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

Were things really any better in the 'good old days'? And just how far back are we talking? Do the late 1980s really count as the 'good old days'?

I don't believe that things were any better in the good old days. Its just hindsight that makes us see things as good, when we are looking from a pile of manure that may be surrounding us now. I think whether the 1980's were the "good old days" depends how old you are now. If you were at the age of say 15 in the 80's then you will be looking back on your youth...and as we age, it becomes more comforting to look back, than look forward. Personally, I am hard pressed to think of a time that I think of as the good old days. I am happy now. That makes it easier all round!

Is harking back to times gone by ever a healthy thing? Is it better to live in the present rather than in the past?

Looking backwards can teach you things that can make the future better. This is why teaching history is important. Anyone feeling like this country is descending into a Weimar republic kind of state needs to check their German History pre 1930's and start fretting! (It isn't THAT bad... yet!) That said, it is not healthy to be stuck in the past. You need to let past events inform your present and educate your future, but it should not dominate your life. I am a fairly grounded sort of person so I would rather think about what is to come rather than what has already happened. Doesn't stop me getting misty-eyed when I think of my days living in Canada, but then my adult head tells me to get back to work!!

Or could today's generation learn a lot from the folks that have gone before them? Is it so wrong to hanker after a time of good old fashioned values like politeness and respect?

Politeness and respect are not old fashioned values. I just think people have forgotten them, in favour of the individual worship culture and the necessity for the latest gadget. There is a difference! Once all that disappears and people realise that is a house of cards and it is going to cave in, politeness and respect will come to the fore again. I think this generation could learn a lot from the war generation - how the hell can you feed a family with 4oz of butter and rationed flour?! I don't know, but they do. I think nostalgia offers opportunities for generations to learn from one another, as well as giving the rememberer a nice warm glow!

And why do you think the time between events passing and the need for us to reflect on and analyse them is getting shorter and shorter?

Life is very immediate now. Not many years ago, if you wanted to know if a friend had safely delivered their baby, then you waited for a telephone call or the birth announcement in the paper, or even a letter telling you of the happy event. Now, it is posted on twitter and facebook almost instantaneously. With this immediacy comes the need to reflect and work out what has been important, what history will judge as being important - with the best will in the world, there is so much information that just one person would be unable to analyse it and sort it all out for themselves. Due to the vast amounts of digital material there now is, compiling these lists is a lot easier to do than ever before - hence why we have them!

Hi Crickett. Some great points there. I think the one thing that has improved vastly in recent years is that ability to get in touch with people immediately after the event of big family events like the birth of children. And then to be able to distribute pictures to doting grandparents, even if they live on the other side of the world. Things like Skype also allow you to stay in touch in the most economic way possible. The benefits here are huge.

When it comes back to harking back to simpler times, the one thing every generation seems to have in common is that the current crop of children seem ruder and less respectful than the ones in 'their day'. Maybe it's just true, but it's the one thing people seem to agree with. Which might have something to do with the fact that, in the UK at least, those little totems of luxury - mobile phones, satellite TV - as well as a comfortable standard of living, are more accessible. Although there are still pockets of people who don't have these things. Generally though life is easier for kids these days. On one hand that's a good thing. On the other hand, is it breeding a generation of ingrates?

I agree with you Zelmo Zale, I love Skype! Though it is slightly disconcerting to be on your computer whilst wearing your pyjamas and someone calls you on skype and the webcam is on! It feels a little like being in one of Jetsons cartoons!!

I also agree that everyone thinks the "youff" are rude and disrespectful. I certainly recall being at school and how the first years used to barge past us older girls and I distinctly recall saying "I never did that when I was their age"...!

Life IS easier for people, certainly it is easier than the war years. But easier doesn't necessarily mean better or happier. At some point, the consumer and materialistic society we have is going to pause, take stock a little and say to itself "all the money I spent on these gadgets which surround me and beep at me is crap. I think I'd like to grow carrots now please." At least, that is my fervent hope!

Ah... I like my gadgets. I like being able to talk to my friends in other towns easily and cheaply, I like being able to carry music anywhere and to have instant access to the sum total of man's collective knowledge. It does seem to make people stop thinking as much and I know I don't read as much as I did when I was a kid (admittedly a kid with hours and hours of free time), but the technology that I've grown up with has shaped this world. While techology continues to benefit us, I'm not sure we'll ever go back to the good old days, even if we have to lose something in the process, sad as that may be.
I don't think I've ever been entirely ungrateful for the privileged life I've lead. I'm thankful most every day for having a warm home and easy living.

I don't fancy growing carrots. I don't have a garden and my knees are a little off. Maybe I'll have my technological mid-life crisis revolve around something that grows tall and is easy to harvest. Grapes perhaps?

Biocorp,

I love gadgets too. I have a mobile, an MP3 player, a laptop, and clearly I am relatively efficient on a PC or else I would not be here (plus, I have a whole drawer in my kitchen devoted to cookery gadgets!)! What I was alluding to are all those things which are extraneous and useless and yet people seem to think they are the most important things in life. Like 52 inch plasma screen TVs. And sattelite TV. And big cars which never go over 20mph even though they are limited to "only" 220mph. It seems that the people are striving to get all of these things, and are forgetting about simpler things and simpler pleasures. Like growing your own food or walking in the countryside.

I am not a Luddite, and recognise that technology changes with time and can, indeed has, improved life. But perhaps the pendulum of societal change needs to swing back closer to the "Good Life" instead of being stuck on "The Hills".

Any of that make sense?!

Ah, yeah. That's fair. I've bought a couple of those things before, it's nice for a while but there's an emptiness afterwards.
It's a status symbol for a lot of people, I guess. who has the best watch, the best mobile... heh, I guess they're right about money not buying happiness. Or fulfilment at the very least.