7 Reasons the 21-st Century is Making You Miserable

[Anthile]

Just an article: http://www.cracked.com/article_15231_7-reasons-21st-century-making-you-miserable.html


Well, of course I have my own opinion about that but I don't want to influence this thread directly at the beginning.

Discuss.

 

[Ulysses]

I don't get that naked photo test. Why would anyone want their most trustworthy friends/family to have a photo of them banging a sheep in the arse?

I couldn't get past that first bit in the article.

 

[jamez345]

lol

 

[Red Mage]

We're losing that skill, the one that lets us deal with strangers and tolerate their shrill voices and clunky senses of humor and body odor and squeaky shoes.

People used to be able to do that? This isn't one of those golden-age-that-never-existed things, is it? I refuse to believe it's possible.

#2. We don't have enough annoying friends, either.

Is it weird that the first thought in my head was, I smell a business opportunity?

#5. We don't get criticized enough.

Ditto.

 

[Fukyo]

Hmm,very blunt article.
Very realistic,a bit too much though...
Agree on some points,disagree on other.

Particularly:

It's the kind of physical, dirt-under-your-nails satisfaction that you can only get by turning off the computer, going outdoors and re-connecting with the real world. That feeling, that "I built that" or "I grew that" or "I fed that guy" or "I made these pants" feeling, can't be matched by anything the internet has to offer.

You can make things on a computer that are equally satisfactory as anything "real" such as art,writing,or programming applications.Those are also the product of your hard work,time and creativity.

#7. We feel worthless, because we actually are worth less.

There's something about this that just stirs up my Fi.
I believe that no human being is worthless.

And the "No thank" part just seems grossly exaggerated to me.

 

[Waterstiller]

7 Reasons why the 21st century is making INTP life bearable.


I have too many friends for my taste.

 

[Tyria]

I would say we are more disconnected from the world and too caught up in civilization. We need to go back to nature for a bit to reconnect.

 

[Ermine]

I resent the whole emo theme, but...

They are right in that excessive disconnection is harmful.

 

[Artifice Orisit]

I would say we are more disconnected from the world and too caught up in civilization. We need to go back to nature for a bit to reconnect.

*lights flick off*
...
*lights flick back on revealing CK with his foot shoved into his mouth*
My presence is entirely coincidental.

Alright fun aside, the natural world isn't the pretty little wonderland television would have you believe; most things either want to eat you or prevent you from eating them. Personally I have no desire to connect with my local flora and fauna; perhaps that's just because of the prevalence of poisonous creatures in Australia.

 

[ArcusDog]

The article was mildly entertaining. I mostly disagree on a personal level and I feel grateful for most of the things the guy mentioned that he considers bad. But the points may be valid for another type of person who requires more stimulation.

Also, I wouldn't share the sheep-sex photo with anyone. Ever. Guess I don't have any *real* friends

 

[QSR]

Obviously this guy is hitting the nail on the head. The internet has made us terribly isolated, and it's not healthy. I'm sure the technological advances of the past 10 years have made me regress quite a bit socially.

 

[Sapphire Harp]

Well, to put it frankly... I think a large cut of people found the truest expression of their preferred life partying at college. Most of the experiences past then have met them like a bad fitting outfit... Maybe the 21st century is making it worse for them, but I don't think it's as much as he's exaggerating.

There have been periods where I have been deluded into thinking online connections to people I knew in the real day were as good as real connections, but I don't believe my social problems were intensified for it. Usually I broke ground with friends online, first, then the real life interaction followed.

Maybe I don't know which way I really feel about it, but anyone calling themselves INTP was going to have social difficulties, anyway. Finding something to new to blame doesn't improve the situation. If this article was about helping people, then yay. Honestly, I think it's about the author being superior and witty than others, more than anything.

Anyway, unless civilization collapses or the power goes out - things are as they are. We don't have as many friends because we do too many things that fill up the time. If you want more, you'll have to throw some of those things out of your life - and convince someone else to do the same.
​

 

[Ogion]

To be honest i think internet made me more social. I mean, i am posting in a forum with a hundred or more active participants (well, and a few other forums and such too). Now, would i bee without internet, i would read way more and thus even talk less with people.

The only sentence i would agree on is that physical work can be very satisfying (to me), but of course, as Fukyo said, it doesn't have to be the only satisfying thing.

I think people should regard "Moderation in all things" more. Yes, the internet produces lotsa trolls, assholes and such, but not only. You have to find the places with less of them though, and to not be online really all the time can be helpful too (yea i know that comes from me, who on our irc-channel gets said "You don't sleep and are always online" )

Ogion

 

[snowqueen]

7 Reasons why the 21st century is making INTP life bearable.

absolutely!

Also, I wouldn't share the sheep-sex photo with anyone. Ever. Guess I don't have any *real* friends

made me laugh out loud. You're clearly not Welsh.

