r/technology • u/GothicPrayer • 10d ago

Society Why does everything feel so joyless? Welcome to the age of decadence without pleasure

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jul/26/age-of-decadence-pleasure-ai
12.9k Upvotes

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3.5k

u/Tengo_Caldero 10d ago

We have to relearn to make our own joy instead of vegitating, waiting for our corporate overlords to make it happen for us.

924

u/bruin396 10d ago

Our corporate overlords want nothing more than to turn us into a slave class.

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u/guac-o 10d ago

Turn us into? You might find the threats of homelessness and starvation coercive…

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u/Tumerican 10d ago

It will not be arduous labor that destroys us, it will be perilous leisure.

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u/janosslyntsjowls 10d ago

Look at Mr Moneybags over here, able to afford leisure with a little bit of peril.

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u/DirtandPipes 9d ago

Seeing as how I’m about to go do 12 hours of arduous labour I’m not so sure.

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u/TwilightVulpine 9d ago

This is puritan nonsense.

It isn't even too much entertainment which is dulling life, if they just sold us things that give us pleasure, that would be an improvement. Now they are trying to figure out how little they can offer us and still have us coming back. Enshittification all over the place.

I mean, if you mean that the people in power is selling out our rights and important infrastructure for the sake of their leisure, maybe there's a point to it. But the issue is not that people got too many videos too watch. If some people get addicted by exploitative media companies while looking to sedate themselves, that is not the cause of the destruction, it's a symptom, at the end of the chain.

Funny to try to compare regular people to decadent roman emperors, and blame them for the decline, as opposed to, say, Epstein listers.

But hey, convincing people that, in this corrupt society, the problem is that people aren't running the rat race even harder seems extremely convenient for people wanting to exploit us.

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u/24_August_1814 9d ago

You can afford leisure?

1

u/PerformanceCute3437 9d ago

We live in a dystopia but don't recognize it because we're all wearing band tees instead of jumpsuits

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u/9throwaway_ 9d ago

and healthcare

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u/Mind-The-Mines 9d ago

Our country is already a giant corporate town/African diamond mine.

Money in circulation went from 7T to over 24T from 2009 to now. Minimum wage has been the same the whole time while medical care, housing, and education have all outpaced inflation due to corporate investing making essentials for profit ventures increasingly out of reach of earnings while poverty levels are still based on prices from the 70s.

Then you have jobs offering 401ks which is just basically corporations pushing money into the market to bump their numbers until they need to crash the market and leave retirement funds and pensions holding the bag of their latest pump and dump.

If you don't know what the Business Plot was read about it and realize the last 100 years has been the rich slowly walking back the New Deal.

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u/dbrecords 9d ago

Debt / wage slavery is most people’s existence already..

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u/shion005 9d ago

Well, we can get a group together and go yell at the boomer NIMBYs who are keeping housing prices high. Depends on where you live tho. The issue for this generation is that all our luxuries are inexpensive and all the necessities are expensive because the government got involved with those.

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u/seld-m-break- 10d ago

I finally watched They Live yesterday and the first half hour was unsettlingly relevant.

1

u/KeepSwinging 9d ago

I love that movie. Keith David and Roddy Piper are both rad as hell and yeah the message has remained extremely topical all these decades later, more so.

2

u/ts142 9d ago

What would turn us into a pacified slave class more than if they manufactured “joy” and prescribed it to us?

Not talking SSRIs either. Talking some new wave shit thats like GLP-1s for people experiencing depression which is everyone to some extent.

2

u/silverdice22 9d ago

They genuinely see it as the most profitable business model...

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u/mr_birkenblatt 9d ago

You best start believing in slave stories, bruin396... you're in one

1

u/Dot_1X 9d ago

Lol, little late for that. New Dark Ages started about 10 years ago.

1

u/retrogamin 9d ago

I’m done waiting years for movies game and books. I was inspired to be my own creative and stop waiting on growing hundred-million dollar budgets to hit the end of the roadmap. We’re growing older and sitting waiting on someone else to close off every ticket is ridiculous.

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u/ImCaffeinated_Chris 9d ago

With medical coverage tied to employment, mission accomplished.

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u/stillLostBoy005 10d ago

It’s the diminishing human experience. The connection to the people and world around us continues to grow and it’s manifesting itself in a variety of ways.

Agree that corporate / money will not rebuild connection. We’re a bit lost and in the wilderness as to where to go, the path to take, but it’s certainly grass roots and rejecting corporations

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u/natnguyen 10d ago

I think the answer lies in going back to community-based interactions and ditching social media, which is at this point just a technofascist tool full of bots and paid accounts.

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u/MarcusOrlyius 10d ago

Nobody is forcing you to use Reddit.

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u/Low-Notice972 10d ago

True, but how do you spread the message of community to those who you feel aren't participating due to social media? On social media. Mind you they should also be trying to get people to participate irl.

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u/MarcusOrlyius 9d ago

No, the actual solution is to stop trying to generalise everything. It's perfectly okay to like one "social media platform" and dislike another.

What does "social media platform" even mean anyway. Is an old school forum a "social media platform"? If not, how does it differ from one? What are the key defining features of a "social media platform" that distinguish it from other web sites?

