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My theory is it is effect of ever faster economic growth across the world. Now it has given great many benefits to great many people. Negative effects so far di
by geodel 3y ago
My theory is it is effect of ever faster economic growth across the world. Now it has given great many benefits to great many people. Negative effects so far discussed are only in term of destruction of ecology, depletion of natural resources, pollution etc.
To me this growth has created a sense of anxiety in all teens and older. Now the societal structures, jobs, careers, education, medicine etc do not change over multiple generations but multiple times in single generation. This relentlessness has affected me for last 20 years and still does despite all success at surface level.
- verisimi 3y agoMy theory is that this is by design. Unhappy people buy things to make them feel happy - this is beneficial to corporations and governments. The answers are within, but the won't be found in this or that product, government, teachers, careers, mental health workers, etc.
- crowcroft 3y agoCoupled with the fact that young people aren't getting any of the upside of the destruction.
- passion__desire 3y agoWas this predicted in Future Shock?
- geodel 3y agoSorry, I haven't read it. Seems like I should soon.
- nradov 3y agoThat theory can't be correct. The rate of world GDP growth hasn't increased significantly. https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/WLD/world/gdp-growth-rate https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/WLD/world/gdp-growth-r...
- geodel 3y ago~2% or above growth rate is huge when compounded over decades.
- nradov 3y agoYou mentioned the "effect of ever faster economic growth across the world". But economic growth hasn't become consistently faster.
- smeagull 3y agoContinued growth is alarming on its own.
- goatlover 3y agoWhy? It's good. Everyone needs to be lifted out of poverty and given the same kind of opportunities as the developed world.
- fasterik 3y agoHard disagree. Economic growth is what raises people's standard of living. We're not going to eliminate poverty without continued growth. That doesn't mean it doesn't also cause problems, but those problems are solvable.
- addaon 3y agoBut we know that in the medium term, growth is limited to cubic; and in the long term to quadratic. Building a society that depends on a few centuries or millenia of exponential growth is designing for failure when that asymptote is reached, and all the assumptions about future growth are violated.
- goatlover 3y agoYou're talking about centuries from now, when technology and culture could be very different. We might spread out through the solar system. It's not something to worry about now.
- FarhadG 3y agoThis resonates with what I've observed: I've asked several close family members and friends (between 16-22) what's troubling them and the most common answer is that they feel they're behind in life. They feel that they must already be driving an exotic car, surrounded by tons of potential partners, and at the top of their game—I assume these expectations are set by the content they consume and interact with on a daily basis.
- circlefavshape 3y ago> They feel that they must already be driving an exotic car, surrounded by tons of potential partners Really? I'm way older than that, but have a fair bit of contact with people that age via my kids and music/theatre stuff I'm involved in, and I don't know anyone who feels like this
- Loughla 3y agoThat's my experience, too. It's not being behind, it's a general sense of dread about the future.
- nicbou 3y agoEven without raised expectations, people have got to be disappointed that they can't get the same things as the previous generation. Hell they can't even get basic things at a reasonable price. I'm out of touch with the reality of teenagers, but it feels like they're expected to fight harder and harder for less and less. Someone else also talked about how everything became dominated by metrics and competition. It has got to become alienating to chase hard, abstract goals with rewards that never seem to come. Perhaps social media is just throwing oil on top of that fire.
- hutzlibu 3y ago"but it feels like they're expected to fight harder and harder for less and less." And they also should feel ashamed for what they get and consume, as it has a CO2 impact and their future is doomed if they use too much. But in my experience, climate change is a minor factor, compared to the always comparing yourself not to your local group anymore, but the whole world.
- scotty79 3y agoIs it about the growth itself though? Or rather the growth as seen through social media? You can't be sad about being left behind if you don't know you are being left behind or at least of you are not pestered daily about it by the algorithm that needs to trigger you into engagement.