I think one of the downsides of the sort of obsession with romantic love and personal fulfillment is that the plain fact of the matter is that those feelings don't last for ever and so they better be replaced and reinforced by things that do.
There aren't many downsides to being rich other than paying taxes and having relatives asking for money. But being famous that's a 24 hour job right there.
I think it's brought the world a lot closer together and will continue to do that. There are downsides to everything there are unintended consequences to everything. The most corrosive piece of technology that I've ever seen is called television - but then again television at its best is magnificent.
There are a lot of downsides to being male. We age faster and die younger. But give us this: we're lifetime baby-making machines. Women's reproductive abilities start to wane when they're as young as 35. Men? We're good to go pretty much till we're dead.
What I used to do between writing fits was feed my kids ride my horse and go shopping for cat and dog food.