the biggest problem with the world

[Verbatim]

We are so focused on the future that we seem to forget about the present.

everyone remember High School? on the first day, there was "If you dont get good grades, you won't get into a good college!" then there was "what am i going to do tommoro?", and of course, "How is this going to turn out?".

we need to have more fun with our friends and family. I want the world my great-grandparents; where the only people who worried about the future were soldiers, politicians, and philosophers.

i apologize. i am not smart enough to be simple

[iwnttoknowall]

well, that is not the biggest problem in the world, but it is a good topic. i think that every1 looks back and wonders about why, and what else i hould've done to change it. but for all we know, we are being mnipulated by larger forces and it is pointless to worry. As in ancient Greece, we are PreDestined, the future is set, and nothing can be changed.

[subterranean]

i apologize. i am not smart enough to be simple


This statement sounds familiar!

[simona]

I'm at high-school and I think I understand what Verbatim says.
Most of my class-mates are learning for a good grade, so that they can go to a good college. They are stressed and most of the time they say they don't like school, but still they are very conscientiousness regarding homeworks.
In former days you were going to school to learn, now you go to school for showing your best clothes, for learning as if you want to go to NASA , for securing your future ( some of us work only for money).At least, like this is in Romania, in some high-schools.
We don't have to waste our time in doing things we don't like, because some day, looking back, we'll see just an empty space.

[grace86]

I can understand what you are saying about going too fast. I thought I was busy in highschool - but now in college I long for the time I had in highschool. I was able to be with my friends and family a whole lot more. Now, I don't even eat dinner at home most the time...and I am not living on campus!!

It is definitely stressing when everyone around you is like "make sure you do this, get a good job here....blah blah blah"

But the truth is that sometimes we move way too fast. Sometimes we do not get to even look at a family member or friend the way we intend to. What makes it regrettable most definitely is that when you do see them you are fighting. So I think we have to cherish every moment of free time with the ones we love and conciously think of how little time we get to spend with them when our lives are so busy these days..

I hope I made sense, I am working right now so I can't reread.

[subterranean]

We are so focused on the future that we seem to forget about the present.



Well, there are some people who seem too focused on the past.


Personally, I think the biggest problem with the world is ignorance.

[Bita]

well, that is not the biggest problem in the world, but it is a good topic. i think that every1 looks back and wonders about why, and what else i hould've done to change it. but for all we know, we are being mnipulated by larger forces and it is pointless to worry. As in ancient Greece, we are PreDestined, the future is set, and nothing can be changed.

Come on ... that is not the right way to look at things. Of course there is a larger force - Which I take it to be God - we are still able to have control over our lives - ourselves. We don't always have to get what we want - that is simply lawful and natural - but one must always be wisely persistent.

[iwnttoknowall]

i did not say that that is wat i believe, i said that is possible. --God-- as my religion is Christianity, is the larger force. I dont believe in wat happened was bound to happen. I agree with subterranean, ignorance is the problem, ignorance of the past i think. we shouldnt really worry about school, im getting straight a's since 1st, but i never study, i just do wats assigned, when its assigned. ya i wnt a good college, but not at the expense of fun and family!

[byquist]

the only people who worried about the future were soldiers, politicians, and philosophers,

For a humorous take on your above, study the Gen. Ripper-Mandrake scene in the film "Dr. Strangelove" and Ripper's blaming of our troubles on the God-dam politicians and the flouridation of water.

[cuppajoe_9]

Well, there are some people who seem too focused on the past.


Personally, I think the biggest problem with the world is ignorance.
Wow, that avatar make all your posts look extremely wise.

[bhekti]

I'd say, the biggest problem with the world is the man

[subterranean]

Wow, that avatar make all your posts look extremely wise.

That's the best thing I could do.

[hitchhiker]

I think the biggest problem in the world today is that we are so fixed on finding problems. In one of my favriote books "sluaghter house five" there is a part where a man asked these aliens (while in a zoo) "how can you be so happy when there is so much war in this world" they replied with "we do not look at the war and trouble in the world but instaed we look at days like today at the zoo with the blue sky and the cool day" there is a lot more to it and it isn't word for word it has been a while sence I read it.

[Orionsbelt]

The biggest problem in the world today is improperly tied shoes. :thumbs_up Those who elect to wear loafers have abdicated responsibility. They probably don’t vote either. Anyway properly tied shoe laces are balanced with equal sized loops on either side. This is pleasing to the creator because all things are made naturally balanced. The other day my loops were unbalanced and I stumbled on the long side in the hall. It was OK because I caught myself against the wall with my left arm.:p I think I was being punished for my sloppy lacing that morning. Well, as I fell, a lady that I don’t know was walking the other way. I almost knocked her over when I fell. She helped me get my balance back. My boss saw the lady helping me. He invited me into his office and explained that I should not make advances on the women during work hours in the hall. I tried to explain my laces but I don’t think he believed me. :bawling: Anyway a friend of mine at work overheard the reprimand and reported to the entire work community that I had been hitting on ladies in the hall. :crash: Later that night I had asked my wife for a new set of new shoe laces because a fray on the one had caused my mistake that morning. She asked me if I was lying to cover my up the fact that I was hitting on the women at work. :brow: Surprised I chose my words badly and asked “how did you hear about that?”. :( It turns out that her sister is married to a man who plays golf with my friends at work. That same afternoon was league day. My friend was finishing the story from work when my wife’s sister picked her husband up at work. She heard the story and reported it back to my wife who is now asking for a divorce.:sick: I left her and read the story of Job about eighty two hundred times but I am sure that all of this would not have happened if I had taken more care in my tying. If the rest of mankind especially the big guys are anywhere near as bad as me, we may be doomed.:lol:

