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I may sound like a negative nancy, but I pretty much agree with OP.
The feeling that we've peaked with less to look forward too
- Thread starter jaybee
- Start date
Humanity tends to push things forward when it has a common cause to work towards and we don't really have that in the West, certainly not in the same way as say China. Something tends to come along every now and then to ignite that though, hopefully this time it won't be war. Maybe climate change or space exploration, we need something bigger than just making more stuff for profit alone.
Subjectively, yeah the things I enjoy (cars, music, films, games) haven't got any better for me in the last 10-15 years. E.g. most of the music I listen to is either old, or inspired by previous decades. Sport is just a corporate circlejerk these days.
In terms of tech, development of the smartphone as we know it has levelled off but that's only after 20 or so years of very rapid development. I guess next up is more AI integration and probably tech augmentation of humans, neither of which appeal to me in the slightest.
In terms of tech, development of the smartphone as we know it has levelled off but that's only after 20 or so years of very rapid development. I guess next up is more AI integration and probably tech augmentation of humans, neither of which appeal to me in the slightest.
Soldato
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I kind of get what you are trying to say... OP
I'm nearly mid 30s and I look back on certain things with rose tinted glasses. I think it's natural. Now I just have different goals and I'm feeling like i've started a new phase in life.
I personally need goals (small and big, professional and personal) otherwise I feel a sadness/boredom cloud my mind.
I also try to experience things more and really do that whole "be in the moment" thing. Basically that mindful stuff.. It actually helps.
I'm nearly mid 30s and I look back on certain things with rose tinted glasses. I think it's natural. Now I just have different goals and I'm feeling like i've started a new phase in life.
I personally need goals (small and big, professional and personal) otherwise I feel a sadness/boredom cloud my mind.
I also try to experience things more and really do that whole "be in the moment" thing. Basically that mindful stuff.. It actually helps.
Yeah, I meant to comment on this as well. I feel like in the east there is a combination of being the up and coming superpower which unites people, and (in certain parts at least) the knowledge that the government will pwn you if you don't get on board.
Deleted User 298457
Deleted User 298457
You have forgotten this whole pandemic I think
If you are unironically going clubbing after 25 you have gone wrong somewhere
let me put my useless sipn on stuff. Im in my 40s now .... wtf?
Clubbing - Clubbing serves one purporse, women or men and men and women hooking up.
- Mobile phones - Dont care, its a phone/camera/pocket computer. Stop caring.
- Gaming - I was a huge gamer now i dont have time or energy to stay up till 3am so whatever
- Roads and train infrastructure - I agree infrastructure is bad but to fix it is a monumental task and no ones got the balls to pay for it, so we will repair it forever. Look what happned to HS2.
- Fast car/bike ownership - Its a toy for older kids. You should grow up
- TVs - Who cares its a TV. One day holographic things will come out. Then something else. Its a tv.
- MotoGP and F1 - Yes it has gone utterly boring and monotonous i remember the days of Schumacher and Mansel ? i hope i spelled them right .
- Pubs - Chain pubs yeah are a curse of modern times. Like McDonalds pubs. You pretty much know exactly how they will look and what they sell before you even go in.
I think i just stopped caring about stuff like this in my early 30s. Tried to get on with life. Failed sideways.
There is a huge Societal push towards apologising for the past, correcting wrong doings blah blah. That is brought around by stagnation to some extent. THere is literally nothing to complain about so now we pick back through history to moan about stuff. I wish people would accept history good or bad, and just look forward.
IF i was you OP id be pretty happy with stuff. You must be in a decent position to care about fast cars, new tvs and stuff. Maybe stop looking at the material and discover god? God will save your soul. No amount of riches can do that.
let me put my useless sipn on stuff. Im in my 40s now .... wtf?
Clubbing - Clubbing serves one purporse, women or men and men and women hooking up.
- Mobile phones - Dont care, its a phone/camera/pocket computer. Stop caring.
- Gaming - I was a huge gamer now i dont have time or energy to stay up till 3am so whatever
- Roads and train infrastructure - I agree infrastructure is bad but to fix it is a monumental task and no ones got the balls to pay for it, so we will repair it forever. Look what happned to HS2.
- Fast car/bike ownership - Its a toy for older kids. You should grow up
- TVs - Who cares its a TV. One day holographic things will come out. Then something else. Its a tv.
- MotoGP and F1 - Yes it has gone utterly boring and monotonous i remember the days of Schumacher and Mansel ? i hope i spelled them right .
- Pubs - Chain pubs yeah are a curse of modern times. Like McDonalds pubs. You pretty much know exactly how they will look and what they sell before you even go in.
I think i just stopped caring about stuff like this in my early 30s. Tried to get on with life. Failed sideways.
There is a huge Societal push towards apologising for the past, correcting wrong doings blah blah. That is brought around by stagnation to some extent. THere is literally nothing to complain about so now we pick back through history to moan about stuff. I wish people would accept history good or bad, and just look forward.
IF i was you OP id be pretty happy with stuff. You must be in a decent position to care about fast cars, new tvs and stuff. Maybe stop looking at the material and discover god? God will save your soul. No amount of riches can do that.
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You have forgotten this whole pandemic I think
Ha no, sadly hard to ignore that but it is a good example of how science does rise to the problems of time. I don't think we are going to learn the lessons from it though as people want everything to go back to how it was before, more of a short term fire fight and then back to hoping it doesn't happen again.
