Ninetenicillin

«Ninetenicillin is the theoretical pill one could take to make oneself feel as though 9/11 never happened and one was still living in the 20th century, not the 21st. If you were to take a handful of Ninetenicillin, you would look at The New York Times for September 12 2001 and the headline would read, “Shark Attacks Continue off Florida Coast.” Potential ninetenicillin junkies yearn for a world without search engines, intrusive airport security screenings and email boxes that are magically empty every night before bed. As a form of escapism, yearning for the 20th century is understandable but in practice it would be horrible – sort of like going on a holiday promising yourself you could go without the internet, only to crumble and walk in a daze to the local internet café to gorge on connectivity. It’s fun to sentimentalise the 20th-century lifestyle and the 20th-century brain, but it helps nobody, it makes you look ancient, there’s no going back and you’d be miserable if you did. Onward.»



Douglas Coupland nella sua nuova rubrica sul Financial Times.