Life before smartphones was more boring, but in a good way. amirite?

I think periodic boredom is good for humans. It makes us reflect more on our lives.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Can we officially say "the good ole days" 😂

by akeemlarkin 2 days ago

This is why I despise work phones. Your bosses think it means "available 24/7, 265". Now, if you're per diem/on call then that's different, but most people aren't.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

I had a boss at my last job call me at 4AM because he was testing the on call rotation that wasnt working right. I stayed there for 3 months and left. I have job now where my boss is 5 states away and I rarely talk to them.

by hyattkeagan 2 days ago

100%, let's bring that back

by Kulasstephanie 2 days ago

Now if someone texts you and you dont respond immediately they get mad at you. You're hanging out with the wrong people.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Do they though? Do they actually? Most people don't. Do people finish work and say "why haven't you responded to me" When you get off flights do you get a string of notifications of angry people? You'll find it's actually OK. 99% of tiem people are fine with a bit of time between responses.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

I don't have that problem with any of my family or friends. They also don't always text me back immediately and I'm Ok with that.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Most popular opinion ever mate, I'm sorry

by Brief-Platform 2 days ago

If it was people wouldnt be on their phones the way they are

by Anonymous 2 days ago

No that's just addiction.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

How else am I gonna read unpopular opinions then?

by Better-Internal9284 2 days ago

With whom?

by CutAcceptable 2 days ago

Everyone born after 1989.

by Extension_Grocery 2 days ago

Also, people born in 1989 and earlier.

by bria53 2 days ago

...Have you been outside in the last fifteen years? Ever?

by CutAcceptable 2 days ago

We're all addicted to our screens, but we mostly hate that we are. I have a really hard time getting away from it in my day to day life. But if I go camping or something, I can not look at a screen once all weekend and it feels amazing.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

I can safely say that my life was not enriched by reading the back of a cereal box nor was my mind expanded by doing the same maze 12+ times.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Yeah better to fry our dopamine receptors and tank our attention span by doomscrolling and consuming social media slop.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Not enriching, but significantly more entertaining. Did you see the video of the jeep getting itself hung up on a rock trying to cut a corner and skip ahead in traffic? Much more entertaining than a maze.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

We now know that boredom is important (especially for children) to fuel the drive for experimentation and creativity. There is nothing worse than beeing entertained 24/7

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Hahaha, you are right....The dot points usually make me think it's AI.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Exactly! We were bored but that boredom led to creativity. We made up games talked to people face to face and actually had time to think.

by Kassulkeguisepp 2 days ago

You can...still do all these things if you want.

by Comfortable-Cook 2 days ago

Yeah I still do these things, they haven't gone anywhere lol

by Anonymous 2 days ago

OP pretending to be deep, episode 12312037th

by Anonymous 2 days ago

I agree with it all expect rhe last point. Now a days a lot of cities have bad parts and you definitely want to avoid them. You don't want to wonder into a bad area if you don't have to

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Another symptom of our societal decay

by Embarrassed-Bid 2 days ago

Yeah. There also wasn't this knee jerk reaction of having something to hide behind

by Marshall39 2 days ago

Are like 20? Yes, life was more exciting without cellphones and the internet. It simply was. Things meant more because you actually had to take things as they are in real life instead of looking it up on a smartphone.

by Oconneremerald 2 days ago

boredom had an element of satisfaction that i miss

by Haunting-Heat-6017 2 days ago

I still remember when I was 12/13 getting my first iPod touch and using google for a few things, and suddenly realizing we have the answer to everything in the palm of our hands now. The difference between being bored now and then is now your bored with your phone so its ok, but back then we had to do stuff to relieve our boredom I think its a big reason I still love weed as much as I do. It let's me be bored enough to just relax and scroll my phone without feeling guilty

by Anonymous 2 days ago

One of the things my spouse and I try to do with our kids is to just let them be bored more.

by Pietrozboncak 2 days ago

Wasn't boring at all.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

I do all that (except ofc if there are no magazines which is common today) so its not smartphones, its you.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Getting lost in the city absolutely was stressful tho

by Anonymous 2 days ago

I don't even think it was more boring. We made our own fun. Went out, hung out at each others places playing games and causing some kinda ruckus. We enjoyed the little things more.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

I was ready to reply that it depends on what you mean by "more boring" until I read the last line. Yes, you had more moments where you faced boredom, but the intensity of that boredom was not as excruciating as it seems to be for folks nowadays. Things were…so.much.calmer.

by griffin38 2 days ago

Tbh I find myself bored now far more often.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Being bored is a consequence of lower dopamine than youre used to, considering social media supercharges that dopamine, the boredom really just sinks in immediately if you have a moments pause. Basically your brain thinks chilling for a second is boring because its used to constant information being shoveled into it.

by Distinct_Victory2029 2 days ago

Before smartphones I was able to wonder. Now I can't go to bed without picking up my phone to figure out why chameleons can change colors…

by mikel33 2 days ago

I had a different experience and what you write feels like romanticising the it. It was annoying to stay home when you waited for a call. Or to wait for your friend/date/whatever and they didn't come and they couldn't notify you. Or you couldn't make it and they weren't home anymore when you tried to reach them. Waiting rooms were painfully boring

by Anonymous 2 days ago