Hopefully I'm wrong because if Covid has taught us anything its that we are woefully unprepared for what nature can throw at us.
I think the problem is people have slowly been conditioned into seeking enjoyment from material goods and possessions (be it real or virtual) rather than other people, friends and family. I mean you have only have to look at social media and cancel culture to see how toxic people have become towards one another, they seem to get more enjoyment out of being offended and cancelling (punishing) other people than making friends out of them. People are more connected than ever before with the internet and yet seem to be lonelier than ever.
If your happiness is derived from the people around you then it doesn't matter how much material goods and entertainment venues decline or become stale. I mean 100 years or so ago people had hardly any material possessions at all, just the bare minimum to get by in most cases.
If your happiness is derived from the people around you then it doesn't matter how much material goods and entertainment venues decline or become stale. I mean 100 years or so ago people had hardly any material possessions at all, just the bare minimum to get by in most cases.
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Associate
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Can't be that bad, plenty of immigrants looking to risk their lives to leave France and swim to the UK, plus millions of Europeans from across the continent migrate here to live and raise their families.
It's always amusing when people are critical of the condition of UK roads. Have any of you driven through Belgium, for example?!
When you are driving abroad, it's highly likely you are largely on major trunk routes - which you can't compare to the pot-hole riddled roads through a housing estate in Broadstairs. Steer off a main route and quality often drops off a cliff.
Here's the secondary route into my mother in law's medium sized town, just outside the capital of their EU country:
When you are driving abroad, it's highly likely you are largely on major trunk routes - which you can't compare to the pot-hole riddled roads through a housing estate in Broadstairs. Steer off a main route and quality often drops off a cliff.
Here's the secondary route into my mother in law's medium sized town, just outside the capital of their EU country:
Deleted User 298457
Deleted User 298457
Maybe if you were already part of the 1%. Technology has been a real leveler and will continue to be.
Soldato
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- 18 Mar 2010
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- 4,137
I kind of agree with you OP, but I think what you are describing is partly a symptom of aging!
Everything you experience for the first time is much more exciting. I do think that the clubbing scene was objectivly much better in the 90's/early 2000's, but my perception of that is going to be coloured by the fact that I was a teen/early 20's then and having a ball.
The same goes for films. I have been watching some of the peak Nicholas Cage films recently (The Rock, Con Air, Face Off), and they really do not make films like that any more! I much prefer them to the endless marvel pish that is doled out these days, but again that is partly me being an old man, and having a "things where better in my day" attitude!
As others have mentioned, the outlook for the UK is extremely negative/ depressing. We are going to experience a prolongued economic decline due to Brexit, and also as we really ****** up our covid response we are going to be paying the costs (furlough & money given to ministers mates) for years and years. We are planning to emmigrate as soon as international travel opens up!
Everything you experience for the first time is much more exciting. I do think that the clubbing scene was objectivly much better in the 90's/early 2000's, but my perception of that is going to be coloured by the fact that I was a teen/early 20's then and having a ball.
The same goes for films. I have been watching some of the peak Nicholas Cage films recently (The Rock, Con Air, Face Off), and they really do not make films like that any more! I much prefer them to the endless marvel pish that is doled out these days, but again that is partly me being an old man, and having a "things where better in my day" attitude!
As others have mentioned, the outlook for the UK is extremely negative/ depressing. We are going to experience a prolongued economic decline due to Brexit, and also as we really ****** up our covid response we are going to be paying the costs (furlough & money given to ministers mates) for years and years. We are planning to emmigrate as soon as international travel opens up!
I tend to agree with the OP. It's happening more in the West because Asia is rising. Also the UK has been in significant decline since WW1. So we notice it more. But I think it's a worldwide phenomenon as population increase caused environmental issues and loss of freedoms. I also think the era of cheap energy is over. So those three factors; expensive energy, environmental concerns and loss of personal freedom is now really starting to change people's lives.
Deleted User 298457
Deleted User 298457
This point you keep making across several threads is just laughable, it really is. How could the UK be on decline since WW1? In what measure? Literally everything has got better.
I suggest you guys read this book:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Abundance-Future-Better-Than-Think/dp/1451695764
At the very least to get another perspective.
UK influence has declined, the empire is gone etc. Just about everything else has improved though, living standards, quality of life are all so much better than the 'good old days'.
That is so ridiculously untrue and can only be the words of someone who has never been involved in a music movement. How many people were going to Fabric Drum and Bass nights or Gatecrasher in 1998 primarily to hook up? The minority...
I don't think peeps seem to realise how bad it was after WWII. This country was broken. While many countries surged ahead, the UK had to go cap in hand to the US for a massive loan to avoid complete collapse. We only just finished paying that loan off forty years later and indeed it took that long to get the country back on it's feet. The optimism of the sixties led to the wealth of the eighties, I think, but I am afraid that optimism has gone now. It comes down to more than just recession, people's outlook in the 2020's is completely different to forty years ago. Today we have realised we are making one almighty mess of this world, and perhaps we can never achieve everything we dream about.
I would say the global market means something like a pandemic can cause chaos but to say we are woefully unprepared is ridiculous. Imagine this had happened 15 years ago, mass home working and developing a vaccine in under a year would have been pipe dreams.