Simpler Times

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

Simple does not mean better.

 

Sure, things are overcomplicated. But things have always been overcomplicated as long as humans were involved. Our brains are far too complex to make things any less. That much brainpower comes at a cost of simplicity, and it is a cost I gladly pay. It allows me to feel happy on a much deeper level. 

 

But hell, even farming is complicated. Farmers have to have a LOT of knowledge and not just know manual work, but about the right time to grow crops, harvesting them, not to mention caring for animals... it's a lot of hard, mind-taxing work. After all, agriculture is one of the reasons humans didn't have to be nomads anymore.

 

So I'd rather keep all of my fancy doo-dads and technology. I grew up around a computer, and my entire life has basically been on the internet. All of my significant friendships and social interactions, the feeling of being a part of something, of a greater community... it's all here. There is nothing that would ever convince me to give that up, because it is who I am. Not because I'm one of those people who always has the latest thing and can never let their phone go, but because of how personally important it is to me. I feel accepted here online, here with my technology. After all, it's what found me a person who makes me truly happy, someone who I really think might be my soul mate, and who I will never let go.

 

At the same time, I also know when to put it down for a second and not obsess. (Mostly.) I don't just stare at my phone when someone in real life is speaking to me, because that's rude.  And I can see why stuff outside of it might be appealing. To physically touch another person is something that can never be replicated by any computer, nor a hug or a kiss. It's important to be balanced and not too consumed with machines.

 

But I recognize them as a beautiful thing that made me who and what I am today, a valuable contribution to my entire personal life. Thus, no, I don't want to go to "simpler times." Mostly because "simpler times" never even existed. Since we became sapient, things have always been complicated. And maybe even more so since they didn't have appliances that made their lives easier like we do.

[Koelath 445]

I am the opposite I wish I was born in the future where technology was *greater* lol. I mean hell imagine when they actually get around to making virtual reality games that are legit *feels like you are there* sort of thing. 

 

Such devices are being worked upon already. Give it a few more decades. There's also research and work being done into ways to effectively cheat death. Mostly involves robots with human brains.

 

Frankly, the notion of "simpler times" is puzzling to me. Our current age is one of extraordinary convenience, most anything we could want in our daily lives is a mere call or button away if we so choose. You can't get much simpler than that.

[Malinter 3,064]

Such devices are being worked upon already. Give it a few more decades. There's also research and work being done into ways to effectively cheat death. Mostly involves robots with human brains.

 

Frankly, the notion of "simpler times" is puzzling to me. Our current age is one of extraordinary convenience, most anything we could want in our daily lives is a mere call or button away if we so choose. You can't get much simpler than that.

 

Like I said, wasn't pissing on technology's parade, after all, why would i want medical tech to go backwards? 

 

I think that its just increased so much so fast that its kinda of swamped us and perhaps given us all alittle bit more convienence than we actually need. kinda like how people drive distances that could easily walk for the sake of 5-10minutes. 

[Koelath 445]

Like I said, wasn't pissing on technology's parade, after all, why would i want medical tech to go backwards? 

 

I think that its just increased so much so fast that its kinda of swamped us and perhaps given us all a little bit more convenience than we actually need. kinda like how people drive distances that could easily walk for the sake of 5-10minutes. 

 

So...Your problem is that people you do not necessarily even know drive distances that you believe they should just walk even though their choice of transportation has no discernible effect whatsoever upon your own existence?

 

That is entirely ridiculous.

 

People have things to do. Five or ten minutes could very well be too great an amount of time to spend walking someplace. What's the average lunch break, a half hour or less? Even without time constraints, there could be imminent bad weather or it could just be a really hot day. Five minutes under Texas sun, plus the heat the human body generates during physical activity, that's just unpleasant for everyone.

 

Anyway, nobody NEEDS convenience at all so if that's your argument, we might as well all be Amish.

[Malinter 3,064]

 

People have things to do. Five or ten minutes could very well be too great an amount of time to spend walking someplace. What's the average lunch break, a half hour or less? Even without time constraints, there could be imminent bad weather or it could just be a really hot day. Five minutes under Texas sun, plus the heat the human body generates during physical activity, that's just unpleasant for everyone.

 

Anyway, nobody NEEDS convenience at all so if that's your argument, we might as well all be Amish.

 

I can understand that time is an issue but it has made some folk alot more unhealthy and lazier as a result.

 

The Amish is abit TOO simple, I want to go back but not THAT far back. XD

[Wayzer 1,418]

Noooh I would probably be bored to death without tech. Probably better off complaining ^^

[Shanks 10,816]

One thing I am grateful for is that during my childhood and early teen years my family was always doing something. We were heavily involved in charity work and my Mother especially made it a point to keep in touch with an be involved in the community. My parents also emphasized hard work and sacrifice, both of my parents have worked since they were teenagers though my Dad was often out of work due to numerous health problems he had. Me and my brother often helped at my Dad's old Italian restaurant back when we still had it, it was a great experience because it helped me develop my social skills as well as skills that would help me greatly in my current job.

