The Importance of Convenience in Modern Life
Convenience is a notion that is deeply ingrained in modern society. From instant gratification to fast food, technology to transportation, we have become accustomed to having everything at our fingertips. But there’s a growing concern that our obsession with convenience is damaging our quality of life. A recent ban on short domestic flights in France has reignited the debate over prioritizing convenience over the environment, but there are many other reasons why convenience may not be all it’s cracked up to be.
The Downside of Convenience
There are several reasons why convenience may not be all it’s cracked up to be. Let’s explore some of the downsides:
1. Too much convenience can take the joy out of life: As Zen Buddhist monk Shunmyō Masuno explains, “Life takes time and effort. When we eliminate time and effort, we eliminate the pleasures of life.” Convenience may provide ease and speed, but it doesn’t always offer the same level of satisfaction or fulfillment as doing something challenging or meaningful.
2. Convenience can rob us of emotional well-being: The psychologist Shige Oishi points out that relying too heavily on convenience can lead to a lack of psychological wealth, which is characterized by variety, perspective-changing experiences, and challenge. Convenience doesn’t create good memories or stories.
3. Convenience can be an unsatisfying pursuit: Convenience is an ever-changing goal, and as such, is an ultimately unattainable one. There will always be ways to make things a little more frictionless, which can feel like an insatiable need for perfection.
4. Too much convenience can lead to overreliance: The more convenient things become, the more we rely on them, and the more we treat them as a kind of God-given right. That makes it all the more inconvenient when they don’t work as efficiently as we expect.
5. Convenience can undermine fulfillment: Living the good life is generally thought to be composed of two types of happiness: hedonism, associated with sensual pleasure and comfort, and eudaimonia, associated with meaning and purpose. While convenience might score high in the former, it doesn’t perform well in the latter.
The Short-Domestic Flights Ban: A War Against Convenience?
France recently passed a law banning public use of domestic flights when a train journey of less than two hours and 30 minutes is available. This measure is part of France’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainability. While there are many exceptions to the ban that may limit its effectiveness in reducing emissions, it sends a clear message about our culture of convenience and how it cannot go on indefinitely. This ban has sparked intense public debate, with some condemning it as a war against convenience.
The Dangers of Convenience Culture
Convenience culture is a deeply ingrained phenomenon that has seeped into every corner of modern life. Some of its perils include:
1. Impatience: We have become an impatient society, with little tolerance for delays or inconvenience. This can lead to frustration, anger, and a lack of empathy for others.
2. Dependence: Convenience has become so ubiquitous that we have become dependent on it. This can lead to problems when things don’t work as expected or when life gets challenging.
3. Ignorance: Convenience can reinforce ignorance because it eliminates the need for critical thinking or problem-solving. We don’t have to take the time to learn a new skill or develop a new habit because we can rely on the convenience of the status quo.
4. Sedentary lifestyle: The rise of convenience has made us increasingly sedentary. We don’t have to get up to change the channel on the TV or walk to the store to buy groceries. This can lead to health problems, such as obesity and heart disease.
5. Environmental degradation: Convenience also has a significant impact on the environment, as we saw with the ban on short domestic flights in France. The convenience of single-use plastics, disposable products, and fast fashion contribute to environmental degradation, which ultimately threatens our way of life.
Why there’s more to life than convenience
While convenience has its place in modern life, there are many other things that matter more. Here are some examples:
1. Relationships: The love and support of family, friends, and community are crucial for our well-being and happiness. Convenience can never replace those bonds.
2. Purpose: Having a sense of purpose and meaning in our lives is vital for our mental and emotional health. Convenience might make our lives easier, but it doesn’t provide the same level of fulfillment as doing something meaningful.
3. Learning: Learning new things and developing new skills is essential for personal growth and success. Convenience reinforces the status quo and eliminates the need for exploration and curiosity.
4. Nature: Spending time in nature can have enormous benefits for our physical and mental health. Convenience culture can cause us to neglect this relationship, which can be detrimental to our well-being.
5. Joy: We all need joy and pleasure in our lives. Convenience culture can provide ease and speed, but it doesn’t guarantee joy or happiness.
