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Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

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461–470 of 835 posts

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#461

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

There's way less trust in our society than they have been in many years. This is something that's been studied with evidence to back it up. You can see this in the week it took to elect a speaker of the house, something that hasn't happened (at that scale) since the 19th century. Globally, nations that become more economically developed shift towards individualism and selfishness.

This trust thing is true, but it doesn’t mean that institutions are lest trustworthy. It seems more that we have the tools (institutional, cultural, technological) to actually understand many systems better and see how untrustworthy they are. Basically, our vision is better, the situation isn’t worse.

Individualism is something I do half agree with. I’m not sure it’s a time-based thing tho, and I’m agnostic to whether it is good or bad. Collectivism in the past could be incredibly stifling and coercive. Hyper individualism can be alienating.

There is some middle ground and I actually believe we are in the process of moving towards it. Because if you talk to anyone, they KNOW there is a problem with how individualistic consumerism causes us problems, and they KNOW alienation is a problem. We are learning to balance our new-ish freedoms, prosperity, and individual flourishing with our deep need for community and solidarity. It will take time, but we will figure it out.

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#462
If there is one thing that always stays the same, it's every single generation coming of age and saying "Everything is headed towards ruin!"

Believe me when I say, everyone before you, going back thousands of years, have said the same thing.

"Kids these days don't listen to their elders and don't value work!" - carved into Greek walls

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#463

> Anyone else have other examples? Elected president who is so crass and generally offensive he wouldn't have gotten close to being elected 50 years ago. Elected president who is showing clear signs of age related cognitive decline (so they say) but continues to occupy the office. Elected presidents with criminal behaviour that is far worse than what previous presidents were impeached or resigned for. Mental illness,…

> Elected president who is showing clear signs of age related cognitive decline (so they say) but continues to occupy the office. Donald Trump is many things, but I really don't think he's seeing more cognitive decline than an average 76 year old.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#464
I think it's hard to pick an overall narrative, because the world is complicated, memory is unreliable, and what's actually visible to regular people changes with the times.

In many ways, I think the trend for the individual person's most likely experience has been sharply positive over the past century. I share your frustration with the level of unpunished grift and abuse of power in our society, but I suspect that it's always been at least this bad.

However, there are some macro trends that are extremely ominous. As the years pass, human are evolving technologies that give small groups of people massive leverage over the shared physical and social environment. To name a few:

- Nuclear weapons

- Genetic engineering

- Chemical production / pollution

- AI

- Social media

- Nanotechnology

And we completely lack the governance at all levels to manage this. I think we're set up for all sorts of potential catastrophes and the collapse of the global economic complexity we currently take for granted.

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#465

Must be American thing. Where I live things either do not change much or improve because of tech advance. Of course I don't know anything about US other than some websites. But I think that US issue roots with disrespect of police. You do remember how you forced policemen to kneel? That looked terrible for me. We don't do that. Now police don't want to work, so you get loud people, stealing, higher crime, etc. Solve…

https://m.youtube.com/results?sp=mAEA&search_query=tyree+nic...

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#466

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you dress that way to meet your partner's parents for the first time? Or to see a friend you haven't seen in years? Or to represent your company at an event? What about going somewhere where you are expected to be a role model? Of course not. That's because you give a shit about the impression you give in those situations and understand the kind of atmosphere and impression it gives if you dress like a bum. Now…

Love reading sentiments like this on Hacker News. Hackers are so well-known for their adherence to social norms on dressing up.

Seriously like, programmers coming to work in their pajamas is the kind of thing you'd hear about in the late 90s.

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#467

Everything isn’t declining. Things were never great, by any modern definition. We just have an expectation that things are supposed to be easy breezy nowadays, and it turns out people are still people. Like, are you telling me that NYC landlords in the 90s weren’t trying to scam their tenants? That Philly police in the 80s were clean, efficient, trustworthy public servants? That there was less fraud in the .com boom,…

That was my reaction too. I've been around a while and none of this sounds like anything new. In fact, as a whole things have gotten better than they used to be.

I agree as well. I think it's common to start to see negatives as you grow older and more jaded. Some intuitive/anecdotal evidence is the generally blissful demeanor of children compared to adults.

The world is not actually getting worse on net. There are certainly some things that are difficult or frustrating more so now than in the past. However, overall society is generally more accepting than ever before, and human and technological development are also perpetually rising.

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#468
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.

What are these clear indications (beside the potential draft point)?

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#469
post #423
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.

Sure, there are dozens of metrics by which the world is getting objectively worse in ways that have very real human and ecological costs. But OP didn't cite any of those. They did, however, complain that the minimum wage worker who made their burger didn't express remorse for forgetting the ketchup.

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#470

> Anyone else have other examples? Elected president who is so crass and generally offensive he wouldn't have gotten close to being elected 50 years ago. Elected president who is showing clear signs of age related cognitive decline (so they say) but continues to occupy the office. Elected presidents with criminal behaviour that is far worse than what previous presidents were impeached or resigned for. Mental illness,…

> Elected president who is showing clear signs of age related cognitive decline (so they say) but continues to occupy the office. Donald Trump is many things, but I really don't think he's seeing more cognitive decline than an average 76 year old.

[deleted]
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