I Want What I Want and I Want it Now

At the end of the day, for all that we attempt to convince ourselves that humans live in a world apart, we are still animals. We live in a flesh and blood body whose stomach demands food and water, whose genitals demand to be touched on a regular basis and whose hormones influence our behavior in ways we are rarely aware of.

Not only that, but however sophisticated our personalities become, we’re just dying for attention. Dale Carnegie identified each person’s need to feel important as a prime target for the savvy businessman. He also believed that the most significant word for everyone is their own name. Who doesn’t feel neglected when their cell phone goes a few days without ringing? Hell, even babies who aren’t given attention lose the will to live.

As we try to make sense of our lives in these interesting times, we’re vulnerable to these physical and psychological needs that take over in our weaker moments. Did we really want to eat the entire box of Girl Scout Cookies? Certainly not now that we feel sick to our stomach. Did we really mean to spend half the day looking at porn on the internet? Not now that we feel like an utter waste of space. We live in a culture of instant gratification.

Of course the modern world doesn’t make life any easier for us. Industries like advertising make enormous amount s of money by preying upon our weakness for instant gratification. Whether it’s by bright flashing lights, billboard cleavage next to the latest sports car on the market, or any other combination of psychological hints, these schemes only work because of our inherent weakness for wanting what we see, and wanting it now. If we were in total control of ourselves the advertisers would be out of a job. We’d laugh at the notion that a new car will improve our sex life, or switching to a different brand of cigarettes will make us happier and more confident. As it is the advertisers are laughing their way to the bank.

And it doesn’t stop there. Banks convince us that the answer to our problems is yet another credit card. Fad dieters play upon our fears of appearing too fat and thus never getting laid whilst cell phone companies tell us our kids will be much safer if we can contact them at all times. Fear and desire, it would seem, are what make the economical world go round.
For most of human history we simply couldn’t over-consume. We didn’t have complex gadgets for communication and over-eating simply wasn’t an option for most people when they could barely feed themselves. When most people were poor, the main opportunities for instant gratification lay were relegated to relatively cheap diversions of sex and alcohol – and both, of course, often led to disastrous consequences.

Now we live in a world where there’s a surplus of products, and anyone in the first world can eat their own bodyweight in cake every week, if they so choose. Around 1.5 billion people around the world are now considered overweight or obese by the World Health Organization. Now that we can get our hands on enough food, a quarter of the world’s population just can’t stop eating. It just feels too good.

Consider the online gaming addictions that confine new generations to their bedrooms as they find instant gratification in games like Grand Theft Auto and World of War Craft. It’s far easier than making real friends and developing meaningful personal relationships.

Just look at how often we check our email. For many of us it is the first thing we do in the morning. Many of us are hooked on social networking sites like Facebook, and feel a dire need to be connected on an hourly basis? We rely on text messaging and using abbreviated short cuts like LoL and BTW to communicate. I’m concerned that the many kids today will grow up thinking that LMAO is an acceptable and grammatically correct expression.

Another phenomenon that has sprouted in the past couple of years to cash in on our desire for instant gratification is a service called Twitter that can be installed on your phone or computer. Essentially you give a one line report of what you’re thinking, doing or planning and your network of friends can read: ‘just got out of the shower’, ‘having some toast for breakfast’ or ‘love listening to Britney Spears’. Does anyone need to know these things? Probably not but hey, it helps pass the time.
The only resolution for this disease is to understand that it’s limits that give things meaning. However good a movie is, it needs to end at some point within the first 2 hours or so if you’re not to get completely bored and uncomfortable. Sex is great but becomes less fun if you dilute your appetite by staring at a thousand picture of naked bodies every night. Chocolate cake is tasty but you enjoy it a lot more if you don’t eat it every day.

To give meaning to our lives, it’s important to place limits. Given that we have all morning to read our email, it’s nice to take a cup of coffee and sit quietly for a few moments before taking on the world. Given that people can call you all day or leave a message, it’s really nice to be able to talk to a friend without your cell phone going off halfway through the conversation. There is a growing backlash of folks who have had it with the hurried pace of our lives today and the notion that we need to have more, and we need to have it now. Some are reverting back to simpler times by deactivating their Facebook accounts, getting rid of their cell phones, and ripping up the credit cards.

This may work for some. As for me, I don’t have any desire to go back in time necessarily. I am all for progress. For me it’s a matter of balance. I just need to remember to take the time to appreciate the simple things in life, to slow down sometimes, and to resist the temptation of owning every single thing that is pitched by advertisers on television and in magazines.