We need everything to be available instantly, because we need our time to be bored and watch TikTok.
Reminds me of Yuval Noah Harari who spoke in a talk of his about how even kings back in the day, generally speaking people who get a lot of information handed to them all the time, when they needed to travel the country, they would have a week off and be detached from all the news whilst sitting in a carriage. Here we are having all the world news available to us every second of the day. No excuse not to be up to date on anything. What a comfort…
When I travel across Europe I do so by train, and I find it to be part of the experience that the journey takes time. Last year I visited Italy, from the Netherlands, and through the train window I see the landscape floating by, the flat Netherlands, the hills in Germany, the mountains in Switzerland and then the beautiful landscapes of Italy. Due to the time it takes you get a sense for traveling, for the distance you travel. I don’t mind the time, cause I’m reading a book, which is often the most enjoyable thing of my vacations anyway: I find time to read, without any distractions.
More broadly speaking I’ve noticed that I’ve become suspicious of comfort and convenience. Nothing may take time anymore, nothing may take effort. Everything good needs to be quick and easy, available instantly all the time. But is that really better, or did we actually like having to work for something, not minding that it takes time, and weren’t we more satisfied with the relief when we finished something, feeling like we spent our time well and brought something good unto ourselves. Isn’t that experience more meaningful?
You could say this is some sort of false romanticism, but i don’t think it is. Obviously we got a lot of good things, and I am not saying we should get rid of every comfort or convenience in our lifes. I’m just saying the opposite isn’t true either, some discomforts and disconveniences are blessings in disguise.
We need everything to be available instantly, because we need our time to be bored and watch TikTok.
Reminds me of Yuval Noah Harari who spoke in a talk of his about how even kings back in the day, generally speaking people who get a lot of information handed to them all the time, when they needed to travel the country, they would have a week off and be detached from all the news whilst sitting in a carriage. Here we are having all the world news available to us every second of the day. No excuse not to be up to date on anything. What a comfort…
When I travel across Europe I do so by train, and I find it to be part of the experience that the journey takes time. Last year I visited Italy, from the Netherlands, and through the train window I see the landscape floating by, the flat Netherlands, the hills in Germany, the mountains in Switzerland and then the beautiful landscapes of Italy. Due to the time it takes you get a sense for traveling, for the distance you travel. I don’t mind the time, cause I’m reading a book, which is often the most enjoyable thing of my vacations anyway: I find time to read, without any distractions.
More broadly speaking I’ve noticed that I’ve become suspicious of comfort and convenience. Nothing may take time anymore, nothing may take effort. Everything good needs to be quick and easy, available instantly all the time. But is that really better, or did we actually like having to work for something, not minding that it takes time, and weren’t we more satisfied with the relief when we finished something, feeling like we spent our time well and brought something good unto ourselves. Isn’t that experience more meaningful?
You could say this is some sort of false romanticism, but i don’t think it is. Obviously we got a lot of good things, and I am not saying we should get rid of every comfort or convenience in our lifes. I’m just saying the opposite isn’t true either, some discomforts and disconveniences are blessings in disguise.