The Belief in Permanence

[AbysmalNature]

What is permanent, what is forever, it seems like the ultimate human goal is to just stay the same, to not change, to believe really believe that things will always be the same and will be the same in the future. But it never is the same is it, things are constantly changing, why then do people believe that things will stay the same? That their homes and families will always be safe, that business will be the same, that our friends will be the same, that our lovers will always love us. But that never happens does it, we only think it is permanent that it is forever, why do people believe things last forever when they never do?

What do you think?

[HighLordDave]

People don't believe things will stay the same, they hope they will. The only thing that is a guarantee in life is that one day you're going to die. Stability is safe and desirable, change is bad.

For instance, I grew up in Tallahasse, Florida, moved away to go to college and now I live five states away. I get home maybe once a year. My parents have moved out of the house I grew up in, my old neighbours have moved away, and I can barely find my way around town anymore.

Does that freak me out? One one level, yes. Many of my old landmarks are gone. New six-lane roads replaced the pothole-ridden two lane canopy road. I used to deliver pizza in my neighbourhood and knew it like the back of my hand, but now I can barely tell which way is north. My friends have almost all left town and our old hangouts are overrun by teenagers who need to tuck their shirts in and get haircuts.

At the same time, I am happy to see that Tallahassee is a growing town and that lots of new blood and new money is coming to town to make it a better place than when I lived there. They haven't bull-dozed any of my old schools (yet!) and there are still some constants around town (like Florida State Unviersity and the state Capitol), but it's a much different place. While I don't like a lot of changes in my own life, I accept it as inevitable and try to roll with them as best I can.

I think that dealing with change is also something that gets harder with age and responsibility. My mother-in-law is someone who is at the point in her life where she doesn't want anything to change because it makes her life complicated. She has been on the same schedule for years since the death of her husband, and just doesn't like anything that spoils her routine.

Is that bad? Not necessarily. I think at a certain point people earn the right to become crotchity, but even they must accept that the world won't stop because they want to. One of the things that I find very interesting is that the fastest-growing demographic group on the Internet is senior citizens. In part this is because the Internet can make life easier (shopping, news, medical information, etc.), but to me it also shows that senior citizens who may have been considered shut-ins ten years ago are finding a way to connect with other people even if they are physically unable to leave their houses.

I think people who resist change do so not because they fear the actual change, but because they fear venturing out of their safety box. These are the people who only eat at chain restaurants (after all, if there's more than one of them, it must be good) and won't try the green eggs and ham.

[JosephCSu]

If you are a young person I have a tip for you. Your perception of time depends on how much new experience you get. Like first year in college. first year of marriage. first year in your career. The time seems slow. After you get used to it you just start to get old really fast.