When I saw the topic here I thought it was going to be on time travel, given the debate on Evolution we had a while ago I hoped another sciencey thing had found its way on to Dooyoo, but alas it was not the case. I mean, if you happened to run round VERY fast then time would slow down for you (ask Einstein) but that's about all I can think of, you see this is all to do with the increasingly busy life that we, in general, lead. (Apologies to Wampyrii, when I read your op I realised we wrote a similar intro, but I didn't copy - honest!).

Everyone knows we live in a increasingly hectic world, or at least in general we do - I've just led the least busy 2 months of my life! But when I think of the 18 years of life I've already had, I realise how standard it's been. The average persons life goes something like; be born, go to school at 5, leave school and go to Uni at 18, get a job at 22, retire at 65 and die at 80. Each week of out lives is mapped out, in general we work Monday to Friday and relax at the weekends. Single days in our lives follow the same routine, get up at a certain time, go to work for a set amount of time, go to bed at a certain time. Life is a routine, but then how else could it be?

I don't think anyone disputes that the fact that we need to do certain things at certain times, but people do complain at the increasingly hectic lives we lead. We work longer now, we work set hours with little flexibility, and often have to work overtime. The days of wandering out in to the field to milk the cow are over, the world is a fast place, and if you can't stand the heat then you're in trouble. We can communicate with anyone, anywhere in the world in an instant, so you can hardly expect life to be sedate.

Even when we're young, pressure is put on us. School exams start at the age of 7 (SATs I think), but just because accepted way of schooling is to sit written exams, it doesn't mean it's the
best way to do things. You got to high school, and are forced to do academic subjects whether you want to or not, all because that's the way of the land. It suits some people, but not others. I'm going to Uni in 3 weeks, and while I want to go, I know that it can be very easy to get pressured in to it simply because it's accepted as the done thing. You can take a gap year, but only a year otherwise you'll be shunned by Unis when you get back. Everything?s timed, there's not a lot of freedom in life now-a-days, we follow an almost pre-determined path which while offering some flexibility, is pretty linear.

It's OK to ramble on belittling the modern world in which we live, but what are the solutions? Are there any? Or do we just have to stop moaning and accept things? Do most people even care?

We do have some choices in our life, but everything has consequences, you can't work less without having less money, nor can you try to have a successful career without sacrificing at least some of your social life. You can't have a family without work suffering, but then having a family means you need more money so have to work more. It's all a trade off, but are we getting the balance right?

A trip to London is all it took to make me realise the answer is emphatically no.

I live up in the North, in a rural area. I often despair at the general lack of anything happening here, but in some ways the comparatively unbusy, uncluttered lifestyle is something to savour. Having never been to London before, I went a couple of years ago and made the mistake of trying to use the tube at about 5.30pm. Never before in my life have I witnessed such a moronic scene. You've got all these intelligent people, working in good jobs, and then you have this rush to get on a train, the sheer mass of people carried you towards the door. And god forbid you should get in the way of one them, they'll just barge you out the
way and keep going. No one can help a crowded tube station but you can help basic good manners. 30 years ago did ready made meals exist? Certainly not in the proportions we have now, but how many of us regularly resort to shoving a box in the microwave for 10 minutes rather than making it? We just don't have the time to anymore.

The worlds a much busier place, and with it comes more stress - we need time to relax, but often we just don't get any. Only we can change it, but do we want to accept the consequences that would come from shunning modern life?