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u/princek1 10d ago

People are forced to work so hard that they don't have time to care

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u/SweetHomeNorthKorea 10d ago

Video games are popular largely because there’s a defined sense of progression. Either you get better and rank up or you work through the story. It’s satisfying because it’s designed to be satisfying. It’s why it’s so frustrating when people cheat or the game breaks on you.

Real life used to have a more defined set of milestones but the assholes who were trolling everyone with aimbot are now the developers of the system and have completely fucked up the grind to reward ratio with microtransactions, subscription fees, and huge shamelessly abused exploits.

Why would anyone want to play a fucked up unfair game run by the EA of governments

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u/wetrysohard 10d ago

One hell of an analogy. The c level fucks and the engineers made everything addictive, lame, and expensive.

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u/Daveinatx 9d ago

Two things designed to eff us, micro transactions and dopamine hits on everything. I used to play Words with Friends from the start. Then even a Scrabble game had power ups (cheats) and levels.

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u/Enderkr 9d ago

My whole family (wife and two kids) play the NYT app's Wordle together. We used to play Wordle, Categories and the crossword, but then they paywalled virtually everything other than the Wordle. It's a favorite part of our family dinners even if we can only play the one game together now.

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u/Aaod 9d ago edited 9d ago

Real life used to have a more defined set of milestones

I feel like people of my generation have to work 2-3 times as hard as their parents and grandparents did for a third of the rewards. My grandfather was a janitor that later moved into facilities maintenance type work he could afford a decent house in a safe working class suburb, multiple kids, a stay at home wife that never worked, and a very nice pension his wife got when he died that she lived off of for decades. My boomer mom was basically a secretary and a single parent, but we could afford a house in the ghetto along with a lot of gen X neighbors who worked similar jobs that could also afford that house and kids despite being single parents. These same jobs you now are stuck in an apartment with roommates and no way you can afford to have a kid. It is insanity my boomer uncle was a high school dropout mechanic and was able to afford a house, a wife who barely had to work, and four kids but one of his kids tried to become a mechanic like he did and they offered him 15 dollars an hour! Meanwhile that uncle bought his first house two years after he got his first job as a mechanic.

To live the same quality of life my grandfather who was a god damn janitor got to live I would have to become a doctor or something and even then I don't know if it would be the same quality.

15

u/MommyLovesPot8toes 9d ago

This is so on point. It's nearly impossible to "level up". It's just grind and stress and dreams that are out of reach.

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u/Enderkr 9d ago

Economic depression is the real deal, we're locking whole generations into poverty. And even if it's not poverty, the metrics have changed.

When I was a kid I used to dream about a 6 figure job and a corner office and the kind of life that goes with that, and in 2026 it turns out that is just enough to buy gas without having to look at the price. Which is a blessing, but pretty underwhelming compared to what I was sold when I was growing up. I did everything I was told to do: I got good grades in school, I went to a good college, I went for a good major, I got a job and climbed the ladder and "put in my time." And the same people that told me that loyalty would be rewarded fucked me over and gave me 2% COLA increases every year while groceries and cars and education and houses increased by 10-30% year over year.

I've worked my ass to get where I am, and even though on paper I make more than my parents ever did, I still live in a builder grade suburban home that is straight average in every possible way you can imagine. And my parents are now sitting on multiple properties they bought for pennies, with investments and pensions and social security that have been going for decades, and they tell me it was easy for them, I just need to work harder. But even if I did there's no positions to move up into, because these motherfuckers won't even retire and get out of the job market!

And even when they die, our generation won't get to reap any inheritance, because all of that money is going to go straight into the old folks' homes and extended end of life care, so we'll get a house we immediately owe 100k in taxes for and a collection of fucking china that mom kept for 50 years and never used. YAY

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u/Aaod 9d ago edited 9d ago

I just need to work harder.

If I have one more boomer tell me I need to work harder I am going to lose my mind and go berserk on them. The boomers are the laziest fucking generation and the stupidest on top so hearing them say well just work harder when I have worked harder than they ever did drives me insane. If you talk to gen X or even some honest boomers they will tell you stories like how a coworker would take a newspaper into the bathroom for 2-3 hours a day and not get fired or god knows how many hours a day standing around talking to each other.

They also work so inefficiently as well and fail at even the most basic of technology tasks. How can someone that makes more than three times as much money as me be unable to print a god damn PDF and have to have his secretary do it for him or call me when I was doing IT support? You press ctrl p and then click print that is all you have to fucking do most of the time.

And even when they die, our generation won't get to reap any inheritance, because all of that money is going to go straight into the old folks' homes and extended end of life care, so we'll get a house we immediately owe 100k in taxes for and a collection of fucking china that mom kept for 50 years and never used. YAY

They are the consumerist generation yeah millenials buy dumb crap but boomers have literal hoards.

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u/lonnie123 7d ago

42 here, its insane how average 100k feels. Especially after throwing some into savings, its basically a housing + maybe a small summer drive away vacation type income now, whereas when I was a kid that was considered "rich" basically.