 

As much as I love technology the fact is there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, technology wise I was never lacking but I still remember what it was like to live without the internet and what things were like when the internet first caught on in the late 90's. I remember the slow dial up modems, how they were tied into the phone line and made that horrid racket when they booted up. But people make the mistake of relying too heavily on technology and seem to forget the very world around them and that is what is supposed to be a useful tool becomes a problem. Case in point are all these people who seem to text on their phones every two seconds, I have seen people do it in the middle of class at school, people doing while crossing the street and even people doing it while driving. This is obviously an addiction for a lot of people and it is sad because technology can and has failed and the fact that so many people are so dependent on it that they are completely helpless when it goes out is very disturbing to me.

[Koelath 445]

I can understand that time is an issue but it has made some folk a lot more unhealthy and lazier as a result.

 

Technology does not make people unhealthy or lazy. People do that themselves. I'm not unhealthy because of technology, I'm unhealthy because of processed garbage sold in stores and an excessive sodium intake and a caffeine problem. I'm in front of a screen of some kind (computer, TV, iphone...) most of the time, and I run a daily distance equivalent to a 5K (which successfully balances out my general gluttony...Not my fault food is so tasty) plus a pushup routine every other day and occasional weight-lifting...Lazy people are lazy by choice.

 

And even if it did make people lazy, that's only physical laziness. Mentally, it's done the exact opposite. Saw a guy on TV (Shark Tank) who invented a semi-virtual-reality device, an invention enabled by technology. He didn't get the funding to mass-produce because the people in charge have idiotic notions about gamers all being lazy sacks of lard and apparently lack the slightest knowledge of just how lucrative that industry is, but the guy still invented it. And my brain's full of all manner of (admittedly often useless) information I'd never have gotten without technology. I know how to say "airplane" in German, and that's just beautiful.

 

And hey, without technology, this forum wouldn't exist. And Flash, which animates MLP, also might not exist.

[Koelath 445]

Case in point are all these people who seem to text on their phones every two seconds, I have seen people do it in the middle of class at school, people doing while crossing the street and even people doing it while driving.

 

Addictive personalities are no reason to hate on tech. That's a fault of the person, not the machine. And really, texting in class is no different than doodling in class. Class gets boring. Before smartphones, I used to pretend my hands were dinosaurs (four legs, middle was the neck).

 

As for texting "every two seconds"...So? They're having a conversation. You don't pause for five minutes between everything you say, do you? I hope not. If they're doing it at a time when their attention is needed elsewhere or being rude about it, that's a person problem, not a tech problem.

 

As for while crossing the street...Again, so? Crossing the street is a very easy task requiring minimal attention: Walk in a straight line. Texting while driving is a problem as it requires a great deal of continuous attention to numerous and variable external elements, but crossing the street? Whatevs, text away.

[Oblivion 20,266]

I miss the good ole days when you could go buy a Pepsi in a glass bottle for 5 cents! Man, I think it would be fun to live back in those times!!! You could also bring your gun to school and go hunting behind the school, those were the days, so much simpler!

[Myek 25]

there weren't any wars going on

TIL no wars happened from January 1, 1990 to December 31, 1999.

 

I miss the good ole days when you could go buy a Pepsi in a glass bottle for 5 cents! Man, I think it would be fun to live back in those times!!! You could also bring your gun to school and go hunting behind the school, those were the days, so much simpler!

Yeah, I adored the days when we could just use a fist and belt to solve our marital and domestic problems, and then those communists started saying that our most effective method was the problem!

[crazitaco 596]

Technology is one of those "ignorance is bliss" kind of things.

Once you become "aware" of the impact that internet and technology has, there is no going back. Looking back, life did seem simple and easy, but people back then had just as many problems as we do (maybe even more) Nostalgia has a way of warping our views and making them more idealized (ignoring the flaws). We may daydream and feel a sort of yearning for this idealized past, but its not the full reality we see. I personally wouldn't want to live in a time where communication was difficult, education/knowledge is harder to obtain (meaning ignorance is also more widespread), and there greater struggle to make ends meet. (also, no air conditioning. i would die, lol) Not only that, but i feel like technology has sort of connected me to humanity on a international level. Like Arylett said, i've grown up on the internet and its become a part of who i am. We're connected to the rest of humanity in ways that were never even possible in simpler times. I think its something really special about our generation.

 

We're dependent on technology for our own happiness, which brings good and bad things with it. It wouldn't be the same if technology were to disappear, suddenly living like the past we would probably hate it. That's backtracking on humanity's development.   we must accept that times have changed and this is our life, in the moment.

Edited December 11, 2013 by crazitaco