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Warning: Rant. There is indeed. Western culture has undergone a value shift. Today's values are superficial in the extreme - we value money, personality[1], an

Warning: Rant. There is indeed. Western culture has undergone a value shift. Today's values are superficial in the extreme - we value money, personality[1], and social status. We "want respect"[2], and don't want to be "judged"[3]. Most of all, we crave others' approval. The old values like integrity, honesty, empathy, conscientiouness and authenticity have been tossed aside. It's also the reason people like Arrington will maintain that status quo. This article does nothing to change that. People KNOW what's being done here. And yet people always go back for more, because of these new, superficial values. Who we hang with is much more important than what we do. The most amazing thing about it is that we value money over happiness. Just yesterday I read a post here that bemoaned guys with talent who don't deliver. Well, news flash. The guy with talent that doesn't turn his talent into something tangible is invariably happier than the guy who does. The number one regret of old people is having worked too much. This value shift is a result of fear. Of a lack of confidence. If you can go through life without needing others' approval (looking at you, Mssrs Arrington, Siegler, Carr, and Lacy) you're free to be happy. And content. Ever seen The Big Country with Gregory Peck? That guy was a role model worth modelling. [1] That word is so out of place. Everybody has a personality. [2] Respect is earnt, not given. If I "dis" someone it's because said someone hasn't done anything to earn my respect. [3] The human brain protects itself from overload by filtering value from noise. We categorise what's left. That means judging people, every day, every time we meet someone new. It's what we do. We can't not do it.

rmc 15y ago
Western culture has undergone a value shift. Today's values are superficial in the extreme - we value money, personality[1], and social status. We "want respect"[2], and don't want to be "judged"[3]. Most of all, we crave others' approval. The old values like integrity, honesty, empathy, conscientiouness and authenticity have been tossed aside. This is not a new idea. In the year ~ 100 AD the Roman poet Juvenal wrote: Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses This attitude that "Everyone was great and hard working in the past, but now everyone's superficial" is common enough.
- Terretta 15y ago
  How'd that Roman Empire turn out for them, once they got their bread and circuses? When claiming that this "fall of civilisation" talk is always around, I'm not sure drawing comparisons to the era leading to the fall of Rome is really bolstering your case. Quite the opposite.
  - arnsholt 15y ago
    For one thing, Juvenal was several centuries before the fall of Rome. The sack of Rome by the Goths was in 476. Second, this kind of rhetoric is more or less ubiquitous, just like the "the youth of today don't respect their elders" line.
    - jdminhbg 15y ago
      Minor historical correction: The Goths sacked Rome in 410. 476 marks the date that Odoacer deposed the emperor Romulus Augustulus and didn't claim the throne or try to prop up a different emperor.
  - rmc 15y ago
    How'd that Roman Empire turn out for them, once they got their bread and circuses? Pretty good. They were the major military power for a few hundred more years, and they had a massive influence on the language, cultural and law of the area for ~2,000 years.
nollidge 15y ago
> Western culture has undergone a value shift. Citation needed. I agree with the rest of your cultural critique, but I doubt very much that it's ever not been like that. It often seems we humans make progress in spite of ourselves.
kls 15y ago
Good post and good observations, I am old enough to remember some of the shift. Things where a lot different when I was young, while they where already in motion there has definitely been a shift. The old values like integrity, honesty, empathy, conscientiouness and authenticity have been tossed aside. This is very true, a person used to be respected for these values, while there have always been crooks and creeps the majority of the populous held people with these virtues with regard. Now they are seen as antiquated, old fashion and Victorian. It now seems that they have been replaced with rude for rude's sake and controversial for controversy's sake. Further much of the information is devoid of any value, the subject of this post can be held out as an example a bunch of reporters running around writing opinionated gossip. Sadly this cultural shift seems to be going global, and I don't understand the basic human desire for it to, it is not like western culture is happier if anything we are becoming a more and more miserable lot. Why someone would want to model it without improving on it is beyond me.

rmc 15y ago

Western culture has undergone a value shift. Today's values are superficial in the extreme - we value money, personality[1], and social status. We "want respect"[2], and don't want to be "judged"[3]. Most of all, we crave others' approval. The old values like integrity, honesty, empathy, conscientiouness and authenticity have been tossed aside. This is not a new idea. In the year ~ 100 AD the Roman poet Juvenal wrote: Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses This attitude that "Everyone was great and hard working in the past, but now everyone's superficial" is common enough.

Terretta 15y ago
How'd that Roman Empire turn out for them, once they got their bread and circuses? When claiming that this "fall of civilisation" talk is always around, I'm not sure drawing comparisons to the era leading to the fall of Rome is really bolstering your case. Quite the opposite.
- arnsholt 15y ago
  For one thing, Juvenal was several centuries before the fall of Rome. The sack of Rome by the Goths was in 476. Second, this kind of rhetoric is more or less ubiquitous, just like the "the youth of today don't respect their elders" line.
  - jdminhbg 15y ago
    Minor historical correction: The Goths sacked Rome in 410. 476 marks the date that Odoacer deposed the emperor Romulus Augustulus and didn't claim the throne or try to prop up a different emperor.
- rmc 15y ago
  How'd that Roman Empire turn out for them, once they got their bread and circuses? Pretty good. They were the major military power for a few hundred more years, and they had a massive influence on the language, cultural and law of the area for ~2,000 years.

nollidge 15y ago

> Western culture has undergone a value shift. Citation needed. I agree with the rest of your cultural critique, but I doubt very much that it's ever not been like that. It often seems we humans make progress in spite of ourselves.

kls 15y ago

Good post and good observations, I am old enough to remember some of the shift. Things where a lot different when I was young, while they where already in motion there has definitely been a shift. The old values like integrity, honesty, empathy, conscientiouness and authenticity have been tossed aside. This is very true, a person used to be respected for these values, while there have always been crooks and creeps the majority of the populous held people with these virtues with regard. Now they are seen as antiquated, old fashion and Victorian. It now seems that they have been replaced with rude for rude's sake and controversial for controversy's sake. Further much of the information is devoid of any value, the subject of this post can be held out as an example a bunch of reporters running around writing opinionated gossip. Sadly this cultural shift seems to be going global, and I don't understand the basic human desire for it to, it is not like western culture is happier if anything we are becoming a more and more miserable lot. Why someone would want to model it without improving on it is beyond me.