why are many people still unhappy in our electronic information age?

Question

electronic information age leads to It is easier to be connected by technology, but many people seem no close to feeling happy in their lives.

Answer 1

Why did we think "electronic information" had anything to with happiness?

Oh I forget - it's all those dumb adverts - see they really get into your brain - Remember companies sell dreams to make money period.... No other reason.

Answer 2

Electronics are a double edged sword. Yes, they facilitate many areas of life, but in many ways they make it more complicated, and they leave us at the mercy of forces that we cannot control. If there is no electricity, nothing works. I was in the USA when the grid collapsed and several states were without electricity during a whole afternoon and evening: no traffic lights, no air conditioning, petrol pumps out of action, tills unable to function, blank screens offering no information, whole areas totally paralysed. Surgical operations in mid-process were only just finished thanks to secondary generators in hospitals, people were stranded all over the place as trains were at a standstill. It was very frightening and there was very little one could do. If your server is down, you are isolated and helpless; if the computer that regulates your boiler is faulty, you have no heating and are dependent on parts being available and an engineer at hand. If the washing machine or the cooker gives up the ghost, it is back to washing by hand and eating uncooked foods...If your bank network has a glitch, your cards are useless and you have to abandon your trolley full of shopping at the check-out as happened last June all over Europe, and people were stuck across the Channel as the electronic devices that checked their bookings did not work... the list goes on.
The other aspect is that non-content with straight forward electronic appliances, these are constantly being tweeked, or replaced by something more complicated and, to many people, this is both confusing and frightening. Many elderly or non-technically minded people have not got a clue of what a scart socket is, why digital television has become a must, and are scared stiff in front of a computer.
On a personal level electronic technology leaves individuals on their own, with less and less human contacts, and having to deal with recorded messages or instructions which get increasingly frustrating, long distance fixes, or no help at all.
Electronics are also being used for misguided purposes from pornography and paedophily, to detonating bombs by remote control in places where they will cause the most harm.
Last and not least computers are the greatest time wasters, despite their practical uses.
Are we better off being informed of all the horror of the world at the touch of a button? Everything we see on the news is totally depressing, from natural catastrophies, to man made ones. Having an easier life, or the ability to travel to places far and wide, has brought ill-health through obesity, and has had a detrimental effect on society and the environment. People see what others have on television and become discontented with what they have, or see what is available on adverts and are saddened by what they can't have. Families are split -up as the younger generations now take jobs further afield, and the aged vegetate in isolation and loneliness which no amount of electronic information can cure. Have you tried cuddling your computer screen and webcam instead of your adorable two year old grand-child? Believe me, it brings neither happiness nor contentment, and the screen is no replacement for the real person.

Answer 3

I wouldn't necessarily call this progress. Before, If your credit card went missing you were a bit worried that someone might go out and spend on it. Now, if your credit card has gone missing then you're left wondering about your whole identity.

Once upon a time, your signature meant something. It carried your authority. Now, it's reduced to a PIN number or an electronic signature.

As means of communication, it means that people sometimes are sending emails to people sitting at the next desk at an office, which I suppose is good for the environment but when it actually comes to 'talking' to somebody they're at a bit of a loss.

To a point the email lacks expression. For example, I could 'phone you up and you would be able to tell if I was happy, sad, lonely, ecstatic, bored etc. But in an email, to a point, they have to be kept factual because you're half worried as to who else is going to get hold of them.

I don't think its necessarily progress.

Answer 4

It does make things faster if it also takes away from human contact. I can't remember the number of times i have gone mad, when calling one or another administration/Company and wasted so much time when an automated answer offered me a menu, asked me to click on 1, 2, 3 or 4 before moving me to a sub menu and so forth. It was better getting straight through the switchboard and talk to someone.

Answer 5

It's because true happiness does not come from the outside world. Stuff can't make you happy, technology can't make you happy. True happiness comes from within you, and is from having an inner peace knowing that you are not alone and that, no matter what, everything will be okay. In short, the only true source of happiness is a relationship with God, and His son, Jesus Christ.

Answer 6

Because this age has caused so much materialistic greed that people feel dissatified if they can't have all the latest gadgets and gizmos. We are conditioned to always want more than we have.

Answer 7

electronic information is not sufficient for the happiness

Answer 8

It's called information overload

Answer 9

Happiness comes from within ourselves. Until we find joy with ourselves, no amount of technology will help us.

Answer 10

I don't know if one has anything to do with the other, but...

I think people are usually unhappy if they don't feel secure about something. So, my answer is: insecurity.