Has the world improved overall, or got worse in your lifetime?

~~James~~ · 04-10-2014, 05:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nurse Duckett

The main difference between now and thirty years ago is the way humans act and interact. Young people are taught to not have an opinion, or to not have an opinion that might upset the apple cart, the dumbing down is well underway and the unsuspecting masses of young people have fallen for this line of fake liberal bullshiit.

Political correctness seems to have taken over, if you arnt ultra pc at all times the dumbed down see it as you're not very bright, the dumbed down are the only people who don't see the irony in all this. Some call it political correctness and others call it mind control of the masses.

Over the last 30 years the standard of living has gone down, the standard of education has been reduced to nursery level a degree isn't worth anything nowadays and the general public have little or no say in anything anymore, and the public seem to have accepted all this and convinced themselves that things are better now than ever before, further proof that the dumbing down is well under way. The only thing that is better now than thirty years go is cars.

Modern music is shiit, modern football is shiit, the modern media is shiit and full of its own self importance, modern living standards are shiit and maybe they're all shiit because you're a deluded dumbed down piece of **** that has believed the hype and helped to make everything shiit. If the cap fits wear it.

This strikes me as 'conspiracy theorist bullcrap'. Perhaps it's not that the youth have been brainwashed into believing 'liberal bullshtiit' - maybe conservative viewpoints are just extremely outdated and useless in the modern world?

**Janszoon** · 04-10-2014, 05:55 AM

In my lifetime the tectonic plates haven't moved much, the lengths of days and years haven't changed much, the atmosphere is still mostly nitrogen, the oceans are still here, there's still flora and fauna. Overall I'd say the world hasn't changed much.

Astronomer · 04-10-2014, 05:58 AM

In my short lifetime, I feel as though the world has gotten worse, which is kinda a dim way to see things and deep down I kinda know it's not 100% true but having said that - all we ever hear about are the negative impacts of our existence, costs of living rising and unemployment rising and health issues rising and blah blah blah. Society tends to have a "back in my day" attitude towards everything which constantly makes out the past to be so much better than the present and constantly aiming to remind me that things are only going downhill from here, which is really depressing.

What's even more depressing is the fact that I am grateful for things like the freedom, education and healthcare I was lucky enough to have in my lifetime, but it makes me wonder - will my descendants have the same? With health and education taking a back burner on the agenda, it's kinda scary...

I'm just a ball of positivity tonight.

djchameleon · 04-10-2014, 06:03 AM

With the same back in my day attitude, it clouds peoples memories of all the bad stuff that was going on in the past because they are only concerned with the good memories linked through nostalgia.

Technology is a big thing that has improved over time along with innovations to make our lives more simple.

Astronomer · 04-10-2014, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djchameleon

With the same back in my day attitude, it clouds peoples memories of all the bad stuff that was going on in the past because they are only concerned with the good memories linked through nostalgia.

Totally agree with this one, too!

Trollheart · 04-10-2014, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djchameleon

People aren't as jaded as you think. I was down in NYC (which has the rep of incredibly rude non caring people), this lady fell down and four people stopped what they were doing to check on her and help her up. They put aside their devices to do so. I would have helped but a fifth person wasn't necessary.

That's great to hear, particularly as you say when NYC has such a bad rep. I do see it here though: nobody helps anyone and this even goes back to about the 80s when I was on a tube train in London, carrying a big doll's house for my niece I think. The laws of physics asserted themselves eventually and down it went, along with a lot of other stuff. As I struggled to pick everything up NOT ONE PERSON in all that crowded tube station even offered to help. I know there are probably heartwarming stories that can counter that, but this has been my experience. Of course, it happens the other way too, but I see people in general hesitate more if they do offer help, whereas in my parents' time they would just jump right on in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

Overall, I would not use anecdotes to infer that the world at large is better or worse off today than it was at some previous point, because that is highly likely to be the least objective measuring tool.
But if this thread is just about our anecdotal opinions about whether we think something or the other, then by all means, the world is better, because I saw someone give a homeless guy money a few times therefore peace, tranquility and utopia.

In all seriousness, I think that it has gotten both better and worse, in many different regards. And no matter what I think is more important, there will invariably be something left out that I did not consider. Ultimately, I think it is up to humanity as a whole to decide what is for the better and what is for the worse. But unfortunately, people never to agree on such a thing collectively, and in that sense, I think it has always been that way and is the biggest obstacle we face, regardless of incidentals.

This is why I asked for everyone to make lists (sort of empirical evidence?) but nobody has, ergo this thread is not really doing what it should have done.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nurse Duckett

The main difference between now and thirty years ago is the way humans act and interact. Young people are taught to not have an opinion, or to not have an opinion that might upset the apple cart, the dumbing down is well underway and the unsuspecting masses of young people have fallen for this line of fake liberal bullshiit.

Political correctness seems to have taken over, if you arnt ultra pc at all times the dumbed down see it as you're not very bright, the dumbed down are the only people who don't see the irony in all this. Some call it political correctness and others call it mind control of the masses.

