--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As popular culture becomes more…" description: "\"As popular culture becomes more presentist, we move away from entertainment as the vicarious experience of a narrative - as watching someone else's sto..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b9/douglas-rushkoff-2188_culture_as-popular-culture-becomes-more-presenti_1411659.png" --- # As popular culture becomes more presentist, we move away… ![“As popular culture becomes more presentist, we move away from entertainment as the vicarious experience of a narrative - as watching someone else's story - and much more toward enacting one's own story. Moving away from myths and toward fantasy role-playing games, away from movies and toward…” quote by Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b9/douglas-rushkoff-2188_culture_as-popular-culture-becomes-more-presenti_1411659.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b9/douglas-rushkoff-2188_culture_as-popular-culture-becomes-more-presenti_1411659.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b9/douglas-rushkoff-2188_culture_as-popular-culture-becomes-more-presenti_1411659.png) > “As popular culture becomes more presentist, we move away from entertainment as the vicarious experience of a narrative - as watching someone else's story - and much more toward enacting one's own story. Moving away from myths and toward fantasy role-playing games, away from movies and toward videogames.” [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Modern media shifts from passive storytelling to immersive, self‑generated narratives, reducing shared myths. **In simple terms:** People now act out their own stories rather than watch others. Key Takeaway Engage critically with interactive media and preserve communal narratives. Themes media culture technology Mood thoughtful analytical Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - gaming - social media - education - community events Key Concepts participatory culture mythology identity Questions to Reflect On - How does role‑playing affect your sense of self? - What can we do to keep shared stories alive? A Different Perspective Over‑immersion in personal narratives can erode collective empathy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Enacting Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enacting-story-3871956/) [Entertainment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entertainment/) [Entertainment Vicarious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entertainment-vicarious-4975947/) [Experience Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience-narrative-1101781/) [Fantasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fantasy/) [Games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/games/) [Moving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving/) [Moving away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving-away/) [Myth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myth/) [Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrative/) [Playing games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/playing-games/) [Popular culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/popular-culture/) [Role playing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/role-playing/) [Roles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/roles/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Story Enacting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story-enacting-4975946/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Vicarious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vicarious/) [Videogame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/videogame/) ## Related quotes > [The story the Leavers have been enacting for the past three million years isnt a story of conquest and rule. Enacting it doesnt give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/the-story-the-leavers-have-been-enacting-for-the-past-three-million/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [“culture. A culture is a people enacting a story.” “A people enacting a story. And a story again is …?” “A scenario interrelating man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/culture-a-culture-is-a-people-enacting-a-story-a-people-enacting-a/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [“Reality exists only through experience, and it must be personal experience. However, once related, even personal experience becomes a narrative.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gao-xingjian/reality-exists-only-through-experience-and-it-must-be-personal/) [Gao Xingjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gao-xingjian/) > [“If you lose your ego, you lose the thread of that narrative you call your Self. Humans, however, can't live very long without some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-you-lose-your-ego-you-lose-the-thread-of-that-narrative-you-call/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [The novel form is about the protagonist's struggle to transform his arbitrary, fragmented, given experience into a narrative as meaningful as his favorite books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/the-novel-form-is-about-the-protagonist-s-struggle-to-transform-his/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [This unceasing interplay between experience and narrative is a uniquely human attribute. We are the storytellers, the ones who put life into words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baldwin/this-unceasing-interplay-between-experience-and-narrative-is-a/) [Christina Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baldwin/) > [“Bookstores contain the residue of thousands of people who went in there to find an experience, a narrative that guided them to a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-leto/bookstores-contain-the-residue-of-thousands-of-people-who-went-in/) [Lauren Leto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-leto/) > [We are moving away from myths and toward fantasy role-playing games, away from movies and toward videogames.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/we-are-moving-away-from-myths-and-toward-fantasy-role-playing-games/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [I think where the criticism of videogames come from is where videogames are just Xeroxes of films, and when you get a film adaptation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-wright/i-think-where-the-criticism-of-videogames-come-from-is-where/) [Edgar Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-wright/) > [I was always a very indoor videogame nerd movie buff... Now I've come to appreciate Scouts and the outdoors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-gilman/i-was-always-a-very-indoor-videogame-nerd-movie-buff-now-i-ve-come-to/) [Jared Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-gilman/) > [I think it's really cool that videogames are getting more and more sophisticated and believable, and that people who worked on movies are being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-walton/i-think-it-s-really-cool-that-videogames-are-getting-more-and-more/) [Mark Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-walton/) > [When you play a videogame, you could be a completely different person than you are in the real world, certain aspects of the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-nolan/when-you-play-a-videogame-you-could-be-a-completely-different-person/) [Christopher Nolan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-nolan/) > [I've been playing videogames since before my career in this business, but what happened is several videogame companies were recruiting students back then and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-shimomura/i-ve-been-playing-videogames-since-before-my-career-in-this-business/) [Yoko Shimomura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-shimomura/) > [I think there's a lot of scope in broadening the way videogames approach depictions of masculinity, which is still extremely narrow in scope. