Pace of Modern Living.

[R27uk]

Does any1 else simply feel sometimes that life is changing too rapidly for our species?

Sorry to get philosophical but 3 million years of human evolution and now in the last few hundred years we see computers, airoplanes, automobiles, the internet, space flight, tv, telephones.

The last 20 years have been extreme for progress.

I find much of my anxiety stems from my fear of the pace of life.

It just seems to get faster and faster, and more hectic in teh work place.

At work I often have skype, msn, landline phone, 2 mobiles, work e mail and yahoo.

E mail was supposed to make communication easier , but I swear it's just made communication more prolific.

My dad said in 1970 he recalls being pleased with himself for sending a few memos in one business day.

I sometimes send 40 long work related e mails in a day.

Any comments ???

[mattty]

This might be controversial but i don't think some of the things medical science is coming up with are necessaraly a good thing. Cloning for one scares me . And I keep hearing that soon life expectancy (in the west) will be nearer 100, with some people living past 150! I don't want to live that long.

Technology moves far too fast for me, any kind of electrical goods you buy seem to be outdated 6 months later.

[Margham]

I think, in the past perhaps it was a lot easier to be alone when you wanted to be and more normal to do so. Also, if you did want to speak to someone, or if someone wanted to speak to you, they would have to meet you face to to face. I do think that now there is an impulsivity and rapidity and volume of communcation that just isn't natural. Also, in the past, the people you were around would be people you had grown up with and knew well, and were probably therefore easier around. It would not be normal to meet lots of strangers every day. I do think that modern society fits the extrovert personality much more than it does the introvert. At the same time, technology is making human interaction more distant and more remote. There is greater pressure to socialise, but fewer occasions to learn how. In my humble opinion

I think also the sheer constant barrage on our senses can be difficult to deal with. I'm very hypersensitive, and just walking along a busy road can be exhausting. Loud noises, strong smells, bright lights, fast movement is all very fatiguing. As well as the anxiety, that's one of the problems I have with socialising with many people, especially in a loud environment. I can't keep track of all the faces and the noise and the conversation and the personal information when you meet people. I also can't raise my voice loud enough to be heard, and I can't pick out voices over background sound, or concentrate on them with all the other things going on.