[sybilline]

Maybe you are too focused on the past. Each generation has got its own problems. As far as students are concerned, it was exactly the same 20 or 30 years ago (except for violence and addiction), never enough time to spend with one's family or for going in for sport. But there were less opportunities. I think the youth idealizes the past too much. You should look at the good sides of life and not fancy wrong things. The framework of a society does not change a lot, even if there are revolutions, like May 68 in France. It was a period of romanticism, and money has replaced the heart. But the main point is to live your life and keep in mind that the present easily forgets the errors and the sad things of the past. Good luck ! A woman in the wrong side of fifty.

[ThruMyEyer73]

I must agree this is a big problem. i am a high school student and belive me all that seems to matter is the Future, SAT scores and school transcripts. i'm trying hard to focus on the now but it is hard when there are so many pressures to look ahead.
i've known too many people who's lives have been cut short by and "unplanned death". well no one plans death and i want to live my life in the NOW while i still have it
look around, look at the leaves changing or your kids getting older, as ure stepping into your car or out of your office remember life happens in the blink of an eye.

[bugmasta]

I think all you high school students out there should remember that you are still at the beginning of your lives. The future is exactly what you should be worrying about. Many of the people I went to high school, and even college, who thought that having fun was more important than worrying about the future (i.e. studying) are either looking for jobs or working at low paying ones. Focusing on getting into good schools and securing a good career is the farthest thing from the biggest problem of the world. More people should worry more about that kind of stuff. It sounds to me like some of us are trying to justify spending time having fun rather than working hard to realize their full potential. If as a teenager you are more concerned with having fun than working hard, think of how fun it will be to spend your adult life as a welfare recipient. On second thought, it might be more fun than what I am doing…working hard so that millions can live off my tax money. Which brings me to my idea of what the worst problem in the world is. I believe the major problem today is that people feel entitled to receive too much. Many feel that they deserve a certain wage regardless of what their labor is worth to their employer. People feel that they should get certain jobs just because they went to school to get those jobs. And then there are those who feel like they are entitled to receive handouts from the government just because they are there. I think if these people produced something of value rather than suck off the workers in their community we would have a much better world to live in. Imagine a world where no one was a drain and everyone contributed. If everyone produced something in return for someone else’s product there would be plenty of anything and thus no poverty and likely less war. I guess all we need to do is come up with a way to give everyone the knowledge and means to produce.

[Orionsbelt]

I disagree with you bugmasta. I have heard this mantra before. All work and no play. Perform, compete... this is the personality for about 15% of the population. Good luck.. God bless. I'll watch this race I ain't running. Would you want to be one of those folks living in fear working eight hour a week, igonoring family with no friends. What value has this produced? What about artists, dancers, musicians? What if you didn't like school. I don't. Love to learn ... hate school. School isn't about learning is it? It's about performing. You have heard this before I'm sure "No one on their deathbed has ever wished they had worked more". I agree that people need to find a way to contribe to the general welfare. I don't think the stress fill rat race is the way. I think it is important to learn about other kinds of contributions and appreciate them. :p

By the way, if you are feeding millions with your tax dollars maybe I want to do what you do.:D

[hitchhiker]

I don't look at life with a beging or an end I see it has living though out the hole story but when you get to the end we do not know what happens next so threre for it is just the start of a new story and same goes for our birth we do not know what happens before we are born are we nothing but a sperm cell or is there more to the story. so maybe we should stop looking at how old we are or how much longer we have and maybe we should look forward to what happens next be it life or death.

[Eagleheart]

Problems of the world: Perhaps too many "nice " theories of how to live your life produced by our intellectuals, shortsighted enough not to notice that the life we live is their biggest refutation...And perhaps /I'll try to be concise/... Civilization?

[kilted exile]

The biggest problem with the world is that I am not in charge.

[bee01]

I have recently discussed this issue at college with one of my teachers and we came across the subject of transcendentalism. People who transcend to nature do what you wish was more common and do not look to the future. Instead they follow their instinct at that present time and act upon their intuition there and then with no thoughts towards the future. I think this relates to what you have said. But I think it is harder to find people who fit this category because thinking about the future is such an important aspect of life that is drilled into us early on ... like you have mentioned even as early as primary school.