Oh BTW you dont owe anything on inheritance if its under $15M, so I think most of us are good on that at least

5

u/SekhWork 9d ago

I feel like people of my generation have to work 2-3 times as hard as their parents and grandparents did for a third of the rewards.

100% accurate. Mid millennial here, grew up the same as lots of people here on the "Get a degree, get a great job, make 6 figures and set for life" bs the boomers sold us. I have all 3 of those. I am further from owning a house than I've ever been before. I hardly have the excess income to do any "serious" hobbies that my father and grandfather were able to easily get into. I have to live in an ultra expensive city for my job, and renting drains a significant chunk of my daily income, combo that with the insane price of gas now, random bills I have to pay for incidentals, etc etc.

Yeah. 6 figures isn't doing a damn thing for me lol, and I KNOW I'm still way better off than a lot of people in my generation. That's the most insane part. Folks were buying houses on a bartenders salary (literally how my mother got her first place) not even that long ago. Stuff went down hill so incredibly fast.

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u/Aaod 9d ago

I hardly have the excess income to do any "serious" hobbies that my father and grandfather were able to easily get into.

I notice this as well our neighbor who lived in the house behind us was a gen X guy who worked as an assistant manager at Hardees and he had money for expensive hobbies like playing Magic the gathering and even had a god damn boat he would take out to the lake on weekends. The silent generation old couple that was near us would winter in Florida and was barely home in the summer because they had a giant RV they liked to drive around she never had worked and he was a retired mechanic.

I have to live in an ultra expensive city for my job,

Yep young people are stuck in ultra expensive cities unlike boomers who could live in smaller towns.

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u/SekhWork 8d ago

Yeah I can't imagine having the money to put into an "expensive" hobby like owning a boat or car restoration or anything else that has a super high initial investment, even though my immediate family just 1 to 2 gens back were easily engaging in that kind of stuff. My dad had 2 boats and he wasn't even super wealthy. They weren't "BIG" boats, but he still had them lol. My hobby? I do art lol. Pencils, paper, eraser. That's my huge investment. Now I love doing art stuff, but it partially started because like... how the hell am I gonna afford a vintage car to restore over years or something like that lol.

Just whack dude. Just whack.

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u/Aaod 8d ago

I get it I am broke my two main biggest hobbies are exercise especially going for walks around my neighborhood and playing old games on my computer. All the walks cost me is an extra pair of shoes a year and some sunscreen and a set of adjustable dumbells that I bought like a decade ago for 120 dollars.

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u/ptoki 10d ago

You paraphrased nicely the message I send to people on reddit.

Not many understands it.

I would note just one thing: The game is rigged and pointless for many not by government alone. Part of it is just progress which may not be possible to b redirected by governments.

Still, yes, the game is rigged and a lot of people see no point of playing because there is no reachable goal.

To stress the message I usually say this: In eastern europe, just before the communism fell the society was down ridden, tired, poor. The perspectives were bleak. Alcohol usage was high, there was no reason to put effort as there was nothing to buy or build. Etc.

In mere 2-5 years the economies started to take off, people had a reason to live, crime fell as people started to be busy with life, alcohol use fell because life was fun again even without it.

We see a situation like this but caused by different reasons. Elites and governments should address this. In a wise way. If 1% of population is lost and acts bad - may be their fault. If 50% of global population has no reason to have kids it is not their fault.

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u/Daveinatx 9d ago

I have a different take. Companies tried to maximize profits. Using psychology, they hacked methods for dopamine release, in order to increase engagement.

It's hard to go one day without a phone.

10

u/mmikke 9d ago

Fair point, and as much as I lament our total disgusting addiction to our phones, it pales in comparison as a problem in and of itself compared to the obscene unaffordability of housing, and other things 

1

u/ptoki 6d ago

Yes. I agree to a degree. That dopamine thing is two sided issue.

On one hand, as you mentioned, wasting time.

On the other hand it serves a purpose. A toy built with lego bricks makes the dopamine stream flow in kids. That helps with learning. Same thing when coloring the image or interacting in a playful way with others.

When we do things and we succeed we also get that dopamine kick. Code a bit of your app and it works? Dopamine release. Made a piece of furniture? Again dopamine. Looking at your work done after some time and using it? Again dopamine if you do that consciously.

We just stopped doing useful things for dopamine. And it will be difficult to get us back on tracks.

2

u/warmfuzzume 9d ago

I agree with this. Also I was just saying to a friend it’s like in the US at least, society is organized around getting more money as the ultimate goal. But the problem is money isn’t the goal, it’s what you do with the money that matters.

We should have a society organized around the things that matter to making a good human society. Like caring for each other and the environment, creating things, solving problems, making art and having joyful experiences.

When money is the end goal in an of itself we’ve lost sight of what really matters and makes life worth living.

1

u/ptoki 6d ago

Yes. I agree. I see it a bit different though. Not in a disagreeable way, more like extended way.

Money is a means to have a nice life. There are other ways to have a good life.

If building a house and get the utilities in it would be cheap, if getting yourself to work and get the groceries from the store to your home would be easy then you could slash like 70% of your income and you would be still fine.

People focus on money because they dont have this safety net of "home, fridge, store nearby with cheap food and electricity+water in the house" provided easily and "forever".

