INSTANT GRATIFICATION

“Technology wants what life wants. Increasing efficiency; increasing opportunity; increasing emergence; increasing complexity; increasing diversity; increasing freedom; increasing beauty and increasing evaluability”, said Kevin Kelly according to Wu (2014). Technology’s advancements have us wanting instant connection, instant updates, and instantly having a page load. Waiting for anything to load or change over, because of slow internet or weak Wi-Fi signal has somehow become frustrating to us and feels like forever. It becomes really annoying like we don’t have time for it, yet is just a few seconds more. According to Muther (2013), the demand for instant results is seeping into every corner of our lives, and not just virtually.  It happens when at stores, in traffic and even waiting for coffee, I see the impatience in people.
As Muther points out, instant gratification come at a price: it’s. Making us less patient. We have come as a society to expect things now and quickly that if it takes what our patience feels is too long, we move on. We don’t wait or try again we give up. This sounds awful but we have all probably done it at least once a day with something. If I have a question or need to know how far away a place is, I want to know to know right now feeling by googling it on my phone. With a smartphone it allows us to get instant results, receive instant updates on our phones with social media and notifications from other apps.

This impatience has drifted to amusement parks as thanks to technology advancements. I recall going to Disney World three or four years ago and being able to get a Fast Pass on an app only available when on the property, have the Fast Pass bracelet to use and swipe to get on a ride quickly. It’s why you have people at the Disney Parks paying for a pass or bracelet so they don’t have to wait. Another example thanks to technology is Amazon Prime, that is $99 a year and provides one of many features, two-day shipping free of charge as a prime member.
Darrel Worthy, according to Muther, said that a lot of things that are really valuable take time. But immediate gratification is the default response. It's difficult to overcome those urges and be patient and wait for things to come overtime. I know we all can do this thought if we just realize it is occurring. I’ve become more aware of this recent impatient, and hope to ween myself aware from this occurring and creating more stress. Wouldn't that be nice, to have patience and less stress.
References:
Muther, C. (2013, February 2). Instant gratification is making us perpetually impatient. The Boston Globe. Retrieved from https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/style/2013/02/01/the-growing-culture-impatience-where-instant-gratification-makes-crave-more-instant-gratification/q8tWDNGeJB2mm45fQxtTQP/story.html
Wu, T. (2014, February 6). AS TECHNOLOGY GETS BETTER, WILL SOCIETY GET WORSE? The New Yorker. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/as-technology-gets-better-will-society-get-worse


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