I ran into a friend by chance yesterday and we took the time to sit down for a coffee and chat. His son was there, a twelve year old, whose head was firmly planted in his phone screen as his dad and I talked.
We were talking about the old days, (both born in the very early 1970's), and how different a child's upbringing and experiences are these days compared to our own. We reminisced about the great (and stupid) things we did and how they have helped shape us and we both agreed that we had a far better youth than kids today and that we'd not trade it for anything in the world.
At first his son paid us no mind but as the stories unfolded, (some ridiculously hilarious and often scary ones about the dumb things we did), I could see him taking interest until he eventually put his phone down and was fully engaged. Before long, he spoke up commenting on how we managed to have such a good time without the internet, video games, 300 TV channels, mobile phones, social media, fast food outlets and other things that are so commonplace these days.
I totally get it, kids these days have no concept, or understanding, of how things were back then and prior and it probably seems incomprehensible that a kid can feel they've had a valid and enjoyable youth without them.
It was possible though and I'm so glad to have been born in a time when those things I mention above weren't available.
We'd make our own fun, make physical things and play with them, and use our imaginations; we'd ride our bikes (with no fucken helmets), climb trees and make forts and tree houses, we played sport in real life not on a computer, and our friends weren't in a gaming headset they were in person. We were physically active so ate what we wanted generally without weight gain and what we ate wasn't genetically modified or loaded with sugar, salt, food colourings and preservatives and we drank water from the tap or garden hose not a VOSS mineral water bottle and sports or energy drinks? Yep, that was water. We played sport because we wanted to...and we kept score; there were winners and losers and being the latter made us try harder next time.
We made mistakes, sometimes terrible ones, and learned from them and sometimes not in which case we'd make them again - eventually those mistakes helped us grow and develop; we were not insulated from the realities of life, we were immersed in them. News stories and images weren't sanitised, they were in-your-face and often brutal, and we learned to recognise right and wrong, to understand that life isn't always fair and a person cannot always win even when doing the right things. We failed, achieved average things and great ones too, and we didn't need a reward over and above the thing itself and neither did we need to spread it far and wide, boast and self-promote in a bid for validation and acceptance, we just got on with things.
Experiences meant more than stuff mostly, especially for me as my parents didn't have much to physically give...but they gave knowledge, lessons, understanding, a good example to follow and wisdom, not stuff...and they gave love and care too. They were present, not absent away on social media, and we learned manners, respect and courtesy from them because they took an active interest in raising us as best they could.
Experiences...real ones...were captured on black and white film but they held vibrant, colourful and lasting memories that we've carried forward.
We now live in a world largely devoid of those things, a society where mediocrity is rewarded and encouraged, where creativity, passion and personality is retarding and in which simple values like respect, manners and care for others are almost non-existent. Egoism, hubris, selfishness and greed are on the rise while family values decline; honesty, humility, modesty and humanity have given way to less noble traits and...society is lesser for it.
I don't know where it's going to lead, nowhere good I presume, and all the while those younger generations (in their typically clueless, delusional, hubristic and naive way) make excuses, talk up how good things are and how bright the future is. Those of us who have lived more life, who remember how things used to be often think (know) differently and usually give thanks for the upbringing we had, the experiences.
I had a good time reminiscing with my friend and I think his son enjoyed it once he'd turned his phone game off. I like to think he'll move forward with some new thoughts and maybe even make some changes but who knows I guess; society is so geared towards feeding people propaganda, to brainwashing the population, and creating sheep out of them, followers not leaders. Thinking on it, I feel that those born pre-1980 had a chance to be real people and these days being sheeple is about all people can hope for.
Unplug from the Matrix folks, be people, not sheeple.
Design and create your ideal life, tomorrow isn't promised - galenkp
[Original and AI free]
Image(s) in this post are my own
We might want to get on to matrix (as opposed to Discord etc) ;D
It's hilarious even my kids are annoyed with kids these days (or at least the two adult/near enough kids are).
