Multi-tasking and random access may be fine for some, but for better or worse I have a very linear mind. I do best when I can see things on a continuum and do them in a particular order. I'm happiest if I can start at one place, move through whatever steps are required, and get to an eventual end point. Doesn't matter if it's cooking, repair projects or exercise. Those who can juggle multiple things at one time, be it conversations or crime dramas, have my admiration even if they might lose me along the way.
The wider world is no different. Trying to understand all that is happening is difficult unless I (and perhaps other simple-minded souls) can place the current state-of-play on some kind of timeline. It's true the delineations are not always neat or definitive, but they can be instructive and helpful as a way of understanding the bigger forces at play. One can even argue that doing so is not just retrospective, in the sense of recording and reporting for the history books, but might also play some role in nudging us in certain directions. After all, if you say the world is no longer pre-AI but thick in the middle of it, you might be more likely to take ChatGPT out for a spin.
This is easily seen in technology: we are "post" smartphones, iPads and search engines. That doesn't mean that they are gone, just that they have lost their shine. At one point each was cutting edge, and only the cool kids and tech-nerds were using them. Now each is so ubiquitous as to be wallpaper. We don't even think about trying new iterations because each seems to have matured and reached the limit as to what it can do. And so rather than use Google to list vacation spots, we ask Gemini to design a week-long trip to Ireland. However, we (or at least me) are "pre" the "agentic" version of the same, where we make Claude our agent, hand it our credit card and say "book it." It's starting to happen in some situations, though you best check that it's not snagging you a reservation in Little Italy as opposed to Real Rome.
You can apply the same sorting to almost anything. Take finance: we are post ATM's and credit cards, while deep into alternative payment platforms and tap-to-pay. You can argue crypto should be in that "today" bucket, but other than as an instrument for speculation and dark money exchanges (read that as "criminal"), no one has figured out an actual use case for it. While it has its proponents, most of us can mark everyday adoption and ubiquitous use of our bitcoin wallet as "pre", and the whole thing may explode before it ever gets there.
It's no different in other fields. In medicine we're post organ transplant, pre cloning replacements in the lab. In space we're post orbital outpost and pre Mars settlement. We are post electric cars and pre flying ones, post plant-based meat and pre the manufactured variety, post solar and pre fusion. And depending on what side of the fence you are on we're either post or pre our best years as a country, and your perception will likely flip at the next election.
Of course, we each have our own timelines as well, ones that are more granular than global. I am at that awkward stage of post ambitious yet pre retirement. On a more personal level my vision is post 20-20, my knees post flexible, and I'm way post sleeping through the night. The good news is, at least as of this writing, I am pre non-spicy foods, pre mechanical assistance to walk and pre always needing a sweater. I don't believe I will ever be post nap; the only pre for that activity may be length and frequency. And depending on the situation, who I am with and the way I feel that day, I am both post and pre acting my age
With all that's happening in the world, some say we are becoming post hope and post optimistic. While I'm not ignoring the bigger picture, it's easy to fall into that hole and wallow in it. And so I will do what I can, while at the same time remembering that I am pre the next concert, pre the next lunch with friends, and pre my next ice cream sundae.
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Marc Wollin of Bedford is always trying to classify things. His column appears weekly via email and online on Substack and Blogspot as well as Facebook, LinkedIn and X.
