That Little Piece of Glass

If someone time traveled from 1990 (let alone from 1900) to 2015 and was asked to describe the difference between then and now, they might report back:

"Well, people don't use light bulbs any more; they use these things called LED lights, which I guess saves energy, but the light they cast is cold. What else? Teenagers seem to no longer have acne or cavities, cars are much quieter, but the weirdest thing is that everyone everywhere is looking at little pieces of glass they're holding in their hands, and people everywhere have tiny earphones in their ears. And if you do find someone without a piece of glass or earphones, their faces have this pained expression as if to say, 'Where is my little piece of glass?' What could possibly be in or on that piece of glass that could so completely dominate a species in one generation?"

Excerpted from an article appearing in the Financial Times on June 20, 2015, p. 20, Life & Arts section. The article was entitled 'The Prozac Principle' and written by Douglas Coupland, artist in residence at the Google Cultural Institute in Paris. Twitter @dougcoupland

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