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In this internet age are we really more content?
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Rob
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Jan 20, 2013 09:48AM
It is a question I often ponder...with facebook,twitter, big brother,x factor, celebrity everything, instant gratification....are we really much more content/happy today than in my generation the 1960's when all we had was a tv, books, a bicycle and a sense of adventure:)
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Well depends on How a person sees it to be. Happiness for one may totally differ from what constitutes happiness for others. Plus being happy is a matter of choice as Jenni said and one does not necessarily rely on material things for that :)
It is convenient to Google something and have the information at your fingertips; however, technology can be invasive if we let it. But a telephone is a form of technology, and we have been living with its presence in our lives for years. How in the world would we exist without telephones? We just have to learn to manage our technology and our time in a way that allows for leisure time/family time. Probably every generation has bemoaned progress and the loss of the "way it was before." However, that does not mean that those people would be reading books, writing, playing board games, talking to their loved ones, etc. any more than they do now if the technology of today did not exist. You can always choose to unplug your devices and read or ride your bicycle.
Happiness is a choice.
Connie wrote: "It is convenient to Google something and have the information at your fingertips; however, technology can be invasive if we let it. But a telephone is a form of technology, and we have been living ..."Most of us on goodreads attain simple pleasure from reading a book and let the mind take us where it will. I will often ignore the phone, ignore the front door, switch off the computer, switch off tv...and read a book..some may find this offensive and boring! but this simple pleasure of reading can do more to stimulate my mind than any other form of communication or entertainment.
I'm sure that things in general are only going to get worse, and I'm also sure that I have little control over what's going to happen, so I don't do much worrying. My philosophy is to be grateful for the good things in my life, show my love for my friends and family, and hope for the best. I'm content. As far as the Internet goes, I use it to learn about things that interest me and to keep in touch with friends by e-mail.
I think so, too, but in the meantime I focus on the good stuff right now. It's all I can control.
I'm not sure if I like the internet per say, one thing IS do like is being able to talk to people from around the world. As for things getting worse on earth e already see things happening, increased hurricanes, tornadoes, and sunamies. Thatis just in the last few years. It makes me wonder what is going to happen in the next 10 to 20 years. So I'M really try not to think overly much about it. I try to concentrate on what I do haveand on the here and now.
Trev wrote: "It is a question I often ponder...with facebook,twitter, big brother,x factor, celebrity everything, instant gratification....are we really much more content/happy today than in my generation the 1..."Sounds like we're the same generation. However, your question if for adults, so I don't think we should compare to when we were growing up.
I can compare pre-Internet when I was getting my undergraduate degree to Internet when I went back to school for a masters degree. So I can say definitely that life is better with the Internet! And, therefore, I was more content and happy with the Internet.
I am not more content. Some technological advances have made life easier, but it has definitely not added more imagination, love or companionship.
Technology has just added on to the list of things we need to do everyday and the number of gadgets we need to have.
I think people are more prone to becoming couch potatoes because of the internet, and television. Why go outside and explore the whole wide world outdoors. Having a bicycle or walking sure clears my head of the daily strife.
I think in this day and age everybody needs to be careful about how much they put out on the internet because you never you what sort of people are out there, I'm not saying anyone on this site is dangerous, in fact you all seem quite nice! But there does seem to be a generation that thinks that they are entitled to just about everything, and they want it now and fast. And I wonder if many people are happy in that mind set? May be if we all just slow down a bit and enjoy the simple things in life, family, friendship, a good book! More people would be content and I believe less likely to hurt one another.
I think kids today get easily bored, since they're used to being spoiled with so much more and new stimulation.
NO. we only have more content to deal with.
It's a blessing and a curse. In the old days neighbors talked over the fence and got to know each other. Younger people want to apply for jobs online rather than walk in and meet you potential coworkers or boss. We are losing the personal touch in a lot of ways. People find dates on websites. Why not the local church or a party etc.? I have heard of teens texting each other when they are in the same room! On the other hand, if you have a relative living far away you can talk to them with the click of a button.
