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It seems that people always have a desire to compare: am I prettier than
others? Are we living in a better age? Or, as the question goes, is our life
easier and more enjoyable than it was several decades ago? I would say no, as I
have witnessed the struggle and paradox of our generation.
First of all, we are now living in an age of revolution with no previous
human experience that could be referred to. Living in such a fast-changing world
would not be easy and comfortable at all; with everything keeps changing,
everyone has to move fast in order to catch up with the majority. However,
people were much more stable and care-free when our grandparents were children;
they did not have to learn a second language in order to get a better job, or
read a lot in order to get informed. Yet in our age, these are supposed to be
the responsibility of young people.
Another discomfort of our age is that we are experiencing interpersonal
alienation. With the development of communication technology, people in fact
become alienated with friends and relatives since they could be so easily
accessed via phone or email. Too often we feel that few of our friends are true
friends, without the traditional feeling of mutual affection which could only be
created by longtime apart. But several decades ago, people treasured their
friends and maintained relatively close interpersonal relations, which is much
more enjoyable than the estrangements we are experiencing.
The last factor that has made our age so uncomfortable is the abusive use
of technology. Although it brings much convenience, it essentially changes human
– we are no longer the master of tools, but instead the slaves of devices. We
rush to metro station in order to catch an early train, sit in front of
radioactive computers all day long in order to get our work done, and stay in
air-conditioned rooms all summer without experiencing the natural changes
outside thick cement walls. Several decades ago, people could still live closer
to nature and make rational use of modern technology, which to me is the essence
of human living experience.
However, the comparison between different times is itself ridiculous. The
criteria could not be easily determined, and opinions are highly personal.
Anyway, we have a longer life span, more advanced medical facilities, and easier
traffic than our grandparent when they were children, and we should treasure the
present experience. Imagination of the past might only be nostalgia – if I ask
my grandparents the same question, they might as well say that our life is much
better than the past generations. Who knows? As long as the world is still
peaceful, life at any time would not become too difficult to handle.
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（兼职编辑：张博）
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发表于 2016-7-10 15:25:16