The feeling that we've peaked with less to look forward too

Soldato
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I spend time across both Asia and Europe and I always feel like I’m stepping into the future by 10-20 years when I’m in Asia. I guess it is all down to development cycles and Europe is overdue one if they ever get around to it.
Come on, get a grip. Most of Asia still take bathroom in a pot. Pulling on examples like Singapore, S Korea, etc. is hardly fair.
 
Soldato
OP
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I'm not depressed and not having a mid life crisis lol. I'm fine, and there's plenty of happiness in my life but I do just think sometimes the future is a bit meh due to consumerism and the point we've already got to.
 
Caporegime
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Do you get this? I increasingly find myself feeling this way about a lot of things. I admit that my age (mid 30s) will play a role but I keep feeling like many different things used to be better and more enjoyable and that things these days are just so influenced by money, that often we are limited as to what the future will bring both technologically and in terms of general happiness in life.

- Clubbing - died out which is pretty sad.

It didn't die out, but it's hardly the heyday of the 90's and "noughties". Covid and my age (38) means I haven't actually done it for a bit. Probably my last rave-up was in a tent at Glastonbury 2019.

- Mobile phones - drip fed gradual "changes" and very small improvements.

Honestly, what else do you want them to do? Other than better battery life and lighter they are already pretty advanced.

- Gaming - the actual game content, feeling and emotion has not felt as special over the last decade

In AAA titles perhaps, though I did really enjoy God of War on PS4 which isn't that old. Plenty of less mainstream titles still have emotion and feeling.

- Roads and train infrastructure - our roads are in poor condition and our train infra is decades behind. It seems unrealistic to ever foresee it being good. Our "peak" could be here, which is unfortunately more "the best we can do".

Yeah the roads are pretty bad. Councils are responsible for a lot of them and unfortunately they are mostly brassic due to underfunding from central government and the pandemic.

Trains - Yeah we're ****.

- Fast car/bike ownership - again our roads are poor and cameras everywhere. High costs to run and stricter emissions and a push to elec.

Safer though aren't they? And what's wrong with the push to electric? In a few weeks I'll be driving a Polestar 2 which will be the most powerful car I've ever owned (408bhp / 0-60 in 4.7 seconds)

- TVs - Since 1080p flat screens we haven't gone very far. Even top end TVs have uniformity issues.

I disagree. The difference between my Panasonic VT50 1080p Plasma TV and my 4k LG C9 OLED with HDR is night and day.

- Football - too many reasons to list, it's just not as enjoyable as 90s/00s

Was never my cup of tea

- MotoGP and F1 - I find myself skipping through highlights and don't really look forward to new seasons.

I used to watch F1 in the 90's but it doesn't excite me these days. I think that's just me not wanting to watch cars go around and around for hours with the odd overtaking move....the 90's wasn't much better other than the sound. Mclaren dominated in the late 80's and late 90's.

- Pubs - Of the ones that survive, they tend to be refurbished with a restaurant bias losing all character.

We'll have to see after Covid...

Try some new hobbies if your old ones have abandoned you.
 
Soldato
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I feel like the UK is in some kind of cultural decline for a while now. I know as every generation gets older things 'were better in my day' but looking past that, I think some of the points made above are very true. Especially from those who have had perspective of living in other countries. I can relate to the sentiment from Vietnam - when I visited Ho Chi Minh city the vibe was amazing, even if there wasn't the outright wealth of Europe, there was community, growth and you could see the living standards were improving. An exciting place to be. If the opportunity came up, or even if I have to find it, I would seriously consider moving somewhere else. That said, there are some benefits of the UK such as healthcare, most people have a decent standard of living with regards to material possessions, education isn't terrible and there are still opportunities out there if you like mindless office jobs. However I think the community, hope and positivity that we had whilst I was growing up have definitely been lost. There are some pockets left. I lived in Bristol for a while and there was a thriving community there, in fact many, and most people were sociable. Back towards London you're lucky if anyone talks to you on the street and if you talk to them you're the weirdo.

