I feel like I've been going crazy the past couple of years. Everything is quite literally way worse than it used to be. What is going on?

[cyberwill01]

I feel like the term enshittification can be applied to the rest of the world. Almost everything from cars, tech, etc has been getting worse!

Everything human behavior and psychology, the environment everything!

Have you guys noticed this? or else I'd be happy to be proven wrong!

[Holmes108]

12 minutes ago, cyberwill01 said:

I feel like the term enshittification can be applied to the rest of the world. Almost everything from cars, tech, etc has been getting worse!

Everything human behavior and psychology, the environment everything!

Have you guys noticed this? or else I'd be happy to be proven wrong!

 

I think many of these can be explained simply by the internet (at large) and social media (specifically). Meaning, I don't accept that everything is worse. But it's very easy to feel that way if you're terminally online. 

 

Most arguing, shitty behavior, and negative opinions on products (or anything, for that matter) are far more amplified and in your face online.

 

Out in the "real" world, it's not nearly so dreary. 

 

(Take it from a terminally online person, who has to remind himself of this constantly.)

[cyberwill01]

7 minutes ago, Holmes108 said:

 

I think many of these can be explained simply by the internet (at large) and social media (specifically). Meaning, I don't accept that everything is worse. But it's very easy to feel that way if you're terminally online. 

 

Most arguing, shitty behavior, and negative opinions on products (or anything, for that matter) are far more amplified and in your face online.

 

Out in the "real" world, it's not nearly so dreary. 

 

(Take it from a terminally online person, who has to remind himself of this constantly.)

Here's the thing. I would really like to cut the time I spend online but I'm currently studying in the IT field and of course that profession requires me to be constantly online. Is there a way to preserve your mental health while being online and exposed to all the negativity most of the time?

[Holmes108]

32 minutes ago, cyberwill01 said:

Here's the thing. I would really like to cut the time I spend online but I'm currently studying in the IT field and of course that profession requires me to be constantly online. Is there a way to preserve your mental health while being online and exposed to all the negativity most of the time?

 

It's tough. A local hobby, good (in person) friend group, exercising. I do not practice what I preach though. I'm married, in my 40's, and as you get older your social circle often dwindles. I don't have the desire to go out as much. Unlike in my youth, I balk at a lot of plans, and enjoy being a hermit these days.

 

It's a constant battle to remind myself that when I'm invited to something, as much as I cringe and hope it gets cancelled, I almost always end up having fun once I'm there. I think it's a muscle that needs exercised. Of course, for people who don't even have an option of doing things in person, due to a limited circle, etc, it can be a real challenge.

 

I'm not a resolution guy, but this conversation is somewhat timely as I've been saying since new years that I'm going to work on a lot of these things, and try and do more. While I'm not unhappy with my day to day as a home body per se, I do feel like I could make my time even more rewarding.

 

Edit: Particularly with the exercise. I really need to get on that.

[Zando_]

Many large companies put short-term profit above everything else. The health of their business, the quality of their product, the treatment of their workers, everything. AFAIK this is down to how they have their executive compensation packages set up, it incentivizes maximizing share value, not actually making the business better. Thus the incessant nickel and diming, removing things only to add them back at additional charge, or forcing subscriptions where they don't make sense, poor quality control/design decisions, etc. Much of this is exacerbated by well meaning but poorly written regulation. I mostly know car examples for this:

