Screens/social media/FOMO

Rampant capitalism devalues human lives.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trump.

+1. Depressing to think so many were so completely flaccid in terms of cognition and complex thought they fell for his brand of chicanery hook, line, sinker, and pole, and *still* continue to support this national embarrassment who spends his days Tweeting. Tweeting! The President of the United States...

I know this may come as a shock to you but people were depressed and anxious even before Trump became president. Imagine that!

PP, get off of Facebook, and you'll find half your problems solved instantly.

Such a complicated answer, I think.

First off this thread confirmed what I suspect -- social media and the internet does give us windows into other people's minds and thoughts, and that's actually not a good thing. For example, I'm a Democrat, and it really irks me to read all my conservative relatives' Facebook posts. I actually think it was better when we didn't have to see what family members and people we like/care about think about every.single.issue out there. When my mom's twin sister posted a racist meme of Obama, I couldn't unsee that. And I'm sure there are principled conservative who feel the same way about us liberals on issues. I don't know that it's good to have such clear windows into everyone else's stuff, basically.

Second, it's information and media overload and no one's mind ever gets to rest. I'm guilty of it. I cannot stand in line without my phone. I feel borderline panicky when I can't connect and see what's going on in the world or on Facebook or twitter or whatever. This too cannot be good for us.

The internet means you're never really not at work, for most of us. My parents never "did work" at home. Ever. They had to physically be in their office to do it. Now, I'm constantly logging back on and doing work between 6 pm and 10 pm.

And finally, the very real sense that the world is becoming increasingly competitive and getting ahead and staying ahead is HARD. Worrying if you're good enough, if your kids are going to be good enough, is exhausting. There's not enough value on joy and recreation, but I totally understand that because who has time for it if you have to get into a great university, get a great job, all to land a job with an hour commute into D.C. that works you 10 hours a day for not enough money?

I think those are the reasons why.