This morning, I was listening to COPE, a Spanish radio station. They were airing a report on the number of micro-decisions a human being makes per day. According to them, there are studies claiming we make thousands of these decisions daily.
The worst part is that these micro-decisions are taking a mental toll on the population, especially on younger people, as this group feels vulnerable when it comes to taking action regarding their future.
After listening, I couldn’t stop thinking about the internet and social media. Could they be to blame for so many young people feeling insecure about every decision they have to make? According to the station, these kids prefer to procrastinate rather than live day-to-day. What do people do while procrastinating nowadays? Exactly that. Scrolling is our favorite activity when we have nothing to do. Our parents and grandparents didn’t have as many services available to them as we do.
Of course, every era and its people have their peculiarities. But their needs were much greater than ours are today. So, if we have it easier, why is it so hard for us to get out of bed? We are so coddled that we need "to-do lists" just to be productive without feeling overwhelmed. By the way, according to what I heard, this method only works for 3 out of 10 people surveyed. Seriously?
Social media makes everything look easy. Every achievement is presented as a process that lasts seconds or minutes, when in reality, there is a massive amount of "behind the scenes" effort representing weeks, months, or years of work. Even a simple Instagram Reel requires editing time and labor. It’s not a piece of cake.
We have to focus on the children. We need to teach them that the screen is not our enemy, but it’s not an ally of the "good" either. Realistic goals, based on the society we live in, should be a subject of study. Maybe I’m exaggerating—you tell me. Fortunately or unfortunately, where I live, this problem doesn’t seem so urgent for now. The problems where I live are the same problems the world faced in the past.
English isn't my native language . Text translated with Gemini AI