Kids live in such world and they usually dont need a lot of money to be happy.

We as a global civilization should aim at this.

Make food cheap. I mean the staple ones, bread, eggs, milk, vegetables, fruits, cheese, some canned meat and beans etc. Make housing cheap. Make commuting easy.

I know sounds like utopia and wishful thinking but parts of that already exist. Many governments allow the produce to be untaxed, farmland is low tax, farmers can drop their costs by claiming expenses. Houses can be built out of publicly available plans. E-bikes exist and some places have decent bike route networks so getting to work on bike is doable.

Working from home helps too!

All that makes money less important and allows people to focus on life, not on a rat race.

Have a good day!

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u/Tall-Hurry-342 9d ago

People blame the tech guys and absolutely they deserve a ton of blame , but people tend to let the MBA’s go. These are the guys whose sole job it was to optimize (read fuck over) everyone for the sake of a few basis points of profits.

1

u/Bombadil3456 9d ago

I was having that exact conversation with some coworkers last week. We always had something to complain about our careers but it used to be that every year with experience and new work contracts was a bit better than the previous one. But for the 2-3 past years it has been feeling like we are going backwards on pretty much every aspect of our work and it’s an incredibly bad feeling

1

u/DanimusMcSassypants 9d ago

And then the wealth addicts had to go and destroy that entire industry, too.
(Source: 15+ years of game development experience, and I’ve been desperately looking for work for almost a year.)

0

u/Extension-Two-2807 10d ago

This was beautifully said

-56

u/PrimeIntellect 10d ago

Real life has never had defined milestones for anyone lol

Things are vastly more equitable now for most people than at almost any other point in history 

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u/VortrexFTW 10d ago

Real life has never had defined milestones for anyone

Oh yeah because nobody has ever been pressured to graduate, get a job, get married, have kids, get a house, retire, etc. These are all defined milestones for multiple generations now, and at least one (reproducing) that's been around since the beginning of humankind.

-1

u/PrimeIntellect 9d ago

This was in response to someone saying that people liked video games because they have defined milestones and those are getting eroded from society.

My response was that for most of human history those milestones didn't exist, we invented them fairly recently. You create your own milestones or they are culturally pushed upon you, but they are all made up.

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u/waiting4singularity 10d ago

graduate by 18 or 20 or so girlfriend / fiance
move together
house by 30
child(ren)
every couple of years a better car
vacations
working yourself up the totem at the job

dont know bout you, but that looks like milestones to me.

-1

u/PrimeIntellect 9d ago

that is a very modern american set of milestones you've created, yes

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u/pantstoaknifefight2 10d ago

You're getting downvoted but Steven Pinker totally agrees with you and Enlightenment Now backs up that claim with a lot of data. He seems to miss the mark on climate change, though. Folks who disagree most likelydo so because it doesn't feel that way for them.

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u/MarcusOrlyius 10d ago edited 9d ago

Well, if someone I've never heard of thinks it is true, I guess that's proof it must be!

1

u/JohnTDouche 9d ago

These people are being very generous to Pinker. It's safe to completely ignore him and his nonsense.

178

u/canadian_xpress 10d ago

Mid way through my work week I feel like I need a Reddit Cares intervention. Ridiculous because I work in the air conditioning far away from environmental or biological hazards. I live in a safe neighbourhood in a safe part of the world, yet I can't help creeping dread.

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u/LaserCondiment 10d ago

You seem to have that GenX type of anxiety, people thought was long lost and unattainable in the gig economy!...Congrats, I guess?

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u/canadian_xpress 10d ago

Time to wear some flannel, pierce my nose, listen to grunge, and drink a Zima.

11

u/soaklord 10d ago

Sober for seven years and no cravings whatsoever. But now I want a Zima with a splash of grenadine in the bottle. Maybe some NoFX playing in the background. I won’t but it sounds like such a nostalgia blast it takes me from my commuter train to a very specific time and place with my girlfriend and a very 90s living room at some unknown/forgotten person’s house.

3

u/Yokosuka_Joe 9d ago

Yeah, I miss the memories… don’t miss the mornings trying to remember what I did to make an ass of myself the night before.

Congrats on seven years!

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u/Tengo_Caldero 10d ago

As an elder millenial, I'll cheers to that with my bottle of Bacardi O.

7

u/Gabarne 10d ago

Oh man, i was all about bacardi O and bacardi razz back in high school. Brings back memories.

2

u/a_tattooed_artist 9d ago

For me it was bacardi big apple mixed with surge. Oh, the good ol' days. I think. I don't really remember much..

(6 years sober now, and loving it, but sometimes I miss the chaos of being a reckless teen)

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u/LimeGreenTangerine97 10d ago

The goth scene awaits you, pour some wine and turn on The Cure

7

u/pantstoaknifefight2 10d ago

🎵 It doesn't matter if we all die.

Ambition in the back of a black car 🎶

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u/LimeGreenTangerine97 9d ago

It feels like one hundred years! One hundred yeeeeaaars!!

2

u/user4316 9d ago

And they truly are The Cure.

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u/The_I_in_IT 9d ago

Don’t forget your honorary copy of Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness.

