I’ve been thinking a lot about time recently, and specifically how, in a minuscule amount of time, things can change so easily, and how the past can be forgotten as if someone was toggling a light switch. I think about examples like COVID, where there was a big change in people’s lives in early 2020, and how, later, everyone seemed to forget anything had happened. The same can be said about Facebook’s trouble with user data around 2018 that nobody talks about anymore, or even “ancient” history like how Fanta, the Hindenburg, and Volkswagen were all Nazi inventions.
What really irks me about this, though, is that I wonder what will be remembered about right now. What’s special enough to be remembered for decades to come? If crises, scandals, and even wars don’t fully affect society on a day-to-day basis, it’s hard to dream up something that can. Who, what, or where is special enough to last longer than a few months? Outlast their 15 minutes of fame?