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A pro-science, pro-progress, techno-optimistic health textbook from 1929

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Re: A pro-science, pro-progress, techno-optimistic health textbook from 1929

#2

Post by mmastrac »

It's amusing to see the early signs of the anti-vax movement here. The history of that movement is long.

Humans are built to thrive in danger, chaos and instability. I think a good chunk of humans go insane in a safe and stable environment and resent the things that allow them to live mundane, safe lives -- technology, medicine and rational thinking.

I think there's a certain amount of cherry-picking going on with this textbook, however, as you'd find just as many pro-science books today, and likely a number of "science is the devil"-type publications in the early 1900s.

It's an interesting read, either way, with some amusing editorializing by the article's author in the middle (no spoilers).

Re: A pro-science, pro-progress, techno-optimistic health textbook from 1929

#5

Post by api »

Science has delivered a standard of living to most of the developed world that is greater than that of an Egyptian Pharaoh or a Roman Emperor in numerous ways: health, food, availability of information, ease of travel, physical comfort, etc.

Yet visit social media and it's absolutely overflowing with gloom and doom and histrionic political rage and fear bait. Saw a thread recently on Reddit about how many young people in the USA are contemplating suicide because the present or the future looks so bleak to them.

We'd have to fall pretty far for their standard of living to decline below that of Pharaoh Ramses II.

It's convinced me that the human brain is just not wired for abundance. Our brain keeps searching and searching for the immediate existential threats that millions of years of evolution have programmed us to know absolutely must be there. If we don't see them it actually makes us panic more since it means the lion is hiding so well we can't spot it and it's about to jump out and get us.

Re: A pro-science, pro-progress, techno-optimistic health textbook from 1929

#6

Post by api »

mmastrac wrote: post #2

It's amusing to see the early signs of the anti-vax movement here. The history of that movement is long. Humans are built to thrive in danger, chaos and instability. I think a good chunk of humans go insane in a safe and stable environment and resent the things that allow them to live mundane, safe lives -- technology, medicine and rational thinking. I think there's a certain amount of cherry-picking going on with th…

What is it about vaccines?

Lots of anti-vaxxers are fine with other kinds of drugs and use them liberally, even in many cases street drugs. They'll eat fast food, processed food, use household chemicals, do all kinds of other things that expose them to things they don't understand and may not be good for them, but vaccines are just the devil incarnate. The word vaccine seems to provoke a visceral gut reaction among a lot of them.

Like you said it goes way, way back. Something about vaccines creeps a lot of people out for reasons I don't understand.

Re: A pro-science, pro-progress, techno-optimistic health textbook from 1929

#7

Post by [deleted] »

mmastrac wrote: post #2

It's amusing to see the early signs of the anti-vax movement here. The history of that movement is long. Humans are built to thrive in danger, chaos and instability. I think a good chunk of humans go insane in a safe and stable environment and resent the things that allow them to live mundane, safe lives -- technology, medicine and rational thinking. I think there's a certain amount of cherry-picking going on with th…

[deleted]

Re: A pro-science, pro-progress, techno-optimistic health textbook from 1929

#8

Post by tombert »

api wrote: post #5

Science has delivered a standard of living to most of the developed world that is greater than that of an Egyptian Pharaoh or a Roman Emperor in numerous ways: health, food, availability of information, ease of travel, physical comfort, etc. Yet visit social media and it's absolutely overflowing with gloom and doom and histrionic political rage and fear bait. Saw a thread recently on Reddit about how many young peopl…

I think people are extremely sensitive to the first derivative of things happening to them, with a very short time window. Even if your life is objectively better (by any measurement you want) than it would have been 500 years ago, is it better than it was a week ago?

Re: A pro-science, pro-progress, techno-optimistic health textbook from 1929

#10

Post by tedeh »

api wrote: post #6
mmastrac wrote: post #2

It's amusing to see the early signs of the anti-vax movement here. The history of that movement is long. Humans are built to thrive in danger, chaos and instability. I think a good chunk of humans go insane in a safe and stable environment and resent the things that allow them to live mundane, safe lives -- technology, medicine and rational thinking. I think there's a certain amount of cherry-picking going on with th…

What is it about vaccines? Lots of anti-vaxxers are fine with other kinds of drugs and use them liberally, even in many cases street drugs. They'll eat fast food, processed food, use household chemicals, do all kinds of other things that expose them to things they don't understand and may not be good for them, but vaccines are just the devil incarnate. The word vaccine seems to provoke a visceral gut reaction among a…

Fear of needles and having your skin pierced is my guess, at least for some.
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