In Summary
The debate over convenience culture and its impact on our well-being is a complex one. While convenience has its advantages, there are also many downsides to relying too heavily on it. The ban on short domestic flights in France is just one example of how our culture of convenience is starting to clash with other priorities, such as sustainability and well-being. As we move forward, it’s essential to find a balance between convenience and other values that matter more, such as meaning, purpose, joy, and relationships.
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France is fueling controversy again, with another of its bans. But this time it’s not burqa, either Anglicismsor even the use of meaty words to describe plant-based food. This time, it’s a sacred principle of modern life against which the French have dared to wage war: convenience.
A new law has entered into force last week banning public use of domestic domestic flights when a train journey of less than two hours and 30 minutes is available, as part of France’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The decree contains many exceptions which may end up having no effect on emissions, but the message is clear: our culture of convenience cannot go on indefinitely.
Indicates fulminations about “forbidding convenience” from one right-wing commentatorand irritated tweets from others. But since faff is getting on and off a flight with yourself and your belongings, the idea that having to take a bullet train is an inconvenience seems a touch off.
Anyway, should we place such a value on things that are convenient? What about the importance of, shall we say, entertainment?
We seem to have become so intoxicated with the idea that everything should be instantly available to us that we’d rather make decisions based on what’s convenient than what would make us happy. Convenience was supposed to help us lead better lives, but we have elevated it to such a level that it seems that we have become unknowingly enslaved by it. And this is making our lives worse.
One problem is that convenience is an ever-changing, ultimately unattainable goal, and as such is a deeply unsatisfying pursuit. We can never achieve full convenience because there will always be ways to make things a little more frictionless. There was a time when the idea of being able to sit in a not so expensive, comfortable seat on the train in Paris, picking up a device that can connect instantly with the rest of the world, and 1 hour 55 minutes later, arriving in Lyon, would have seemed incredibly convenient. Not anymore.
The internet itself was built on the idea that human beings desire endless convenience. As co-founder of Twitter and former CEO said Evan Williams in 2013, “Convenience on the Internet comes basically from two things: speed and cognitive ease. . . If you study what is really important on the Internet, you realize that they are masters of making things fast and not making people think.
The more convenient things become, the more we rely on them, and the more we treat these former luxuries as a kind of God-given right. That makes it all the more inconvenient when they don’t work as efficiently as we expect. I remember how amazed I was the first time I ordered an Uber. These days, I’m irritated if I wait more than five minutes for one.
But the main problem with convenience is that too much takes the joy out of life. “Life takes time and effort. That is to say, when we eliminate time and effort, we eliminate the pleasures of life,” writes Zen Buddhist monk Shunmyō Masuno in the Japanese bestseller Zen: the art of the simple life.
Living the good life is generally thought to be composed of two types of happiness: hedonism, associated with sensual pleasure and comfort, and eudaemonia, associated with meaning and purpose. While convenience might score high in the former, it doesn’t perform well in the latter. And it also scores poorly on a third dimension of emotional well-being that Shige Oishi, a psychology professor at the University of Chicago, calls “psychological wealth”, characterized by variety, perspective-changing experiences and challenge.
“Straining too much for efficiency — getting things done, not wasting time — will make people lose the joy of serendipity and rob them of psychological wealth,” Oishi tells me. “Convenience doesn’t make a good story, so it doesn’t make a good memory.”
It is precisely the uncomfortable things that give meaning and richness to life. I can order an elderflower cordial from Ocado and have it delivered right to my door. But later this week, I’m going to the marshes of Hackney and picking elderflowers in the sun, after waiting months for the buds to open. I will soak them in water with lemons picked from my own tree, strain the liquid and then boil it with sugar to make my cordial.
The final product may end up being less finished than the store-bought version. But it’s the effort itself, and the sense of pride and satisfaction it produces, as well as the opportunity to connect with the natural world, that matters to me. Convenient it is not. But, as is often the case, the joy is in the journey.
https://www.ft.com/content/0d206e43-26c9-4704-aab6-0783a20b83ad
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