Rapid change in modern life

[Snake of Eden]

In the past people used to have the same technology, eat the same foods, stay married to the same people, travel less, stick to limited forms of entertainment, wear the same style of clothes, have the same style of houses and furniture, etc.. in all their lives with little to change during their whole life time. For more than a century. there is an ever accelerating rate at how things around us change and that includes values both socially and individually. Were we evolved/created to constantly see things around us change at this rapid rate? Could it be that we are losing our minds and simply cant cope to the accelration of things that does not stay the same around us for too long without morphing? Can we blame the acceleration rate itself of our rapid advancement despite with all the benefits that comes with it? Are we going to crash as we pass speed limit when it is too late to rely on the brakes to save ourselves?

 

[TheAmazingCriswell]

The world we evolved to survive in no longer exists.

 

[Snake of Eden]

The world we evolved to survive in no longer exists.

The great irony is that this should have resulted in an ever happier collective but it is the exact opposite. We are more comfortable than ever but we are more lost than ever at the same time

 

[TheAmazingCriswell]

The great irony is that this should have resulted in an ever happier collective

How so?

 

[Snake of Eden]

How so?

For many of us arent we supposed to feel happier with no need to scour for food, settle for bad shelter, be threatened by predators, diseases? Isnt it paradoxial?

 

[TheAmazingCriswell]

We are more comfortable than ever but we are more lost than ever at the same time

What you call comfort, I call dependency.

For many of us aren't we supposed to feel happier with no need to scour for food, settle for bad shelter, be threatened by predators, diseases? Isn't it paradoxical?

Over 90% of the history of our species was spent as hunter-gatherers, and we are as a consequence woefully ill-equipped to live in a society such as the one we have built for ourselves.

 

[Snake of Eden]

What you call comfort, I call dependency.

We cant know that but has there been as many suicidals in the past as in recent years (%)?

 

[TheAmazingCriswell]

We cant know that but has there been as many suicidals in the past as in recent years (%)?

I don't understand the question.

 

[Wrennie]

Industrialization royally screwed us.

 

[TheAmazingCriswell]

Industrialization royally screwed us in more ways than one.

I think you meant to say agriculture.

 

[Snake of Eden]

I don't understand the question.

Is suicide more prevalent now than in the past?

 

[Wrennie]

I think you meant to say agriculture.

A mix of both.

 

[TheAmazingCriswell]

Is suicide more prevalent now than in the past?

I fail to see how this relates to the point you're addressing.

A mix of both.

Well, without agriculture, there is no industrialisation.

 

[summers]

I'm on the other side - I think technology, industrialization, and modern living has made our live much better and more fulfilling. Not sure what everyone here wants, but I'm happy my entire existence doesn't revolve around survival - it's a given. I like being able to go to a store to buy food, being able to meet and communicate with people around the world, have vast amounts of knowledge at my fingertips.

I wish technology would evolve even faster than what it is, something like the integration of technology into our bodies - even more seamless communication, access to information, and adaptation based on our situations. Simple example - never needing to use google maps on your phone because you have some kind of internal gps. Or having eyes that adapt to adverse conditions to make driving in the rain safer.

 

[OrcWitch]

I'll be an enlightened centrist and say that being a caveman or cyborg both sound pretty nice.

 

[Snake of Eden]

I'm on the other side - I think technology, industrialization, and modern living has made our live much better and more fulfilling. Not sure what everyone here wants, but I'm happy my entire existence doesn't revolve around survival - it's a given. I like being able to go to a store to buy food, being able to meet and communicate with people around the world, have vast amounts of knowledge at my fingertips.

I hear you about all of that but do you certainly think we are not paying any price in the sense that there could be something positive within ourselves that we dont have access to any longer as a result of living in this type of way? I dont know if there is. Im just questioning that this happiness that we all have living like this. Could we be forgoing innate talents that when used, it would generate some reward mechanisms associated with our older ways of living? Is that why we always feel something is not right or missing? I dont know.

It just feels we are under the illusion that we can have it just by the virtue of modern easy living. Our technology will serve to even be more comfortable. Is it going to enrich our lives more or are we going to sacrifice more things that make us all round humans and take away from our mental health wellbeing? It feels this way but i dont know

 

[summers]

I hear you about all of that but do you certainly think we are not paying any price in the sense that there could be something positive within ourselves that we dont have access to any longer as a result of living in this type of way? I dont know if there is. Im just questioning that this happiness that we all have living like this. Could we be forgoing innate talents that when used, it would generate some reward mechanisms associated with our older ways of living? Is that why we always feel something is not right or missing? I dont know.

