Present Shock

Present Shock When Everything Happens Now

The award-winning author of Life, Inc. examines the pros and cons of today's digitally driven, real-time world, explaining how to safeguard against the vulnerabilities of instant-experience media while maximizing its benefits.
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Reviews

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Beau@hyggeligbo
4 stars
Feb 21, 2023

This book is big. It did my head in. It will require a second reading. Nonetheless, Rushkoff does that thing he tends to do best - observe society, ponder technology, consider implications, de-construct reality, and speak to great depths on fundamental parts of humanity's psyche that we often don't prod: time, morality, and everything in between. At it's fundamental best, this book is about technology and time. I particularly enjoyed the first section titled 'Narrative Collapse' - where he looks at the current ethos of a post-Aristotelian narrative society; where the non-linear rules, and particular (and beautiful) depths of creativity, knowledge, and cognitive exploration are becoming old world attributes amongst humans. If you're up for a long but absolutely fascinating read on technology, the philosophy of time, and current socio-tech matters, this is your book. It requires commitment, however. Simply skimming over this one is both an injustice to yourself, and hugely ironic once you reach certain areas of the book. You won't put it down and you'll more than likely pick it up for a second read to get your head around some of the huge areas Rushkoff explores. Bravo.

Photo of Luca Conti
Luca Conti@lucaconti
4 stars
Sep 10, 2021

Very useful to understand some trends of the modern era, some of them related to social media

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Caitlin Bohannon@waitingforoctober
2 stars
Jan 5, 2023
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Kevin Spachuk@spacious1
5 stars
Mar 8, 2022
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Katie Day@librarianedge
4 stars
Feb 17, 2022
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Dean Peterson@deanpeterson
2 stars
Oct 3, 2021
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Christian Beck@cmbeck
3 stars
Sep 26, 2021
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Daniel Sollero@dsollero
4 stars
Sep 14, 2021