I was just thinking about my Mom and generational trends. She was scared to death of computers. She could not even deal with the television remote. I am somewhat intimidated by technology. It is all second nature for my kid.

My grandmother washed AND ironed the sheets and pillow cases every few days. My mother washed all the linen every weekend. I, uhum, well, I clean stuff when I think of it..maybe. How does an iron work? Absent slaves, maids and nannies, the picture looks bleak. Following the trend, household hygiene look bleak for the next generation. What do you think?

futurist, Ray Kurzweil, believes "the singularity is near". he argues that increasing computer power and other things are leading to an exponentially increasing number of advancements in genetics, nanotechnology and robotics. Kurzweil thinks we're real close to the part of an exponential curve that shoots quickly up ("the singularity"). so, maybe we can expect (chinese made) robots to do the routine, tiresome chores in the near future
http://spectrum.ieee.org/singularity
stay tuned for the movie version (next year):
http://www.singularity.com/themovie/

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“Mayor Palin fails to have a firm grasp of something very simple: the truth.”

[Frontiersman editorial, 2/7/97]

My "household hygiene" is pretty good.

I would say that I'm a definite exception though.

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"It is extremely difficult for our contemporaries to conceive of the conditions of free banking because they take government interference with banking for granted and as necessary"

-- Ludwig von Mises

My place isn't bad at all. Though I have to give my wife credit both for doing the cleaning and for being the reason I have to clean myself.

On the scared of computers part I think those of us growing up now have adapting to new tech as part of our makeup. We might not get the new cool trends but it won't be like our grandparents/parents with computers. At least not the sort of people to bother with forums like this.

It will be interesting to see what the future holds. Can we hold on the exponential curve or will we finally slam into a wall somewhere? We will see.

Well, assuming we don't have a full scale nukefest, get hit by a comet, or have a superplague go through.

Now we know what to get Zoe for her birthday...



Just be careful he don't go build a house on the beach, and run away.

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"It's the rich people's fault they earn more." - Makedde

I really think a lot of these things changed when women re-entered the workforce AND had a family. Now I know people are going to call me sexist but I'm not sexist at all - it's just that when two people are working full time things like washing the bed linen every weekend and baking and keeping the house in tip-top condition just aren't easy. Especially if there are small children to be raised, too.

If there is one person who works and one who stays at home - whether it be man or woman - generally the house is kept in far better order and these things get done much more routinely.

I think a lot of the decline in society can be blamed on two-working-parent households but unfortunately that's just the way it has to be for the majority of people these days. My parents both worked full time our whole lives, and nothing came easily for them. We were fortunate, though, that Mum is a teacher so we had her in our holidays and out of school hours. And my parents were both very hands on and just very hard workers, so we had the best of both worlds.

But nowadays both people have to work just to pay the rent, and buy food and fuel, let alone anything else. It's a shame.

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We've got rules and maps and guns in our backs, but we still can't just behave ourselves. Even if to save our own lives, we are a brutal kind. The Shins

Save your sheckles- just two weeks to go!

I am pretty far behind on the technology curve. I have never owned a clothes dryer or a dish washer. I could 'register' at Home depot if you like- I need a new washing machine, too. It walks across the floor on the spin cycle because it shakes so violently.

Yup, my kid is definitely going to need a household cleaning robot but who will pick up the dirty clothes?

we were the last in my family to get a microwave !! We just got rid of our dryer and put up a clothes line , it has been tough this last few days with all the rain!

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Aint but three things in this world thats worth a solitary dime,
But old dogs and children and watermelon wine.
Tom T. Hall
http://www.obamatruth.org/

I don't think there's anything to worry about. My mother is one of the biggest slobs that I know, and it always irritated me when I was a kid. Now, as an adult, I keep my house way cleaner than she ever kept our house. I'm not a clean freak, but my standards are way higher than hers. I think the Army might have strengthened my need for orderliness too.

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"The greatest epochs of our life come when we gain the courage to rechristen our evils as what is best in us." -Nietzsche