Instant Gratification- Good or Bad?

In American culture, the idea of instant gratification is continually seen on a daily basis. We, as Americans, have learned that we should get what we want exactly when we want it. In some ways, being subjected to this way of life has made us lazy and impatient.

How many times a day do we hear or see a slogan that says, “Doing this will bring you instant gratification”, or “You can win instantly”? Instant gratification is seen in numerous ways: the internet, e-mail, fast food restaurants, game shows, etc. We use these things because we are too lazy to do things for ourselves or because the other method that we could use takes too long. For example, people go to fast food restaurants instead of making something themselves because they don’t have enough time to make something or they are too tired to do it themselves. Or, people nowadays just watch the movie because it takes too long to read the book.

In doing this don’t we lose some of the value of what things are? Sure, it might take you some time to make yourself something to eat, but usually wouldn’t it be a healthier choice to do this? And yes, it might take awhile to read the book, but in just watching the movie what important information from the book are you losing? These are the types of questions we should ask ourselves before we make the choice of doing what is the fastest or what takes the least amount of effort.

Sometimes the idea of instant gratification results in someone taking credit for something someone else did. One of the main examples of this is plagiarism. Through instant gratification we are too lazy to do things ourselves, and we think that everything should just be “spoon fed” to us, and that everything should take no effort whatsoever.

In my opinion, communication is one of the few things that have been improved by instant gratification. Instead of waiting for a letter to be sent so that you can talk to someone or find out what has happened in another part of the world, we have e-mail, telephones, television, cell phones, and the internet. These devices help us find out important information right away, which can be very useful. In spite of the good things they do, they also have their down sides. Cell phones, for example, allow us to get important information to each other, but nowadays everyone is always sending text messages instead of talking face to face.

Instant gratification can be seen as both good and bad. It can help us get things done right away, but that isn’t always a good thing. Also, it has helped us to become more advanced in technology from wanting to get information right away. Americans have a culture that focuses around people getting what they want instantly, but what we need to decide is if it is helping us or hurting us.