Editing Talk:1227: The Pace of Modern Life

Is it sad that after reading the first few, I thought "TL; DR" and found myself skim reading most of them since I'm meant to be working right now and not reading xkcd? {{unsigned ip|‎90.152.3.226}}

Just finishing commenting on a special issue of the generational myth for a dedicated issue of Perspectives on Science and Practice. This here is a lovingly put together list of unique "life was better then" examples - which is exceedingly hard to do. Here's my commentary on why this occurs: "As Walker, Skowronski and Thompson (2003) review, autobiographical memory typically favors pleasant over unpleasant memories with bad memories fading with time, a notable exception to bad stimuli providing stronger reactions than good. This makes our recollection of our past biased towards the idyllic, and makes us very susceptible to the adage “Things were better then.” Combined with the “reminiscence bump” (Glück & Bluck, 2007), where people recall more events from their teenager and early adulthood years, which again tend to be recollected positively, the past will be a golden age for almost all of us, given time." Read this piece a day after getting our paper accepted, so neat timing. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.114|108.162.215.114]] 19:50, 21 May 2015 (UTC)

That's obviously what's intended [[Special:Contributions/155.56.68.216|155.56.68.216]] 09:53, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

I agree that this point was possibly intended and added text to the analysis, explicitly pointing it out.  [[User:Jimbob|Jimbob]] ([[User talk:Jimbob|talk]]) 16:25, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

:It was not what was intended. Randall used all those quotes to build a compelling argument. The fact that some people "don't have time" to read them all is simply a supporting case, albeit one that each person will have to come to personally.  [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]] 18:05, 7 January 2014 (UTC)


I don't think it's sad. According to my 11th Grade Literary Analysis, the propensity to take shortcuts is a fundamental flaw in human nature, but introductory Psychology lauded our use of heuristics. I say you should find meaning in your humanity and ability to set your own priorities and allocate just enough resources to various aspects of your life in order to succeed in life where the objectives are unclear.[[Special:Contributions/98.166.43.28|98.166.43.28]] 12:06, 19 June 2013 (UTC)DBrak

:Did you just... quote yourself? [[User:Orazor|Orazor]] ([[User talk:Orazor|talk]]) 05:58, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

::As I've often said: "You've got to listen to someone who quotes themself" [[User:Plm-qaz snr|Plm-qaz snr]] ([[User talk:Plm-qaz snr|talk]]) 13:03, 24 November 2014 (UTC)

The topic made me slow down, read, and understand. Perhaps the point was lost on me, but the expressions from a century ago seem much like those made today. One can't help but wonder if that means they were wrong then and wrong now or if our society was in a century long devolutionary spiral, terminating with Twitter or whatever is coming next. --[[Special:Contributions/108.34.230.242|108.34.230.242]] 10:02, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

:I think you're on the right track, and these are exactly the types of questions that Randall was seeking to raise. [[User:Orazor|Orazor]] ([[User talk:Orazor|talk]]) 05:58, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

Had this continued to present day the most recent entry would be something like this:
:lol didnt read '''#tldr #boredalready #yawn'''
:::- Most of 'Civilisation', ''Social Media''
::::::::::2013
[[Special:Contributions/77.86.53.65|77.86.53.65]] 12:11, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

Just added an explanation. Unfortunately, there's no transcript provided in the source code and I don't have time to type all that out (who does?). Also, I have no idea what to use for categories. Any suggestions? [[User:Smperron|Smperron]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]]) 12:36, 19 June 2013 (UTC)
:Not a suggestion, but does anyone know if Randall types or writes it out, or copies and pastes? --[[User:Luckymustard|Luckymustard]] ([[User talk:Luckymustard|talk]]) 13:04, 19 June 2013 (UTC)
::Looks like the letterforms are identical -- my guess is a custom font. [[Special:Contributions/66.202.132.250|66.202.132.250]] 14:16, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

If this comic was meant to say that we should give up on these types of arguments, this comic did the opposite effect: I actually AGREE with all of this!

