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What leads you to believe that this is a new thing, and not the standard state of affairs for humans?

by daeken 16y ago

Alex3917 16y ago
School only dates back until 1914 or so. Modern psychoactive drugs weren't around until the 50s. The Internet and lack of exercise are both new. Can't comment much on our diets, but I know crops from modern farms have a lot less nutrients than food grown the traditional way. As for most Americans being basically retarded, just look at the decline in reading ability over time. As for America being a police state, the numbers (and laws) speak for themselves. As for society collapsing, the decline in critical thinking ability, reading ability, the national debt, environmental degradation, lack of long term planning, infrastructure collapse, etc. all point in the same direction. In any event, the generation coming of age today is the first generation in American history whose parents believe their children will have worse lives than they did.
- jmillikin 16y ago
  School only dates back until 1914 or so. In the US, tax-supported public schools have existed since before the Revolution, and Europe and China had high-quality school systems hundreds of years before that. Education wasn't available to farm workers or other laborers, of course, but there were enough middle-class people to support reasonably competent education. Modern psychoactive drugs weren't around until the 50s. People have been getting high for thousands of years, on anything they can find. It's probably the second oldest recreational activity, next to sex. If anything, modern strides towards quality control and safety have made getting high safer than it ever has been. The Internet and lack of exercise are both new. The Internet is new, but scholarship isn't. Monks spent years copying manuscripts by hand, which is difficult but involves very little physical effort. Can't comment much on our diets, but I know crops from modern farms have a lot less nutrients than food grown the traditional way. [citation needed]. Seriously, this is the sort of absurd claim you find on health-nut sites. Do you also believe cell phones cause cancer, or that vaccines cause autism?
  - Alex3917 16y ago
    "In the US, tax-supported public schools have existed since before the Revolution, and Europe and China had high-quality school systems hundreds of years before that." I was obviously talking about the Gary plan. (And the widespread adoption of compulsory schooling.) "People have been getting high for thousands of years, on anything they can find." Not on benzos, amphetamines, and SSRIs. "[citation needed]. Seriously, this is the sort of absurd claim you find on health-nut sites" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertilizer#Trace_mineral_depletion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertilizer#Trace_mineral_deplet...
  - mcantelon 16y ago
    >The Internet is new, but scholarship isn't. Scholarship was never mainstream. The Internet, videogames, and television are.
- magice 16y ago
  Personally, I think people who think so ing pessimistic like you are THE degraders of the society. BTW, can you please stop the whole uninformed stream of junks about how glorious "the past" is? In the real past, people starved to death in "rich" countries (aka Western Europe, China, et al). In the real past, the number of literate people (at least in Western world) is abysmal. In the real past, there were no air conditioners, no heaters, no computers. Oh, yes, in the past, people were in much better shape. They worked to death, you know.

What leads you to believe that this is a new thing, and not the standard state of affairs for humans?

by daeken 16y ago

What leads you to believe that this is a new thing, and not the standard state of affairs for humans?

School only dates back until 1914 or so. Modern psychoactive drugs weren't around until the 50s. The Internet and lack of exercise are both new. Can't comment much on our diets, but I know crops from modern farms have a lot less nutrients than food grown the traditional way. As for most Americans being basically retarded, just look at the decline in reading ability over time. As for America being a police state, the numbers (and laws) speak for themselves. As for society collapsing, the decline in critical thinking ability, reading ability, the national debt, environmental degradation, lack of long term planning, infrastructure collapse, etc. all point in the same direction. In any event, the generation coming of age today is the first generation in American history whose parents believe their children will have worse lives than they did.

jmillikin 16y ago
School only dates back until 1914 or so. In the US, tax-supported public schools have existed since before the Revolution, and Europe and China had high-quality school systems hundreds of years before that. Education wasn't available to farm workers or other laborers, of course, but there were enough middle-class people to support reasonably competent education. Modern psychoactive drugs weren't around until the 50s. People have been getting high for thousands of years, on anything they can find. It's probably the second oldest recreational activity, next to sex. If anything, modern strides towards quality control and safety have made getting high safer than it ever has been. The Internet and lack of exercise are both new. The Internet is new, but scholarship isn't. Monks spent years copying manuscripts by hand, which is difficult but involves very little physical effort. Can't comment much on our diets, but I know crops from modern farms have a lot less nutrients than food grown the traditional way. [citation needed]. Seriously, this is the sort of absurd claim you find on health-nut sites. Do you also believe cell phones cause cancer, or that vaccines cause autism?
- Alex3917 16y ago
  "In the US, tax-supported public schools have existed since before the Revolution, and Europe and China had high-quality school systems hundreds of years before that." I was obviously talking about the Gary plan. (And the widespread adoption of compulsory schooling.) "People have been getting high for thousands of years, on anything they can find." Not on benzos, amphetamines, and SSRIs. "[citation needed]. Seriously, this is the sort of absurd claim you find on health-nut sites" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertilizer#Trace_mineral_depletion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertilizer#Trace_mineral_deplet...
- mcantelon 16y ago
  >The Internet is new, but scholarship isn't. Scholarship was never mainstream. The Internet, videogames, and television are.
magice 16y ago
Personally, I think people who think so ing pessimistic like you are THE degraders of the society. BTW, can you please stop the whole uninformed stream of junks about how glorious "the past" is? In the real past, people starved to death in "rich" countries (aka Western Europe, China, et al). In the real past, the number of literate people (at least in Western world) is abysmal. In the real past, there were no air conditioners, no heaters, no computers. Oh, yes, in the past, people were in much better shape. They worked to death, you know.