Update on Presentism

It is only right and fitting that proper credit be given where  it is due.  This hot and sweaty subject is still with us, the beast's foul breath up close and personal and has a feel of permanence, but then so did the past while yesterday was gradually awakening into the present, step by step, the sands running through the hourglass of time,  we suddenly arrive at this peculiar situation.  An example of how the memory in overload of presentism stores information would be the essay I put up in July on Present Shock, much of which highlighted Charles' essay of May 22nd.  Thus the following correction and more on the subject:

"Present Shock and the Fantasy of Change August 17, 2013
The fantasy is that the status quo won't change dramatically, even as it already has changed dramatically.
It's remarkably easy nowadays to experience Present Shock overload. I wrote about Douglas Rushkoff's new book Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now recently (Present Shock and the Loss of History and Context May 22, 2013); the book discusses the manner in which always-on digital media, communication and work flatten the natural narratives of time and context into an associative sea of free-floating information.
With history and context both disrupted, it takes a huge amount of work to maintain a context that "makes sense" of our actions and conceptual narratives. Just maintaining this coherence requires a constant investment of time and mental energy. In this sense, the constant threat of filter failure or information/task overload acts as a kind of ambient friction, draining a significant amount of time and energy from our limited resources.
When I find my worklife decohering/splintering, an internal Code Red is triggered and I go into slash-and-burn mode, reducing commitments and circling the wagons to conserve my mental energy for truly critical long-term tasks. In a way, the multiple commitments and digital distractions of modern life conspire against long-term projects and the coherent organization and investment of one's time and energy they require.
In other words, as distractions and pressures mount, we become ever less able to focus on the truly important projects that are long-term by their very nature. ... "

I saw Charles' new post a few minutes ago, the subject fascinates me.  I highly recommend reading further at his sites.  In presentism, our overloaded memories of what someone said or did have no room for context.  This leaves us wide open for suggestion, implantation of context from undesirable forces as we see happening repeatedly to beleaguered little people worldwide every hour of every day.  USA, USA, USA!  Some might call it a war if they are able to grasp its totality of annihilation.  This IS what is dividing us because so few are able to see or define it,  much less get out from underneath its brute weight. 

Douglas Rushkoff's brilliant book cover, can you feel it?