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Ask HN: What are we doing wrong now that will be painfully obvious in 100 years?

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Ask HN: What are we doing wrong now that will be painfully obvious in 100 years?

#1
A lot of examples from the past show that people love to hurt themselves with their lack of knowledge: - bloodletting was a popular medical procedure up to 19th century - adding radium to toothpaste, hair creams and even water in the early 20th century And from much less distant past: - smoking - greenhouse gas emissions

What are we doing wrong now, which the general public isn't aware of currently?

Re: Ask HN: What are we doing wrong now that will be painfully obvious in 100 years?

#2
I think disconnecting will be a considerable part of the future when AR and VR or whatever will be around is a huge thing. It is already a thing now. Some people assume you write them back in Whatsapp in minutes.

With health, I think the gut will play a significant role and also psychology. So many symptoms people develop have their roots in psychological problems.

Re: Ask HN: What are we doing wrong now that will be painfully obvious in 100 years?

#3
We’re starting to see some big cracks in the armor of democracy (polarization and entropy) and capitalism (inequality) so perhaps iterations or complete substitution of these pillars of modern life should be expected sooner than later

Re: Ask HN: What are we doing wrong now that will be painfully obvious in 100 years?

#4
post #2

I think disconnecting will be a considerable part of the future when AR and VR or whatever will be around is a huge thing. It is already a thing now. Some people assume you write them back in Whatsapp in minutes. With health, I think the gut will play a significant role and also psychology. So many symptoms people develop have their roots in psychological problems.

The addiction to news/social media is similar problem, like smoking, but destroying brain instead of lungs.

Good point with mental health, maybe we should make psychological checkups common thing, like health or dental checkups, every year or so and not when we're sick.

Re: Ask HN: What are we doing wrong now that will be painfully obvious in 100 years?

#5

We’re starting to see some big cracks in the armor of democracy (polarization and entropy) and capitalism (inequality) so perhaps iterations or complete substitution of these pillars of modern life should be expected sooner than later

Good point, the thing we allow few hundreds of people rule whole countries seems ridiculous even now.

Re: Ask HN: What are we doing wrong now that will be painfully obvious in 100 years?

#6
post #5

We’re starting to see some big cracks in the armor of democracy (polarization and entropy) and capitalism (inequality) so perhaps iterations or complete substitution of these pillars of modern life should be expected sooner than later

Good point, the thing we allow few hundreds of people rule whole countries seems ridiculous even now.

TBH, it won't be any different under socialism. In fact it will probably be the same a-holes.

Re: Ask HN: What are we doing wrong now that will be painfully obvious in 100 years?

#10
> What are we doing wrong now, which the general public isn't aware of currently?

Industrial animal farming. Deforestation and greenhouse gases from it are destroying the planet when you don't need meat to be healthy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_meat_p...

> "The livestock sector is also the primary driver of deforestation in the Amazon, with around 80% of all converted land being used to rear cattle.[37][38] 91% of land deforested since 1970 has been converted to cattle ranching.[39][40]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_meat_p...

> At a global scale, the FAO has recently estimated that livestock (including poultry) accounts for about 14.5 percent of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions estimated as 100-year CO2 equivalents.[57] A previous widely cited FAO report using somewhat more comprehensive analysis had estimated 18 percent.[8]

That's not even getting into the cruelty of slaughtering 70 billion a year (vegetarians are not exempt from this - farm animals are slaughtered when they can't produce any more milk or eggs). Most western countries would be appalled at eating dogs and cats but because it's cultural to eat cows, pigs and chickens for example, the cruelty of slaughtering them is normalised, ignored and casually joked about.

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