I mean, I tend to write long private messages, while the longest replies I get are also the most satisfying, since they tell me quite a bit of the recipient. Relatedly, I prefer to write long responses to pieces of artwork when I comment on art sites, telling people exactly why I like the art... what shines... what needs to be polished. (Of course, I am going to need to find a way to simply stay at a work and truly take in what is presented.) In fact, letter restrictions sometimes restrict me too much. I DO need to be more social, not having any reading material at hand (whether the material be a newspaper or a video game). I dislike people PUSHING me to look around myself; this is something I do automatically. In fact, while I like staying inside and exploring the wonders of the Internet hours on end, I also like going outside alone and looking around myself, seeing the wonders that other people ignore (probably because other people are too busy talking to yet other people). There really is a mental degeneration (You can see this for yourself in the comments other people leave in websites.) and addiction to stimulants. In fact, stress (and DIStress) is one of the main reasons why we have cancer far more often that the non-developed parts of the world, since stress compromises the body severely. Play, while easily abused, is never the less a necessary part of development, even while an adult. I wish I could keep up pace with the world, but I also hope, for the sake of the world and myself, that the world slows down to me. You can see for yourself how newspapers are being scandalous. I myself suffer from eating foods too quickly (yet there is the problem of ants and spoilage if I take TOO long when eating, a sad possibility due to me preferring to eat at the computer.) Rebellion (a problem that even I suffer) does cause people to want their own way, not knowing that they are just being a slave to impulses, their authorities having the experience to liberate them for the things that their subordinates really do want and shall really want. (The rebels do not want others to 'cramp their style,' but they fail to learn basic anatomy and lighting, much less on making a pleasing style!) There is an entropy in displayed morals, yet that is something that requires changing the hearts of people, though we can control this by 'starving' the problematic media (another bit of advice with which even I also struggle, my curiosity provoking me to see things that should not be seen), since they only proliferate if there are people to feed them. People all around us know that marriage feel into disarray. While legally-backed homosexuality (and, soon, polygamy), and, to an extent, abortion (regardless of the reason) have been causing their problems, marriage already fell in disarray when divorce (that is, breaking a lifetime vow), pornography (that is, selling the private bodies of people for your selfish desires), promiscuity, and birth control (that is, using a reproductive function for non-reproductive reasons and otherwise abusing the reproductive function) already led themselves to an array of evils.

Again, people would probably just skip my wall of text here, but I feel that I need to make my old-fashioned (whether for worse or better) opinion heard here. [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 15:16, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

In my honest opinion, your wall of text is a work of art in itself. I wholeheartedly agree with you, and ''I am the next generation. '' Life has been sped up too fast for us, and it is too often that I see my peers on their devices, or trying to do too many things at once. You make many valid points and good observations. ~Alithia [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.5|108.162.241.5]] 14:15, 4 March 2014 (UTC)

--
So, the argument has been going on for a long time. Does this comic imply that (1) we perceive that the pace of life was slower in the old days, but has always been as fast as it is today, or (2) that the pace of life has actually been speeding up for a very long time now? [[Special:Contributions/194.176.105.141|194.176.105.141]] 15:31, 19 June 2013 (UTC)
: I think that the pace of life has been speeding up for a long time now. [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 18:59, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

:: Perhaps it's the case indeed that the "pace of life" has been speeding up... but I wonder: to what end? Is this a problem? If so, why? In response to your "wall of text," I'm not sure that there are really so many negative repercussions to society today ''that we can quantify.'' Sure, cancer is more of a problem today than it was 100 yrs ago, but we are also living much, much longer today. So I have trouble imagining that it's due solely to "stressors" in our lives. 

