Comment on Were people happier in the past?
partial_accumen@lemmy.world 1 week ago
It seems like the forbidden fruit of knowledge is giving us problems instead of only solving them.
Assuming you’re not homeless right now and located in most of the western world, consider the absolute luxury you have of having a solid roof over your head right now, a climate controlled room to your preferred temperature, some amount of long life shelf stable food in your kitchen, light, an infinite amount of clean drinking water on tap 24/7, a bed not made of agricultural products that were still growing outside in the last 3 months, the ability to read and write from a young age, vaccines against diseases that used to wipe out entire families, and healthcare (while expensive) can save your life from extremely critical injuries and maladies.
The most powerful kings of ages prior would trade everything to have what you have right now.
PugJesus@lemmy.world 1 week ago
One of my favorite stories is of Charlemagne, first Holy Roman Emperor, seeking to revive learning and education at his court (and, by extension, reviving elite learning in effectively all of continental Western Europe).
Thus, one of the most powerful men in the world at the time, learned to write, and only imperfectly even with repeated and dedicated practice, in his fucking 40s or 50s.
We are immensely blessed to live in the modern day, even with all of its very serious and real curses.
PlasticExistence@lemmy.world 1 week ago
I have this thought experiment I have been running in my head for years now. Don’t read too much into this, it’s just daydreaming.
Essentially, this existence is something that can be experienced from some higher dimension where other beings live. For whatever reason, they choose to enter our dimension and live a full life here before waking back up in their own.
Assuming the ‘me’ that exists here at least resembles the ‘Me’ in that higher dimension, why would I choose to come to this part of human history?
The answer is that I came to witness the height of human civilization and technology before that same technology ends humanity.
</daydream>
I sincerely hope I’m wrong about that, but the curses of this age have yet to be truly felt in my opinion.
You’re a history buff. Do you think that humanity has ever dealt with a greater concentration of wealth and power?