What do you think of this belief?

[Pinkbunion]

It seems like from time to time, I could see on the net or in real life, the following belief that the old times were better than the current time. For example, there were no computers or cellphones in the past, so kids played outside instead of being addicted to using their cellphones all day and that people talked to each other more since they can't use cellphone during social settings. Or that people had cleaner water, so they drank from the stream itself instead of mineral water. Or that their food was natural compared to today's foods with preservatives. Or that they walked barefoot and "never" got sick. Or that they were more polite or well-mannered than today's generation, who they think have bad manners. etc. Personally, I don't subscribe to this belief, since I think current times are a LOT better than old times because, first, the quality of life is so MUCH better, and that technology, like Internet, helps people become more open-minded, knowledgeable, etc. and makes us better persons because of this. Also, since there's no Internet in the past, people become close-minded, since new information could be hard to get by that would change or improve their worldview, and they become trapped in their own mindset. Of course, there's a bad side to technology, it depends on how you use it. I think people who subscribe to this belief just highlight the bad effects of technology and the bad side of the current times instead of looking at the good side, and also ignoring the disadvantages of living in the old times.

[sdelsolray]

There are certainly behaviors, individually or societal, which generally benefit the individual and/or others and there are behaviors which do not.

 

Some past behaviors were beneficial and some were not.  Some present behaviors are beneficial and some are not.

 

You listed several beneficial behaviors from the past.  You listed no detrimental ones from the past.  You identified some harmful behaviors from the present.  You listed no beneficial behaviors from the present.

 

Can you provide a list of harmful behaviors from the past as well as a list of helpful behaviors existing in the present?

 

 

[♦ Fuego ♦]

I see that as nostalgia for times that didn't really ever exist. In Oregon, Portland was founded as a KKK stronghold. There were laws against socializing with blacks and other ethnicities, which made jazz clubs hard to run. Getting an education was hard for non-whites. 

DDT was sprayed everywhere in the 40s-60s before we understood the negative effects on birds and the cascade effect of tons of toxins in the environment. In the 1970s the Willamette River was finally cleaned up after being horribly polluted by industry and farm runoff for decades. It was called "an open sewer" previously.

Sure, people drove without seatbelts but they also died in crashes commonly. 

"Girls were girls, and men were men" goes the lyric of All In The Family, and being discovered as gay meant loss of jobs, ridicule, and violence. It still does in some places. 

It wasn't until the 1970s that unmarried women could even get credit cards. Remember the ERA (equal rights ammendment) and "women's lib"? I heard about that all the time growing up. 

Medicine was far more primitive in the 70s, even with the advances they had made since the 1800s. 

We had no Internet, just encyclopedias when the library was open. 

 

We've made strides in technology, and we had been making strides in education. Along with tech came ways to exploit tech for evil. 

There are always pros and cons to change, sort of a yin/yang thing. 

 

[pantheory]

17 hours ago, Pinkbunion said:

It seems like from time to time, I could see on the net or in real life, the following belief that the old times were better than the current time. For example, there were no computers or cellphones in the past, so kids played outside instead of being addicted to using their cellphones all day and that people talked to each other more since they can't use cellphone during social settings. Or that people had cleaner water, so they drank from the stream itself instead of mineral water. Or that their food was natural compared to today's foods with preservatives. Or that they walked barefoot and "never" got sick. Or that they were more polite or well-mannered than today's generation, who they think have bad manners. etc. Personally, I don't subscribe to this belief, since I think current times are a LOT better than old times because, first, the quality of life is so MUCH better, and that technology, like Internet, helps people become more open-minded, knowledgeable, etc. and makes us better persons because of this. Also, since there's no Internet in the past, people become close-minded, since new information could be hard to get by that would change or improve their worldview, and they become trapped in their own mindset. Of course, there's a bad side to technology, it depends on how you use it. I think people who subscribe to this belief just highlight the bad effects of technology and the bad side of the current times instead of looking at the good side, and also ignoring the disadvantages of living in the old times.

 

lots of good thoughts. Cheers.

[TheRedneckProfessor]

What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?  

 

~Quote attributed to Plato.

[◊ Weezer ◊]

11 hours ago, TheRedneckProfessor said:

What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?  

 

~Quote attributed to Plato.

 

Yep.  The idea of "the good ole days" are older than the hills.

 

But it does seem like the open disrespect for each other has gotten worse in my lifetime.

[Wertbag]

Which years were the good ol' ones and which were too ol' so lacked the goodness? Do people look at Roman times as better, or is it generally only 1960s to 1980s that get put on the pedestal? 