::I'm not so sure that Randall was necessarily for or against the "modern life is rubbish" judging by the comic's quotes. However, I do believe he was trying to spur questions and conversations about it. So, to that end it's a pretty important contribution. [[User:Orazor|Orazor]] ([[User talk:Orazor|talk]]) 06:06, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

Added to the explanation, please correct any grammar, composition, or repetition mistakes, thank you. -- [[Special:Contributions/186.124.46.183|186.124.46.183]] 16:40, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

Did anyone else notices that you can get the gist by only reading the bolded text?  It's probably a just me.  Anyone want to take the time to compile the bold text only and place it in the explination? [[User:Crsoccerfreak19|Crsoccerfreak19]] ([[User talk:Crsoccerfreak19|talk]]) 18:47, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

:I didn't see this before, but I think that work is a great idea. So my next job here is to work on that an checking if this does make sense. Thanks for your hint.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:39, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

------

I did an full update to the transcript. I used the existing parts here, many thanks to the contributors, the free web site [http://www.ocronline.com/ OCR Online] (the only one did work, in fact it did work as a hell) and {{w|LibreOffice Writer}} for changing the case to lower case. After that it was just some manual work without typing all that text.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:13, 19 June 2013 (UTC)


The meaning I took from this comic was very much [[wikt:plus_%C3%A7a_change,_plus_c'est_la_m%C3%AAme_chose|Plus ca change]].  There are translated Roman messages that say very similar things about the current state of Latin, and I bet even ''that'' was merely an inadvertent echo of prior ages.  As one who can be very verbose with (at least ''intended'') correct spelling, grammar and vocabulary, I ''could'' go on at great length about how this works for the current day, but on this occasion shall restrain myself.  Yours faithfully <!-- assuming an implicit "Dear XKCD fan," at the start --> [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 20:56, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

Adding 'the sub text':
----
The art of letter-writing is fast dying out. We fire off a multitude of rapid and short notes, instead of sitting down to have a good talk oer a real sheet of paper.

In olden times it was different.

Men now live think and work at express speed. Sulkily read as they travel ... leaving them no time to talk with the friend who may share the compartment with them.

The age of leisure is dead, and the art of conversation is dying.

A craving for literary nips. There never was an age in which so many people were able to write badly.

The art of pure line engraving is dying out. We live at too fast a rate.

Nothing is left to the imagination. And human faculty dwindle away amid the million inventions that have been introduced to render its exercise unnecessary. Thirty pages is now too much. Fifteen pages. Further condensed. A summary of the summary. Those who are dipping into so many subjects and gathering information in a summary and superficial form lose the habit of settling down to great works. Hurried reading can never be good reading.

Mental and nervous degeneration among a growing class of people. Brain incapable of normal working... in a large measure due to the hurry and excitement of modern life. Almost instantaneous communication between remote points of the globe.

Teach the children how to play. Instead of shutting them in badly ventilated schoolrooms.

Increased demand made by the conditions of modern life upon the brain. We talk across a continent, telegraph across an ocean. We take even our pleasures sadly and make a task of our play.

The managers of sensational newspapers. Create perverted tastes and develop vicious tendencies.

To take sufficient time for our meals seems frequently impossible.

May I be permitted to say a word in favour of a very worthy and valuable old friend of mine, Mr. Long Walk? I am afraid that this good gentleman is in danger of getting neglected, if not forgotten.

People talk as they ride bicycles - at a rush - without pausing to consider their surroundings. The profession of letters is so little understood.

There is a tendency among the children of today to rebel against restraint.

Our modern family gathering, silent. Each individual with his head buried in his favourite magazine.

Deal openly with situations which no person would have dared to mention in general society forty years ago. Nude men and women in the daily journals.

Fitness and courtliness too often totally lacking.

A hundred years ago it took sol long and cost so much to send a letter that it seemed worth while to put some time and thought into writing it. A brief letter to-day may be followed by another next week - a "line" now by another to-morrow.
{{unsigned ip|209.217.94.93|21:27, 19 June 2013 (UTC)}}
:Thanks [209.217.94.93], I will put in my version here and I am happy if you can correct possible mistakes.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:58, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

Can anyone validate these are true quotes? I tried searching for the one in Google Books for Morley: Ancient and Modern and it came up with no results. They're great quotes, but is it possible they're made up?--[[Special:Contributions/119.224.37.9|119.224.37.9]] 07:31, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