• Governments mandate emissions equipment but do not mandate that it be easily serviceable. Companies of course take the quickest/cheapest option, often stuffing things in hard-to-get places (the specific example I've seen is the EGR valve, modern ones are extremely reliable and simply need to be removed, cleaned, and reinstalled at certain intervals, no replacement required). So people don't service them due to the massive labor costs to disassemble half the car and get to them, so the emissions equipment fails, ruining reliability and driving up ownership costs. 
• In the US, larger vehicles have laxer emissions requirements. This is one of the main reasons for the massive increase in size on modern pickups/SUVs. Making for a worse effect on the environment/people as they're less efficient than smaller vehicles, take more resources to build, burn through more tires, wear down the road faster, and cause worse traffic accidents. 
• Many modern vehicles are rushed through the production lines (Ford has been shipping out trucks with sand still in the blocks from casting, or unfinished gasket mating surfaces) for the sake of maximizing profits. They also often prioritize assembly line efficiency over serviceability, leading to things like bolts being put behind frame rails, requiring either a bunch of shenanigans to remove, or multiple hours if the entire engine has to be pulled to get to it. All increasing ownership costs of the vehicles for the sake of saving a few bucks for the company. Heck even on the 2002 Mountaineer I had, they installed the radiator from the front and then placed the entire bumper assembly over it, despite there being clearance to bolt it in from inside the engine bay. Causing me and my dad to take 2 hours longer to replace the radiator because we refused to take the entire front of the vehicle off to get to it. Just little decisions like that, either made by people who have never worked on vehicles before and just didn't realize, or intentionally sacrificed in the name of production efficiency. 

If you check the news there's also a bunch of info about Boeing now, they seem to be rushing plane production to disastrous effect. 

10 minutes ago, Holmes108 said:

I think many of these can be explained simply by the internet (at large) and social media (specifically). Meaning, I don't accept that everything is worse. But it's very easy to feel that way if you're terminally online. 

 

Most arguing, shitty behavior, and negative opinions on products (or anything, for that matter) are far more amplified and in your face online.

This is true of the psychology aspect. I don't think humans are any worse than we always have been, but it is easy to feel that way when social media amplifies a lot of horrible or stupid stuff. If you run into history nerds you'll learn that we've been doing all this stuff (good and bad) for thousands of years, knowledge of it just wasn't available on a magic portal in your pocket. 

14 minutes ago, Holmes108 said:

Out in the "real" world, it's not nearly so dreary. 

Economic conditions are, which is what makes everything feel like it's getting worse. Cars are more expensive, food is more expensive, rent is more expensive, interest rates are higher (though those do go up and down a lot, currently they are higher than before) etc. Makes everything feel worse when the basic stuff you need to live is more of a struggle than before. 

4 minutes ago, cyberwill01 said:

Here's the thing. I would really like to cut the time I spend online but I'm currently studying in the IT field and of course that profession requires me to be constantly online. Is there a way to preserve your mental health while being online and exposed to all the negativity most of the time?

Try and be choosier with what you care about. No shame in blocking/muting stuff that brings up issues you don't have the spoons to care about currently. Or garbage content/humor that just drains you to see. 

 

Ride a motorcycle. Or find some other hobby that similarly gets you outside. I like motorcycles as there's an inherent satisfaction to operating the machines, and there's a good sense of community between bikers, I can see anyone else on a bike and 9/10 times they'll wave back when I do so to them. People often come up when I'm stopped to chat about them as well. It's a nice reminder that most people are pretty decent and we have more things in common than not. Back when I was in better shape I hiked a lot and rode mountain bikes, those are similarly good-for-the-soul activities. There's a massive mental health benefit to just being outside in fresh air. I got out of shape to begin with because my IT job has me at a desk all day, and my main hobby was video games (so thus at my desk at home again), and that coincides with my mental health decline over the past few years. There's other personal reasons for that too, but the sitting inside all the time certainly has not helped. 

[Holmes108]

7 minutes ago, Zando_ said:

 

Economic conditions are, which is what makes everything feel like it's getting worse. Cars are more expensive, food is more expensive, rent is more expensive, interest rates are higher (though those do go up and down a lot, currently they are higher than before) etc. Makes everything feel worse when the basic stuff you need to live is more of a struggle than before. 

 

 

 

 

Oh yes, it's far from sunshine and rainbows. Money is my #1, #2, and #3 thing I stress about. There is no shortage of issues, and things worth complaining about. But life can still be good! The expression "touch grass" is maybe a little overused online, but the premise is sound lol.

