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As much as I admire the golden age of science, I'm always skeptical of the idea that the past is something to revere. Society as a whole is much better than it

As much as I admire the golden age of science, I'm always skeptical of the idea that the past is something to revere. Society as a whole is much better than it ever has been by almost any metric: literacy, life expectancy, human rights, equality, technological advancement, and so on. I agree we should not forget the accomplishments of our predecessors. Yet I also think it's a fallacy to think that means we should try to model our society on the past. Even if those "top men" were alive and guiding society, I doubt they would be able to solve our problems.

UweSchmidt 4y ago
Maybe we are just stumbling forward, perpetuating processes introduced earlier? Walking on decaying roads the Romans built, after they left. Science has severe issues, and life expectancy is decreasing in the US. To be fair, there is a lot of progress going on these days, but even if there was none - there would be all kinds of "growth" to be squeezed out of what the giants before us built. The internet can still bring a lot more of that "literacy" to the world. But you can't deny the diminished optimism about technology, and the future in general. We can't get Fusion, we can't get quantum computing, we won't have a base on the moon, expensive physics experiments find nothing practial.
tgv 4y ago
> I'm always skeptical of the idea that the past is something to revere. Society as a whole is much better than it ever has been You could just as well argue that that's because of the golden age of science. The past is not something to be revered by definition, but there definitely are achievements that deserve our respect. And we might not be as good at keeping society in its current state as one would hope.
Invictus0 4y ago
We may as well choose some metrics to disprove this notion that "society is better than it has ever been": * Quantity of school shootings * Respect for science, scientists, and scientific institutions * Rates of mental illness * Severity of natural disasters I believe all of these things have gotten worse over time.
tsimionescu 4y ago
> Society as a whole is much better than it ever has been by almost any metric: literacy, life expectancy, human rights, equality, technological advancement, and so on. Sure, if you ignore the imminent climate catastrophe, fueled by the same engines powering most of the other advancements. And the increasing income inequality that is blowing major winds in the sails of fascism in Europe and the USA. And the looming threat of nuclear war as tensions between NATO and Russia are at a 50 year high. > Yet I also think it's a fallacy to think that means we should try to model our society on the past. Even if those "top men" were alive and guiding society, I doubt they would be able to solve our problems. This part I do agree with 100%.

UweSchmidt 4y ago

Maybe we are just stumbling forward, perpetuating processes introduced earlier? Walking on decaying roads the Romans built, after they left. Science has severe issues, and life expectancy is decreasing in the US. To be fair, there is a lot of progress going on these days, but even if there was none - there would be all kinds of "growth" to be squeezed out of what the giants before us built. The internet can still bring a lot more of that "literacy" to the world. But you can't deny the diminished optimism about technology, and the future in general. We can't get Fusion, we can't get quantum computing, we won't have a base on the moon, expensive physics experiments find nothing practial.

tgv 4y ago

> I'm always skeptical of the idea that the past is something to revere. Society as a whole is much better than it ever has been You could just as well argue that that's because of the golden age of science. The past is not something to be revered by definition, but there definitely are achievements that deserve our respect. And we might not be as good at keeping society in its current state as one would hope.

Invictus0 4y ago

We may as well choose some metrics to disprove this notion that "society is better than it has ever been": * Quantity of school shootings * Respect for science, scientists, and scientific institutions * Rates of mental illness * Severity of natural disasters I believe all of these things have gotten worse over time.

tsimionescu 4y ago

> Society as a whole is much better than it ever has been by almost any metric: literacy, life expectancy, human rights, equality, technological advancement, and so on. Sure, if you ignore the imminent climate catastrophe, fueled by the same engines powering most of the other advancements. And the increasing income inequality that is blowing major winds in the sails of fascism in Europe and the USA. And the looming threat of nuclear war as tensions between NATO and Russia are at a 50 year high. > Yet I also think it's a fallacy to think that means we should try to model our society on the past. Even if those "top men" were alive and guiding society, I doubt they would be able to solve our problems. This part I do agree with 100%.