Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

421–430 of 835 posts

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#421

Post by imbnwa »

stoppingin wrote: post #231

I think that the human mind is not evolved for, and does not cope well in societies at the scale we now live in. I think there's a certain tipping point where social cohesion begins to break down, and people's psychology begins to shift from participation in a society of their peers, to guarding themselves from a society of potentially dangerous strangers. I think this phenomena has been extrapolated to a large scale…

>I also think that the society consisting of people who are largely genetically different from yourself has an impact as well on social cohesion, and by extension, on how people behave in society.

Rome existed for longer than the United States has existed without tying the legal definition of a Roman citizen to someone born in Rome (e.g. Paul of Tarsus, aka Saint Paul, was a Roman citizen and a congenital Hebrew from Anatolia), nevermind whether being born in Rome actually meant your parents were themselves from Rome too.

Phenotypical resemblance also never stopped any of the numerous and vicious civil wars and rebellions in Chinese history just as one example, nor did it stop the military aristocracy of Middle Ages Europe from constantly robbing, pillaging, and raping the peasantry and the clergy, so much that the Church had to issue numerous declarations and edicts to reign in the behavior of knights.

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#422

Post by goodpoint »

noud wrote: post #7

I think you're way off base. It's called rosy retrospection, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosy_retrospection . As you already mentioned in your comments, you're judging the past disproportionately more positive that the present. If you really want to know if everything is declining, try measure it everyday for the next five years. For example, every day, rate your personal well being, track how (un)happy you are wit…

Not at all. Many problems pointed out are real in some areas, but the never ending techo-optimism of HN cannot handle that.

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#423

Post by LtWorf »

noud wrote: post #7

I think you're way off base. It's called rosy retrospection, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosy_retrospection . As you already mentioned in your comments, you're judging the past disproportionately more positive that the present. If you really want to know if everything is declining, try measure it everyday for the next five years. For example, every day, rate your personal well being, track how (un)happy you are wit…

> It's called rosy retrospection

Explain this then: https://www.thelocal.se/20230127/ten-terrifying-stats-about-...

Numbers talk. At least here in sweden rich are richer and everyone else is poorer.

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#424

Post by MikeBattaglia »

noud wrote: post #7

I think you're way off base. It's called rosy retrospection, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosy_retrospection . As you already mentioned in your comments, you're judging the past disproportionately more positive that the present. If you really want to know if everything is declining, try measure it everyday for the next five years. For example, every day, rate your personal well being, track how (un)happy you are wit…

There are some pretty clear indications that the derivative of civilization is strongly negative at the moment, particularly if you live in Europe.

Actually, the fact that people are supposed to pretend things are OK, while everyone over there is possibly a few steps away from being drafted into war, is another sign that things have headed in the wrong direction in exactly the manner OP is suggesting.

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#425

Post by herbst »

I live in a different place in world, but objectively everything is getting better by the day.

- There is visibly less crime, statistically at an all time low record every year.

- Drug politics are getting way better, leading to way less drug criminality

- People drive smaller, more economical cars. Less noise, less polition

- You can find polished software for a small monthly fee for nearly any use case that works on your Phone, Linux, Mac or Windows. Only few years ago most good software was expensive and platform exclusive. Also mostly big coorperate where some software companies today are one person or a small team.

- We finally started talking about our environment in a serious future thinking matter. We don't yet act like it so often, but we are getting there.

- Crypto made 'normal' people rich, crypto changed to live of so many people. Not all about crypto was bad, not all is a Ponzi or Scam. Plus we finally have a low fee world wide money transaction method, which means so much freedom for a lot of people that are used to heavy restrictions.

- I think it never was easier to do your own thing and life from that. Whatever you do, if you are passionate enough it could be your job.

- The subscription and microtransaction trend is a huge pain in the ass and hopefully will die one way or another.

My point is, or should be it's all about the perspective and a lot about choice.

If you don't like loud cars, criminal & busy neighbours why don't you move somewhere that better fits your lifestyle? What makes you living a life you don't fully enjoy?

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#426

Post by mach1ne »

zug_zug wrote: post #377
cedws wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm 21 and I think everything's going to shit as well... is it doomerism or reality? Politicians appear increasingly corrupt and selfish. Geopolitics are becoming less stable. Innovation is coming to a standstill. The average person just wants a decent job, a nice place to live, and maybe a family. All of these are becoming more and more difficult to achieve. Is it any wonder kids are checking out of life en masse?

