Is convenience making us weaker?

Human beings have spent thousands of years making life easier. So why do so many people feel overwhelmed by the smallest inconvenience?

Oh-hoh-kay. Let’s start with a confession. The other day I became seriously annoyed because a webpage took six seconds to load.

Six seconds. Not six days. Not six hours. Six seconds. I stared at the screen as if civilisation itself was collapsing. Then I caught myself and started laughing.

God dammit! My grandparents survived wars. I was struggling with Wi-Fi.

Something has obviously happened. And it isn’t just me.

Is convenience making us weaker? Well, let’s have a closer look.

We have food delivered to our door. We can order a taxi with one finger. We can transfer money in seconds. We can ask AI to summarise a book, write an email, plan a holiday, and explain quantum physics before breakfast.

Life has become remarkably convenient.

And yet many people seem more stressed than ever. How is that even possible? I think part of the answer is that convenience is a wonderful servant and a terrible teacher.

The easier life becomes, the fewer opportunities we have to practice patience.

The easier life becomes, the fewer opportunities we have to tolerate discomfort.

The easier life becomes, the fewer opportunities we have to develop resilience.

For most of human history, waiting was normal.

Waiting for information. Waiting for travel. Waiting for letters. Waiting for results.

Today we become irritated if a video buffers.

For six bl**dy seconds!

The problem isn’t technology. The problem is expectation. We start believing life should be frictionless.

And when reality inevitably refuses to cooperate, we become frustrated.

• A colleague disagrees with us a little bit.
• The queue is slightly longer than expected.
• The flight is delayed 30 minutes (but we got a free coffee).
• The neighbour is actually somewhat annoying.
• The project becomes awfully difficult, like 5 % more than expected.

And suddenly we feel as if something has gone terribly wrong.

But perhaps nothing is wrong. Perhaps life simply contains resistance. What if that’s a good thing?

Because muscles grow through resistance. Character grows through resistance. Relationships grow through resistance. Even wisdom grows through resistance.

Is convenience making us weaker? Well. Nobody develops patience when everything happens immediately. Nobody develops courage when nothing is difficult. Nobody develops understanding by only meeting people who agree with them.

The irony is almost amusing.

We have become incredibly good at removing obstacles from our lives. And then we wonder why we feel so fragile when we encounter one.