Many believe that the modern era is the most optimal time to be alive. I strongly disagree with this statement due to the stress social media causes, and the 1960s would have been a more interesting decade to live through because of the musical revolution.
The current time is one of the worst times to exist due to the omnipresence of social media apps. These sites reduce quality of life for millions of people because modern humans can rarely ‘switch off’ and relax. It is important for people to have time alone in order to refresh themselves and look after their mental health. Constant notifications increase anxiety and make people feel inadequate due to the impossible task of competing with everyone else in the world. For example, Instagram notifies you when someone likes your picture and many young people feel stressed if they do not get enough attention, but also can’t stop checking their phones to check their feeds.
The Sixties would have been a fascinating time to experience because of the innovations in music. Before then, music was quite boring and there was little experimentation. Bands like the Beatles completely transformed the cultural landscape by introducing a completely new sound. This would have been extremely exciting because there are very few times in history when someone can experience something completely unique for the first time. For instance, the Sgt. Pepper’s album forged new ground in production, with people hearing pop songs fused with traditional instruments from India for the first time.
In conclusion, although this current time has experienced many technological breakthroughs in the digital space, companies like Facebook and Twitter have a detrimental impact on our mental health, making it one of the worst times to be alive. I would have preferred to live through the 1960s because of how exciting new music was back then.