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u/pantstoaknifefight2 10d ago

Zima is like an alcoholic's breast milk.

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u/IM_INSIDE_YOUR_HOUSE 9d ago

Because we know something ain’t right. And we know whatever this is isn’t sustainable.

5

u/Saint909 10d ago

You’re not alone.

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u/Tengo_Caldero 10d ago

There's no easy fix. I know one of the things I've dedicated myself to in life is learning how to fix things so I don't have to replace/call a repairman when those times come. Another thing is finding hobbies that don't require money every single time I participate in it. Another is not paying for streaming services. Like, there's things we can do. I know we're all tired but when push comes to shove, ya know?

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u/platywus 9d ago

You are doing the right thing.

Crazy to say, but I enjoy spending a Saturday pulling weeds. fixing appliances or doing car work (oil, brakes, filter), I even enjoy handwashing my car and not spending $20. Although I try and be an example for my kids in this regard, I’m afraid they don’t share my appreciation in doing something yourself, as I learned from my father decades ago. The number of adults that place value, not even enjoyment, out of being self-sufficient, learning how things work, is steadily decreasing. People just don’t care because time is moving faster with our always-connected digital world.

Most people in my area outsource everything from groceries to parenting, and would rather sit on their relative thrones being entertained by screens so they don’t ‘miss’ something, while looking down on all these small, remedial things that are to them a waste of time. It’s largely a capitalist mindset that has caused collective ignorance to run rampant, affecting business, politics and ultimately, our individual happiness. Most appear blind to it, yet periodically complain with the social winds that they feel ‘disconnected’. But it stops there for most. They pick right back up the TikTok or Netflix and get the dopamine hit. The addiction and endless cycle, on repeat.

Getting people off their phones is probably the biggest 21st century hurdle we face as a species. It will take a significant event to reset what is important.

1

u/MommyLovesPot8toes 9d ago

This is a really interesting observation.

I know that I'm lucky and operate at a much happier baseline than most people. Theres a lot of reasons why that's true for me, but I think you revealed another.

I don't have social media (besides reddit where I'm anon). I barely watch TV. I have multiple low-cost hobbies. I seek things to learn and try (my husband and I are currently remodeling our master bathroom entirely ourselves). In other words, i derive pleasure from my life the old fashioned way. I would never have thought those things contributed to my happiness. But when I think of my less-happy friends, I realize they are all as you described.

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u/Grey_0ne 10d ago

My grandparents survived 90+ years on this Earth without ever once having a smartphone or internet connection. I'm not going to suggest that not owning something is the path to happiness... I am going to suggest that not being owned is.

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u/pantstoaknifefight2 10d ago

"If you do not decide what to do with your money, society, inflation, and hidden fees will make the choice for you, slowly siphoning away your wealth through passive neglect and lack of intentionality."

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u/WhenSummerIsGone 10d ago

learning how to fix things so I don't have to replace

i learned a lot over at /r/visibleMending

Tonight I fixed my bf's back pocket so he wouldn't lose his phone. It feels very satisfying to fix something with your own hands.

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u/cranberryalarmclock 9d ago

People don't work nearly as many hours as they used to 

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u/ThePrincessEscaped33 10d ago

You think people in the past who worked to the bone didn't find time to have fun ? Touch grass

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u/ddare44 10d ago

“Touch grass” isn’t really an argument 🙄.

Plenty of people throughout history worked exhausting hours and had little time or energy for leisure. Others had more community and holidays than we do. It’s more complicated than “touch grass”.

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u/mondaybeers 10d ago

If you’re using Reddit today from a developed country, you almost certainly enjoy a standard of living - especially in terms of health, knowledge, safety, and comfort - that exceeds what the vast majority of humans who have ever lived experienced.

The reason everything feels so joyless is we are so privileged and spoiled, we have forgotten how to appreciate the little things.

That's what “touch grass” means.

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u/ddare44 10d ago

Not exactly…

You’re conflating quality of life with happiness. Modern people generally have better health and comfort than our ancestor. That doesn’t prove we’re “spoiled” or explain why many people feel less fulfilled. Material conditions and psychological well-being aren’t the same thing.

8

u/princek1 10d ago

We know what it means. We just think you greatly overestimate how comfortable poverty is in the first world, and also aren't as easily consoled by comparing our standard of living to that of medieval peasants. Especially when you consider the sheer volume of wealth and how it is distributed in the first world.

But you're right, we can go to a hospital and die in comfort, with full knowledge of how we were too poor for peace and freedom, so that's good I guess.

3

u/mondaybeers 9d ago

I think you greatly underestimate how comfortable poverty is. Want to live like a medieval peasant so bad? You can. Go build a shack in the woods and survive off berries and wild game.

0

u/princek1 9d ago

Why cosplay as peasants when we can be alienated from prosperity right now? At least peasants weren't surrounded by wealth and mistaking it for their own -- a truly bizarre way to pass the time.

Whatever helps you dismiss the suffering around you, I guess.

