Has Technology Turned us Into Ungrateful Bastards?

learningcurve

learningcurve

Genitals are funny
Apr 9, 2011
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Out riding my motorcycle
I often wonder about this, especially since I grew up in the seventies when there was no interwebz or mobile phones and music came on vinyl. It strikes me as odd when some people whinge about what they do whinge about sometimes.

An example is the way some whinge when this forum is running slow, or is down. I think it's amazing that at any given time, I can buy a service from someone thousands of miles from me that I have never met in person and pay for it instanly one second and then be looking at beautiful women, having a laugh, or learning something new the next. When it is down...I simply do something else. :)

Do you ever stop and wonder 'why am I whinging about this'? And have you stopped and gone - fuck...the age I'm living is truly amazing, so why am I whinging? I guess if you don't know how it was before your generation it is easy to take some amazing things for granted.

Anyway... saw this video and I thought I would share it. Feel free to discuss.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk"]Everythings Amazing & Nobodys Happy - YouTube[/ame]
 


No idea, but it's definitely taken away any semblance of community responsibility we used to have. That went right out the window.
 
Anyone remember the days of party line telephone service? Or when automobile air conditioning was called rolling the windows down with a crank?
 
I hate this "I'm so lucky I wasn't born a starving African" shit. It's normal to want more and by extension it's normal to feel bad when something is taken away from you. It's in your DNA.

Look at it this way: if, before the internet existed, everyone sat around talking about how lucky we are to have a postal system, you wouldn't even be reading this.

Being an entitled asshole is good for the species and it's programmed into you. Don't fight it and don't feel ashamed for wanting more shit faster.
 
I hate this "I'm so lucky I wasn't born a starving African" shit.
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Didn't say anything about Africa you mental retard. I'm talking about actually appreciating what you have. Maybe the question I should have asked is: Is this new generation a massive bunch of arseholes with even more massive entitlement issues?
Look at it this way: if, before the internet existed, everyone sat around talking about how lucky we are to have a postal system, you wouldn't even be reading this.
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Yes, and they either bitched about it if they had their head up their asshole sysndrome that you obviously suffer from, or they appreciated it for what it was; something that made their lives that little bit easier.

Being an entitled asshole is good for the species and it's programmed into you.
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Not really, I'm sure Hitler and other fucking assholes of the same ilk really show what feeling so entitled leads to in the long run. Your name should be feedmeaclue.
Don't fight it and don't feel ashamed for wanting more shit faster.
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I don't want more shit faster, nor do I want to lose my sense of wonderment (something that you've obviously lost or shit out). I quite often sit there and think about the things I can do now that I couldn't when I was eighteen, and the opportunities offorded to me and I am thankful for the most part.

Your whole post reminded me of the quote from the above vid:

we live in an amazing world and it's wasted on the crappiest generation of spoiled idiots
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For having such a positive outlook on life, you're an awfully defensive and angry man.
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Not really bro. Just have a low tolerance for people who are idiots. As for the very clever reference in the link, can you think of a more glaring example of where one man's issue of entitlement led a whole country to believing it was entitled to what it thought was rightfully theirs, and attempted to take it by force?

Not trying to burn you, an idiot will do that on their own. That being said, you are entitled to your opinion I guess, whether I feel it is valid or not. I asked for discussion and I guess you gave me a better indication of the true problem with your original reply.

FWIW I still find myself being amazed at what we can do and what is on the horizon. Personally, I hope I never lose that ability (to be amazed). Seems like a sad existence to be otherwise.
 
Every time I use my Iphone I'm still amazed.

Just today I found a bunch of new Chrome apps I couldn't believe I hadn't heard of. Awesome stuff that will make my life easier.

I remember rotary phones. I remember Atari 2600. NES came out when I was like 5. I was born in '82, so right there with ya in the technological revolution.

I studied aeronautics. Have you ever studied the physics that make a helicopter fly? Incredible stuff.

Loved the Louis C.K. bit.

Also agree you kinda snapped in that reply. If I offered you internet that streamed 100tb's a second, or the Iphone 5 or a prototype of some amazing breakthrough you'd be curious to try it out.

The world is amazing and we should enjoy it and appreciate what we have.

The world can also be shitty, and we should never settle when we can do better.

I'm not even arguing here. The tones of your two posts struck me as a complete 180.

Now you just seem like an overreacting dick.

Anyway, it's cool. What I really wanted to say is... Ahh fucking forum timed out. FML.
 
learningcurve said:
FWIW I still find myself being amazed at what we can do and what is on the horizon. Personally, I hope I never lose that ability (to be amazed). Seems like a sad existence to be otherwise.
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Well, there's certainly nothing wrong with being amazed with the universe. It's a very amazing place after all.

My issue with your first post is that you're telling people they have no right to complain about anything because the universe is so wonderful and technology is so impressive. That assumes that happiness is based on the absolute amount of cool shit around you when, in reality, happiness is affected by things like loss and failure.

