Essay Question research 3

I want to take another look at the article by Dr Hurd as it tackles the changes in technology and the rise in escapism and depression. Dr Hurd talks about technology providing easy and instantaneous methods of escapism that can act as the "vehicle" for people to move away from their day to day lives. He goes on to say that although new technology makes escapism easier it cannot be blamed for a rise in escapism as people must have underlying beliefs or behaviour patterns that lead them towards escapist actions, "we can’t blame technology itself. For a person to engage in unhealthy escapism, he or she must have some underlying core beliefs or habits leading up to and reinforcing the problem. If somebody has these unhealthy or dysfunctional core beliefs and emotions, they will naturally gravitate towards any kind of escape.".

Dr Hurd talks about changes in society rather then technology being a more likely cause of a rise in escapism specifically in America. the middle class in America (and the UK)  would pass for the upper class in a large number of countries, and this social stability has removed the notion that "You worked and did your part for your own survival, or you died.". He uses the ages that children leave home saying that in the past we left home a lot younger because our parents couldn't afford to support us so we had to be motivated to work, earn money and survive. Now that a large number of families are better off financially children have lost that drive. he makes some good points here but I do think the world has become a more complex place with the development of technology, people are bombarded with information every minute of every day, the whole world seems to be in debt. In the past you went to work, got paid, bought food and were happy with that. Every day now we are bombarded with fear mongering news stories that threaten our way of life. it must be hard for young people today to have a good grasp of the world they are inheriting. I think that another factor in the rise of escapism could be the complexities and stresses of modern life, people feel the need to find something simpler that they can fully understand and this in turn could help them to better understand the world they live in. Of course escapism is a broad term and not all escapist activities would fit this idea.

"It has to do with less of a need for people to survive by their work, which means that if you’re going to work, then you’ll need to have some serious career ambition."

This quote is talking about a decrease in ambition that sees people being tempted to drift into fantasy. I would like to explore the idea of encouraging and inspiring people to work in fields that interest them through escapist fiction. Neil Gaiman talks about fiction not only providing an escape but equipping readers with weapons and armour to help them deal with the real world.