h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Actually, very difficult to answer.

At one hand I firmly believe that modern man alienates him-/herself from the basics of nature.(walking is the best way to serve our body. Some tendons start to detiriorate after not being used longer than two hours).

But modernity has also freed us from many diseases and disasters.

And young people are very flexible by nature and can handle the most modern communication with diving around coral reefs.(although that is not the same as being in touch with it)


Very difficult to put the finger on it.

In Japan I see far more alienation among youth (staying inside a room for years) then in Europe.


Well; Our technology is embedded in a Western way of living and that attitude can cause real alienation from the basic ingrediënts of nature = ourselves

Do we listen / cán we listen to our bodies?
(instead of just fighting symptoms).

Who can bear real silence? (let alone cherish it and feed oneself with it)
Being alone in a forest?
Dealing with life style stress hormones?


But I do nót believe that an anthroposophic life-style is thé answer.
It is too much a product of 19th century thinking and would make us a fossile in our daily life.

Anyhow; I never anticipate with lotteries (I'm sorry, ye Britons) because I wouldn't like to have millions of Euro's. It would kill my attitude towards life as a whole.
Ever seen a real happy millionaire?
Very, really véry few.
See the dramatic life of (lonely) Michael Jackson.


Well, my greatings from real life Amsterdam

I agree with you on the point that most people arn't happy with there modern lifestyles. They go out to work for shit they dont wan't. Im not sure we would all turn into micheal jackson if we were million airs!!!
orion

though you could probably admit that most people are easily changed by money, and not usualy for the best. shame that.

think that the only way we could really go about this would be to individually re-appraise what role technology plays in our lifes.
Do we depress the quality of our lives by coming in from work and watching too much T.V? Use our computers too much for pointless tasks games when we should be working? if individuals started to cut back on what they used technology for then mabey we could hang onto a better sense of perspective. Use technology when you have to but always bear in mind that it's not always the best soloution to whatever you're doing. (ie. microwaves for dinner)

Tonoght their is on (Dutch) T.V. the Swedish documentairy about U.S./western lifestyle; "Thou shall buy".
The almost religious "duty" of inhabitants of Western sociëty to consume.

I always liked the phrase "the Ikea nesting instinct".

And I - must - admit that I really háve been at an Ikea this week .

While I bought something and later returned to complain, I was waiting in room with other "victims" and what were they discussing?

That at the Ikea in Utrecht you can get a second cup of coffee for free.

The ultimate Dutch discussion !

I'm certainly glad that I don't need to spend hours scubbing clothes clean by hand, brushing carpets on my hands & knees with a dustpan, collecting & chopping firewood, lighting fires, cleaning grates and so on.
Unfortunately, many people are not good at filling all this new found leisure time. We have expectations that technology will solve everything & are losing the knack of relying on our own resources.

The thing I find so tragic about the technological revolution is that it has turned Modern Man into a self-centred isolationist.

We will communicate with people across the world - and yet won't cross the street to talk to a neighbour.
We will use appliances to give us more leisure time - and then complain we have nothing to do.
We assume alter egos in chat rooms and do nothing to change our own attitudes in real life.
We can preview a great country without actually going there - and then we don't actually go there.

I live in South Africa. A land of cutting edge technology and Stone Age Lifestyle San (Bushmen). In some ways this offers the best of both worlds. I can hop on my motorcycle and be in a desert, a tropical rain forest, wide open grasslands or high mountains within two hours.
I can flee the concrete jungle with it's microwave bombardment and CCTV networks, take along a little tent and spend the weekend without electicity. Remember? Cooking on an open fire, using a candle for light. Eating fruit by unwrapping the skin, not sticking a drinking straw into the foil package and consuming taste enhancers, preservatives and who knows what else along with the "fruit juice".

But if I am unluckly enough to get bitten by a snake, or break my leg in a fall while climbin a rocky outcrop to look at the view, I can still get a mobile phone call in and summon a helicopter to evacuate me to a world class hospital where MRI's CATscans and digital x-rays will identify the problem and let me get fixed up aain.