I just don't think you should be condemning people because they're not 100% satisfied with life 100% of the time. Furthermore, I think it is dissatisfaction that motivates us to advance as a species (e.g, we don't like doing dishes, we invent dishwashers).
 
I grew up in the 90's but over here what was described was still in effect, telephones with cords. Also i went through the internet phase. Back when it was the modem era 28kb/s was great and I was happy for it, now if the speed drops bellow 200kb/s i start searching what's happening because it should go a couple of megs/s. I think people can't go back in lifestyle.

Funny thing a few weeks ago I had a really long conversation with my business partner and both of our cells died. So we plugged it in to charge, and we were joking that in the 21st century we're still using phones with cords.
 
"Everything's amazing and nobody's happy". Made me think. We are really better than we were 10 years ago, for example.

This isn't about stopping progress and just dealing with what you have. It's appreciated what you have and in the same time trying to improve it. Going to either extreme is bad. A thought that for FeedMeBacon is hard to comprehend, it seems...
 
that's so true. But we also have to understand that because we are 7 billion people on the planet, at least 5 billion will be idiots and jerks. Nobody is grateful for anything, but those would still live in a cave without others, that invented all sort of things

I hear stupid statements,all the time, like " that fridge is way to expensive" or "the iPhone it's very expensive",etc, well, i always tell them: "BUILD IT YOUR OWN , YOU FUCKING IDIOT, if you can't appreciate the work of others"
 
darenet said:
Going to either extreme is bad. A thought that for FeedMeBacon is hard to comprehend, it seems...
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Hey, learningcurve jumps straight to nazism and I'm the one that gets told off for extremes? :p

You're right though. This isn't a black and white thing. Obviously I don't think people should be picketing when a free forum goes down but at the same time it's not as simple as "shut up and be happy because sunsets".

As someone who spent a decent chunk of his life depressed, I wanted to present an argument against happy-go-lucky-super-positivism. If you've been depressed you'll know how infuriating it is when people try to cheer you up by "reminding you" how good you have it because "it could be worse".
 
My issue with your first post is that you're telling people they have no right to complain about anything because the universe is so wonderful and technology is so impressive.
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It's not so much that they don't have the right to complain, I guess we get used to certain standards - and I never said people had no right to complian, it just makes me wonder if people have gotten so blaise about what they have at their disposal that they have become ungrateful to a largely ridiculous point.

If I offered you internet that streamed 100tb's a second, or the Iphone 5 or a prototype of some amazing breakthrough you'd be curious to try it out.
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Of course I would, but I'm not hung up on it. My phone is at leat 8-9 years old and I like it that way - it does what I need and it amazes that people need to upgrade constantly because the old one isn't good enough anymore.

As someone who spent a decent chunk of his life depressed
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I hope you are ok now. My brother was diagnosed as bi-polar early last year, and while I don't understand what you may have been through, I have empathy for your situation.
 
Kiopa_Matt said:
No idea, but it's definitely taken away any semblance of community responsibility we used to have. That went right out the window.
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What do you think you're posting in right now?


This is a community, full of people helping eachother. The internet just made us able to find people we can actually relate to because all humans are very vain creatures. Sure I might not care that my neighbours car got stolen anymore but I'd care if one of yours did, you guys are my family, I love you so much, Kiopa Matt.
 
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liesnillusions said:
What do you think you're posting in right now?


This is a community, full of people helping eachother. The internet just made us able to find people we can actually relate to because all humans are very vain creatures. Sure I might not care that my neighbours car got stolen anymore but I'd care if one of yours did, you guys are my family, I love you so much, Kiopa Matt.
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As a member of the community who wishes to help, I attempted to clear your redbar. I failed. However, I did try really really hard.

<3
 
^ Agreed w/yucky.

I'm also in my 30's, I remember all of that.

I think technology has made people absofuckinlutely lazy, take life for granted, and are socially fucked thanks to agendas + tech imo.

I remember having to print out or just write my own address book/phone numbers on a 8.5x11 and keep it in my wallet (frankly it was better/safer/more private). My mom would never let me watch more than x of TV a day (very little). Parents would force kids to go out and play - now everywhere I look kids as young as 10 have devices and most are anti-social as fuck or just socially awkward irl.

Two years now, I've gone without a cell/device (mind you it's because I'm always wired in at my studio but still it's awesome not having yet another piece of tech in my shadow 247 on top of the rest). I try to never use my GPS, and do other lil' things in life that don't make me so reliant on tech for basic shit (I bet half of us don't know your closest peoples phone numbers off by heart anymore). I'll still try to phone/visit people for b-days and functions vs a notification, I still remember the first text message I got saying Happy-Birthday, I was like "You ignorant impersonal fuck" but now it's the norm..

Obviously I'm not anti-tech, but compared to the 80's/90's, it's wayyyyyyyyyy fucking different and I'm not so sure it's in a good way, at least no all of it.

Also in b4 tin-foil but I'm fascinated with the amount of tech/reverse-engineering/etc we've accomplished or acquired in the last 40-50 years, kinda unbelievable.
 
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