Is life generally more complicated today?

fuzzybuddy

fuzzybuddy

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Location
The Sticks, Northeast PA.
Back in the days when we had 10 feet of snow, and had to walk 20 miles to school:);when you got out of school, life seemed a lot simpler. To me anyway, life today is much more complex, and you need to know a lot more than we did?
 

Yes, it is more complicated and it seems even young toddlers aren't allowed to be just kids like we were, parents put a computer screen of sorts in front of them at the youngest age possible these days. I like the simpler times, I think many of us would benefit from simpler....maybe not going back to the 50s, but just not as complicated as it is today.
 

Depends on one's definition of simple. I don't imagine peeps trying to survive and raise a family during the Depression, or enduring the privations of WW1 or WW2, or the indigenous people's of our countries dealing with entrenched racism/poverty found life simple in the least.
 
Yes and no.
Have a question about something;
Sit at computer and google it -vs- go to library, fumble thru the index cards, manually write down names and Dewey #s of some books and then scavenger hunt the shelves. Page thru the books to see if they might answer the question. Check out a book. Take it home & read it.
Watch a movie;
Sit at computer or easy chair. Run Netflix, Roku, etc. Pick genre. Pick movie (sometimes the hardest part). Play. Pause when you need a drink... -vs- Find the newspaper section that has the schedule. Pick movie of 2-3 choices. Pick the time (of 2-3). Call friend to join you. Negotiate movie, time and who's driving. Go to theater. Step in gum (or?). Wait for movie to start...
Shopping;
Sit at computer. Go to a handful of sites that sell what you want. Review a handful of the hundreds of items. Read reviews of 2-3. Confirm shipping charges and delivery time. Order it. Wait for delivery . -vs- Go to the one or 2 stores that probably have what you want. Pick from the two or 3 items stocked. Quick chat with the cashier. Take it home.
 
No I don't think life is more complicated today. I believe it is less complicated and certainly more interesting. Life today is only more complicated for those un willing to continue the learning process.
 
I think there are pros and cons. Just trying to get a few folks over for dinner is a major undertaking. People visited on a regular basis when I was a kid. Now there isn't enough time for such things. You would think with all these modern conveniences people would have more time. I miss phone calls and letters instead of emails,Facebook and texts.I wish that once we do adapt to something new it would stay that way for awhile. We are always urged to change our passwords, now most stores are switching over to the little chip on the credit card instead of swiping it. Which I always seem to put in the machine the wrong way. We are starting to be penalized for not using the computer. Better rates on bank CD's if you go online, even better buys at the food stores if you use the digital coupons they offer. Yet I do enjoy being able to check out prices, reviews of products etc. Weather all over the country when we travel. Even ordering photos and being able to use photo shop is fun. I just don't like the idea of being forced into doing my business online for better deals. I am uncomfortable with it and think it is unfair to those who can't afford a computer and the service.
 
Like others I'm on the fence.

In the good old days a person had to have a great deal of knowledge on a variety of things just to get a meal on the table. How to raise and preserve a variety of plants, livestock, etc... They also had to have the knowledge to provide shelter, transportation,household items, clothing, veterinary care, medical care, etc...

Today, thanks to technology, we can survive with a more specialized knowledge on a much smaller number of topics.

The trade off is that we have been dumbed down on many subjects, lost many skills and much common sense in the process.

I enjoy life today and I enjoy reading about life in the past.
 
Life today, is probably no more complex than in years past....Just Different. So long as a person can keep up with some of this rapidly changing technology, and put it to use in a manner that suits them, Life may actually be simpler than before. For one...I really like the convenience of Online Shopping, and not having to waste half a day, and 5 gallons of gas running around to stores to find something I need. For another...I really like having the ability to find answers, and even videos, online, when I am tackling a new project for the first time....it's almost like having a personal Trainer.

So long as a person maintains varied interests and activities, and Doesn't have a Smart Phone glued to their face, technology allows us to do things we would not have been able to do in the past....IMO.
 
Don M. What you say is true but there are all kinds of people that can't embrace technology.

And for them life is more complicated.

For instance. If you want an appointment now for blood testing you can go online and book an appointment. You can't phone and make an appointment. So those who don't have to go to the lab and sit there for as long as it takes. This could be an hour or even longer.

I don't trust the internet for online banking anymore because my account was compromised to the tune of $1,200. I got it back but still. Now I go to the ATM machine to pay the few bills I have. But my friend. He runs around all day to pay his bills.

It's not simple for some people to use a computer. I have coffee with a group of about 12 seniors. I am the only one that has a cell phone and none of them have a computer.
 
In the early 60s, we could take 1 and only 1 high school elective course. It took me hours to type out an essay. I use the hunt and can't find the @#6%$ key procedure. I wanted to take typing. The nuns told me that my secretary would do all my typing. I was a guy, I was not allowed to take typing. Today, you need so many diverse skills.
I have yet to go through one of those automated check out machines, without beating on it.
 
It depends on a person's perspective. Many things were pleasant and enjoyable in the past that are not so now, like pleasure driving, just for an example. I miss how affordable everything was back in the day. Banks paid YOU for handling your money instead of visa versa. Health care was non profit until Nixon changed it all in 1973.
But the internet is really enjoyable though and a great learning experience. Info is just at your fingertips, which is soothing if you've got a health issue and no straight answers from your medical professional. I think it's great for seniors who don't get around much to keep in touch with other people and the world in general. in short, for me it's a mixed bag. Some things are way more complicated and stressful while others are so much simpler.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
In the early 60s, we could take 1 and only 1 high school elective course. It took me hours to type out an essay. I use the hunt and can't find the @#6%$ key procedure. I wanted to take typing. The nuns told me that my secretary would do all my typing. I was a guy, I was not allowed to take typing. Today, you need so many diverse skills.
I have yet to go through one of those automated check out machines, without beating on it.
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When I took typing in the 60s in high school, there were no boys in my class. It wasn't that they weren't allowed to take it, but that it was considered a girls' thing. Nowdays pretty much everybody needs to know how to use a keyboard, and personal secretaries are largely a thing of the past.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Every time I see a guy sit down and just start typing away, that irritates the hell out of me. It's taken me about 2 minutes to type this.
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I sympathize with you fuzzy. One of the most useful courses I took in high school was personal typing (elective, not for business majors). No one recommended it at the time, and I surely didn't have the foresight. It just looked like fun. Don't know if I'd have the discipline to learn typing now. Some of the keyboards now aren't arranged like the old QWERTY ones, I think (?).
 
NancyNGA said:
I sympathize with you fuzzy. One of the most useful courses I took in high school was personal typing (elective, not for business majors). No one recommended it at the time, and I surely didn't have the foresight. It just looked like fun. Don't know if I'd have the discipline to learn typing now. Some of the keyboards now aren't arranged like the old QWERTY ones, I think (?).
Click to expand...
This is actually the first meeting of my future wife. She was 10th (Soph), I was 11th (Junior). She sat across from me, I never had my own type paper. It got to be such a habit of borrowing a blank sheet from her that she just started either putting one on my desk or handing me one when I got that pitiful look on my face. It was 7 years later when we met again, must have had the same pitiful look. Been married 48 years this last Feb.
 

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