Rushkoff describes in this reading the cognitive shift present at the turn of the new century and its demonstration of such within the present. I found this reading really interesting at it portrayed to me (a young millennial whom was present but not fully conscious as a human being) the infamous ideas of Y2K, and its past promises of today. Despite being beautifully written, illustrated with poetic prophecies about the past, Rushkoff clearly communicates how our society has obtained present shock through future shock due to today’s fast moving ‘current’. (The play on words was not intentional but I am glad it happened).

‘Going into the new millennial, everyone was looking forward… [there] was a shift of an uncertain nature, but certainly of unprecedented magnitude’. This statement really stood out for me as recently I have been pondering my belonging and purpose within an age that seems subject to constant change. The gender revolution, the emergence of technology, veganism and Trump. Why was I lucky enough to be born into an era where the boiling pot of minorities have finally expanded their social heat, making my generation “the ones we have been waiting for. We are the change we seek”.

This change is consequential but has also resulted in the dismissal of what Rushkoff describes as ‘Big Stories. These stories are narratives told by the once elite, whose traditional power and linear arc structured narratives, dictated the culture of prior eras in what Matthew Arnold calls ‘elite’ or ‘pure’ culture. However, the new age brought forward the the promise of individual success due to the the 20th century’s established advancement in eras of electronics and finance within the Western world. Technology’s impact and new the millennium brought upon literal ground-breaking change, with the fear of Y2K’s implosion of infrastructure making people anticipate the refiguration of Western society – one perhaps in which they were higher up the ladder of success. However, Y2K did not happen and the millennium was instead introduced by the shock of an anti-climax. Therefore, disrupting the Big Story’s dramatic arc of progress and change, and instead providing a sense of present shock ‘wtf now?!’. Consequently, “a larger societal shift [formed] from future expectations and instead towards current value” (p.16). Making futurisms crafted agenda for change and ‘new’ winded in its blow of a culture now forced into a sense of stagnation.

Nowadays, we see within the rise of pop-culture a focus on ‘short stories’ as oppose to the traditional ‘big story’. Television has increased in popularity, with a surgent of episodic narratives and reality TV which focuses primarily on 40 minute ‘challenges’ as opposed to long winded adventures. The truth is – maybe we’re becoming growingly dependant on short stories who’s primary motive is to distract rather then educate, due to the mundane regulations of Western society that transcribe a way of life for us before we’re even born. If what Rushkoff says is true, and gaming is the media of the future due to it’s interactive agency, perhaps we as a society should sit reflect upon our own controller and switch the mode entirely.

Lets not follow our own narratives with teleoligic tradition but instead disrupt the story’s movement of today and act as if we don’t know its finite end (retirement, kids, care homes, death). Because unlike a book and/or a movie, life does not have a spine that dictates its end, and therefore we must live every day like its our last – because one day you’ll be right.