[cyberwill01]

1 hour ago, Zando_ said:

 

Ride a motorcycle. Or find some other hobby that similarly gets you outside. I like motorcycles as there's an inherent satisfaction to operating the machines, and there's a good sense of community between bikers, I can see anyone else on a bike and 9/10 times they'll wave back when I do so to them. People often come up when I'm stopped to chat about them as well. It's a nice reminder that most people are pretty decent and we have more things in common than not. Back when I was in better shape I hiked a lot and rode mountain bikes, those are similarly good-for-the-soul activities. There's a massive mental health benefit to just being outside in fresh air. I got out of shape to begin with because my IT job has me at a desk all day, and my main hobby was video games (so thus at my desk at home again), and that coincides with my mental health decline over the past few years. There's other personal reasons for that too, but the sitting inside all the time certainly has not helped. 

Hello, fellow crotch rocket rider! I got a 2021 Yamaha R125 Sport Bike and it's quite powerful for a 125cc bike, although I don't really use it outside of going to my technical school due to me choosing looks and performance rather than comfort, I then got a Honda scooter but it got destroyed in an accident and my dumbass used my savings for these 2 bikes. Now I want to find a job in IT but due to my school's awful schedule I can't find a job that can fit in my hours and I really need to close the financial hole made by my bikes. What do you think? Should I put the IT school aside for the moment and get an IT job or not?

[RollyShed]

1 hour ago, Zando_ said:

Ride a motorcycle.....Back when I was in better shape I hiked a lot and rode mountain bikes, those are similarly good-for-the-soul activities.

Get a bicycle and not an electric one. Yes at over 80 I still ride mine in preference to driving anywhere. A few decades ago, 3500km up the coast of California. Done a bit of riding in Thailand. So many places to see and go to.

 

Hiking, longest hikes were in the Himalayas. I prefer to sit down so a bike or sea kayak.

If beside water, get a sea kayak. A lot of learning there and so many interesting places to see.

[Caroline]

One of the few threads where a Joker picture can be used unironically.

 

2 hours ago, cyberwill01 said:

Here's the thing. I would really like to cut the time I spend online but I'm currently studying in the IT field and of course that profession requires me to be constantly online. Is there a way to preserve your mental health while being online and exposed to all the negativity most of the time?

First cut the mainstream media sites, you might not see it now but everything it's propaganda for any of the sides. If you use Twitter, reconsider it, shit's so toxic not even a biohazard suit can protect you.

 

What kind of IT requires you to be constantly online? I work IT and my day is pretty much going to the office, work and leave, well, not pretty much, that's what I do. Before signing the contract both parties agreed my work day begins when I clock in and ends when I clock out.... it should be obvious, I know. My coworker (yeah just one) and manager know the phone I left at work it's ONLY for emergency situations, the "building is on fire don't come to work" or "someone died we're closed for the day" kind and haven't received a single call yet, other than everyone knows where to find me during work hours, in a dimly lit office with no windows. I'm like the Scully of the company, hidden in the basement but my work keeps the rest of the floors working, I only leave my kingdom to perform maintenance tasks or help clueless users access their corporate email for the 3rd time in one week. Chill place.

 

Don't mistake exploitation for effort, even if you're studying there's a time and place to do so, if classmates or professors can't understand that you should remind them you have a life and studying isn't the only thing you do. I apply the same principle to working, sure, some will get mad and cry about it when they realise I actually know regulations and laws but they have to cope and respect my times.

 

I'm not a moron and know not everyone's like me or has the ability to see beyond the propaganda (perform a coherent interpretation process of the content you're reading) that floods most of the internet nowadays, see, you might not realise it but it's actually everywhere whether it's in the form of subtle references or full blown specific pictures or videos that talk about "controversial" topics and try to bait you into interacting with accounts that replicate that kind of content all the time, even if you don't follow anything related to say politics at some point the websites will show you politics related content, or topics you don't agree with, it's how they've been designed and what eventually leads to so called doomscrolling, a constant stream of negative content that spreads like a wildfire.

I haven't read about this anywhere else but I observe a machine logic in pretty much everything, read the news sites or social media and everything's done in a binary way, left vs right, black vs white, gays vs straight, liberals vs conservatives, etc. you'll find dozens of examples, everything's done from the perspective of extremes and to force the user to also become a digital zombie that "agrees" with the content by smashing the like button and disagrees to an extreme with anything that even dares to question what's inside his echo chamber.

