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

The common perception that modern life is rubbish is flawed.

We have better housing, better diet, better health, better freedom, better opportunities than most people except royalty throughout human history.

In the past we may have suffered all the above aspects of life being of lower quality but perhaps we had more feeling of security because we knew our communities and our place within them.

In today's society we have fragmented communities with fragmented families but more opportunities to move geographically, socially and economically.

Freedom of movement brings insecurity to our lives. We no longer have a sense of place or position that is secure and permanent. When people feel less secure, they tend to search for security through their status in comparison to others. Status achieved by possession of material goods, fashion, language or behaviour. So, because the young are mostly unable to achieve the material success of their elders, they use fashion, language and behaviour to make a status structure in which they measure their success.

The irritations of modern life are mostly other people conforming to a different status structure from one's own.

As regards the ubiquitous gizmos and gadgets, they do more now, to a better quality, than ever before. I suspect that the people who find them annoying are those who do not want to spend the time learning how to use them. When cars first appeared you had to be, or employ, a mechanic to be able to use one. When computers gained popularity in the 1980's you had be able to program them to be able to use them. As cars and computers have become more advanced, people need less and less knowledge to make them do anything. However you still have to learn how to drive to use a car; you still have to learn how to use a mouse to use a computer.

There will come a time when cars, computers et al will work by thought control. The destination or objective will be achieved with minimal knowledge, minimal input, minimal effort and minimal stress. However, people will still feel insecure and worried about their status.

Living in the now is the only way of feeling secure within oneself and making status an irrelevance. As a side effect, the irritations of modern life cease to be irritations.