To ask if life was simpler before the internet?

[moutonfou]

I was a child before the internet, but had it from being a late teen/adult. I've always looked back on my childhood and felt that life was simpler, but always presumed that was just because I was a kid with no responsibilities.

However I went to an interesting talk on stress recently which talked about how each of the interactions we have in a day places a microstress on us - we have to weigh up what it is, whether it poses a threat to us, what to do with the information, etc.

They said before the internet, these interactions would almost exclusively be with people in your immediate environment, save for say, reading the paper or watching the TV news.

However the internet has multiplied our interactions exponentially, meaning we're spending all day processing information, weighing up threats, placing microstress after microstress on us which builds up. These 'threats' can be as small as say, a bad news story, someone showing off on Facebook, an email with an unclear tone, etc.

This resonated with me massively. Thinking back to even the 1990s, there seemed to be a simplicity and degree of solitude which has gone now.

What are your thoughts?

I think a lot of people love the idea of life without internet but it has become an integral part of us. Nothing stops us from switching off but we don't. It's a sunny day today and I am inside on MN

And anyone else had the volumes of encyclopaedia Britannia? If it wasn't in there and dad didn't know the answer either it was a bad homework evening

Google settles so many arguments between me and dh over serious issues like 'whose that actor' where before I couldn't show him the evidence of my superior recall. He thought he was right.

I think we've all spent days where we are bored and fidgety and feeling unfulfilled but we just sit there endlessly scrolling through Facebook, MN, snapchat or whatever else we use, just waiting for something new to pop up and absorb us for a couple of minutes instead of getting off our arses and going out and finding something to do, with real people, in outdoor places.

When you recognise yourself in that you know it's time to put the phone/laptop down and go cold turkey for a bit. I've done it for a few weeks at a time (not totally internet free, but no MN, no social media) and it's quite liberating. Once you get past the first few days it gets easier and easier.

I still look on FB most days but I haven't done a status update or shared anything in months and I am now working on gradually ceasing to like or comment on other people's stuff. It's actually a really good feeling the day you stop worrying whether someone thinks you are ignoring them or not.

I'd say I was a fairly socially awkward teenager anyway, without the internet/email/texting. I was terrible at making arrangements with friends, scared of phoning anyone in case I had to speak to their mum or dad. I used to go for weeks during summer holidays not seeing any of my friends because I didn't have the confidence to make contact. I think having text messages and other social media would have facilitated me making relationships with other people, enabled me to be part of friendship groups and arrangements. Of course, I recognise that there can be a nasty side of social media for young people too, but I do think it would have enabled more social life for me rather than the opposite.

I totally agree with this. I think that while some of the dangers of internet use are big and obvious (online grooming, cyber-bullying etc), we aren't really aware of the constant flow of 'micro-stresses' caused by our incessant exposure to information and communication.
I'm sure that people are dwelling much more (and in a largely unhelpful way) on things like their diet, how their house looks, what they should be doing with their dc etc etc, just because they are constantly bombarded with possible tweaks they could make to their lives. In some ways ignorance is bliss!

If it's a sunny day I'll be out walking listening to podcasts that I downloaded from the internet
Or on my bike, that I bought online after researching online to find the right bike for me
Or running in the running shoes that I bought online after reading reviews to find the best shoes for me

If you have the inclination towards hobbies and interests the internet gives you huge opportunities to explore them and fine new ones

If you don't then...well I guess you got facebook

Oh God, yes... This particularly resonates with me this morning (teenagers, say no more)

I'm 52 so grew up without the internet. I think it's created some incredible opportunities, especially for like minded pp to connect. Fan sites, dating etc. And I know if MN had been around when I was younger I wouldn't have stayed in bad relationships for so long, the advice on here is invaluable!

When I was a child I was much more interested in music than my kids seem to be - who was number on Sunday night? Who was on Top of the Pops. I think computer games minescraft/Roblox seem to be the Pied Piper of my kids and their friends.

Do love recipes online, and how bloody handy is deadoraliveinfo.com at 11pm when watching a film

The internet is invaluable for some things, but a large proportion of what most people use it for is not at all useful. My MN use for example - about 2% useful tips and advice, 98% being drawn into unnecessary discussions or glimpses of other people's lives.

It's not just the internet that is to blame though is it? People can choose not to engage with it constantly.

I find it very depressing that I can't (say) go out for a meal with friends without someone bringing out their phone at some point to look at something. That's not an internet problem, that's a person problem.

I agree Red

Of course it isn't to blame. It's an inanimate thing. That doesn't mean we can't judge it as being good or bad for us. The same way we can say alcohol, drugs or chocolate are good or bad for us. It's not as simple as saying 'It's people's fault - they shouldn't over-use it'. Some things are very powerful or very addictive. Humans are fallible. Not everyone makes good choices in life about such things. 'Person problems' don't exist in a vacuum - they are affected by the availability and prevalence of other things.

I agree.

Watching magicmikexxl (on Netflix btw) earlier and wondered how old Andie Macdowell was. Guessing around 60? Yup, she's 59.

Took about two seconds to find out.

I am old enough to have conducted a long distance relationship in the day before the internet. And as it was also in the days before cheap telephone calls we were dependent on snail mail, as that was what we could afford. We kept it up for 10 years, meeting twice a year. In a way, it was quite restful: we simply couldn't spend all our time worrying about why he wasn't answering that exact minute or who those people were she was with on Facebook. And I wrote good letters in those days.