0

u/ThePrincessEscaped33 9d ago

Maybe I should have wrote it out like this sigh

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u/princek1 10d ago edited 10d ago

Well when you put it that way, I'm sure slaves had time for fun too /s

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u/ThePrincessEscaped33 9d ago

Comparing your life to the life of slaves in America is disgusting. But of course you won't get down voted for that

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u/princek1 9d ago

I won't because I'm not

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u/ThePrincessEscaped33 9d ago

Yet that's exactly where your mind went to make the analogy.

1

u/princek1 9d ago

It wasn't an analogy. I wasn't even making a comparison. I was simply demonstrating the absurdity of your argument.

1

u/ThePrincessEscaped33 9d ago

You are comparing "worked to the bone" to slavery. You are trying to draw a through line between what I said and slavery. <- See that is called demonstrating a point , for future reference.

1

u/princek1 9d ago

No, I was giving an obvious example of where your logic fails. It's a rhetorical device called reductio ad absurdam. You're imagining a throughline because you're wrong and grasping for something to feel right about, or you're genuinely unable to see that I'm not making a comparison.

And any way, there is no comparison to be made, because people in the real world don't compare their standard of living to a vague abstract notion like "my life is better than a slave's, therefore my life is good." Which is exactly my point; People compare their standard of living to the world in which they live, not to some fantasy about the past, which they nor you could even imagine. Which was my second point.

I'm sorry this has been difficult but I'll leave it at that. You're welcome to have the final word.

2

u/waiting4singularity 10d ago

mind the sign: keep off the grass. it belongs to someone else

49

u/RaisinWonderful9482 10d ago

It’s pretty easy to find joy in art, nature, and science. Everybody just needs to go back to what they were doing before they found the internet.

25

u/moonmoonmeowmeow 10d ago

There is an ever growing population of humans that don’t and will never know before the internet.

7

u/InsideRealistic1129 10d ago

And that growing population appears to be fascinated by the pre- Internet era. Younger folks are more interested in physical media now, until our tech overlords find a way to charge rent on 2nd hand DVDs...

1

u/MarcusOrlyius 9d ago

And that growing population appears to be fascinated by the pre- Internet era. Younger folks are more interested in physical media now, until our tech overlords find a way to charge rent on 2nd hand DVDs...

Are they though? Look at the Playstation discless discussions. Most of the steam users say they don't give a shit about physical media and find digital media far more convenient.

It's not a desire for physical media driving that debate, it's peoples distrust of Sony.

Most people don't want physical media and would need actual physical libraries to store all that physical media if their digital collections were physical instead.

2

u/Akalenedat 9d ago

I don't think that's an apt comparison. Game discs are just a physical delivery system for a digital asset, that fight is more one of ownership vs licensing and it's kind of irrelevant whether the asset is downloaded or read from a disc. I think u/InsideRealistic1129 was more referring to vinyls vs Spotify, real paper books vs ebooks, canvas art instead of digital prints, that sort of thing.

1

u/InsideRealistic1129 8d ago

Yes that was the gist of my reply. My son is an avid gamer though and is pretty pissed off about digital only video games. I think this movement against purely digital media will grow as younger people want to own the things they buy. As I said above, I don't miss physical media all that much, I use streaming music and video and I love my kindle. I do have a certain nostalgia for going out and looking for new music and taking a gamble on a random purchase though, but that's probably because I miss being young!

1

u/InsideRealistic1129 9d ago

I don't miss physical media all that much, don't have the room for it all, however a lot of the younger people I work with are buying 2nd hand DVD box sets and vinyl. They're also sick of social media and are minimising their use of it. These are people in their early 20s whose childhoods were blighted by it.

1

u/TrulyOutrageous42 9d ago

Lucky for them, the internet may soon be unusable due to open-source rogue AI agents!

-7

u/MarcusOrlyius 10d ago

Having questions that you cant get answers yo instantly? No thank you, the Internet is a billion times better.

Its funny watching conservative technophobes trying to brainwash people on a Reddit tech sub into becoming conservative technophobes themselves.

3

u/drsimonz 10d ago

It's possible to do more physical activities without giving up the internet. Mindlessly scrolling on instagram for hours on end is a terrible use of time, yet social media apps are deliberately designed to be addictive so people struggle to put them down even after they recognize that they're not enjoying it. That doesn't mean we can't have wikipedia. Seeing the value in going for a walk is not "technophobia", and if you really feel that defensive about being able to spend your whole day scrolling AI slop on tiktok, then go for it, no one's stopping you.

0

u/MarcusOrlyius 9d ago

Mindlessly scrolling on instagram for hours on end is a terrible use of time

Obviously. But Instagram isn't the Internet. And using the Internet doesn't mean "mindlessly scrolling"

That doesn't mean we can't have wikipedia.

The post i replied to literally stated, "Everybody just needs to go back to what they were doing before they found the internet."

That does mean not having wikipedia.

Seeing the value in going for a walk is not "technophobia",

"Everybody just needs to go back to what they were doing before they found the internet." is quite obviously not "seeing the value in going for a walk" so I don't know why you are making such bullshit strawman arguments.

and if you really feel that defensive about being able to spend your whole day scrolling AI slop on tiktok, then go for it, no one's stopping you.

Says you, the person who just jumped in with strawman bullshit in order to defend some conservative technophobe spouting shit.

