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I'm in awe at how my ancestors managed to survive every war, plague, famine, and natural disaster on Earth. And, that my non human ancestors survived every sing

I'm in awe at how my ancestors managed to survive every war, plague, famine, and natural disaster on Earth. And, that my non human ancestors survived every single mass extinction. I look at the difficulties of my own pleasant life and feel a little ashamed, to be honest. My ancestors managed to survive and reproduce through ALL OF THAT, and I can't because of some social anxiety? It's a little sobering, for me at least.

silicon2401 5y ago
To be fair, it's a complicated issue. Maybe not every single one of your ancestors was suffering; as far as we know maybe you had nobility 3000 years ago who lived like gods. Similarly, perhaps you're living through things that they would find it incredibly difficult to go through. Lastly, to this point > My ancestors managed to survive and reproduce through ALL OF THAT, and I can't The bar is very low. All you know is that your ancestors all lived long enough to reproduce, and then reproduced. It's not difficult to pass that bar today with means that were available back then: alcohol, patience, effort, luck for example (and that even leaves out the darker ways that reproduction happens, which happens more than people like to talk about). If it's something you want (and related to a base instinct like eating and using the bathroom), it's doable. Join a church or other such community and you may even find people going out of their way to help you reproduce.
- ravenstine 5y ago
  Suffering is also a weird thing. If we were able to ask our distant ancestors whether they were suffering, they would probably give us a blank stare. Perhaps in not all cases, but much of what humans normally had to go through is what a modern human would consider suffering. That's not to say they didn't suffer by our standard, but perhaps they didn't see it that way. Someday future humans may wonder how we made it through all the "suffering" we go through now because of the consequences of technology, but with our frame of reference this is the best of times. It's hard to imagine how our ancestors were able to deal with their turmoil, but that viewpoint only makes sense from a modern one.

silicon2401 5y ago

To be fair, it's a complicated issue. Maybe not every single one of your ancestors was suffering; as far as we know maybe you had nobility 3000 years ago who lived like gods. Similarly, perhaps you're living through things that they would find it incredibly difficult to go through. Lastly, to this point > My ancestors managed to survive and reproduce through ALL OF THAT, and I can't The bar is very low. All you know is that your ancestors all lived long enough to reproduce, and then reproduced. It's not difficult to pass that bar today with means that were available back then: alcohol, patience, effort, luck for example (and that even leaves out the darker ways that reproduction happens, which happens more than people like to talk about). If it's something you want (and related to a base instinct like eating and using the bathroom), it's doable. Join a church or other such community and you may even find people going out of their way to help you reproduce.

ravenstine 5y ago
Suffering is also a weird thing. If we were able to ask our distant ancestors whether they were suffering, they would probably give us a blank stare. Perhaps in not all cases, but much of what humans normally had to go through is what a modern human would consider suffering. That's not to say they didn't suffer by our standard, but perhaps they didn't see it that way. Someday future humans may wonder how we made it through all the "suffering" we go through now because of the consequences of technology, but with our frame of reference this is the best of times. It's hard to imagine how our ancestors were able to deal with their turmoil, but that viewpoint only makes sense from a modern one.