Is this the best time to be alive?

[Nixonator]

I'll let you know in May.

 

[GloryDays]

Good thread.

We now live in a world of more choice. I look at it like when I was a kid (I'm 31 now and probably to some I still am a kid ) I could pick 1 of 50 cd's to play when I was at home, or 1 of 5 video games. There was a finite amount of things to do that although felt like a limitation, was probably also a gift as well because it felt like I chose the best option available to me at the time of choosing and therefor was fulfilled and content.

Now we have spotify, playstation store, netflix and all the competitive alternatives as well as various social media that change the way we are accepted and perceived (and regarded as way too important). Everything is infinite and we are never 100% sure we have chosen correctly. I'm sure this new age of anxiety disorders is partially down to never truly being able to live in the present.

People live longer, yes, but a lot in poor health. For those that aren't, I agree that is fantastic. I hope my friends, family and self and you are one of those. That being said, science is amazing and many things are now treatable that were once a death sentence. I'm all for that.

Don't get me wrong, lots of the NOW are great - but I bet growing up when the skateboard was invented was probably the best thing ever! If I could choose I'd have picked 10 years earlier. That would have been the one. Then you still get the perks of now and in the relative prime of life, and also have amazing footy kits of the 80s'.




PS Obvs all subjective.

 

[Wellesley]

When I think about what the alternative is, I think that I would much prefer to be alive now than in the past.

 

[SeagullinExile]

 

[TheJasperCo]

The most simple answer is a question: what choice have we got?

 

[Notters]

The day of England 4 Holland 1 was probably the best time to be alive overall.

Definitely one of the best games I've been to, quite an experience as a 13 year old!

 

[vegster]

“Best” is a relative term.

With the world knowledge that we have via the access to the internet, you could say it’s the best time to be alive, you could ALSO say it’s the most apathetic, most self motivated, most self centred time to be alive. Terrible things have always happened in society, but now we’re supposedly more civilised, better educated and yet we (I mean collectively I’m not pointing a finger at individuals) stand by and let them happen even though we have the means to stop them.

-More people in the world have access to a mobile phone than clean drinking water.
-1% of the world’s population own more than the other 99%.
-Treatable diseases like diarrhoea and pneumonia kill 2 million children a year because they’re too poor to get treatment.
-A quarter of humans live with out electricity.
-The world food programme estimates that hunger is the number one cause of death, killing more than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis.

The truth is none of these things should surprise anyone, I’m sure you’ve heard all of those things before. Some people choose to not to believe them, and some choose to ignore them. Very few actually choose to do anything about it.

In this time that we live, it’s very easy to learn about the world around us, but sadly it’s far easier not to give a damn about it.

This, but unfortunately for many, this will pale in to insignificance compared the next iPhone.

 

[Wellesley]

The most simple answer is a question: what choice have we got?

 

[Megazone]

I agree with the technology issues. I can't stand how you can meet up with someone who pulls the phone out and starts showing you stuff on the internet. It's as if they've lost their ability to express themselves without some form of technology. Some people even do it as there way of avoiding human interaction.
Going out for dinner used to be a social thing. These days, many people pull the phone out and take a picture of their meal and then post it up on Facebook. Little do they know, it just identifies how deranged they become when in social scenarios.
So many people also go on holidays/travels and spend most of their time taking pictures of themselves. I know travelling has an element of self discovery to it, but it seems now, the self discovery has turned into the discovery of your best facial position.
People are unable to be themselves anymore, it's all about keeping up with the facebook profile they focus on. Must make people think i'm happy, must make people think i'm popular, must make people think my life is amazing, never let people think i'm insecure, never let people think i'm bored, never let people think i'm lost. Never let people think I'm poor.

You can spot a social media profile head immediately. They'll request you become friends on the internet before you've even had a worthwhile chat.

 

[BigGully]

I agree with the technology issues. I can't stand how you can meet up with someone who pulls the phone out and starts showing you stuff on the internet. It's as if they've lost their ability to express themselves without some form of technology. Some people even do it as there way of avoiding human interaction.
Going out for dinner used to be a social thing. These days, many people pull the phone out and take a picture of their meal and then post it up on Facebook. Little do they know, it just identifies how deranged they become when in social scenarios.
So many people also go on holidays/travels and spend most of their time taking pictures of themselves. I know travelling has an element of self discovery to it, but it seems now, the self discovery has turned into the discovery of your best facial position.
People are unable to be themselves anymore, it's all about keeping up with the facebook profile they focus on. Must make people think i'm happy, must make people think i'm popular, must make people think my life is amazing, never let people think i'm insecure, never let people think i'm bored, never let people think i'm lost. Never let people think I'm poor.

You can spot a social media profile head immediately. They'll request you become friends on the internet before you've even had a worthwhile chat.

Was a bit disarmed the other month when I accepted a friend request from a woman, I knew her and she is fine no problems, but I saw her a day or two lately for her to tell me' 'Hi, sorry I havent got back to your friend request I will accept you dont worry', I was mortified ....

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

View attachment 79918

Einstein predicted the Brexit and Trump voting. Clever guy.

 

[Bob!]

Technology just keeps getting better in advancing people's lifestyle.
We are living longer than ever before.
The internet means world knowledge is better than ever before.
And we haven't had a world war for 71 years.

Can it get better or is it only downhill from now on?

20-30 years ago maybe, when Housing was affordable for most people.

 

[pearl]

not sure, but it beats being dead

 

[spring hall convert]

As much as I'd love to wade into the Baby Boomer/ Gen. Snowflake debate, we're probably splitting hairs. In the entire history of the planet, I'd wager pretty much anywhere from 1955-2016 Britain is among the top 0.00000000001% we could possibly hope for.

 

[SeagullinExile]

not sure, but it beats being dead

You can't possibly know that. None of us do.

So i'll guess we'll all have to wait to find out.

 

[Was not Was]

A 7 year old born in the West today is the safest person who has ever lived - more likely to make their next birthday than any person ever. I got this factoid from a book by the fella who is Professor of Risk at Cambridge University. Good job title, I think.

 

[Frutos]

A 7 year old born in the West today is the safest person who has ever lived - more likely to make their next birthday than any person ever. I got this factoid from a book by the fella who is Professor of Risk at Cambridge University. Good job title, I think.

How many 7 year olds are being born today?

 

[Giraffe]

All interesting points being made, and I agree with them in balance. However I do believe that health, long life and knowledge are three benefits we all or hopefully most now enjoy whilst not so long ago that wasn't the case.

As for the technology moaning, and internet berating, I find it amusing that we are having this discussion on the internet. The internet allows people of all ages, classes, wealth, religion, nationality to communicate in a way that was never possible before. The positives must outweigh the negatives.

 

[Was not Was]

How many 7 year olds are being born today?

Damn you and your facts.

OK "a child born seven years ago who has survived this long ..." or something like that.

The reason it's seven is that there is higher mortality among the youngest children.

 

[Megazone]

As for the technology moaning, and internet berating, I find it amusing that we are having this discussion on the internet. The internet allows people of all ages, classes, wealth, religion, nationality to communicate in a way that was never possible before. The positives must outweigh the negatives.

The anonymity of the internet is fine, people talk without any dangers. Once people start treating the internet as a reality instead of a virtual reality. People start losing their way.