I for one say NO we are not more content with all the technology. I remember the first fax machine and when cellular phones became popular! I remember the first Microwaves! OK I am growing old but I do keep up - new ipad, iphone and Mac - read email daily and surf the web, I order most of my clothes online! BUT... we are missing out on the feeling of holding a new paperback book in our hands and smelling the new ink! We miss that one on one association with other people, heck we don't even become used to voices on the phone now - we all text! We miss the "facial expressions" to know whether someone is really telling the truth, or is sad or mad as the "text" the words! I feel missing out on the relationships of friends, and foe will not be a good thing for the upcoming generations. We all need to get outside and "smell the roses" more!
I think the Internet makes people less content. It seems that most of the people, especially young people, are tied down by their "need" to constantly access something on the net. It DOES help me as a tutor when the student and I have a question on something because we can look it up immediately. Being content means not necessarily wanting or needing something else to be satisfied (NOT happy). It seems that most people are never content with what they have or can easily obtain. Technology is not good or bad in itself, but it cannot bring contentment; that has to come from inside.
I would have to say,I agree with a poster up above..we only have more content,to deal with.
The internet is a tool. And, should be treated as such. It is neither inherently good, or inherently bad. It is just a tool. But, as such, it can become what we want it to be. As mentioned above, it is a great tool for learning. However, just because you found out something on the internet, does not mean that it is necessarily truthful or correct. As it's computer driven, it may be either depending on what we're looking up and where we go to look it up. And, as a computer tool, it will look for what we tell it to look for. As a computer instructor told me many years ago, it's all about what we tell it to do. The computer is just as happy doing the wrong thing as it doing the right thing. And, what is right or wrong is all in the eye of the beholder.
I find a lot of peoples actions and comments on the internet to be tasteless and/or obnoxious. Certainly not all and on this site, we seen to have less tendency to run into that type of response. Maybe it's because we're book lovers and that doesn't attract the obnoxious responses in the numbers that, say, a site devoted to sports might/would. I see less intolerance of my opinion of a book than I see when I laud my favorite teams. More educated? Maybe, maybe not. Just because someone loves books doesn't necessarily mean that they are more educated. However, a book site, I would think, would draw the more educated clientele than the sports site.
To me the internet is a great big newspaper, magazine and movie theater combined. I get a lot more information and entertainment much more conveniently. I do worry about the future of traditional media, which is where the internet gets most of its useful news, but that's a different topic.You just have to remember, turn the internet off and go out and do something with other people now and then. Lead a balanced life.
I agree with Ron. Want to learn how to lay tile? The Internet has the answer. Ask a question, and get an answer to just about anything. It beats what we used to have to do to get information - go to the library and spend mucho time finding answers. The Internet's a great tool. It's also a substitute for human interaction. I'm here at 3 am because everyone I can talk to is asleep, and I can't sleep. Paying attention to your phone instead of your companions at dinner is another thing altogether.
The convenience of this toy is killing culture; killing everything we respect. All it does is enable short-attention-span nitwits to 'talk to' other short-attention-span nitwits. Without really talking to them.It breeds a world of dilettantes who use Youtube to temporarily solve a problem rather than mastering any skills themselves (via their own life experience). It allows people to conveniently and improperly skim information without building or retaining any wisdom of their own. It dumps our whole society into a morass of distrust and disrespect.
Do you really want your doctor or pharmacist, 'looking stuff up' instead of *knowing* how to treat you? Do you want professionals to be that careless? Do you want them missing a crucial symptom you're displaying because they're distracted by a txt message? That's what's happening.
A giant bullshit machine, that sucks in the feeble, absorbs them, and keeps them there in a state of perpetual infancy.
By the way, since when was TV ever a boon to human progress? So now we have a TV that that surrounds us and which we can carry everywhere? How is that a good thing?
We're witnessing nothing less than the death of critical thinking and the open-armed embrace of sloth, human decay, and gullibility.