It just feels we are under the illusion that we can have it just by the virtue of modern easy living. Our technology will serve to even be more comfortable. Is it going to enrich our lives more or are we going to sacrifice more things that make us all round humans and take away from our mental health wellbeing? It feels this way but i dont know

I totally get what you're saying. I think, in the end, it comes down to the individual. I'm older, so when I was in grade school, there wasn't the internet, and our world was just smaller. Having lived that, and being able to compare that to what we have today - I 100% think we're in a better place as a society. At the same time, someone who's younger and only experienced this hyper-connected world may feel they missed out on simpler times. I also can see how even with everyone being available all the time, the lack of in-person contact can make us feel alone in a crowded room.

 

[TooConscious]

We opted to be mindless consumers but instead turned into sadistic materialistics.

 

[deflationary]

I think that the past was bad, the present is bad and the future will be bad.

 

[GrumpyFrog]

Could we be forgoing innate talents that when used, it would generate some reward mechanisms associated with our older ways of living? Is that why we always feel something is not right or missing? I dont know.

It just feels we are under the illusion that we can have it just by the virtue of modern easy living. Our technology will serve to even be more comfortable. Is it going to enrich our lives more or are we going to sacrifice more things that make us all round humans and take away from our mental health wellbeing? It feels this way but i dont know

That is an interesting theory. However, in a community like ours it sometimes becomes easy to forget that majority of the people in the world are, for the most part, okay with life. They find it enjoyable and aren't in a state of constant mental health crisis, even though they live in the same modern, technologically developed world. Sure, most people experience some amoung of dissatisfaction and the feeling of something missing from their lives, but judging by literature this was a problem people dealt with for many hundreds of years.
So yeah, I'd say "it's not the whole world, it's just us not fitting in" in this case.

 

[Enigmatic Sailor]

I think it needs to accelerate faster. Pump some fucking nitro in this bitch, know'm sayin'?

 

[Mr2005]

I can't handle it at all. Tbh it's my worst nightmare and given what my problems are some kind of purgatory. The worst part is knowing it's not ever going to get better. I think my mind knows it's not my time anymore and I simply don't belong here

 

[Insomniac]

I'm on the other side - I think technology, industrialization, and modern living has made our live much better and more fulfilling. Not sure what everyone here wants, but I'm happy my entire existence doesn't revolve around survival - it's a given. I like being able to go to a store to buy food, being able to meet and communicate with people around the world, have vast amounts of knowledge at my fingertips.

I wish technology would evolve even faster than what it is, something like the integration of technology into our bodies - even more seamless communication, access to information, and adaptation based on our situations. Simple example - never needing to use google maps on your phone because you have some kind of internal gps. Or having eyes that adapt to adverse conditions to make driving in the rain safer.

Same. I can't wait for AI to advance enough for us to be able to live fully virtual lives.

and I'd rather have people filling the inner void with things than with kids.

but I agree that society is degenerating rapidly into pure madness because most of the decisions with collectively make are completely illogical.

 

[motel rooms]

I think that the past was bad, the present is bad and the future will be bad.

Yep. Wtf was so fabulous about hunting & gathering shit just to survive? And don't even get me started on delusional futuroptimism.

 

[Snake of Eden]

Life can never be ideal. To gain something we have to lose something. People who are single sacrifice things to be in a relationship and vice versa. Thats due to our limited capacity. I wouldnt be surprised if we happened to lose some psychological benefits (like bonding) due to opting for easy lives and comfortable living. For example: a wife would feel much more enamoured by a husband if he actually turned out to be couragous as a result of defending her from a predator. Not being able to flush our talents looks like a price we have to pay for loosing our need to use them in first place. Not being able to show our true worth and talents through trial and right of passage may have impacted how the gene pool should have worked better if potential partners could have been sifted through by revealing their worthwhile traits other than good looks and monetary/societal status. Those are some drawbacks that i could think of

 

[Sherri]

The world as we knew it will never exist anymore, all this technology changed the world and us forever. Services replacing people with machines in supermarkets , airports, I miss being in a queue and be attended by a real person that was nice and sometimes even left 4 kilos excess luggage pass. Now one kilo more and the machine stops and you have to pay for that kilo. Each machine at an airport saved paying wages to 3 people. And when 5G comes, I'm not looking forward at all for it.