Over the last 30 years the standard of living has gone down, the standard of education has been reduced to nursery level a degree isn't worth anything nowadays and the general public have little or no say in anything anymore, and the public seem to have accepted all this and convinced themselves that things are better now than ever before, further proof that the dumbing down is well under way. The only thing that is better now than thirty years go is cars.

Modern music is shiit, modern football is shiit, the modern media is shiit and full of its own self importance, modern living standards are shiit and maybe they're all shiit because you're a deluded dumbed down piece of **** that has believed the hype and helped to make everything shiit. If the cap fits wear it.

I agree with the ultra-pc bit. Probably that only. Your other contentions particularly in the last paragraph don't stand up to scrutiny but anyway. I think it's ridiculous that even certain words are censored on the Electronic Programme Guide for TV, such as bastards and screwed. For ****'s sake!

There's even a programme called Crapston Villas and it's shown as Cr**ston Villas! Give me strength!

Quote:

Originally Posted by djchameleon

With the same back in my day attitude, it clouds peoples memories of all the bad stuff that was going on in the past because they are only concerned with the good memories linked through nostalgia.

Again why I asked for lists. Lists, if done properly, don't lie. I have no clouded memory (almost no memory, if truth be told)

--- I know how bad it was here in the 70s with bombs and airline hijacks and strikes and all. I'm not for a moment suggesting the world was better then. But is it now?

Quote:

Technology is a big thing that has improved over time along with innovations to make our lives more simple.

In some ways yes, in other ways no. It's also made people almost dumb by design, like that point you made about remembering people's telephone numbers in the "Things that make you feel old" thread. Some things we have forgotten how to do and technology can be blamed for a lot of that.

Neapolitan · 04-10-2014, 10:25 PM

Better

Technology has definitely improved.
Information has increased.

Worse

Abortion
AIDS
The increase of Cervical and Breast cancer
The rise of anti-Semitism
The rise of the police state, phone tapping, check points, stop light cameras
Globalization/Flatworld Economics
Disinformation
The rise of Wahhabism
- Persecution of minority Muslims.
- Persecution of Mid Eastern Christians.
- Persecution of African Christians.

These are either possible or unforeseeable threats:

Avian Influenza pandemic
The increase exposure of chemicals
Genetically modified foods
The availability of the former Soviet Union WMDs - nuclear war heads, and anthrax
Super Solar Flair/Coronal Mass Ejection crippling communication and everything dependent on it

Engine · 04-10-2014, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neapolitan

These are either possible or unforeseeable threats:

Avian Influenza pandemic
The increase exposure of chemicals
Genetically modified foods
The availability of the former Soviet Union WMDs - nuclear war heads, and anthrax
Super Solar Flair/Coronal Mass Ejection crippling communication and everything dependent on it

ohmygod, are you saying that i might not live forever?!
In that case I definitely prefer the 1970s

djchameleon · 04-11-2014, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

In some ways yes, in other ways no. It's also made people almost dumb by design, like that point you made about remembering people's telephone numbers in the "Things that make you feel old" thread. Some things we have forgotten how to do and technology can be blamed for a lot of that.

Using your memory banks to remember other things as opposed to using it to remember things that don't matter much when you can have so many more numbers stored all in one device isn't making people dumb.

It is called innovation!

Trollheart · 04-11-2014, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djchameleon

Using your memory banks to remember other things as opposed to using it to remember things that don't matter much when you can have so many more numbers stored all in one device isn't making people dumb.

It is called innovation!

So you can only remember a finite number of things? What do you think people did before mobile phones, computers and so on? Remember books? The feel of a new novel in your hands? Its smell? Folding back the page to mark where you stopped? Now everything is kindle this and kindle that. Not the same. Tech has been great in some areas but in others it's made us really lazy and taken the strain of using our brains away.

Did you ever read "The time machine"? We could be heading that way. People are forgetting how to talk, don't want to read and everytihng has to be instant these days. Heading down a dark path we may not be able to return from.

04-10-2014, 05:55 AM	#2 (permalink)
Janszoon Mate, Spawn & Die Join Date: May 2007 Location: The Rapping Community Posts: 24,593	In my lifetime the tectonic plates haven't moved much, the lengths of days and years haven't changed much, the atmosphere is still mostly nitrogen, the oceans are still here, there's still flora and fauna. Overall I'd say the world hasn't changed much. __________________ A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man Time & Place 25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die last.fm

04-10-2014, 05:58 AM	#3 (permalink)
Astronomer we are stardust Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 2,894	In my short lifetime, I feel as though the world has gotten worse, which is kinda a dim way to see things and deep down I kinda know it's not 100% true but having said that - all we ever hear about are the negative impacts of our existence, costs of living rising and unemployment rising and health issues rising and blah blah blah. Society tends to have a "back in my day" attitude towards everything which constantly makes out the past to be so much better than the present and constantly aiming to remind me that things are only going downhill from here, which is really depressing. What's even more depressing is the fact that I am grateful for things like the freedom, education and healthcare I was lucky enough to have in my lifetime, but it makes me wonder - will my descendants have the same? With health and education taking a back burner on the agenda, it's kinda scary... I'm just a ball of positivity tonight. __________________ Last edited by Astronomer; 04-10-2014 at 06:05 AM.