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I don't think the phenomenon you described, as some new thing specific to this age, is in any way real. If anything, the things you mention only reflect the new choices we have. Going over your individual examples: > We don't want to wait for the food to be properly cooked, we want it now, so we go for fast food. We go for fast food because it saves time. When I opt to order in instead of going out for lunch, or grab a burger from McDonald's en route, I do that because eating is mostly instrumental. I don't want to eat at that point, I have to, and the sooner I can fill myself up, the sooner I can get back to doing the things I actually care about. Fast food, and food delivery services, allow people to choose to spend more time on other things, when those other things are more important to them. The same people will enjoy a finely cooked meal on a different occasion, when they prioritize it. > We don't want to put in 1 year of work to learn something new so we can feel that we achieved something, we want it now, so we play a game where we can 'win' in 30 minutes. Spending a year on learning something to just get a quick feeling of achievement is a very stupid way to go about it. Videogames are better for that. Learning is better for getting long-term feelings of achievement, and to actually gain knowledge/skills that you can use for something. And again, it's not something new - our generation wastes time on videogames, previous generations wasted time playing soccer, cards, darts, and doing tons of other quick-reward activities. > We don't want to build a relationship and eventually end up being intimate, we want it now, so we go for 'one night stands'. One-night stands exist for as long as humans are humans. Nothing fundamental changed, only the hookup methods evolved with population density and available communication tools. -- > Then you ask yourself... is it weird that the economic system works the same? That the software industry works the same? Nah, they don't work the same. In them, the actors are not driven internally, they're driven externally. People write shitty software, or sell shitty products, not because of their need for instant gratification, but because of market pressures. A fast hack sold by your marketing team can be a difference between you getting $100M contract versus not getting it, or getting your product on the market first versus a week after your competitor. Market economy, because of all its efficiency, is what creates the culture of suck. |