Yeah, there's a few gems out there, kids who see things for what they are and will be, and they tend to push back a little. There's also some impeccably mannered kids who take ownership of themselves and actions, work hard and hold some of the values that used to be so prevalent. My post generalises really, there's a lot of good people...they just get lost amongst the others.
For sure, it’s the same with people in general. So many of them suck so you hang on to the gems that you find 😆
Gem hanging is necessary.
Doesn't every generation feel that way about the ones that came after? I was born in the mid 80s, so growing up I got to explain the internet to the disbelieving adults (people's initial reactions to crypto seem comically similar) and then go outside and hunt, fish, and grow our own food. Growing up, I was in awe of my dad's knowledge and ability to work on cars but nowadays I'm the more knowledgeable just because of how much things have changed since then. Can't help but wonder if 'kids these days' won't be better able to function in that future world that is to come than us analog old farts.
That being said, unplug from the fucking Matrix. Had too much fun as a kid getting computers to do things the adults didn't know they could for me to ever be particularly trusting of technology. Between that and just watching how much the internet has changed as made me ever less fond of it. Lol, with the way things are going in this world the kids could get a crash course in living in an analog world at any time.
This is somewhat of a generalisation I guess, something I didn't allude to in the post as I felt it unnecessary. People's experiences are different a ross ages and generations and also where locations and particular situations are concerned: Countries, city's, rural areas, economic demographics, cultural backgrounds. And then there's people like you and I who sort of walk multiple paths right?
People (and I don't mean in third world countries) think they're so clever these days and yet don't know how to feed themselves, grow,/garden, track hunt and process food. Most don't know how to cook, repair things, or build them, and seem happy to live in an environment in which pedo's get let off with warnings to re-offend and one gets a tougher penalty for tax evasion than rape. There's a multitude of other things but you get my point.
Anyway, talking about analogue...I'm the guy that would be happy for the power to go out indefinitely. That would make me so happy. Others? Well, it'd not go so well for them.
Hell, things like generations and decades are more an artifact of historians' fetish for organization than anything else. Yeah, for me it was walking the multiple paths that really opened my eyes to what a range of experiences there are out there. I may have went on a tangent, I mostly just meant to ask how much are we just imitating our parents and their parents and how much is the world genuinely worse?
Heh, for a few minutes in 2020 I was almost hopeful that some clever folks might be in for an education. Here it's less 'seem happy to live in an environment...' and more people feel powerless to change it, and they tend to be preoccupied with just getting by. Then again they're not prosecuting much in the way of tax evasion or rape here, just drugs. I know what you mean though, it feels like the wild west around here.
Curious you mention that, came back from a long weekend last Monday and the power was out. Didn't think anything of it for an hour or two, until I remembered I had a quarter of a hog in the basement freezer. Had to find a working freezer to relocate it to temporarily, but I guess until that's about gone I can't say I'd be happy if the power went out. After that though...
Australia follows America so (most of) your issues are ours, although on a smaller scale. There's things unique to you and us but generally it's similar.
There's so many issues and not a lot of solutions (for various reasons) and that's a bit sad I think, that people seem disinclined to ask the tough questions and actually seek resolutions or even a way forward as a minimum.
Anyway, if the power went out there'd be a lot of unhappy people initially and then less because some would cease to be and then even less and then...I think that's when people you and I would come into our own. You know, prepared people.
I still to this day do not feel comfortable wearing a helmet when cycling. In fact it makes me feel like a prick!
Haha!
Fucktards and pricks wear helmets...Well, I should probablt say, only fucktards and pricks like wearing helmets. 😊
Yeah, my missus goes Bananas when she sees me sneaking away without it!
Lol...you're a bad boy bro, one must do bad things. Besides, you'd look like a bell end with a bicycle helmet on...everyone does. 😂
A total bellend. Like wearing a bag of sausages!! 🤣🤣
Haha. To be avoided at all cost, even if one's noggin gets squashed like a melon.
