Discussion The world is going to shit?

[Bianka]

I don't understand this argument. Yes there is much to improve on but tell me a time in history that was better than this. It feels like such a cheap excuse to not even try and excuse a lazy hedonistic living. Which is fine let everyone do what they want but pushing this agenda, demonizing "big bad capitalism" just seems so silly.
Please enlighten me

 

[Pluto]

Mean world syndrome - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[leavingthesoultrap]

Yeah it's going to shit. Or in better words: there will never be a good time. This place inherently sucks.

 

[sserafim]

The world has always been shit. This is the worst of all possible worlds

Yeah it's going to shit. Or in better words: there will never be a good time. This place inherently sucks.

Why does it have to inherently suck? Why was it even created in the first place?

 

[druggedonsurvival]

Each year we're breaking temperature records, weather is getting more unpredictable, rivers crucial to huge population centers are drying up... I could go on. Yeah it's going to shit. Climate change is going to make life worse and worse for everyone with each and every year and there's not a thing we can do about it. You can say what you want about there being less violence or whatever but climate change is inescapable. For that reason if nothing else the future looks bleak.

 

[obligatoryshackles]

It's a lot easier to just give up in the face of the seemingly vast, overwhelming problems we face today as a society. Our brains are naturally programmed to be reasonable and efficient, so why would we bother to try and solve impossible problems? Better to give up and save the energy for things we can actually accomplish. Like, say, working towards a higher rank in league of legends or getting mad at teenagers on the internet.

It's certainly true that there's never been a better time to be alive materially. But it's also true that humanity has never been closer to the brink than we are today. Nuclear war seems more like a "when" than an "if" today, climate disaster looms within the lifetimes of the new generations, the mechanisms of capitalism which brought great prosperity yesterday seem to only increase wealth inequality and bring the degradation of everything we hold dear today. The way our media sensationalizes problems and always picks the most emotionally engaging topics to cover makes it all the worse, as it seems every day to us that the world is literally coming apart at the seams.

 

[Pluto]

All fair points. My earlier reply was incomplete because there are 2 factors at play, similar to the two arrows parable.

Factor 1: Personal bias. Hard to deny.


Factor 2: Honest and stark realities
I like to use the term Holocene Mass Extinction since it will, over the course of a mere few hundred years of recent and forthcoming history, combine all human-caused ecological destructions such as deforestation, ocean acidification, temperature rises, pollution of air/water/soil, any nuclear warfare, etc. under a single geologic umbrella.

Denying such things is not merely positive thinking, but a loss of touch with reality. Yet often this is what people do in the name of mental health as a survival strategy. Albeit, not one sustainable for the population.

Combine the two factors and it's hard to take a black-and-white viewpoint. At best, it might add intensity to fundamental questions about the purpose of life and what we are supposed to do in this situation.

 

[Bianka]

Each year we're breaking temperature records, weather is getting more unpredictable, rivers crucial to huge population centers are drying up... I could go on. Yeah it's going to shit. Climate change is going to make life worse and worse for everyone with each and every year and there's not a thing we can do about it. You can say what you want about there being less violence or whatever but climate change is inescapable. For that reason if nothing else the future looks bleak.

Yes but people thought that horseshit will flod the streets and it's gonna be the end (that was an actual thing). Then cars came around. Just as plauge happened but somehow we moved forward. I don't think there is anything that can cause the end of humanity. Are we moving in the right direction? Can these catasthropes be avoided? Not the questions I'm asking. Humanity always survived. I don't think "the world is going to shit" is accurate. More like "looking at the big picture it's going forward unstoppably but there is still so much to improve on"

It's a lot easier to just give up in the face of the seemingly vast, overwhelming problems we face today as a society. Our brains are naturally programmed to be reasonable and efficient, so why would we bother to try and solve impossible problems? Better to give up and save the energy for things we can actually accomplish. Like, say, working towards a higher rank in league of legends or getting mad at teenagers on the internet.

It's certainly true that there's never been a better time to be alive materially. But it's also true that humanity has never been closer to the brink than we are today. Nuclear war seems more like a "when" than an "if" today, climate disaster looms within the lifetimes of the new generations, the mechanisms of capitalism which brought great prosperity yesterday seem to only increase wealth inequality and bring the degradation of everything we hold dear today. The way our media sensationalizes problems and always picks the most emotionally engaging topics to cover makes it all the worse, as it seems every day to us that the world is literally coming apart at the seams.

There were always things that threatned humanity as a whole. I don't think it's a beneficial mentality to wash your hands and hide behind this mask of excuses to have the moral highground by doing nothing

 

[sserafim]

Yes but people thought that horseshit will flod the streets and it's gonna be the end (that was an actual thing). Then cars came around. Just as plauge happened but somehow we moved forward. I don't think there is anything that can cause the end of humanity. Are we moving in the right direction? Can these catasthropes be avoided? Not the questions I'm asking. Humanity always survived. I don't think "the world is going to shit" is accurate. More like "looking at the big picture it's going forward unstoppably but there is still so much to improve on"

There were always things that threatned humanity as a whole. I don't think it's a beneficial mentality to wash your hands and hide behind this mask of excuses to have the moral highground by doing nothing

There's nothing that you can do as an individual though, if you think that you yourself can change things then you're delusional haha. An individual is powerless against the system. Also, just because "humanity always survived", is that necessarily a good thing?

 

[Bianka]

There's nothing you can do as an individual though, if you think that you yourself can change the system then you're delusional haha

Because you think you have to be batman and change things by your own. That's not how things work. And if you think change never happened in history you're also wrong. But by being aware, forming meaningful opinions, willing to expand your knowledge you already contributed to change. What doesn't help improvement is this exact mentality