Those are a bunch of statements that angry people with agree with, but you haven't presented any evidence for your claims, and I think they're mostly backward. We're in the longest period of peace in thousands of years. Check out this cool graphic that puts in perspective: http://www.fallen.io/ww2/ People are mad about politics, but I don't think it's any worse than the cold-war, kennedy assassination, mcarthyism, be…

Not to sound adversarial, but you’re not presenting any evidence either. Where do you get that innovation is the fastest it’s ever been?

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#427

Post by mettamage »

Just read the first two sentences, disagree with this in Europe. I feel family and friends caring. I feel there's quite a bit of good faith among strangers. I do feel a bit of that people seem emotionally too blocked, but I think that has always been there?

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#428

Post by HEmanZ »

cedws wrote: post #308
zeroonetwothree wrote: post #274

I don't know your age but I'm going to guess 30+. This is just happens when you get old. When you were younger you probably noticed that all the older people you knew pined for some earlier time (say the 1970s or 1950s). And you probably thought they were being silly. Well, now you've become one of those people. The fact is the world always seems better when you are younger, not because the world necessarily better,…

I'm 21 and I think everything's going to shit as well... is it doomerism or reality? Politicians appear increasingly corrupt and selfish. Geopolitics are becoming less stable. Innovation is coming to a standstill. The average person just wants a decent job, a nice place to live, and maybe a family. All of these are becoming more and more difficult to achieve. Is it any wonder kids are checking out of life en masse?

I want to call out that at least in the US, politicians actually appear way less corrupt than they used to be. Any reading of specific political histories, e.g Robert Caro, you can quickly get a feel for just how insanely corrupt politicians have been throughout history. If you compare them to today, it’s actually some relief. They are still corrupt today but really it’s child’s play compared to most of US history and pretty much all of world history.

I think a big problem is that people don’t read or watch real history, they are only familiar with abstract, high-level, or hyper-biased history. In basically every aspect imaginable, excepting maybe some things resembling spirituality (which do matter but are much trickier to pin down and understand) the world is so so much better than it has ever been, petty much everywhere

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#429

Post by teg4n_ »

atonse wrote: post #202
keiferski wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Respect for other people, general social norms, polite behavior, personal dignity, and in general just a respect for one's appearance and a desire to make "civilization" aesthetically appealing. People seem to enjoy living in beautiful buildings with green parks nearby, without pollution or noise, and yet somehow think dressing like a slob or putting zero effort into one's appearance is unimportant. To be honest, if…

I am someone who, for much of the last 15 years has been happiest in a t shirt and shorts. But your points are ones I’ve thought about a LOT the last few years. In spite of being someone who rejects the idea of dressing fancier going deeper than just superficial beauty, I remember how I carry myself differently when I wear a suit. I feel more confident when I dress well. My wife loves when she sees that I made the ef…

I feel worse in a suit and it makes me feel like a fake. Wear a suit if it makes you feel good, I won’t because it makes me feel bad.

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#430

Post by thewebcount »

maerF0x0 wrote: post #278
ignoramous wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of this tweet by Derek Thompson (writer at The Atlantic ): In 2022, we: - Reversed organ death in pigs - Made the first embryo from stem cells - Made a pan-influenza vaccine - Saw the beginning of time - Got best-ever results from cancer & obesity therapy trials - Maybe cracked the case of multiple sclerosis From: https://twitter.com/DKThomp/status/1600864770751860737 ( https://archive.is/pi95L )

To be clear I'm not suggesting that specific advancements aren't being made. It's more like things that matter are going away and the things we're getting do not affect most of us. eg: something like 99.95% of the planet (all but 1-2 Million) have 0 or near 0 benefit from most of those findings (save for maybe the vaccine). But important things are going away -- treating people well, having happy lives, justice and b…

> treating people well, having happy lives, justice and being treated fairly.

I think that depends a lot on where you live and what you look like relative to those around you. I wouldn’t think black citizens in the US in the 1950s would agree with what you’re saying. An Asian coworker of mine said he always thought it would be interesting to go back in time and live for a little bit in the 1940s, but every time he thinks that he has to remind himself what they did to Asians in the 1940s here in the US.[0]

I do think that tech (particularly social media) has amplified a lot of the bad social behavior that people have always had. I don’t think there’s more of it, just that it’s gotten louder. Someone who could only be an asshole to the people around them can now go online and be an asshole to millions of people around the world at once.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internment_of_Japanese_America...

Post reply on HN