The problem is not the times you don't need the helmet, it's the times you DO.
I've had more than my fair share of hits to the head, luckily none too serious. But I've also had a motorcycle crash and thanked my lucky stars for having a full face helmet, because an open-faced helmet would have seen my faqce exactly that - ripped open.
I remember a lady trying to get the government to force helmets for all riders including cyclists coming to our school. Her kid had the same upbringing as us, carefree and wonderful, until the day he came off his bike and smashed his skull in. He became a vegetable and then died a few years later.
Sometimes we do need to be saved from ourselves and our own stupidity. Sure, we all survived up to today but a ridiculous amount of us didn't. The sad thing is we never think about them in our lives do we?
That being said, I do HATE health and safety. I think it has made us 100% less safe.
But still wear a helmet. 🤣
And that's the thing. I do wear a helmet mostly under duress but it still kills me because of the many many years that I didn't and never felt the need. But I do now, so all good. Although I feel like a fanny for doing so and that will never change 🙂
Just get a cooler helmet. 😂😂😂
No one can see your face in a BMX helmet.
Hi Galen, I read the post carefully, not because others don't read it carefully, but because it's a topic I also talk about with my (few) friends. In these conversations we usually agree that things are not going well. With the new generations I have a total disconnect, I share very few, if any values, with them. Even the media they use to relate, and how important online is to them, makes this communication more difficult.
But with my friends I do not share any affection for the generation, which by age is already ruling in many countries, and I am talking about mine. And even more so after Covid. The world is walking towards darker and darker places and who is driving it is not young people, but my generation, specifically a bunch of mediocre people my age.
I do not wake up very optimistic this Sunday, but no matter, soon the Sun will rise and I will be there to see it, (I think it has already risen and did not wait for me 😁).
See you later
You paint a bleak picture and one I agree with; I don't see things getting better, only worse, and that will accelerate the more people ignore it or encourage it. I know so many people who agree with you and I but multitudes who do not and who seem to want to ride the spiral downwards to wherever it'll lead. Sad indeed.
Anyway, a good Sunday was had here, quite relaxed, and right now the sun is dipping below the horizon and it's getting cooler. I'll be settling in for some Netflix after dinner but right now I'm getting some things ready for the working week, trying to stay ahead of the game.
I hope you have a great Sunday.
Around here the weekend is going well, this afternoon I want to read something... I guess you'll be in the Netflix moment and in good company. Have a good evening, and better week.
Regards
I think the past is nice, because people were more invested in what they do. They have to physically meet up with friends to see their faces, people do more physical things together. But if given the choice, I would still probably choose the now. A lot of the things in past can still be done now, but the advancements in technology and medicine are too much to give up. Being able to go to different countries, cancer not being a death sentence, and loved ones having longer lives.
I live in a modern, progressive and financially strong country. And yet, last week they closed hospitals to elective surgery in my State (South Australia) because there were no hospital beds available and they were overloaded, across the entire state. That doesn't sound very advanced to me.
As for technology...yeah, it's a great advancement, soon no will
havebe able to work as jobs for humans will be redundant. Wonderful huh?Add the two together, no one dies prematurely and no jobs and what do we have? Overpopulation and starvation. Seems so great. I don't know how old you are but if you're under 30 years old you'll get to experience some of it first hand. I'll be gone, somewhere (hell probably) saying, I told you so.
That is one way to look at it. For the hospital issue, I see it as a lack of hospitals, and maybe overpopulation. As for losing jobs, I assume we'll have UBI and people can pursue their dreams. The robots would increase food production so starvation shouldn't be a big issue.
🤣
When I drive on the bus I see so many people looking at their phones. It is really sad. I spend a lot of time in front of my pc. But I also distant myself from it at times. Those people hoewer seem to be completely enslaved.
Enslaved is the right word for it, voluntarily also right? Communication between people really is terrible these days, in social and professional forums, and I don't see it getting better with the rise of AI taking over...people will just get worse the more the rely on it.
