I grew up way out in the country. You couldn't even see another house from where we lived. For the longest time we didn't have video games or a computer and the only TV we had was from a rickety antenna that didn't come in half the time. For fun we would play pretend, play in the woods, play the creeks making little dams and such, listen to records or tapes (analog sounds better), make silly videos on the VHS camcorder (that was later), play with little cars in the dirt, and go on 'field trips' out in the country. We grew our own vegetables in the garden and always ate at home (my mom and dad are really good cooks). We didn't have a lot, but I never felt deprived. Occasionally other kids would come over and we would play outside or do something where we actually paid attention to one another. Now it just seems like everything is such a mess. I live in town in an apartment complex far from the woods. Everything is so expensive it seems. It feels like you have to have money to be able to do anything. Most everyone is so caught up in their computers and cell phones and wireless devices and there is not so much face-to-face interaction. Even when I get to be with friends the technology is always there, distracting and being an interruption. It seems to me that most people would rather interact with an electronic device than with a person. Music is so compressed and doesn't sound as good as it used to, and don't get me started about today's popular music. Most food tastes like crap if it even has flavor at all. Being able to be on the internet and have access to so much information is a blessing and a curse. Maybe I am romanticizing the past, but it just seemed so much more real back then. Thoughts, anyone? :rockon:
I think a lot of things are going on here. -Romantic notions about the past/especially childhood -Recognizing problems with the modern world -Finding solace with problems in your life/with the modern world, by remembering times when those problems didn't exist - especially out of a feeling of helplessness/powerlessness -Maybe even not fully appreciating the modern world But I think a really big thing is that technology has evolved too quickly for many of us to fully adapt to it -- especially those of us with limited budgets. We need to find our centers and our balance again. Many of us let our lives be disrupted by technology that is inherently neutral, but used in negative ways; including simple over use. People's habits will continue to change, just like the technology will continue to change.
i grew up half a mile outside a town of less then a thousand people. three trains each way stopped there every day, and there must have been 8 or ten greyhound schedules that did too. now the county runs one bus up there three times a week. you could live in the country without having to be rich, or own a car. trying to make everything have to be about little green pieces of paper is what screwed it up. that and nothing's been done to lower human fertility.
