Misanthropy in a Changing World

Lately I've been thinking a lot about why I feel so connected to 2006 and why the changes in technology and culture bother me as much as they do. The more I think about it, the more I understand why misanthropy has become something I use to make sense of those feelings.

When I say I'm becoming more misanthropic, I don't mean that I hate every single person walking around. That's not what it means to me. For me, it's more about being disappointed in humanity and questioning the direction we've taken.

Back in 2006, technology was becoming a bigger part of everyday life, but it hadn't completely taken over everything yet. You could have a phone without feeling like you had the entire world sitting in your pocket. People could listen to CDs, watch DVDs, play video games, use the internet, and still step away from it all. The internet felt more like something you visited instead of somewhere you lived.

Now technology is everywhere.

Phones are constantly demanding attention. Social media has turned people's lives into something that can be watched and judged by strangers. Algorithms decide what people see. Everything seems faster, louder, and more connected, yet sometimes people seem less connected to each other.

That's the part that gets to me.

Humanity created all of this.

We created the technology, we created the platforms, we created the culture around them, and then we allowed those things to become part of nearly every aspect of our lives. That's where my misanthropy comes in. Sometimes I look at the world and think, We did this to ourselves.

I don't blame technology itself for everything. A phone isn't evil. The internet isn't evil. Social media isn't automatically evil. They're tools. What bothers me is how humanity chooses to use those tools.

We had the ability to make technology bring people closer together, but we also created endless arguments, comparison, attention-seeking, misinformation, and pressure to constantly perform for other people.

Sometimes I wonder what happened to simply existing.

That's one reason my 2006 lifestyle means more to me than just nostalgia. I'm not trying to pretend that 2006 was perfect. It wasn't. There were plenty of problems back then too. I'm trying to remind myself that I don't have to accept every direction society takes just because it's considered normal.

I can listen to a CD.

I can watch a DVD.

I can play an older video game.

I can write in my blog.

I can spend time with someone I love without needing to document the entire experience.

I can put my phone down.

I can have interests that don't need to become a trend.

To me, that's where the mature part comes in.

Being a mature man doesn't mean sitting around saying that everything modern is terrible. It means being able to look at the world, recognize what I don't like, and decide what kind of life I actually want to live.

My misanthropy reminds me to question humanity