As I began to read the thought passed through my mind "what if someone encouraged their child to put all that electronic stuff down and go out and play and then the child goes out and there is no living children outside to play with".....Then I pondered that for a few seconds.
I of course remember those days when there were no electronic things. We had a black and white TV though and for some reason, my mind never seemed be concerned that there was no real colors. We did eventually get a color set, but we were never near the first of folks to change over. You didn't get rid of something that was still working, to get a different one. Anyway.....
We LIVED to go outside! Couldn't wait to get out. We did live in a residential neighborhood where nearly all of the families had children of some age or the other. We had so much fun, sand piles, swings, outdoor games, playing in the woods building huts and forts. There really was no end to the things to do, especially in the summer.
I think children are really missing out now. Being around others taught us many things about relationships and getting along. Those were the days for sure.
You say it well and I agree, they're missing out and don't even know it and the effects of that will be far-reaching. The sad thing is that parents who grew up like that are now teaching their kids the same thing and worse and so the cycle continues.
I know that times change, but when did manners become unfashionable, a good work ethic, the ability to entertain oneself, inquisitiveness and so on.
So sad.
I am from 1981 and I did grow up, like you, back home in The Netherlands.
We only had cable TV with more than 3 channels, when I was 12.
Computer games appeared in the early to mid 90s but didn't take over my life. I spent most of the time in school or outdoors, 365 days per year.
I got a cell phone, in the year 2000, when I went to Uni ( not because I wanted one but because my parents wanted to stay in touch ). The smart phone in 2013 was the final straw. I still have one but am often considering an old fashioned dumb (smarter) phone, even if I only use that one a single day per week.
Yeah, I miss those days ( but I merely struggle to see all those people, especially kids, who will never experience them ) but I am also bringing them/ the play back into my life, as a creative, living in the Portuguese countryside.
I have similar chats like your friend and you, with people my age ( and - at times - with younger and older people.
Remember when we went on holidays and only shared about our experiences afterwards or, perhaps, in a postcard? ;<)
There are a few out there holding on to the right values, trying to pass them on, my brother's both do this with my niece and nephew, but generally society means the other way and that influence is very strong making it more difficult for parents who want to instill the right values. It must be difficult being a kid these days, and a parent too, but a better way is available, one just has to see it and do it.
Thanks for your comment.
I am torn between knowing our parents had these same conversations about how soft and out of touch we are compared to their generation, and thinking this is something different.
The only factor that has me thinking the latter is the case is the addictiveness of dopamine in all the instant gratification of the phone…as I sit here staring at my phone now. Giving a kid a phone is like opening up the liquor cabinet and letting them at it with no restrictions or controls. Scary.
Maybe the stigma attached to staring at a screen and avoiding social situations will increase in popular opinion in general or at least as they mature.
Maybe these are just the stupid mistakes they are making and will shape them? I balance worry with faith in the human spirit and ability to learn from our mistakes.
Fair enough, and there's a few shining lights I guess. Learning from mistakes? Hmm, humans are good at adapting which is why we progressed to where we are, and yet learning from mistakes seems something we only apply to some aspects and not others. The answers to some of the problems we face are in the past and yet we make the same fundamental mistakes and end up going to war over them.
Time will tell where it goes I guess, but it's not as pleasant a place to live these days and will get worse. I don't like living in an ill-mannered, uncaring society where mediocrity and laziness is promoted and rewarded and hubris and ego are the most prevalent traits.
I am from the year 2000 and grew up as you describe, it sounds crazy but in Cuba it was like that until the other day, although now it is happening exactly as you describe and it is a shame that many children are losing some of those experiences, which no matter how realistic the games are, will never be the same.
They call it progress and think it's all for the better but I digress; there are many aspects of it that are worse. It's gone so far now though and it's unlikely to revert.
Is that you as a boy?