The algorithms apparently can't understand things the same way we -or some of us- do, without going to extremes. That's the toxic, unhealthy part of the internet and it's taking over everything, as things centralise and compact inside specific websites there's less and less extreme content to read. See the internet is seemingly full of content but at the same time it's mostly devoid of it, you filter out all the social media bullshit and you're left with only very specific websites that could even be considered niche becaue of how small their userbases are: opinion boards, blogs, some forums, small news sites run by true independent journalists that don't require a subscription to even read an article, etc.

 

I could write for hours, I've said the same about online videogames, that they're extremely similar to a toxic relationship with an abusive partner, the way they're done ALWAYS favours the company and never the user, even ruling out gambling, lootboxes or gacha mechanics the way the matchmaking is done to make you lose more than you win, and that's the key in them, the few matches/things you "win" are supposed to outweigh all the negative ones, hence the similarity to an abusive partner, he'll beat you up eleven times but swear he'll change and make you feel better for a while so you forget the beatings and continue with the relationship, it's a cycle that repeats over and over again and it's hard to break.

 

There's much more down the rabbit hole, both in real life and the internet. Funny how the internet was supposed to be an escape from real life and now it's become so bad real life it's an escape from the internet. Ah, how the turntables huh?

 

That's all folks!

[cyberwill01]

4 minutes ago, Caroline said:

One of the few threads where a Joker picture can be used unironically.

 

First cut the mainstream media sites, you might not see it now but everything it's propaganda for any of the sides. If you use Twitter, reconsider it, shit's so toxic not even a biohazard suit can protect you.

 

What kind of IT requires you to be constantly online? I work IT and my day is pretty much going to the office, work and leave, well, not pretty much, that's what I do. Before signing the contract both parties agreed my work day begins when I clock in and ends when I clock out.... it should be obvious, I know. My coworker (yeah just one) and manager know the phone I left at work it's ONLY for emergency situations, the "building is on fire don't come to work" or "someone died we're closed for the day" kind and haven't received a single call yet, other than everyone knows where to find me during work hours, in a dimly lit office with no windows. I'm like the Scully of the company, hidden in the basement but my work keeps the rest of the floors working, I only leave my kingdom to perform maintenance tasks or help clueless users access their corporate email for the 3rd time in one week. Chill place.

 

Don't mistake exploitation for effort, even if you're studying there's a time and place to do so, if classmates or professors can't understand that you should remind them you have a life and studying isn't the only thing you do. I apply the same principle to working, sure, some will get mad and cry about it when they realise I actually know regulations and laws but they have to cope and respect my times.

 

I'm not a moron and know not everyone's like me or has the ability to see beyond the propaganda (perform a coherent interpretation process of the content you're reading) that floods most of the internet nowadays, see, you might not realise it but it's actually everywhere whether it's in the form of subtle references or full blown specific pictures or videos that talk about "controversial" topics and try to bait you into interacting with accounts that replicate that kind of content all the time, even if you don't follow anything related to say politics at some point the websites will show you politics related content, or topics you don't agree with, it's how they've been designed and what eventually leads to so called doomscrolling, a constant stream of negative content that spreads like a wildfire.

I haven't read about this anywhere else but I observe a machine logic in pretty much everything, read the news sites or social media and everything's done in a binary way, left vs right, black vs white, gays vs straight, liberals vs conservatives, etc. you'll find dozens of examples, everything's done from the perspective of extremes and to force the user to also become a digital zombie that "agrees" with the content by smashing the like button and disagrees to an extreme with anything that even dares to question what's inside his echo chamber.

The algorithms apparently can't understand things the same way we -or some of us- do, without going to extremes. That's the toxic, unhealthy part of the internet and it's taking over everything, as things centralise and compact inside specific websites there's less and less extreme content to read. See the internet is seemingly full of content but at the same time it's mostly devoid of it, you filter out all the social media bullshit and you're left with only very specific websites that could even be considered niche becaue of how small their userbases are: opinion boards, blogs, some forums, small news sites run by true independent journalists that don't require a subscription to even read an article, etc.

