There are many differences between our modern world and the life experienced by

There are many differences between our modern world and the life experienced by our ancestors. The stressors experienced by humans have evolved from basic survival to the challenges of modern society. Scientists believe we can learn from these differences, which may provide us with a greater understanding when it comes to stress and how to manage it.
Do you think life is more stressful today than 50 years ago? Why? (Be sure to give examples and cite relevant articles to support your reasoning.) 180 words
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Response to the discussion below: 130 words
To me this is a very interesting topic. At first glance I will admit, my initial feelings on this subject were totally different before I read the reference material for this assignment. I will concede that there are a few points that led me to believe life was more difficult 50 years ago versus today. First, quality of life was very different in the 70s versus now. I am officially a 70s baby; I was born in 1974 in a country town in central Louisiana. I grew up in a small town where everyone knew each other, most people had family farms and employee with good benefits was next to none. If you didn’t work for the city, the school system, the prison, papermill or the power plant you probably lived at or below the poverty line. This was across ethnic and racial lines. It affected everyone the same black or white. In the 70s it wasn’t a lot of technical jobs, no social media and home video game systems may have start to appear in the late 70s, maybe earlier 80s. Today it is very different from then. You have an endless list of distractors: social media, videos games, internet, text messages, emails etc. At first glance, since in grew up working on a farm I assumed I had more stress growing up than as an adult. From driving my grandfather’s tractor at the young age of 8, cutting grass at the age of 9 and working as a picker in my grandfather’s fields since I was 5 years old, it was rough; however, after reading the reference material I also have come to realize that life was simple, and ordered which equates to less stress. As a child life was hard, but simple…so say we were the last generation to play outside, which maybe true, but todays society is more complicated. With all the distractors I listed before, it has been discovered in research that today’s society is counterproductive to how the human brain works (Levitin, 2015). Also, in our on-demand society that the continuing multitasking only creates more stress in the long run (Levitin, 2015). I was really amazed by these research results. Also, it was pointed out that the constant answering of emails by corporate professionals, or people with government job also have negative effects on individuals in these career fields (Levitin, 2015). I can say this is true since I served in the US Army, and then various government contractor jobs, outlook (email platform for the government) dictates your whole day, and how busy or what meetings you will have that day. Appointments, calendars, and emails within Outlook run the US government hands down. I also figured out why I can’t do homework at times, because I love to have the TV on in the background while I work. The reference material points out this is also counterproductive, because it forces your brain to store information in the wrong parts of the brain versus the hippocampus were new information is stored (Levitin, 2015).
Ref: Levitin, D. (2015). Why the Modern World is Bad for Your Brain. Accessed at https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jan/18/modern-world-bad-for-brain-daniel-j-levitin-organized-mind-information-overload on August 17, 2017.
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