I tried my hardest to raise my girls more connected with nature. For the most part they have been roaming about, climbing trees, building and being creative. But my eldest is just about to turn 15, she has a phone now and most of the time her and her friends talk about what they see on Social media. They hang out together, but she tells me that when they do, they are just watching stuff, so not interacting so much.
It saddens me, how humanity has been steered in this way, where there is so much competition these days, to look and act a certain way. So much more pressure from society as a whole.
Iḿ totally with you about unplugging from the matrix. I've had to step away from here, because how can I ask my daughter to not spend her time online and yet she sees me doing it.
I'm trying to find a healthy balance, because at the end of the day, I can see the benefits as well (even if they are few). These are complicated times, especially if you want to raise healthy kids xxxx
Yep, you're seeing it first hand and while maybe in isolation it doesn't seem so bad, when all the other stuff is added in it becomes a big problem and fundamentally changed people and society irreversibly, in my opinion. I don't know where it'll all lead, probably nowhere positive.
Oh, and yep that's me. 🫣
You know my Mom insisted years ago that I fed my children breast milk instead of baby formula, her reason simply was that the babies fed human milk would be humans in the future while those fed with sheep, goat and cow milk would produce children with the same behavioural pattern as those animals. It was a very amusing perspective that she had but I made her understand that the human behaviour could not be influenced by the milk fed him as a baby but by a number of other factors.
Honestly when I see what is happening in our society with the kids, I fear for the future and I have concluded that parents and caretakers are largely to be held responsible for the 'sheeple', 'goatple' and the 'cowple' generation we have today. The environment a distant second.
As others have commented (or will), it's difficult to draw parallels across the generations but one thing is certain, things are spiraling downwards at a rapid rate and it's that which I sort of wanted to point out. Manners, courtesy, the strain on resources, the medical system, skyrocketing inflation, the environment, deforestation, the ocean, air and so on...The rise of AI and the decline of human thought...it's all out of whack and I don't think will lead to a good place...but many think it's going ok and that's their prerogative. Sticking one's head in the sand and ignoring the issues and problems won't make them go away though.
Thanks for your considered comment and thoughts.
I love this phrase, how much reason there is there, I always say something very similar.
Don't let people be herds! That they think critically, for themselves and not according to what comes out on the internet and the media.
In those days we learned from real life, from the physical and that was more genuine... I don't know where the world is going now... I don't know.
People follow trends and habits but unfortunately the ones they follow aren't always good ones.
Today's dia.... are not good and they all look like zombies.... well almost all of them.
While I agree with much of what you say, we have to recognize that the way our grandparents grew up was probably just as foreign to us. No electricity, no running water, indoor plumbing, etc.
Yep, and I am hoping the power goes out permanently. It'll suit me fine.
I'd be okay if I can get to my friends property. If I am stuck in my current location, then I am probably screwed.
Most probably, unless they're prepared. Flick the switch I say, let's find out huh? It'll sort the have's and have not's out pretty fast.
Indeed, in this case though the have and have not part will boil down to knowledge versus resources.
This is true....
Our society has lost moral decadence, values are no more transmitted to the younger generations...
Thanks for sharing this...
Values have changed so much, and I don't mean for the better, and people delude themselves we're progressive and are moving in the right direction. #wrong
This touches on a favourite topic of mine. When dull people complain that others are on screens and not paying attention. The fact is, that's on you. Be more interesting.
Yeah, I'm rather boring, I'll admit...or is it disinterest.
He started out assuming he'd be disinterested, but then you piqued him.
That should be the goal. So many people helplessly bleat about being unable to compete for attention, instead of upping their game.
Let me tell you my experience, I was born in 85 and there were no video games or mobile phones in our time. In our time, when we were going to school, the teachers used to beat us with the pavement if we misbehaved. Now the time has changed. Even a small child of 2 years can unlock the phone. The limit is reached when the children have to eat without the phone. Children do not even get punishment in school. Today's children's life is much better than our time. @galenkp
Better? I feel their lives are not better at all, as I alluded to in my post I guess.
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