From: Josh Martin (martin.907@osu.edu)
Date: Sun Feb 11 2001 - 22:37:59 MST
Samantha wrote:
As we near the knee of the Ramp, all people
> everywhere are going to see things change much faster than they are at
> all comfortable with. So what sort of memes and practices do we lay to
> embrace that fast pace of change and to dance happily and successfully
> within it?
>
I have been thinking about this recently, in part due to my addiction to
movies. Older movies, as someone noted previously, tend to move more
slowly. Today's movies are a whirlwind of sights and sounds compared to
even _Citizen Kane_. This is often referred to as "MTV-like" in reviews.
It is definitely correlated with youth, which brings me to my theory:
It seems by many indications that we are culturally on the steepening slope
of the Law of Accelerating Returns Curve. This means that change is coming
increasingly faster, in many areas of life. The changes experienced by
those, like my great-grandmother, who lived this entire century, are an
oft-quoted example of the accelerating pace of change.
I submit that the MTV-like frenetic pace of entertainment, and youth
culture, is a reaction to, and perhaps an adaptation for, this change.
Information is coming in from all fronts, and the amount of information
available on any topic is increasing to the point that it is difficult to
absorb it all. Speaking from experience, studying Neuroscience is like the
metaphorical drink from the fire hose. Perhaps this attention-deficit-like
change in culture is a memetic adaptation that is increasingly selected for
as science, technology, and life moves faster and faster.
Thoughts?
josh martin
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