Technology and Happiness
on 12.31.04, 08:51am in life • comments (2)
[Technology Review] Oddly, though, if you ask Americans how happy they are, you find that they’re no happier than they were in 1946 (which is when formal surveys of happiness started). In fact, the percentage of people who say they’re “very happy” has fallen slightly since the early 1970s—even though the income of people born in 1940 has increased, on average, 116 percent over the course of their working lives.
A final thought for 2004: Does Technology Bring Happiness?
Update: Looks like Slashdot is talking about this Nov 2004 article in the Seattle Times called "Life Interrupted". A good look at the ‘cognitive overload‘ that is caused by technology and modern-day multitasking.
Brock Tice (December 31, 2004 @ 10:19 am)
I think technology brings happiness in a lot of ways, especially depending on what you mean by technology. If you restrict the definition to personal electronics then I’d say it may very well bring as much grief as it does happiness.
I’ve found that one has to be very careful when purchasing ‘consumer’ electronics, given how much poorly designed, insufficiently tested stuff is out there.
When you get the right stuff, then perhaps the happiness outweighs the grief.
douglasp (January 1, 2005 @ 12:53 am)
http://www.4truths.com/first.html
