(Part 3) Top products from r/AskOldPeople

I was 9 through 19 in the 1980s and unlike many others here, I do get why they are being "romanticized," if we take that word fairly loosely. I think a lot of it has to do with the 80s being perceived at the time as the ultra-modern decade, almost the science fiction decade.

You see, in the 1970s, technology was ramping up but it was more in the background. Some few people may have had computers at their work, but they were mainframes and were sort of in the back warrens, not where Sally the Secretary could see them. But most still used paper files. Almost no one had a computer or computer-like device in their homes.

In the late 70s, that began to topple. Home video games started to show up, like Telstar. Arcade games started to happen, like Pong. The first "kit" computers in the home. But it was slow. At the same time, movies, music, and TV started to get more impressive, "modern" special effects. Some of that had to do with the Moog synth in the 70s, then the first Star Wars. TV was lagging a bit here, though. Music was held back to a good degree by the Disco Era which was very powerful and was its own little island in time (and a fun one).

By 1980, I think people felt like "OK, let's do this! Space Age is on!" and everyone went nuts. Music got ridiculously synthy to the point that the whole band was just a synth. TV jumped in pretty soon after, with a show like original Battlestar Galactica hitting in 1980. So things were very science-fictional on TV, but also that pulled in general fantasy or absurd, unbelievable stuff. You had Buck Rogers, ALF, Manimal, Misfits of Science, Automan, Mr. Wizard, Mr. Smith (an orangutan politician in D.C.), The Phoenix (ancient astronaut with sun powers), Wizards and Warriors, The Powers of Matthew Star, Max Headroom, Knight Rider, The Greatest American Hero, Starman, Ray Bradbury Theater, Twilight Zone 80s reboot, V, Voyagers! and others happening mostly within about five weird years.

But you couldn't have music be all synthy and TV like that and have the clothes drab. They had to look ultra-modern, too. So you had DayGlo everywhere, or more plastic-looking materials like whatever parachute pants were made out of. You had angular looking clothing, like thin ties and shoulder pads and V-cut shapes. Even stirrup pants for girls had this angular, future society feeling, sort of. Then the hair had to be angular for guys, with mousse and gel spiking things up so guys looked like a detective from the future.

Sounds impressive, but we're not done. You have the launch of MTV, which was its own whole crazy phenomenon. They were able to be more experimental back then, so you'd have DEVO doing "We're Through Being Cool" and, even weirder, "Peek A Boo" which had laughing devils heads ("Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!") being circled by dancing Tylenol pills or something. In general, MTV was this bizarre hodgepodge, with total cheesy pop followed by hard-to-categorize stuff. But it was just huge.

Then, all this home tech starts to roll in and hard. The first wave of home video games! Atari 2600 is massive; it has its own magazine. Then you have this war of companies in this domain: Intellivision, Colecovision, others. This is all before the Nintendo even hits. At the same time, arcade games go absolutely bonkers and blow-up to the point that songs like "Pac Man Fever" are getting mass market airplay. Arcades become a "third place" for teens when they really need one. As if this wasn't enough, you get home computers for the first time, and the BBS Era, and, and...it's a lot, trust me, it was life-changing.

Home video watching hits, with the VHS tape and that's beyond massive. Home video recording happens. At the same time, cable TV blows up: HBO hits its stride, and new network competitors do, too. Prior to this, TV was basically three networks and a few affiliates. Now, most people had 50 channels to fill. A lot of that filler was 80s cheese, and you got the modern-looking but still bad feel of chroma-key, genlock, bad green screen, and other video effects.

While this is happening, movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark are hitting in theaters and Spielberg is hitting his stride with cultural steamrollers like E.T. Early 80s, for me, really are a special time for movies. I really don't understand it fully, but the movies were quirky but had heart. That would have to be its own whole post, though. If you want a real 1980s feeling movie, try After Hours; the sense of alienation, cheese, and darkness that only that time could do quite like that.

All this is just the pop-cultural froth, and that's what people are romanticizing. In the background, in the real world, we had the Cold War and we were all afraid we'd be killed by an exploding ICBM. The crack and AIDS epidemics. New York City was filthy and its no wonder Escape From New York came out then. But for those of us lucky to avoid the worst of the 1980s, safe in our suburban bubbles, it was a kind of quirky, innocent-in-its-way time.

An excellent book. I'll throw out two others that build on Meadows work (though there are more):

The Systems View of Life - Capra and Luisi. A biology text but with a great introduction to systems thinking.

Advanced Game Design: A Systems Approach that I wrote. Yes, it's a game design text, but the first few chapters lay out a systems thinking approach to life in general, not just games (game design becomes an important lens for understanding systems).

Be consistent and empathize.

Parenting with Love and Logic worked in raising my kids, who are both prepared for life and content.

Start doing exercises every day. This book has some good ones.

His experience as a POW in WWII is evident in many of his works. It’s interesting to see development of his signature themes in his anthology ‘Complete Stories,’, published in 2017.

Edit: url

I recommend reading "meditations" by marcus aurelius
https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0812968255/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1549941258&sr=8-3&keywords=meditations+marcus+aurelius

It was a process that started when I read the book linked below. You can simultaneously have healthy boundaries and care. You just understand what's your responsibility and what is not, and that it's OK to say "no". You stop taking on other people's responsibilities and burdens, both emotionally and physically. Those around you will be surprised and not happy when they start, for the first time, to hear you say no. (There are nifty ways to say no that soften the blow for example "I'm sorry but that doesn't work for me").

Being without healthy boundaries does not equal "being a good person" it just means you don't have healthy boundaries. For instance, you can't be a good parent without healthy boundaries.

https://www.amazon.ca/Boundaries-When-Take-Control-Your/dp/0310247454

By the way, if you're going to try to develop boundaries you have to also learn the tactics that manipulators use to try to control you because those types will challenge your boundaries constantly. Eg: Guilt tripping or playing the victim. You see a lot of those two in progressive politics. We are now supposed to feel guilty for things that happened hundreds of years ago! LOL. ("Manipulator" is just a fancy word for bully). >>>>https://www.amazon.ca/Sheeps-Clothing-Understanding-Dealing-Manipulative/dp/1935166301

There are lots of boundaries books on the market.

You should check out Save the Cat. https://www.amazon.com/Save-Last-Book-Screenwriting-Youll/dp/1932907009

Talk and listen.