I’m not that proud of being a congenital pain in the ass. But I will take money for it. - Neal Stephenson

I would say that the ability of people to agree on matters of fact not immediately visible — states of affairs removed from them in space and time — ramped up from a baseline of approximately zero to a pretty high level around the time of the scientific revolution and all that, and stayed there and became more globally distributed up through the Cronkite era, and then dropped to zero incredibly quickly when the Internet came along.

Passing through the utility section she considered getting herself a cup of coffee. Then she felt shock and shame over the fact that she was thinking about coffee while her planet was being set on fire. Then she poured herself a cup of coffee anyway and stepped into the Farm.

— after that it's just a chase scene.