We're just now starting to see the effects of what excessive internet/social media use does to people, and I think it serves as a great example of a much larger trend in society. The internet and social media causes depression like nothing else, along with decreased attention spans and chronic brain fog. Children who have grown up with devices, which now seem to be the norm, are much worse at managing their emotions than previous generations of kids. You've all seen the videos of parents threatening to take away a kid's iPad, and the kids always throw a temper tantrum at the mere mention of it. Generation Alpha also is the worst-educated generation on record. They cannot read, write, or comprehend language at an age-appropriate level. They cannot do basic arithmetic. They are more violent. Their development has been all but entirely halted by a lifetime on mobile devices.
We exist in a very strange time. Every luxury has been afforded to us. We no longer have to worry about starvation, or famine, or disease, or any of the forces that we have historically had to. Despite all of this, a large portion of the so-called developed world is miserable. 50% of Americans are on some sort of antidepressant medication. We were not meant to live this way.
The modern man will wake up to the sound of his digital alarm clock. He will rise from his bed with sheets made of polyester fibres that get into his bloodstreams from mere contact with them, and then he will go to his shower and lather on a minimum of 50 chemicals into his skin labeled as "Shampoo" and "Body Wash". After this, he takes his Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors so he doesn't feel like killing himself, if only for a little while, and wash them down with fluorinated water from his plastic water bottle. Before leaving, he makes himself a cup of coffee, which is just the kick he needs to get up today, and yesterday, and tomorrow, and the day after that. Once he gets to his desk job at Innovative Synergetic Technologies Ltd., he thusly attends his daily meeting, where they talk about team-building strategies and diversity quotas. After a long day of doing nothing in particular, he returns to his 300-square-foot apartment. Being too exhausted from the long work day, he decides to order McDonald's™ from DoorDash™. He happily eats his Big Mac with his Coke and Large Fries while watching his favourite show on one of the twelve streaming services he pays for. He goes to bed at 1:00 AM after scrolling on TikTok in bed for a few hours, only to be woken up to the sound of his digital alarm clock 5 hours later.
I should also say that Hobbes' idea of what a "state of nature" is like, that is, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short, is flat out wrong. Before organized societies, humans lived in small groups of around 100. They were hunter-gatherers that would roam from place to place. In these communities, people were not constantly fighting with each other and killing each other. It was much the opposite. All the people got along quite well, because they had to if they wanted to survive. Many people fall prey to the idea that modernity is, in and of itself, better, however bringing all the millions of billions of people together into one "global community" has done nothing but lead to more division than ever existed before such a thing was ever conceived. We are not adapted to live in such large societies, or to use such complex technologies, or to eat such highly-processed foods. Everything exists now to hijack some basic part of our being as humans. How can you cope with this?
