The present is experienced through the senses, mostly realtime, with some delay/buffering. The past and the future are experienced nonlinearly in the mind, via memory and extension/projection. The computer doesn't do much for the present. It, and our interaction with it, allows us to store memory—photos, diaries, videos, lectures, history texts—and make plans for the future—talk to friends, buy tickets, research vacations, find a new job. The present happens when we close the laptop.
As intelligence increased we (westerners) became more and more literate. That literacy extended humanity and translated to an increased proficiency in experiencing the nonlinear. To transport ourselves to far away places, to become abstract, to escape ourselves and the captivity of the present. It seems we have accomplished that goal and then some. Memory is being outsourced by the
petabyte. Every scientist's goal is to predict the future so that he or she can
alter it.
I'm guilty of treating the present as a passthrough that occurs between here and there. It's that blurry part of our peripheral vision to the left and right of the thing we're pursuing. I eat too fast. I ride my bike breathlessly. Technology is not to blame, we have developed it in order to extend ourselves. There isn't really even any need for blame. I'm just curious, with all of this extension and breadth, what emphasis have I placed on my depth? I'm jealous of professional athletes, not for the lifestyle, but their
precognitive ability. To catch a pass you have to be so in the present you're really in the future.
Live in the now!
