Interesting Times Quotient

The cliched Chinese curse fully appreciates the value of stability and status quo.

But I suspect that in each age, a certain level of self absorption dictates that the current times seem "interesting", e.g. we tend to "blah, blah, blah" parts of medieval history and assume that true change occurred after the Renaissance, etc.

At the reverse, even Homer couldn't make the entire ten years of the Trojan war interesting.

So how does one measure were the disruption of our age stands versus the French Revolution, or the Industrial age?

Is it a fair assumption to assume that the pace of "interest" is only going in one direction, i.e. increasing? (hmm, wonder if this is simply a measure of entropy)

While it may be difficult to measure versus ancient history, now that so much data is computerized and available for mining, one can use a large variety of counters from patents to demonstration permits issued, from arrest records to war casualties, etc. One has to note that the wide availability of data is demonstrably affecting, Heisenberg style, behavior, and is arguably an ameliorating influence in some cases, resonating influence in others.

If we are truly heading towards the singularity as the kurzweils and the cyberpunks predict, then this curve should be looking like a hockey stick.