4 ms·

That's great you've been successful. However, since your story doesn't mirror the majority of your peers, consider yourself an outlier. What can you do to help

by robbyt 6y ago

That's great you've been successful. However, since your story doesn't mirror the majority of your peers, consider yourself an outlier. What can you do to help more people become as financially successful as you are?

Mirioron 6y ago
The parent poster's point is that life has significantly improved in ways that aren't easily expressed through monetary value. If you lived in the 70s you could not have the convenience of a smartphone no matter how rich you were. People living in the 70s didn't have the ability to use a smartphone, use wikipedia, play video games, post on social media. You could've been the richest person that has ever lived and you wouldn't have been able to do what basically every teenager does in the US on a daily basis now.
- jbay808 6y ago
  My smartphone is in many ways a curse and a burden, but I need to carry it because I'm expected to answer phone calls within seconds no matter where I am, and text messages within minutes. In the '90s, I could go out for a whole weekend and come home and check my answering machine and nobody would be offended, because that was the norm. I could still opt to live like that now, but the repercussions would be much more severe, because the competitive landscape has shifted.
  - Mirioron 6y ago
    It's undoubtedly true that from an individual's perspective it can seem like a curse. However, what's important in discussions like this is the utility it provides to the population - how it makes people's lives and their economic activity more efficient. Better communication methods are obviously useful there.
ghaff 6y ago
I think you're missing his point. Although you can, of course, disagree with it in any case. Even though people of relatively recent generations were more successful on average, that didn't give them access to many of the services and capabilities that people just take for granted today. Pick your year--1970, 1980, 1990. Plop many people down into those years and they would not be happy even if they had a good job and could buy a nice suburban house. (Middle class people were generally leaving the cities during that period.)

by robbyt 6y ago

Mirioron 6y ago

The parent poster's point is that life has significantly improved in ways that aren't easily expressed through monetary value. If you lived in the 70s you could not have the convenience of a smartphone no matter how rich you were. People living in the 70s didn't have the ability to use a smartphone, use wikipedia, play video games, post on social media. You could've been the richest person that has ever lived and you wouldn't have been able to do what basically every teenager does in the US on a daily basis now.

jbay808 6y ago
My smartphone is in many ways a curse and a burden, but I need to carry it because I'm expected to answer phone calls within seconds no matter where I am, and text messages within minutes. In the '90s, I could go out for a whole weekend and come home and check my answering machine and nobody would be offended, because that was the norm. I could still opt to live like that now, but the repercussions would be much more severe, because the competitive landscape has shifted.
- Mirioron 6y ago
  It's undoubtedly true that from an individual's perspective it can seem like a curse. However, what's important in discussions like this is the utility it provides to the population - how it makes people's lives and their economic activity more efficient. Better communication methods are obviously useful there.

ghaff 6y ago

I think you're missing his point. Although you can, of course, disagree with it in any case. Even though people of relatively recent generations were more successful on average, that didn't give them access to many of the services and capabilities that people just take for granted today. Pick your year--1970, 1980, 1990. Plop many people down into those years and they would not be happy even if they had a good job and could buy a nice suburban house. (Middle class people were generally leaving the cities during that period.)