People are more and more living in this moment, for this moment. Few are doing any longer-term planning. Our technology makes us more and more rely on on-the-spur decisions. Mobile phones allow us to control our social life at this moment. Our messaging technology exists for living this moment, not for planning for the future.

Technology for the now: mobile phones, television, e-mail, web, blogs, irc, newsgroups, www chat forums. All these tools focus on the current moment.

Life was different in the countryside only about 100 years ago. You had to plan for the next summer: having enough seeds to plant in the spring, enough livestock until next summer, and enough wood for keeping warm and preparing food.

The modern age is said to be rational, but where is the proof? We are increasingly basing our decisions on non-rational shortsighted thinking, not long-term survival. Science and technology may be rational endeavours, but our way of living is not.