 

I could write for hours, I've said the same about online videogames, that they're extremely similar to a toxic relationship with an abusive partner, the way they're done ALWAYS favours the company and never the user, even ruling out gambling, lootboxes or gacha mechanics the way the matchmaking is done to make you lose more than you win, and that's the key in them, the few matches/things you "win" are supposed to outweigh all the negative ones, hence the similarity to an abusive partner, he'll beat you up eleven times but swear he'll change and make you feel better for a while so you forget the beatings and continue with the relationship, it's a cycle that repeats over and over again and it's hard to break.

 

There's much more down the rabbit hole, both in real life and the internet. Funny how the internet was supposed to be an escape from real life and now it's become so bad real life it's an escape from the internet. Ah, how the turntables huh?

 

That's all folks!

I don't work in IT yet I study and because my attention span during class is in the negatives I have to constantly try to relearn the same subjects online until something sticks. The result is spending more time online and getting caught in doomscroling, I'm fully aware that it's my own fault for this but in all honesty after doing all that and seeing the negative stuff all around, I regularly ask myself "Is this even worth it? Should I just quit tech school and just sit around? Should I just press alt+f4 on my biological system?"

Gordon Freeman might be a highly trained professional and survive against all odds but I'm definitely not.

[duncannah]

I've been feeling like this for the past few weeks or so, longing for the past. Or maybe I'm just depressed.

[cyberwill01]

5 minutes ago, duncannah said:

I've been feeling like this for the past few weeks or so, longing for the past. Or maybe I'm just depressed.

For me it's way more than a few weeks, I feel this all my life.

[Caroline]

Gordon is just a vidya character, so don't worry. My signature is sort of an inside joke ^^

 

Do you have any hobbies? other than using a computer/device or the bike. Sounds like you need a change.

 

It's normal to get burnout because maybe you thought studying "IT" (that's a broad term) would be as enjoyable as using a computer or being online, it's not like that at all and happens all the time.

 

Even something "silly" as writing poems or your thoughts can become a hobby. The ink flows down into a dark puddle, just move your hand.

If you like reading, read, get some books or an e-ink slab. Manga is literature too you know.

 

Gotta find enjoyable activities. For example I like to build decorative light fixtures, and I can earn some extra $ from doing that, but I never rush or take too many orders, already have my "standard" models and might also take requests if I know the parts are obtainable or I can mimic certain shape/technology with what I have available, all QC and far more safe than the junk people get at "dollar stores". I do ballet and dance even if I'm alone in my room with my thoughts, it's... calming, despite what many believe, I also punch a boxing bag until my arms are sore and that's also calming in a way.

I write too, not poems, but it's writing after all. Play games for a while ONLY to relax and avoid anything that's multiplayer.

 

Sign up for a gym or workout at home, go practice archery, shooting, I dunno.

During the pandemic I was kinda sick of only going to work so I went to trade school and became a sparky with some decent qualis, best of all it was free, it is for a few years after you're done with high school and don't attend college. Won't work in construction but it's nice to have all the paperwork in order, helps with the lighting gig as well so people know they're buying from a professional and not some random peson who set up a "business" during the pandemic following Youtube tutorials, yeah those exist... mfs watch a video and say they can work on fridges, or install heat pumps, it's ridiculous.

[dogwitch]

am going to be honest. i take what happen. then the nearly 2 year fight with a terminal illness i  fought and won...

but i could not work for 2 years and drugs side effects. is why it took a second year to recover.

[YellowJersey]

The realm of men is truly a womb of horrors.

[thrasher_565]

there alot of things at play here. phones. people dont talk to each other and just text on phones. the media trying to divide the people. you have the tech witch is ai and anything that will be tech spys on you, plays ads, or has microtrasactions. cant find a good review of a product because there paid reviews. the right to repair/ fight for guns. all the sapos "good games" were crap...

 

not saying you cant advode this stuff... there are still good games to play... there still jobs out there thow there getting slimmer... you still have the right to look for a better job.

 

why other people feel down is because of moeny. alot of people losing there jobs and a minim wage is not euff to live off of. keep that in mind.

Edited March 17 by thrasher_565

[wasab]

Huh? Everything is better for me, just more expensive.