Do you think today's technology encourages impatience?

Question

I have had a cell phone since I was in the 7th grade. Seriously. I can barely remember what it was like to have to wait until somebody got home before I could reach them on their home phone. Nowadays, people can check their email from their phones (h**l, I even log onto Answers from my phone sometimes). I remember in college, it was normal to expect to wait three days or more for someone to reply to an email I sent. Now, I generally get most replies within hours.

I'm already an impatient person by nature. Is it possible that I'm much worse because I've grown up with this kind of technology?

Answer 1

I love ((((((Zilla's))))) answer, maybe because I feel the same.

Like her, I don't ever answer my phone. If the school should try to reach me in the event of an emergency, they would have to call my mother, who would then send someone to my house to alert me. The only time anyone ever answers my phone is when the kids are home, and they know to say that I am unavailable to take the call. I don't own a cell phone, I don't have caller ID, and my phone is still corded. No cordless for me. Like her, the internet is my link to the outside world, and I like it that way.

She and I are the same age, so I know she remembers the days before VCR's, HBO, 3-channel TV, when portable 8-track players were the *in* thing, when coke came in a glass bottle that required an opener, the paper straws you drank it with, S&H green stamps, and when stores were closed on Sundays.

How relaxing life was in the good old days, when there was less  crime, less worry, more appreciation for the simple things, and far less concern with *me* and a lot more respect  for others.

I don't know that our technology is responsible for the impatience shown by so many, but I'm sure it applies in some way. I tend to blame this fast-paced world, with everyone expecting things to be finished *right now* and *at this instant.* Technology may be responsible for the rapid-fire pace, but I tend to believe it's the inevitable outcome of progress --we just expect things to move along a little more quickly.

I am a very patient person. Waiting in lengthy lines doesn't bother me at all. On the contrary, it's an opportunity to visit with the people waiting in line with me. If something goes wrong today, what's the worry? Tomorrow is soon enough to fix things. If the doctor can't see me as quickly as I'd like, it's because he's busy with another patient. This is just my way, how I look at things.

My kids have grown up with all of this technology and they are almost as patient as I am, but that's simply because I've raised them with my philosophy. Now my mother, a child of the 30's, grew up with practically nothing, and she is the most impatient person I know.

So, is technology to blame for today's impatient world? To a point. But I tend to think that some people are just born expecting  instant gratification, and they are the most impatient of all.

Maybe it's the inability to appreciate the simple things. In my mother's instance, I know this to be true.

Answer 2

I think you are right.  I watched an episode of the Cosby show a while back where Theo would not let anyone talk on the phone because he was expecting a girl to call.  This was in the time before caller ID and call waiting.  I remember those days.   Unfortunately most kids these days will probbably not experience that.

My parents had a rule that we could only be on the phone for 10 min at a time (not that we ever followed it).  We needed to clear up the line for other family members.  

You must be a lot younger than me.  Cell Phones did not even come out until I was in High School- well rich people had car phones when I was a kid, but that was the closest thing.  The first cell phone I remember was a big old brick, and they were expensive.  In my high school it was against the rules to have a pager.  Kids did not have cell phones.  Some had second lines, but most had to share a line with their families.

I am really not that old.

Answer 3

Absolutely.  Everything can happen faster now than it did when I was young.  Of course, there's good and bad in that.  I used to have a few days of "float" after I wrote a check and put it in the mail before I had to get that money into the bank.  Now, I'd better darn sure have it in the bank before I press that button on the computer, because even the use of paper checks and snail mail is gone.

Sure, things s***w up sometimes.  But on the whole, we can adjust to the rapid pace if we keep in mind that just because things can happen almost instantaneously, we can't assume they always will.  If you send an email to someone who has gone out of town to go camping or something, how is that different from waiting for a reply from someone who has so much email they don't get to it for several days?  Or who is dealing with a family matter that takes their attention away from the computer?  Or whose computer has broken down?

Answer 4

AARgghhhh ... too many letters to read ... I don't have time to  .....

Answer 5

Yes I would think so.

Answer 6

Hmmm..... I hadn't thought of it that way, but I think you're right!!

Used to be that when someone didn't have an answering machine I'd get all uptight... now, when I get the machine at home I just hang up and try their cell ~ LOL!

Answer 7

Interesting question. Off the top of my head, I'd say that it probably does for those who are impatient by nature anyway. But there'll always be, I'm sure, people like me who won't answer the phone to save a life lol. The Interwebz is the *only* thing I use that's anywhere near being new technology. (I like it because I can have 'friendships' without the risk of getting close to somebody and then losing them. I've had too much loss.)

Very interesting question, Linz :D

(((RedQueen)))

Answer 8

no but ppl are more spoiled than ever before with gadgets and electronic things....the workforce is push push perform etc...never enough time for some ppl....Hubby will be so glad to have 3 days off!!

Answer 9

...i agree, technology has taken out the suspense(wait), it gives it to you wrapped and bowed...

...yes...sadly it increases the build up after 3 seconds waiting...good luck...

Answer 10

Yep.  It makes it hard to live in a moment and give something your full attention to something when your mind is in several different places.

Check out Zen and its concept of mindfulness.

How much of your life do you spend looking forward to being somewhere else?

-Matthew Flickstein, “Journey to the Center”

Answer 11

Definitely. I am the same way. Except I grew up with none of this. I didn't have a pc until I was 28. Now I can't live without now now now.