–31

Wilson, Woodrow, 45

The Wire
(TV show), 33, 199

Wired
magazine, 16, 124

women: as consumers, 166; kleptomania by, 166

work ethic, 12

World Bank, 173, 174

World Health Organization (WHO), 92

World War I, 45

World War II, 5, 12, 166, 225

World of Warcraft (game), 62, 88

Wozniak, Steve, 203

writers, 27, 34, 97–98

youth/young people, 3, 39–40, 51, 56, 58, 60, 67, 151, 204.

See also
generational issues

YouTube, 43, 47, 84, 154, 198, 236

yuppie hipster, 149–52

Zara, 127

Zemeckis, Robert, 29

zombies, 247–50, 264

Zoroaster, 261–62

*
Ironically, after I whimsically suggested this connection during a lecture tour in Europe, a French television producer tried it for real in a program called
The Game of Death
. Of course, in this case, the real victims were the people who believed they were the torturers. Under the approving watch of the producers, many contestants delivered what they believed to be lethal doses of electricity to hired actors.

*
Dungeons & Dragons was itself inspired by a set of rules written by Jeff Perren for people who played with miniature medieval figures, which was later expanded and published as the game Chainmail by Gary Gygax.

*
The discontinuous experience of leaving where you are online in order to go buy something somewhere else was never real, anyway. Websites don’t exist in particular places, and we don’t move anywhere as we click from one to the other.

*
Yes, when a computer runs out of active memory, special compensatory processes can take over that use extra space on the hard drive as makeshift RAM—virtual RAM. But the grinding sounds a hard drive makes under such stress, and the tendency for programs to run slow and hang under such conditions, just underscores how much better it is to use the appropriate kind of hardware for the job. Interesting, especially in a presentist, always-on world, RAM has proved much better at working as a hard drive than the other way around.