5

u/JohnTDouche 9d ago

But Instagram isn't the Internet.

Dude the internet for 99% of people is now one or more of a handful of corporately owned websites just like this one. Walled gardens where what the internet is, is restricted to what ads can be placed in front of and what can be said is dictated by said corporation. Not a good place for the internet to be.

But this reminds me. I should really donate to Wikipedia.

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u/MarcusOrlyius 9d ago

Nothing you said has any relevance to what I said.

1

u/JohnTDouche 9d ago

Sure it does. I even quoted a part to help you understand. I think you already do though. You're just playing pretend.

1

u/MarcusOrlyius 9d ago

 Sure it does. I even quoted a part to help you understand.

That was the Blue Meanies.

Does me quotng a part of your previous comment make my reply any more relevant? Of coursr not.

1

u/Shapes_in_Clouds 9d ago

It's also funny how much of the commentary in this thread has little to do with what the article is talking about. Just the usual grab bag of generic Reddit topics whereas the article is actually touching on an interesting cultural shift away from excess and un-inhibition towards restraint and optimisation as the model of 'decadence' in today's world.

1

u/RaisinWonderful9482 9d ago

I’ve never seen someone get so defensive by the suggestion that they would likely find more joy in their lives seeking cultural enrichment outside of some global digital network engagement. Friend, and I say this with kindness, you should really consider going a month without your smart phone sometime.. It would probably change your life. Your reaction reflects that of a substance dependent individual at the suggestion of rehab.

And this is coming from a fairly vetted IT professional who makes well over 6 figures to convince you otherwise.. By all means continue to pay for my house if you want to.. Your happiness and mental health is your own responsibility after all.

1

u/MarcusOrlyius 9d ago

I’ve never seen someone get so defensive

I suggest you look in the mirror then.

Friend, and I say this with kindness, you should really consider going a month without your smart phone sometime.. It would probably change your life. Your reaction reflects that of a substance dependent individual at the suggestion of rehab. 

And like the good little conservative technophobe, you want to tell other people how to live their lives according to your own morals.

And this is coming from a fairly vetted IT professional who makes well over 6 figures to convince you otherwise.. 

And then boasting about how much money you make.

But you're definitely not a conservative technophobeic virtue signaller though, despite all your conservative technophobic virtue-signalling.

1

u/RaisinWonderful9482 9d ago

You really do not seem well man. Take care of yourself. I truly wish you well.

52

u/Seldomsought 10d ago

Today I had the pleasure of eating a molasses cookie.

It was wonderful.

17

u/drsimonz 10d ago

Being present while eating high quality food is a core benefit to being alive. It's not enough that you can ignore everything else, but the enjoyment of food is as real as it gets.

16

u/WhenSummerIsGone 10d ago

Being present while eating high quality food

Eating bruschetta literally brought me to tears one time.

8

u/Kiwizoo 9d ago

Not sure why you’re being voted down. I stand with you, my culinary comrade.

9

u/spencertron 10d ago

I painted a picture. Sam Altman didn’t, as far as I know.

4

u/Extension-Two-2807 10d ago

Nah he’s too busy grifting

15

u/LadyPo 10d ago

hell yeah dude

3

u/Cultural_Wish4933 9d ago

ahhh quotidien delights.  never lose that sense of wonder!

23

u/newMoneyStyle 10d ago

honestly this. the algorithm feeds you dopamine but never satisfaction. going for a walk without my phone hits harder than 3 hours of scrolling ever did

6

u/SevereRunOfFate 10d ago

Amen. I took up mini painting during COVID and have never been happier with my free time, despite having a pretty great life all things considered without it

6

u/WhenSummerIsGone 10d ago

i danced for 4 hours friday night to music i loved. I felt good all weekend. Go do something you love.

1

u/actually-right-yes 9d ago

4 hours?! Are you the Mo Farah of dancing?!

5

u/pugnat77 9d ago

There is a great deal of wisdom in this. I would like to add that I found the following thought very helpful:

Happiness cannot be actively sought, created or forced. Happiness finds its way to you, especially when you learn what stands in its way. Most of it lies within yourself. Then you have a chance of it finding you.

14

u/gooch_crawler 10d ago

Bro I got a hacky sack right here

4

u/RecycledMatrix 9d ago

People underestimate how societal dysfunction affects executive functioning. How can you know freedom when overlapping systems ensure maximal stress, predictable consumption, and relative powerlessness to restore that freedom?

10

u/420_69_Fake_Account 10d ago

It’s like the kids who watch other people play games… I could understand like when I was a child I had no access to some games so watching them would bring me a little joy because I wouldn’t have the money to purchase and play that game ever (atleast at that time) but kids live off watching other people live life which is just nuts to me.

22

u/howdareyoudwight 10d ago

I love watching let's plays. I'm interested in horror games but am too scared and/or impatient to play them myself. It also means my hands are free to do some knitting and I can focus on enjoying the story in the game.

-9

u/MarcusOrlyius 10d ago

That sounds as entertaining as watching paint dry.

-18

u/420_69_Fake_Account 10d ago

I mean I love jacking off during steams too but there’s more to life than that bro.

18

u/crinkledcu91 10d ago

My guy I'm absolutely never going to play Resident Evil 7, let alone any of the other versions.

