You ever see Mike Judge’s “Idiocracy”? It’s a documentary about the future of our species. Brought to you by Carls Junior. Having recently watched it, I determined this was likely mankind’s future. It reminded of something I often tell myself and people around me. “This is the best time to be alive.”
Would you want to have been born before 1990? I was and I’d rather buy another year or two of the technological wizardry we’re witnessing on a daily basis. Kurt Vonnegut says, “Life is an awful thing to subject an animal to.” Life is a brutal bitch for most of us. But would we trade the daily struggles of life today for a set of problems from the 1950’s? The 1850’s? Probably not. Life may be a bitch, but she’s had a few face lifts the past 200 years or so, especially during the digital age.
The NOW age.
Age of Awesome
“But what about the future, Dave? Surely life will only keep getting more convenient.” I think not. Earth’s been on fire a decade with no signs that will change anytime soon. Fifty years from now, there may not be a habitable piece of land to complain about. “No sir, I’ll take another lifetime of Millennial, thanks.“
So life in the past was a shit show, life in the future is likely a flaming shit show. That leaves us in the now. The age of information. The age of consumerism. Or as i like to think of it, the age of awesome. Of course I’m bias to the awesome one. Those face lifts humans have given the bitch that is our life are where this age derives it’s awesome title.
Dialed-up
The age of awesome really Acme rocketed off with the internet. The internet, to the uninitiated, is what you’re using to read this, dingus. The average human today has a greater access to information than ever before in the species 300,000 year history on this mudball. That sounds like a win in my book. Information is a powerful tool and humans are pretty crafty when given access. My generation grew up with the internet, like schoolmates watching each other change over the years. The internet has changed significantly since the days of AskJeeves or MapQuest, giving us video tutorials for any task right from my phone, where ever I am. This brings us to my second age of Awesome triumph.
Mother-effin-cellphones
I remember exactly where i was on 9/11 when the planes made impact. The same place i showed off snake on my Nokia. Sixth grade, Ms. Seller’s science class. life changing moments have a way of stamping their location into your brain meat. Getting a cellphone was life changing. Not just to me, but our species. Not only could i call anyone, anywhere, anywhen (roaming charges may apply) but i could send a text message instead of talking! As a teenager, this was a game changer. Teens across the globe were up late texting blocky green and black messages into the wee hours of the morning, and your parents could hear a thing. Glorious. I would spend those wee hours enjoying another gift from the age of Awesome.
Video Games, baby!
I remember my first gaming console. Sega Genesis. What a beautiful black plastic joy giver. Video games had come on the scene sometime before the age of awesome started. Game developers really stepped up their game (pun intended) going into the new millennium. Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo’s various platforms and handhelds, PC gaming, etc. Gaming became, not just popular, but a staple in homes across the world. PlayStation consoles now can run games with graphic quality rivaling real life, play a movie from 1945, shop the web for your favorite laxative brand, and keep your chicken warm. It’s nuckin futs.
An under appreciated aspect of video games are what it teaches. Problem solving, reading comprehension, hand-eye coordination, social skills. With games becoming more advanced, so are the problems being solved or the skills required to solve them. These are catnip to our brains. Humans love to solve problems, almost as much as we love making them. friendships and marriages form from the social aspect of gaming with fellow nerds. A lot of us dont like talking in general, but pipe up when the mic is hot and your medic runs past your bleeding corpse to be.
MEDIC!!
Speaking of medical needs being ignored, i dont want to live in a time before modern medicines and remedies. Humans had been dying of easily avoidable illnesses and diseases before some nerds started using this thing called science to figure out what’s what. Now we can cure all sorts of crap and prevent even more. That said, our healthcare system is hot garbage, one that makes succumbing to illness preferable to paying hospital bills. It’s a shit show, no doubt. But there is a silver lining brought about by the internet. We’re aware our healthcare system sucks. Transparency doesn’t.
Americans often see other countries treating their citizens like humans, not cash utters. This information causes said Americans to look at their lawmakers and say, “Yo, wtf? You’re gonna let CANADA outdo us? Do better or we’re votin’ your ass outta here!” Well, I wish it made us do that. All we really do is complain to each other while the problems persist. But the evidence is there. The transparency granted by how accessible information is today, while not perfect, has helped humans hold the shittiest of our species accountable for their actions. This usually makes folks with something to lose act in the interest of others rather than themselves. Hopefully, anyways. Humans can be pretty damn stubborn.
Comments