I'm not sure what it is about the UK but I've felt for a while that there is a huge sense of undue entitlement across much of the population, maybe even unconscious or societal. I feel like an injection of reality and humility would help, but we'll never get it since our politics has become driven by populists. Unpopular or even just difficult ideas, however beneficial, are overlooked.
 
Soldato
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Don't worry OP, we have plenty to look forward to

vCvvPAl.jpg

:p

On the car front, electric cars are bloomin fast so unless they start regulating the acceleration they are still fun to drive. Its finding a clear bit of road that is the challenge now, whatever car you are in.
 
Soldato
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Globalisation has brought cheap electronics and entertainment in abundance. It has brought foerign investment and expertise, but it has also completely disconnected us from reality. For those with money and status globalisation has been quite liberating, they can afford to play both sides. While for the working class, their sense of identity have been washed away leaving communities at the mercy of corporations and systems operating from thousands of miles away.

The middle classes can enjoy their cheap electronics but can also visit farm shops, eat in restaurants with locally sourced ingredients and meet friends on weekend breaks in countryside cottages. While somomeone at the bottom is most likely eating processed foods packed in Eastern Europe and finds a sense of self by posting on apps hotsed from silican valley.

We've spent the last 40 years building a society around individualism and global commerce. The result is that nativism is now seen as inifficiency. But I think it is dangerous and peoples sense of place and purpose has been truely erroded.

Devolution and a longing for the local is everywhere, Brexit and Trump are major examples of a cry in the dark but there is a real discontent and someone really needs to address it befpore things get even more ugly.
This is a great post and a very succinct summary of what I wanted to say.

The point on nativism is always apparent when you see people moaning about the prices of anything locally made, yet the same group moan about jobs going abroad.

I read a book some time ago that the residual cost of "things" will drop so low they will be almost free. This means only things made by hand or with a strong legacy will carry a real value as everything else will be "free". Interesting PoV.
 
Soldato
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About mobile phones....you are missing my point I mean to say I agree with you that they are already good enough. I don't ever find myself wanting more. I'm just saying it's sad that we pay £££ or sometimes ££££ for the latest phone for it to be a refresh of an already capable device. SO don't buy them then....yeah...I generally only refresh when mine has literally given up the ghost. I'm just saying when I used to do this....it used to be exciting to get a new phone. Now it's like....meh. Same old.
 
Caporegime
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About mobile phones....you are missing my point I mean to say I agree with you that they are already good enough. I don't ever find myself wanting more. I'm just saying it's sad that we pay £££ or sometimes ££££ for the latest phone for it to be a refresh of an already capable device. SO don't buy them then....yeah...I generally only refresh when mine has literally given up the ghost. I'm just saying when I used to do this....it used to be exciting to get a new phone. Now it's like....meh. Same old.

Isn't that a good thing though?

Otherwise it's just consumerism for consumerism sake.
 
Soldato
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I'm not depressed and not having a mid life crisis lol. I'm fine, and there's plenty of happiness in my life but I do just think sometimes the future is a bit meh due to consumerism and the point we've already got to.
Everything on your list is either an external factor or materialism. Look within.:)
 
Soldato
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About mobile phones....you are missing my point I mean to say I agree with you that they are already good enough. I don't ever find myself wanting more. I'm just saying it's sad that we pay £££ or sometimes ££££ for the latest phone for it to be a refresh of an already capable device. SO don't buy them then....yeah...I generally only refresh when mine has literally given up the ghost. I'm just saying when I used to do this....it used to be exciting to get a new phone. Now it's like....meh. Same old.

Maybe the technological revolution we've lived through is slowing down. Moore's law no longer applies, we're reaching the limit of what our current semiconductor design can give in terms of performance versus power consumption and outright transistor count etc.

The next revolution is not here yet. Maybe we'll be yearning for something else in the decades to come. I do think the technological revolution has bred crazy amounts of consumerism, it has definitely been a boon for capitalists, but the unrelenting growth and globalisation is not sustainable. In fact, I think the end of this wasteful culture of technology would be extremely beneficial for the planet. Technology has driven so much waste and still does. We can fight that and still have the things we enjoy. Phones should last longer and not be disposable. Perhaps things like new apps and innovative concepts in using these devices we already have are the things to look forward to now, rather than the hardware.