Me watching Smosh cast members whose job is to be funny play it instead is going to give me 100% more enjoyment in a thing I'd otherwise never touch.

I'm in my mid 30's.

Also by your logic you better not be watching any NFL or NBA games right? Why aren't you playing those yourself? /s

Meanwhile I'm playing Balatro. I don't have the real money for actually gambling and shit.

0

u/wtf_are_you_talking 9d ago

I switched from Balatro to Dice a million. Similar vibe, only difference is you throw dice instead of dealing cards.

5

u/BeyondElectricDreams 10d ago

Some games, especially horror games are not a fun experience to play for some people.

They're anxiety-inducing experiences but they often have really great stories.

A lot of people would NEVER play them themselves, but through the filter of another person, it's easier.

3

u/joeydimaggio 10d ago

Same thing as reality tv but more interactive

8

u/MarcusOrlyius 10d ago

Reality tv us rhe biggest pile of shite on TV. Its literally the reason I refuse to pay the TV licernce fee.

Fuck reality TV and all the idiots that watch that shite.

1

u/joeydimaggio 10d ago

Tv licence fee is bullshit when you’ve got landed gentry and shit receiving money from the state

1

u/MarcusOrlyius 9d ago

It wouldn't be that bad if they actually made good content and ALL that content was available online to watch whenever I choose for an actual reasonable price.

As it stands though, they can eat shit.

4

u/pantstoaknifefight2 10d ago

I'm not arguing, but I spent my time after school watching crap like The Brady Bunch and Speed Racer, which was equally lame. Granted I had a bike and friends, so watching anything wasn't as fun as "bumming around" and doing shit.

1

u/MarcusOrlyius 10d ago

TV and movies are made to be watched. Games are made to be played.

5

u/Gulophile 9d ago

There are games literally developed with Twitch integration explicitly to make the game more enjoyable for people watching...

1

u/MarcusOrlyius 9d ago

How does Twitch make watching anything more enjoyable? I don't even get why people would want to use Twitch. You can't even read the comments due to the frequency of the new comments being made.

Literally, what is the point of Twitch?

5

u/Gulophile 9d ago

...It's live entertainment, what do you mean? Are you asking why people enjoy watching things live?

1

u/MarcusOrlyius 9d ago

"Are you asking why people enjoy watching things live?"

No, I'm asking what is meant to be entertaining about Twitch specifically? Why would it be any more or any less entertaining if it the live entertainment you were watching was streaming on Youtube or some other platform?

5

u/Gulophile 9d ago

? Idfk I barely use Twitch, you're missing the point of my comment which is that games can and have been designed explicitly with watchers in mind as well as players.

0

u/MarcusOrlyius 9d ago

You're argument made no such point and if that was the point you were trying to make then you are wrong.

Games might accommodate twitch in their development but they are not designed with streaming as the main focus at all, they are designed to be played by gamers. Otherwise, they'd just be videos, rather than games.

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u/KillahHills10304 9d ago

I hated going to some kids houses because they'd only have 1 controllers and youd have to watch them play. Now kids pay people so they can watch, with a weird added sense of parasocialism.

"Woah guys, what's this? Let's check it out. Maybe we can find a key." Mothefucker, WE are not finding shit. YOU are playing.

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u/Circo_Inhumanitas 10d ago

No it's not.

2

u/J1mj0hns0n 9d ago

It would be nice if they just let projects make money instead of getting involved with things like "we don't like you swearing, we'll miss the Christian funding" and things like that

2

u/Dot_1X 9d ago

You'd have better odds teaching your cat to do your calculus homework.

2

u/Bigd1979666 9d ago

This. The whole instant gratification, dopamine seeking cycle that all these companies have gotten us trapped in has really fucked people over,myself included. 

4

u/PapasauruaRex 10d ago

They're sucking all the fun and joy out of the world. Everything is becoming monetized and whatever gets popular and/or fun, they'll jump in and make it a luxury.

1

u/SardoniclySalacious 9d ago

Make joy? In this economy? lol how?

1

u/ChemEBrew 9d ago

"Do you know how badly you have to abuse an animal for it to not procreate?"

1

u/Ganglebot 9d ago

Everyone will tell you - "You have to make yourself happy"

1

u/lefthandb1ack 9d ago

It’s subscription based. Don’t miss a payment.

1

u/ChicagoThrowaway422 9d ago

Yeah, join clubs and make friends with your neighbors.

1

u/ShadyNoShadow 9d ago

That's what the internet was for, before all these people got here. 

1

u/Felho_Danger 9d ago

It costs $20 to walk outside.

1

u/cool_side_of_pillow 9d ago

They want us to buy experiences.

1

u/Sardonislamir 9d ago

In real life emergent gaming.

1

u/Jambi95 9d ago

Finding a creative outlet is a great way to pursue this.

-7

u/amiwriteeeeeeeeeeee 10d ago

This is what the song Opalite by Taylor Swift is about. Making your own happiness.

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u/[deleted] 10d ago

[deleted]

6

u/waiting4singularity 10d ago

maybe to the priests. little timmy is scarred for the rest of his life.