[IamMissingaLink]

ive no idea. Not many pressing problems in my world...except that we're running out of water in Australia...but i believe the government is working on that.

[Hippolite]

ive no idea. Not many pressing problems in my world...except that we're running out of water in Australia...but i believe the government is working on that.

It’s settled then. John Howard is the Messiah.

[IamMissingaLink]

It’s settled then. John Howard is the Messiah.

One of those guys anyway.

[Redzeppelin]

This thread looks like it's slightly "dead" (ryhme intended) - but I've thought about this question often and I think our problem is Post-Modernism. Post-Modernism is a vicious circular argument that essentially says "there is no truth - all truth is relative and all values, beliefs, opinions and world-views are equally valid, equally valuable, and equally important." Once you accept this theory as valid (which seems strange, because once you deny the existence of any objective/absolute truth, you pretty much deny that anything at all can be authoritatively truthful, including post-modernism) then everything become meaningless (from the idea that if everything is equally meaningful, then it follows that everything is equally meaningless).

I think our society is suffering terribly from this philosophy because it takes away our ability to make moral judgments and to make discriminations between right and wrong because (thanks to PM) these terms are now relative to who's using them. How can a society thrive when a cohesive set of rules can no longer be agreed upon?

[Neo_Sephiroth]

...That the biggest problem in the world today...Is that they can't make one pizza to fill me up...

[Eagleheart]

One big problem:
"What are the biggest problems" of the world has become the sentinel of irresponsibility...Often asking the question above is enough to acquit oneself of noninvolvement in actions directed to any radical change...
Some bothersome issues: How can one rely on any major national/international figure, whose humanism mainly consists of the posing of questions of guilt and whose concern is exclusively evident in speeches? I have settled the question for myself...When troubled by pollution one should perhaps start cleaning the street corner...Change is responsibility of the individual...And if the majority of people were "street cleaners", we would not have the illusions, regarding the power to solve problems..everyone has more or less a choice and thus has power.
Why am I distrustful of people ,whose most valuable quality is often only their being representatives?
Surely this is only a by-the-way question - I have never been able to answer my own questions...

[Shadowsarin]

I personally think what bugmasta said is one of the most saddening things I have read in a long time. I don't see the point in exchanging fun for a 'future'. Afterall, which are you going to enjoy more? A job or happiness? I'm at college right now, so I guess I apply to what he said perfectly.

According to my teachers, I am perfectly able to get As across the board and basically take my pick of universities. Hell, one of my english teachers said I'm already able to work at university level. But am I going to work my butt off to get such grades? No, I'm not. Instead, I'm going to take life at my own pace and to the best of my ability do things on my terms.

While it might seem like I'm planning on throwing my life away, I beg to differ. I think people who exchange fun for a 'future' are dooming themselve to a life of pointlessness. All they are doing is throwing their lives down the drain to work for a larger paycheck, exchanging all the little things for this.

[fisherofmen]

While it might seem like I'm planning on throwing my life away, I beg to differ. I think people who exchange fun for a 'future' are dooming themselve to a life of pointlessness. All they are doing is throwing their lives down the drain to work for a larger paycheck, exchanging all the little things for this.

I wonder... perhaps a mix of the two is what works best. If you live completely in the present, you will screw yourself over for any future you might have. Likewise, if you live for the future, the present will pass you by at blinding speed, and you will miss out on a lot.
So, living in for today with a keen eye to the future, not taking either extreme is the best bet?
IMHO

[Shadowsarin]

So, living in for today with a keen eye to the future, not taking either extreme is the best bet?

That is the exact reason why I haven't started injecting Heroin into my eyeballs yet...

[THX-1138]

the biggest problem with the world is Intolerance.

[Madhuri]

I really dont know what the biggest problems are, as dealing with one life and its problems seem to me to be big enough.

But, Bugmasta, I think what you say is only partially correct. You can take me for an example -- What you mentioned about being concerned with the future and no (or minimal) fun is what one should be worried about. Believe me life is no fun when you do exactly this, I have studied only and always worried about my future, if I will get a good job or not, and have let go so many, so many moments that I should have cherished, but now its all gone. I see that I never did anything else or primarily only studies, and I have landed with a good job and I dont take charity and live off people's money (I wont recommend that to anyone either), but now what? I have the money to spend but dont know where to spend. All I thought during college was when I'll get a good job i'll do this or that, and I dont know who I was trying to impress with all that hardwork, maybe peer pressure or parental, I am not sure, but one thing is clear to me from my experience that one doesnt live life twice and one has to accomodate everything in all spheres. One cannot enjoy life if there are regrets.

I think if we lived life on our own terms, then in the end there wont be any regrets and we can say -- Yeah, it was fullfilling, instead of Oh, it was a burden or a problem.


I want to touch the little blue stars that sparkle in the deep blue sky every night I see them twinkling away into my heart, I want to touch them now and feel them brighten my life. Everytime I try, I fail but now I dont want to cause

I know, "Its too late...."


*Phew. I should get back to the games section. This was heavy*