I think some other kind of computing, maybe the widespread practical applications of quantum computing, will be the next things to significantly change our lives. The potential for AI and automation is massive and that would be incredibly disruptive to most economies. How we embrace that and deal with it will be key to the future.
 
Soldato
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I read a book some time ago that the residual cost of "things" will drop so low they will be almost free. This means only things made by hand or with a strong legacy will carry a real value as everything else will be "free". Interesting PoV.

Yes the constant pursuit of efficiency actually has no underlying morality or humanity you can point to other than increased profit. There is a point where people are clothed and fed and comfortable and additional efficiency offers them absolutely nothing of worth. I think we are getting close.
 
Soldato
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Maybe the technological revolution we've lived through is slowing down. Moore's law no longer applies, we're reaching the limit of what our current semiconductor design can give in terms of performance versus power consumption and outright transistor count etc.

The next revolution is not here yet. Maybe we'll be yearning for something else in the decades to come. I do think the technological revolution has bred crazy amounts of consumerism, it has definitely been a boon for capitalists, but the unrelenting growth and globalisation is not sustainable. In fact, I think the end of this wasteful culture of technology would be extremely beneficial for the planet. Technology has driven so much waste and still does. We can fight that and still have the things we enjoy. Phones should last longer and not be disposable. Perhaps things like new apps and innovative concepts in using these devices we already have are the things to look forward to now, rather than the hardware.

I think some other kind of computing, maybe the widespread practical applications of quantum computing, will be the next things to significantly change our lives. The potential for AI and automation is massive and that would be incredibly disruptive to most economies. How we embrace that and deal with it will be key to the future.
You say that but it isn't 'true' in a black and white sense. Ryzen and 3080's only came out not that long ago... Innovations are all around us.

Unfortunately I think part of the problem is people get old, the echo chamber gets more specific, and people expect to be force fed interesting things like they used to. As we get older though, we specialise our interests and lose the broad perspective we enjoyed in our earlier years.
 
Soldato
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Yes the constant pursuit of efficiency actually has no underlying morality or humanity you can point to other than increased profit. There is a point where people are clothed and fed and comfortable and additional efficiency offers them absolutely nothing of worth. I think we are getting close.
I don't doubt it, but only because we are in the 1%. And just like when we were climbing the ladder and have now plateaued, the 99% are still miles off where we are. What that means is a great "re-levelling" which will never happen, or the top-line moves even further away.
 
Caporegime
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The world today is far more complex than the timeframe you reference. Some might see that as an opportunity or challenge but your view seems to suggest regret and apathy. I'm not judging you because I think I partially know what you mean but the perversity of life dictates that things change, you change, and there's a non-zero chance that the change might work for you if you give it a shot or at least some mental air time.
 
Soldato
OP
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Some people in this thread already said what I meant in a better way actually.
It's not just the specific examples I made. It's in general, a feeling that we've coming out of the curve of exponential improvement and advancement and that we're kind of peaking. Even in the things like entertainment like sports, they have become so driven by money that they have lost their identity.
 
Soldato
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- Mobile phones - drip fed gradual "changes" and very small improvements.

I'd say up until 2015 there was a real genuine reason to keep upgrading your phone every year. But for the last 5 years, the specs seemed to have stood still. In the last 5 years, I've only changed my phone twice and I barely noticed any improvements. I'm staying with my current phone for at least 2-3 years more this time.
 
Soldato
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Roads and train infrastructure - our roads are in poor condition and our train infra is decades behind.

The UK's roads are far better than most of the world. And I'll take British railways over Amtrak. Covid aside, we live in an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity.
 
Caporegime
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Auckland
Some people in this thread already said what I meant in a better way actually.
It's not just the specific examples I made. It's in general, a feeling that we've coming out of the curve of exponential improvement and advancement and that we're kind of peaking. Even in the things like entertainment like sports, they have become so driven by money that they have lost their identity.
Peaking suggests an upper limit, a self-imposed barrier. What do you think inventors, for example, thought about before they made ground breaking discoveries?
 
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