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-druckmann/i-think-there-s-a-lot-of-scope-in-broadening-the-way-videogames/) [Neil Druckmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-druckmann/) > [I had never done anything with blue screen before, or prosthetics, or anything like that. Lord of the Rings was like stepping into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/i-had-never-done-anything-with-blue-screen-before-or-prosthetics-or/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) ## More by Douglas Rushkoff > [The first step toward maintaining autonomy in any programmed environment is to be aware that there's programming going on. It's as simple as understanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/the-first-step-toward-maintaining-autonomy-in-any-programmed/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [Digital media are biased toward replication and storage. Our digital photos practically upload and post themselves on Facebook, and our most deleted e-mails tend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/digital-media-are-biased-toward-replication-and-storage-our-digital/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [“And spend they did. 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The invention of the clock made us accountable to the employer, gave us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/time-has-always-been-used-against-us-on-a-certain-level-the-invention/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [What makes a great standalone piece of hardware is not the same thing as what makes a great networking device. One can work as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/what-makes-a-great-standalone-piece-of-hardware-is-not-the-same-thing/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [Digiphrenia - how technology lets us be in more than one place - and self - at the same time. Drone pilots suffer more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/digiphrenia-how-technology-lets-us-be-in-more-than-one-place-and-self/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [A currency designed for long-term storage and investment doesn't do so well at encouraging transactions and exchange in the moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/a-currency-designed-for-long-term-storage-and-investment-doesn-t-do/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [Since the 1960s, mainstream media has searched out and co-opted the most authentic things it could find in youth culture, whether that was psychedelic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/since-the-1960s-mainstream-media-has-searched-out-and-co-opted-the/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [Children are being adultified because our economy is depending on them to make purchasing decisions. So they're essentially the victims of a marketing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/children-are-being-adultified-because-our-economy-is-depending-on/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [In spite of my own reservations about Bing's ability to convert Google users, I have to admit that the search engine does offer a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/in-spite-of-my-own-reservations-about-bing-s-ability-to-convert/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [“Limbic consonance is the little-known process through which the mood of a room changes when a happy or nervous person walks in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/limbic-consonance-is-the-little-known-process-through-which-the-mood/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [Think 'Game of Thrones.' In the old days, this sort of show might be considered bad writing. It doesn't really seem to be moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/think-game-of-thrones-in-the-old-days-this-sort-of-show-might-be/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [We have the alternative. "Do I want to be on the subway looking at these people, or do I want to be in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/we-have-the-alternative-do-i-want-to-be-on-the-subway-looking-at/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [Digiphrenia”—the way our media and technologies encourage us to be in more than one place at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/digiphrenia-the-way-our-media-and-technologies-encourage-us-to-be-in/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) [Explore all 180 Douglas Rushkoff quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) ## More Culture quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. Many of these cultures feel that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/a-lot-of-indigenous-cultures-are-deeply-involved-in-working-with/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [In the hearing world, I'm constantly having to lip-read and trying to understand what's going on. Sign language is so beautiful. It gives you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-ayling-ellis/in-the-hearing-world-i-m-constantly-having-to-lip-read-and-trying-to/) [Rose Ayling-Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-ayling-ellis/) > [I was born and raised in Orlando, where the economy and culture has been powerfully shaped by tourism, and so I've long been interested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/i-was-born-and-raised-in-orlando-where-the-economy-and-culture-has/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [Our times demand the declaration of the world's resources as the common heritage of all people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/our-times-demand-the-declaration-of-the-world-s-resources-as-the/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [The U.S.-Mexican border es un herida abierta where the Third World grates against the first and bleeds. And before a scab forms it hemorrhages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/the-u-s-mexican-border-es-un-herida-abierta-where-the-third-world/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [What it comes down to for me is this: Will the technologies of communication in our culture, serve to enlighten us and help us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/what-it-comes-down-to-for-me-is-this-will-the-technologies-of/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [I think it's useful to experience other types of dance and other cultures, and the life of a classical dancer these days is certainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-bull/i-think-it-s-useful-to-experience-other-types-of-dance-and-other/) [Deborah Bull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-bull/) > [In the movie, the stars above the ship bear no correspondence to any constellations in a real sky. 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My literature has a universal concern: I want to bring people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/it-is-not-my-intention-to-explain-turkey-its-culture-and-its-problems/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [I don't think the distinction between high and low culture exists anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-scott/i-don-t-think-the-distinction-between-high-and-low-culture-exists/) [Jeremy Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-scott/) > [You get below the Mason-Dixon line and you have some of the best music, culture, the two races, the literature, and it's so rich.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-duvall/you-get-below-the-mason-dixon-line-and-you-have-some-of-the-best/) [Robert Duvall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-duvall/) > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [“Being grounded in your lifelong culture and your personal perspective, you are comfortable with the way you see things and may believe it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/being-grounded-in-your-lifelong-culture-and-your-personal-perspective/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) [Browse all 15,940 Culture quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As popular culture becomes more presentist, we move away from entertainment as the vicarious experience of a narrative - as watching someone else's story - and much more toward enacting one's own story. 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