 

My workmate had a quadruple heart bypass and is back living a good life. Jump back to the good ol' days and he'd be dead. Aids was a death sentence in the 80s but is now controlled. Most forms of polio have only been fully eliminated in the last 20 years. The list of medical advances is massive. 

 

We have more and cheaper international travel, more entertainment options, more food choices, the ability to work from home, longer life expectancy, better healthcare, better education, amazing technology and the ability to communicate more than ever before.  Now is the best time to live.

[pantheory]

10 hours ago, Wertbag said:

Which years were the good ol' ones and which were too ol' so lacked the goodness? Do people look at Roman times as better, or is it generally only 1960s to 1980s that get put on the pedestal? 

 

My workmate had a quadruple heart bypass and is back living a good life. Jump back to the good ol' days and he'd be dead. Aids was a death sentence in the 80s but is now controlled. Most forms of polio have only been fully eliminated in the last 20 years. The list of medical advances is massive. 

 

We have more and cheaper international travel, more entertainment options, more food choices, the ability to work from home, longer life expectancy, better healthcare, better education, amazing technology and the ability to communicate more than ever before.  Now is the best time to live.

 

The people that  usually refer to the good-old-days is because they were younger in the distant past, and often had a better life then. IMO modern medicine and today's technologies  have made the present better than anytime in the past. But for me, life is not a lot different now than it was many decades ago, excepting when running after girls in the past, I used to be able to catch some of them. Now since I can't run as fast, I can only catch some of those that are high, drunk. or stumble.

[midniterider]

On 2/12/2023 at 3:45 PM, Pinkbunion said:

It seems like from time to time, I could see on the net or in real life, the following belief that the old times were better than the current time. For example, there were no computers or cellphones in the past, so kids played outside instead of being addicted to using their cellphones all day and that people talked to each other more since they can't use cellphone during social settings. Or that people had cleaner water, so they drank from the stream itself instead of mineral water. Or that their food was natural compared to today's foods with preservatives. Or that they walked barefoot and "never" got sick. Or that they were more polite or well-mannered than today's generation, who they think have bad manners. etc. Personally, I don't subscribe to this belief, since I think current times are a LOT better than old times because, first, the quality of life is so MUCH better, and that technology, like Internet, helps people become more open-minded, knowledgeable, etc. and makes us better persons because of this. Also, since there's no Internet in the past, people become close-minded, since new information could be hard to get by that would change or improve their worldview, and they become trapped in their own mindset. Of course, there's a bad side to technology, it depends on how you use it. I think people who subscribe to this belief just highlight the bad effects of technology and the bad side of the current times instead of looking at the good side, and also ignoring the disadvantages of living in the old times.

 

The good old days, prior to the polio vaccine, before forensic DNA testing, before people wore seatbelts, when doctor's on TV promoted smoking. More people went to church. (Yipes)

 

https://youtu.be/HTwMzTVljGg

 

 

 

[Pinkbunion]

@sdelsoyray

 

some detrimental behaviors from the past:

-People have a higher chance of maintaining superstitions because new information was not easily obtained compared to today

-People could be more prejudiced of others who are different from them because of harder access to new information

 

some beneficial behaviors from the present:

-people could communicate with people who have different views from them, and who they couldn't see in real life, even if they're far away, through technology

-Through the Internet, people could talk and socialize more with people they know who are very far away

 

 

[Moonobserver]

No era in history was as good, or as bad, as it's said to have been.

 

Information is now at our fingertips but, because we've sped it up so much, we think less. The internet has given us instant access to modern medicine......and turned Qanon from the amusing oddity it would have been when I was a kid into a real and serious threat. In the old days [my day] we worried about World War III breaking out, but I never had to give a fleeting thought to getting shot at as I walked the halls of my school. There were a lot of backward notions around, but also a lot of people sincerely trying....and without the cynical viciousness which is so popular now.

[sdelsolray]

On 2/25/2023 at 4:40 AM, Pinkbunion said:

@sdelsoyray

 

some detrimental behaviors from the past:

-People have a higher chance of maintaining superstitions because new information was not easily obtained compared to today

-People could be more prejudiced of others who are different from them because of harder access to new information

 

some beneficial behaviors from the present:

-people could communicate with people who have different views from them, and who they couldn't see in real life, even if they're far away, through technology

-Through the Internet, people could talk and socialize more with people they know who are very far away

 

 

That a decent start.

[Pinkbunion]

@sdelsolray Thank you

[quantum]

In terms of tech, I will take today, over "yesteryears" every time. 

 

I work for the NHS, trying to keep track of patients/medicines/notes, etc without computers does not bear thinking about.