Advanced enough, yet it still felt human

Everything from the early 1990s until around 2010 was peak. I especially loved the early 2000s. We got the best movies, the best video games, and people still hung out mostly outside. Everything felt more “real.”

Technology seemed promising, and the future felt optimistic. It felt like we were always heading toward a “better future,” as if we already had all the advanced technology needed to live a good life.

I remember the early YouTube days, chatting with friends via ICQ, and playing Pokémon games on my friend’s Game Boy, until I got one for Christmas.

Travel used to connect people. Now everyone is on their phones all the time when traveling.

I remember seeing The Lord of the Rings, Spider-Man, and The Matrix. Even animated movies were amazing back then. I loved Shrek and Cars. I also loved The Simpsons back then.

I loved playing football outside with my friends from sunrise till sundown. We didn’t even need cellphones. We just showed up, and that was it. If someone was missing that day, we didn’t call them, they just came back a day or a week later and said, “Sorry, we were on a family trip.”

Now the future seems bleak. I can’t describe the feeling I’ve had over the last couple of years, and with the arrival of AI, it feels like the final nail in the coffin for humanity still feeling “human.”

I think we are beyond that point now, and everything will become more and more artificial going forward.

I miss the simple days.