i’m talking about the mundane stuff, like how we still carry around a bunch of plastic cards or wait for water to boil in a kettle instead of instantly. or maybe just our collective obsession with short form video? keen to hear what makes you shake your head thinking about the future.
Thanks for sharing. I haven’t followed it as closely, but I understand the latest research suggests that any amount of alcohol isn’t really worth it. Similar to tobacco, how it was pretty much a given for one age, my generation grew up hearing about all the negatives.
Factor on top of that young people aren’t primarily socializing in drinking spaces anymore. Between COVID shutting that down for a while, and people having less money, there’s less reason to go out and get smashed.
I personally still enjoy a drink once in a while, but it’s not something I’d terribly mind seeing disappear, especially for how destructive it can be.
I’m in agreement. Science tells us more and more that there is no safe amount of booze. I work in addiction services, and I’ve noticed that doctors won’t even prescribe benzos anymore unless it’s for acute withdrawal treatment, typically with a rapid 3-5 day taper. Because they’re mother’s little helpers - booze in pill form.
I also think the true underlying reason for less alcohol use isn’t a virtuous one. It’s that there’s just better mood alteration out there now with far fewer deleterious effects. I’m dating myself a bit, but when I look at how much pharmacological knowledge the average 20 year old has now, it takes me back to my youth when simply going to the library to get a book with information about psychoactive drugs was nearly impossible. And now looking back with actual science, I can see most of what I was able to research back then was tenuous at best, and outright fabrications at worst.
So I think people are engaging in mood alteration more now than ever before. We’ve just moved on from yeast poop mind-fucks.