"Isandaang libong piso? Saan tayo kukuha ng ganon kalaking halaga?!"
- From a really old, black & white movie shown in Cinema One
Sometimes I tend to wonder what those times were like, when that kind of money is actually unheard of. These days, it's a year's worth of taxable income.
In simpler times, people were able to live their lives. However, how come that these days, nothing is ever enough? Sure, it makes our lives that much easier, but doesn't it feel somehow that we're creating needs than actually needing it?
On Modernization
Let me start off with something basic such as electricity. Ok, I can't say it's not great, but sometimes, it seems absurd that we watch a show like Survivor and be awed at how primitive they live their lives for 30 fuckin days. Some people who lived in provinces before didn't even get the chance to have electricity for the entirety of their lives.
Libraries are slowly becoming obsolete. Everything's on the internet now. And with the ever-changing world, it seems that printed material is easily outdated. Books have ebook formats now. When before, we would read entire books and consult the glossary of terms when there are words that are new to us, all we have to do now is Google something and we have what we need.
Facebook wasn't even a concept some years back. But now, it seems everyone has one. And some can't even live without it for a week.
Our constant dependency on it created our need for it. It's not THAT bad, really. Not as bad as the others, at least.
I think this over-dependency affects our ingenuity, our ability to operate simple stuff, and basically, our need for physical activity.
Medicine and Pornography
I can't say advances in medical technology didn't help the human race, much like electricity did. But there are stuff out right now that we think we need that we didn't think we needed before. A great example would be Viagra or other "performance-enhancing" drugs or teas. People made love before, and they understood that at a certain age, they can't anymore. Now, the people who "need" these "performance enhancers" are getting younger and younger.
Also, the kids who try sex for the first time are getting younger and younger. People get curious earlier, and some get pressured if they pass a certain age because they want to be "in" the conversation. They feel that they "need" to be non-virgins by the time they reach a certain age.
I blame the created need on pornography. With the way that it is so easily accessible nowadays, people get crazy ideas. They experiment. They become curious. And they are pressured to do the same acts because apparently, it's possible. Anal sex wasn't even thought of as a concept before porn introduced it. Now, it's a problem and a craving that's a constant question in Mo Twister's podcast.
It somehow destroys our sense of morality, and to some extent, intimacy.
On Cellphones and Gadgets
I remember seeing ads for the iPhone 4 that says "This is going to change everything... Again". Just a couple of years back, we lived in a world without the iPhone. Now, it seems everyone must get their hands on one.
True, cellphones have made life that much easier to communicate more than pagers and air mail. But the recent surge of developments are becoming more and more absurd. Companies like Apple are creating needs for us. We didn't need apps before, now we can't get enough of it. We didn't need Facetime in as early as 2009, and now the iPhone 4 became that much of a need because of the stupid Facetime shit.
The iPad 2 comes out later this week. A couple of years ago, you never thought that such a device would even exist. Yet today, people seem to need to get their hands on these.
Kids don't run around anymore like they used to. When before you chase them around for them to have fun, or they run punch the air like there are monsters attacking, they're now sitting around with heads bowed down with their PSP's and DS devices.
I blame this created need on competition between big companies. Their constant desire to outplay other players in the market created this surge of technological advances.
To some extent, it affects how we run our lives. Savings that before were meant for basic commodities, are now also being spent on the latest gadgets, because apparently, they have become part of the "basic" needs of a person.
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I think somehow, this is sourgraping because I'm no Steve Jobs or someone who can invent stuff that people would eventually need. But with all the convenience these new stuff gives us, it gives me this sense that it might not be long before we end up like the humans in the movie Wall-E.
Sue me for hating on technological advancement.