Maybe I don't know which way I really feel about it, but anyone calling themselves INTP was going to have social difficulties, anyway.
​

Ok here's a theory. Many of us INTPs on here have described how damaging forced socialisation has been on us. What if the cultural trend described in the article is actually damaging to other (the majority) types. Perhaps they don't know how to handle solitude, communicating through electronic media etc.? Then that article would actually make some sense. If I think of my ENFP daughter and if we lived in a city where she couldn't go out on her own to hook up with her friends (many parents are over protective anyway) she'd go crazy - and she'd probably be totally obnoxious like the children of some of my London friends. It's interesting - my IXTX daughter only needs to be told if something she's doing is undesirable and she listens and accepts it if it's reasonable. ENFP daughter needs to go out there in the world and make mistakes and get real life feedback to learn anything. Her F function needs that interaction to develop properly - so maybe there's some merit in the article if one takes it from a non-INTP perspective.

 

[inerTia]

I' am getting the impression, that this person is over exaggerating some parts. But he is right that there is more information than that of the televised media, that is a good thing though! Because the televised media is quite biased, but with that in mind, there are lots of resources on the internet to discern from too, you must think about it by building/search for factual information that has been proven to be solid. This is very important, by building valid information you are less prone to mass propaganda or other brain washing trash, that is of course if you critically analyze the information properly, through reasoning processes.

Also in the case of electronic communication, you could still discern between literal and sarcastic forms of writing, through reasoning. At the same time I must disagree with the author that we must be social. When in groups of people, we are extremely dangerous, people do not realize this, especially with thoughtless action, it will leave a mess to clean up. A mob has the ability to change/make certain changes that could impact peoples lives, yet they do not understand this.

 

[echoplex]

So I'm supposed to be having sex with sheep? I always knew technology was rotting my brain.

Here's the sad truth: ANY century will make you miserable. Having no lights or air conditioning can make you miserable. So can having too much stimulation and not enough problems to work through (which can also make you miserable). What can really make you miserable is having no treatment for even the simplest of infections, not having clean water to drink, and having to go to the store on horseback.

Every century and culture has their own special little misery. We are lucky that ours is one of TOO much technological stimulation and not enough. The key is having the intelligence to avoid the misery part by using technology as a tool, not as a crutch. And the same can be said of many other things too.

That's where the author is spot-on, I think. Computers were never supposed to replace real life, just enhance it. However, any "misery" caused by our technology is likely more a symptom of our failure to properly integrate it into our lives. In actuality, computers are more likely to make your life better than worse.

 

[ArcusDog]

maybe there's some merit in the article if one takes it from a non-INTP perspective.

My point exactly, just more eloquently put.

Other types seem to need more social interaction than INTP's. I personally am quite satisfied with electronic communications and happy to have them. It gives me the time I need to think through my thoughts and structure them into coherent sentences, something I tend to be inept at in real time, like in a conversation.

And that's not to say I don't need face-to-face type interactions. I do need them, I do have them, and most times they enrich my life. But too much face-to-face drains me and gets me down, which is usually followed by retracting into my reclusive shell, the time frame of said retraction tending to be longer than if I hadn't been drained in the first place.

 

[sagewolf]

And that's not to say I don't need face-to-face type interactions. I do need them, I do have them, and most times they enrich my life. But too much face-to-face drains me and gets me down, which is usually followed by retracting into my reclusive shell, the time frame of said retraction tending to be longer than if I hadn't been drained in the first place.

I can agree with that: I have periods of time where I feel more extraverted and find a lot of enjoyment in interacting with people and doing things, but when I'm not in that operation mode, I'm just as likely to hide away from everyone in a corner if I'm forced to leave my room. Sometimes I enjoy being part of a big party or function; sometimes I just get a headache.

Scientists call it the Naked Photo Test, and it works like this: say a photo turns up of you nakedly doing something that would shame you and your family for generations. Bestiality, perhaps. Ask yourself how many people in your life you would trust with that photo.

I have a friend like that. His name is Fire.

 

[Weliddryn]

Here's the sad truth: ANY century will make you miserable. Having no lights or air conditioning can make you miserable. So can having too much stimulation and not enough problems to work through (which can also make you miserable). What can really make you miserable is having no treatment for even the simplest of infections, not having clean water to drink, and having to go to the store on horseback.

Every century and culture has their own special little misery. We are lucky that ours is one of TOO much technological stimulation and not enough. The key is having the intelligence to avoid the misery part by using technology as a tool, not as a crutch. And the same can be said of many other things too.

That's where the author is spot-on, I think. Computers were never supposed to replace real life, just enhance it. However, any "misery" caused by our technology is likely more a symptom of our failure to properly integrate it into our lives. In actuality, computers are more likely to make your life better than worse.

As our society advances, we discover new ways of handling our resources. In many ways this has benefited our species, but in other ways we have uncovered many dangerous usages for technology and science. In the Medieval time period, they did not have nuclear weapons.

Good, bad, better, worse, all a matter of perspective true, but generalizations can be drawn. What is best for our species as a whole? What is worse? This is a question of survival, I think, not a question of personal perception.

So, maybe things are not better or worse, but it does seem to be that things are more dangerous.

Thanks to technology, we have been able to rely less on one another and more on technology, but have we actually become more self reliant? Technology may, indeed be a crutch and I have to wonder, if it was removed would we be able to stand on our own or be able to lean on one another if it came to that? Or would we have strayed too far from that path? How can technology be anything but a crutch? We are reliant on it, as a person with a broken leg is reliant on a crutch.

How do we properly integrate it into our lives? Who decides this? Why do they get to decide it? What would be the effects of such an integration? Are we doing this properly already?

(Rambling, a bit )