What a mess we've made of things

I can understand you feeling that way and there is some truth in it. However, you can’t put the genie back in the bottle and it would even be unhealthy (if even possible) to do so. The only way out is through as they say. Currently we are in a very immature phase of the next leap forward. People will be unhappy and anxious in this generation and the next one and the next one. At some point, technology and human sophistication and innately better conduct in its use will become so entwined that a calmer and less troubled era of humanity (balancing very well the best of the things you list above) will manifest. When that tipping point comes is anyone’s guess. But for now, knowing I won’t live to see it, but happy for those who will, I’ll join you in that world of reduced ambient complexity to the best of my ability. I’ve opted out of much of the digital saturation of the streaming world and so on. Give me a physical dvd any day. A life with those, and real paper books, and CDs and the PC asleep for most of the time feels best for me. We can’t escape the nervous air molecules of the wifi soup we live in now, but those in the future will be at one with it. Progress is unstoppable, and ultimately for the best. Those future immortals, free of our sufferings, will raise a glass to what we went through to bring about their utopian existence. For now, all we can do is try and find our own way each to numb the discomfort of the futures ongoing birth pains. 

Shardovan said:

However, you can’t put the genie back in the bottle and it would even be unhealthy (if even possible) to do so

Reading this I am reminded of a line from Roger Moore in the Persuaders "you cant go back to the way things were, cos they were never that way in the first place" Perhaps we sometimes idealise the past without knowing what it was actually like. I sometimes wonder if I would have even been happier back then, perhaps there would have been other things I struggled with. I wouldnt have had helpful things like this forum to help me. There is a verse in the Bible about wherever I find myself I will be content. I try to live like that

I cant see any future positives to social media though. I think if anything social media is more likely to be the explanation future historians look to as to why western civilisation collapsed 

I like what you said about CDs and DVDs, there is something quite calming about it because you know when watching a DVD that you dont have the option to flick to a million other things and your head can relax a bit

Shardovan said:

We can’t escape the nervous air molecules of the wifi soup we live in now

I love this phrase, wifi soup! I am reminded of Noel Gallagher's description of his brother Liam as "a man with a fork in a world of soup" If wifi is the soup then I definitley have a fork lol 

I must confess that I stole ‘wifi soup’ from something Matt Smith said in a Who ep. But that Noel quote blows it out of the water- love that! 

Very true! Lol I like that 

Very much so! All the more ironic when we talk of ‘not having the spoons’. Oh, I’ve turned into Alanys Morisette now. Well isn’t this nice?  

Very much so! All the more ironic when we talk of ‘not having the spoons’. Oh, I’ve turned into Alanys Morisette now. Well isn’t this nice?  

Very true! Lol I like that