I don't believe that Technology has spoiled Modern Man. Modern Man has become obsessed with Technology as a challenge - an end in itself.
It's like money. If money is just a means to making our lives and those of our family and friends easier or more fun, then it is good to have money. But when money becomes the ultimate goal of one's life, then there will never enough money for even one person. It's called GREED.

Technology is the same. Use it to give more value and meaning to your life. Ironically, the value we seek is not in the technolgy - it's in ourselves.

This last reply makes me think about family "games" at big screens.
As a family/group in the USA you can play a digital game on a very big screen.
It may be great fun, but there is no direct fysical interaction (eye contact and other body language)with the members of the family/group during the game.
Everybody is staring at that huge screen.

While if you would play "monopoly" around the table, the personal interaction is much more intense.

That is a big difference.

I don't want to "diabolicize" digital games, but in this case it makes clear the lack of human contact.

Good points, Wrinkled Rocker. But allow me to play devil's advocate here...

"We will communicate with people across the world - and yet won't cross the street to talk to a neighbour."
People want to communicate with people who share their interests. It is nice if they can find close neighbors who share interests, but often they can't. Also, people get tired of going through huge amounts of small talk about weather and stuff with local strangers and just hoping to find common interests. Easier to go to an online community such as this one, where you know you'll have an interesting conversation.

"We will use appliances to give us more leisure time - and then complain we have nothing to do."
Would you rather be bored or busy doing something you hate (many jobs)? Of course I'd rather be busy doing something I like, but you don't always have that choice.. or you get sick of something after spending years doing it for 8 hours a day.

"We can preview a great country without actually going there - and then we don't actually go there."
Sad, but travel can be expensive. Most people can't travel everywhere they think is cool. I've seen hundreds of cool places on TV/movies or read about in books. But I couldn't afford to go to more than a few of them.

I wasn't referring to the armchair traveller who must do so by economic necessity. I know many who save up for a holiday and TV-travel to make up their minds where to go. But the planned holiday never takes place because they are too busy armchair travelling to OTHER places they haven't looked at yet. The armchair travel becomes a quest in itself.

I too am guilty of cocooning.
I have a next-door neighbour that I haven't spoken to in four years - and another new one I haven't spoken to at all! I haven't bothered to find out who they are or what they're like Across the street there is a cluster of houses. The person who lives directly across I have met - his dogs bark at mine regularly - but the other three are unknown tenants. I know the cars they drive, but not the drivers.

I know people who find chores soothing - a stress relief. One need not plan them, perform them to schedule or have one's performance evaluated in order to get an increase that may determine whether you child can go to college or not. They are automatic, unconcious competencies that one does without concentration. Chill out, man - vacuum the passage carpet!

I know that a dishwasher produces cleaner, more sterile crockery so I suggested that I buy us a dishwasher - but my wife had a dozen reasons why I should not. After two years of hearing her complain about washing dishes I went out and bought the damn dishwasher myself. Now she complains about the cost of dishwashing powder!

Perhaps we choose to complain about the mundane so that we can avoid talking about the real issues in life..?

I like to play chess. I used to play at a local chess club in town. Then I got a job working on Wednesday evenings when the club met, and I couldn't go there any more. So I play chess online, and don't see people's faces or talk nearly as much during the games (despite having a chat window open)... Recently I heard that the local club shut down because of a lack of players , although there is one in a nearby town that I'll have to think about.

Playing chess.

In your case it has two sides.
Because of lack of time, you still can play at the internet.

But at the other hand, there is no physical interaction between players ánd the pub is closed.

But history teaches, that changes go on anyway; good or bad.
(I don't mean that in an absolute fatalistic way).

Realizing the effects of technology in our personal life - as we do here at the internet - may help to find our own, personal balance in these matters, doesn't it?

An example; do I write personal bithdaycards by the "normal" mail, or do I send one already made by e-mail?

And when I go to the ballot box; "which party has found a good balance in these things for your country ánd the global society?"


E-mailgreatings from Amsterdam