For **Generation X**, there was a world before smartphones, social media and algorithms.

VHS. MTV. Arcades. Saturday morning television. Landlines. Video stores. Newspapers.

We remember life **before the digital world became our world**.

Then the landscape shifted.

**9/11. War. Changes in government and security policy. Expanding surveillance. The internet. Social media. Smartphones. Algorithms. And now… AI.**

In this short introductory chat for **Centuries of Simulation**, we look back at the extraordinary transformation we've witnessed within a single generation — and begin asking how technology, media, politics and storytelling have changed the way we experience reality.

From **The Matrix to The Truman Show**, yesterday's fiction suddenly gives us an intriguing language for discussing today's world.

Were these simply great stories?

Did they influence how we interpret reality?

And as AI accelerates the next transformation, perhaps it's time to ask:

**How did we get here… and where exactly are we going next?**

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