[andai]

Growing up in the 2000s I remember there was much more excitement and optimism for the future. Now it seems to range from cynicism to dread to abject paranoia. Or perhaps my liberal use of cannabis in my younger years shifted me into a more paranoid timeline... alas!

Re: books being less stressful, I think e-ink is a great example. It feels more solid, more permanent, even though the text changes when you swipe the page. It seems to be a combination of the "paper" look making it seem less virtual (than the blinkenlights matrix), and the impossibility of scrolling on e-ink making it by necessity a more calming medium.

Real books are even better, of course, in both regards, but can't compete on price / delivery time.

[atq2119]

Just as another point of anecdata, I feel the same way in terms of optimism that has shifted more towards dread. It's definitely not cannabis use. It may be a general en fecha of getting older, though.

[andai]

Yeah that's a limitation of my memory, my brain was completely different than it is now! It might be that 8 year olds today feel the same excitement for the future that me and my friends did back then.

I sure hope so, but I find it hard to imagine. Most of my excitement came from the constant positive science news at the time. Seems all I hear now is bad news.