At least one of the quotes is real: [http://books.google.com/books?id=nc_UAAAAMAAJ&lpg=PA265&ots=AAC4OimA5D&dq=%22So%20much%20is%20exhibited%20to%20the%20eye%20that%20nothing%20is%20left%20to%20the%20imagination%22&pg=PA265#v=onepage&q=%22So%20much%20is%20exhibited%20to%20the%20eye%20that%20nothing%20is%20left%20to%20the%20imagination%22&f=false "So much is exhibited to the eye that nothing is left to the imagination"]{{unsigned ip|216.55.56.42}}

The only point this comic is trying to make is that yes the olden times were different, but they were not as different as we suppose.  The people had exactly the same intelligence and capacities as we do today, and apparently shared the same concerns about change, and the detrimental effect it will have on all parts of society.  OF course, every generation puts itself in the position of greatest importance, and believes that the present moment is of the highest criticality.  Sorry folks - get over yourselves.  It isn't true.  [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]] 18:05, 7 January 2014 (UTC)

:Not sure that people have the same intelligence and capacities today as they did in the past.  For example, people in college today went through covid shutdowns, they are noticeably less well prepared.  There are a lot of people dumbing themselves or others down by using/pushing LLM/generative AI.  Those who forgo mental development now might be able to still do it later, but I don't think it fair to just assume that this is so.  
:In the past most nutritional problems were those of deficiency, now, deficiency problems are less prevalent, and problems of excess are much more widespread.  (e.g., a lot of children with adult onset diabetes)  Deficiency definitely had effects on mental capacities, it may be that excess does as well.  [[Special:Contributions/107.77.205.131|107.77.205.131]] 20:36, 26 December 2025 (UTC)

"Our brains have just one scale, and we resize our experiences to fit." -xkcd: Connoisseur. I once saw an experiment where they ask random people to, without a clock, tell them when they thought one minute had passed. Overwhelmingly the young came in under and the old over. The world isn't moving faster you're moving slower. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.112}}

While there might be a tendency to look at this and say "Ah, you see, the complaints about the increasing pace of life has always existed and may thus be safely ignored today!", it's also worth noting that the earliest of the excerpts here began well within the heart of the Industrial Revolution, a time when humanity was changing at a pace unheard of in the thousands of years that had come before.  It would be interesting to see if letters from a pre-industrial period still hold much the same complaints.  Perhaps such things are a symptom of industrialization, and not inherent to humanity? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.9|108.162.225.9]] 02:07, 27 July 2015 (UTC)

To be fair, the 1898 quote from Medical Brief was lamenting not newspapers in general, but rather tabloid-style 'yellow journalism', which is more obvious if you read the [https://books.google.com/books?id=uaJWAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA75 full piece] (under the header "Newspaper Sensationalism"). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.28|162.158.75.28]] 05:39, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

Children grow up, the world knows how children differ with the pace of tech development, that depends first and foremost on parents, the family.
Further, children gradually learn to live by themselves, but the base, the family, the school, the team, friends and all, this chain is supplemented by other stuff, but there must be the right start. Look at the pace of current educational tools and general tech gadgets (comparing [http://essaywriting.ninja ninjaessays prices] on the market). 
[[User:Briansage|Briansage]] ([[User talk:Briansage|talk]]) 11:56, 18 September 2018 (UTC)

== Code for searching excerpts ==

Hey guys, DDJ student and longtime xkcd fan here. 

Wanted to ask if anyone knows - or can deduce - what code was used by Randall while researching for this comic. How did he manage to find so many excerpts on this topic, especially in such antique and rather obscure publications?

I couldn't find a comment by Randall specifically on this matter. I've just recently begun studying code and can't think of a particular keyword or phrase that would return these excerpts - every one I come up with would find a massive amount of results which would take a lifetime to read through and select for the comic.

Can you guys help me figure out how this was done? Any insights on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

PS: it's my first time commenting on a wiki, so I apologize if it's added on the wrong section. If so, please let me know if it needs to be moved elsewhere. --[[User:Ritalina65|Ritalina65]] ([[User talk:Ritalina65|talk]]) 19:50, 31 July 2021 (UTC)

: first time commenting on a wiki, so please bear with me here. My guess is he used some kind of search feature like in Google ngrams, where you can search for keywords or expressions over a large dataset of published magazines, newspapers and books. {{unsigned|Fyreson|18:43, 14 March 2022}}