Many of us have realized that life on Planet Earth isn’t all sunshine and rainbows by now. Not just surviving but also thriving in the modern world can be very difficult. Especially if your expectations for how life should work don’t match the reality.
User u/Constant_Luck9387 sparked an interesting online discussion after asking the members of the r/AskReddit community to share what they think are the top things that have changed the world for the worse. Scroll down to see what they had to say. Their answers were illuminating, and they shed some light on what people consider to be the top problems of the day.
Bored Panda got in touch with the author of the viral thread, u/Constant_Luck9387, who was happy to share her perspective on how we can make the world a better place. Read on for our full interview with her.
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The total overwhelming amount of information thrown at you every minute of every day. I can't even pump gas without being subjected to a f*****g commercial.
There are so many problems in the world and so much unfairness in life that listing everything would mean we’d be sitting here till the cows come home. One annoying major problem that many of us are dealing with these days is the amount of time we spend in front of screens. Not only do many of us use computers for work, but we also use our phones to stay connected with our friends and to consume entertainment. Screens can dominate your life, eating up time you could otherwise spend with your loved ones.
According to a survey conducted by Reviews.org, people living in the United States check their phones a whopping 144 times per day and spend an average of 4 hours and 25 minutes on them every day. Meanwhile, 89% of Americans check them within the first 10 minutes of waking up. The vast majority of respondents (75%) feel uneasy leaving their phones at home, while the same number check their phones within 5 minutes of getting a notification.
Companies answering to shareholders rather than customers or employees.
Not only that but three-quarters of Americans use their phone on the toilet. In the meantime, 69% have admitted that they’ve texted someone in the same room as them. A jaw-dropping 57% of respondents have admitted that they think they’re addicted to their phones. Meanwhile, the study also found that 55% of Americans have not gone longer than 24 hours without their phones, while 46% opened up that they’ve used their phones while on a date. Even more worryingly, 27% have used their phones while driving…
Being constantly connected to the internet, social media, and our emails isn’t as great as some utopians might have thought. The fear of missing out (FOMO) is constantly haunting our steps. Meanwhile, some folks are anxious that they’re somehow obligated to instantly respond to any new notifications. It can be exhausting. And it can make you feel like you’d rather live in a cottage in the woods, raising chickens, with no internet at all. However, for most of us, that’s not an option. What we can do, instead, is cut back on our screen and internet time.
The unchecked exploitation of natural resources, leading to environmental degradation and climate change.
Allowing children to use social media and the internet.
Anything that involves over-educating children unnecessarily and not just let them be themselves and protect them.
Even worse imo: allowing parents to film and take photos of their children and upload it online for millions of views.
I see what this is saying but I’ll take over-education to under-education every time
It is 80% more of toxicity/bullying/encouragement to do stupid s**t/ than over-education, imo.
Should I upvote or downvote? The two bullet points mentioned have nothing in common
I must say, I do have an issue with second point. Kids don’t have any say in what images of them are posted online by their parents, and that stuff is there forever. It’s a problem, i think, when parents see their children as an extension of themselves and not people in their own right. Sure, share pics with family..grandparents, uncles and aunts. But not as fodder for millions of strangers. Makes me very uncomfortable. 🤷♀️
Social media and using your kids for internet points, yes. But general internet usage is not a bad thing. Whether we like it or not, the digital era is here and preventing your children from learning how to use it properly will be just as damaging as letting them have unfettered access.
I used to have 3 recesses and no homework in primary school. My little sister has 2 recesses and homework.
It was unfortunately only social media that gave us such strong awareness of the prevalence of stupidity and narcissism.
There's no such thing as "overeducation", it's just a word used to deride people who know more than you do.
But overworking kids and not letting them play and be kids is becoming more of a problem nowadays
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Large scale news outlets that get to present themselves as facts vs actually being a form of entertainment.
From our perspective, what really works is using our phones’ Do Not Disturb and Airplane functions. That way, you’re not distracted by incoming notifications and can focus on a single task. Being able to do deep work is wonderful, but it requires a lot of self-discipline. Similarly, if you’re constantly being bombarded on social media, go into the settings and turn off some of the notifications.
Alternatively, mute your group chats when you want some time to focus on your loved ones and your hobbies so you don’t feel pressured to respond and react to every single witty meme or comment. And there’s honestly nothing better than doing a small digital detox on your days off. Going for a walk without your phone can be liberating (especially if you think you can't live without tracking your steps).
The good thing about influencer culture was anyone could become famous, opening doors for people who never would have had a chance in the past. The bad thing about influencer culture was anyone could become famous, including some incredibly toxic, exploitative sociopaths who would do anything for attention in the form of clicks, shares, likes and subscriptions. For every artist sharing and monetizing their doll making hobby or their drain unclogging, power washing or lawn care business, there's a dozen Paul brothers or Andrew Tate 'alpha' bro wannabes spewing cruelty for laughs, misogyny, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and assorted other forms of hate.
Dopamine-high, instant gratification.
This. We can’t wait for anything anymore and I’m as bad as anyone. If the screen doesn’t load instantly I’m like WTF??!! We have become inured to instant information, instant response, instant publication (like this 🙂) which also means we tend not to think things through perhaps as much as we used to, we get platforms for our thoughts that are not always best aired without the benefit of thinking time provided by the cooling off period we used to have. I’m rambling now.
Consumerism, the belief that new material goods makes you happy. An eternal chase after new belongings.
We were curious to get the OP’s thoughts on the things that have the most profound negative impact on the world. According to her, overpopulation, deforestation, and pollution are the key issues.
However, when talking about technology, she told Bored Panda that social interaction issues, cyberbullying, and privacy violations are at the top of her list.
“I think stricter laws and abiding citizens will surely help. And I hope people don't spend too much time on social media. Spend your time with your loved ones. Remember that life is short. So, make it memorable,” u/Constant_Luck9387 told Bored Panda.
24 hour news networks destroyed the world before social media even began.
Trickle down economics.
Either TikTok or online influencers making their fans do some questionable stuff.
Oh. Wasn't there a BP thread about decoration stuff from Temu, a more than questionable company...,?
Meanwhile, we also wanted to get to grips with what the author of the thread thought the top things making the world a better place were.
“People with compassion and empathy. The world needs more people like that. Everyone can make this world better by starting with yourself,” she said.
US v Them mentality. The idea that there is only a binary option available for everything.
According to the OP, the question for the thread popped into her head while she was having some ‘me time.’ She posted it on r/AskReddit to get some different perspectives from people all over the globe and from all walks of life.
“I actually didn't expect that it would get so much attention. For me, some people view the world as cruel. I am actually one of them. When I was a kid, I thought it was actually rainbows and butterflies, but it wasn't. So, I feel like that question resonated with many people.”
Redditor u/Constant_Luck9387 also had this uplifting message to share with her readers: “Hello, everyone. I hope you are being kind to yourself, as well as to others. The world we live in is already cruel. Make your mind a beautiful place.”
Probably children getting devices at such a young age. I rarely go outside anymore. And I rarely see any other kids go outside anymore.
Edit: I have learned that it is not just screens that result in a lack of kids outside and that I should probably go out and soak up some sun as well. .
The main reason that children don't going outside is a lack of save spaces where they can play unsupervised.
Social media. Lobbyists. Corporations donating/buying off politicians.
What things do you personally think have the biggest negative and positive impacts on the world, dear Pandas? Which issues do you think it's best to prioritize tackling over everything else? How would you go about improving the world if you had unlimited power and finances? Share your thoughts in the comments.
As if religion wasn’t radical enough throughout history, as people have begun shifting away from it, they shifted right into politics radicalizing it.
The worst thing is the strict black and white thinking - Everything conservative is facism, everything liberal is communist. There is a severe lack of grey in all it's shades in current day discussions that prevents getting any solutions
Those fake influencers on youtube, they are making the world worse 🥲.
The Citizen's United decision in the US. It has allowed for unfettered and uncapped income to get involved into US politics from any source including foreign companies. The US has never been the most moral actor, but allowing people to buy reps in our government has heavily influenced the US's international actions.
People blaming their actions on everyone buy themselves.
This was beyond rampant in prison. It was always the judge's fault or the lawyer's fault. One woman I knew, her mom found out she was breaking the law, and the mom turned her in. I was in counseling with the woman for awhile. She never got past that it was her mom's fault she was in prison.
Social media fried my brain early. I remember i joined instagram back in 2011 when i was only 12. I started competing with strangers for compliments and seeking approval.
Unfortunately dating apps have sorta taken over dating in general.
Nowadays I think everyone uses them and it’s surprisingly becoming tougher to use more traditional methods.
All useful information being behind a pay wall.
Well, but if journalists' work is to be free, how do journalists pay for their living?
Right now in North Carolina, everyone is getting fed up with all the sports betting ads. When you go out in my city, there's a plane flying around dragging one of those MGM banners every day.
Children turning into milkcows for gaming companeis and big tech.
Greed.
Should we just list every negative human trait? The list could go on forever.
The internet is an amazing invention, but might ultimately be the cause of our long term demise.
When we should have embraced nature we will have embraced the digital world instead and opted to download our brains to the cloud instead of trying to solve climate change.
In 1992 Roger Waters wrote the album Amused to Death about the absurdity that technology has developed to where we can even watch *war* live, and what that does to the human psyche. (Not a fan his anymore since he’s become.. well, what he’s become, but the music is still stellar.) A lot of what he wrote is about our consumerist lifestyles, and a lot of the album also applies to the internet. Check out the last song (called Amused to death) on the album, it was the first thing that came to my mind when I read the post above.
I guess dating apps is one of the worst things to have ever appeared online. It has changed dating forever, and not necessarily for the better.
Smart phones.. mobile phones have been brilliant..smart phones are dimming our brains.
Thinking that seeing boobs is more dangerous to children then fighting and weapons.
It’s interesting how many people are hating on technology here. I for one do not want to go back.
I agree. There's no doubt that technology has caused problems, but my life is infinitely better with it.
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Slavish adherence to the idea that private transport is freedom and public transport isn’t. Has ruined so many cities, countries even. Basically, cars.
BP, yet another one. Please fix whatever is causing the stories to be cut off in the app. Or do away with the app.
Suburbs. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much arable farm land is wasted on single homes instead of dozens of homes apartment buildings closer to cities. And it's made worse by a forced dependence on cars, the complete lack of safe space to WALK anywhere, no parks, etc.
Thinking that seeing boobs is more dangerous to children then fighting and weapons.
It’s interesting how many people are hating on technology here. I for one do not want to go back.
I agree. There's no doubt that technology has caused problems, but my life is infinitely better with it.
Load More Replies... Slavish adherence to the idea that private transport is freedom and public transport isn’t. Has ruined so many cities, countries even. Basically, cars.
BP, yet another one. Please fix whatever is causing the stories to be cut off in the app. Or do away with the app.
Suburbs. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much arable farm land is wasted on single homes instead of dozens of homes apartment buildings closer to cities. And it's made worse by a forced dependence on cars, the complete lack of safe space to WALK anywhere, no parks, etc.
