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This is a common and ridiculous take, that could only be seriously proposed if one totally is ignorant of history. The burning-down-ness however measured has be

This is a common and ridiculous take, that could only be seriously proposed if one totally is ignorant of history. The burning-down-ness however measured has been as high and worse many times in many places. I mean, your great grand parents lived through the Great Depression and WW2. Obviously, the issue isn't more burning-down-ness today, but rather, the fact that many people feel that way is itself a symptom of a cultural problem, maybe driven by media/technology pushing the most controversial, depressing arguments possible, since that's what drives clicks and ad impressions.

qarl 3y ago
Hm. As far as I'm aware, we did not have the technology to destroy the world back in WW2 or the Great Depression. Today, we have several avenues to destroy the entire world, including one that is merely incidental. And we continue to develop more. So no, I don't believe it is a ridiculous take. I believe your denial is the ridiculous (and naive) perspective.
- galdosdi 3y ago
  1) Maybe not "the" world as currently defined, but certainly _your_ world, ie your entire city or country, in a time in which it was hard to escape from or imagine much outside of that. So subjectively I don't see how I (or even my family or community) am/are much worse off than a Pompeiian. 1b) I can tell you are not very well aware of previous environmental catastrophes. There's historical evidence they've happened before, including in the Roman empire. 2) Nuclear weapons were first used in 1945. The big drop in mental health happened around 2012. Uncorrelated. 3) I'm not in denial because I haven't denied any _objective_ reality. The problems are real and they deserve equally real action, just as previous historical problems did. But our subjective _feelings_ about them are out of proportion. You just spend too much time reading about these problems -- and not enough time actually doing anything about them. That's why you're so depressed, yet nothing gets better. I'm not in denial, I'm not saying things don't need to get better. But wallowing and ruminating does not help anything get better, it's just pointless self-harm that's temporarily been normalized because we're in a weird cultural moment where big tech has rapidly able to colonize our culture for the sake of clicks and eyeballs. 4) I mean, considering how debilitating the "the world is ending so nothing matters" philosophy is, even if it's correct, absent total extinction, it will be selected out pretty quickly as most of the subscribers to the philosophy avoid reproducing. Or to put it another way, raising kids is inherently an act of radical hope, making that hope an inherently transmissible characteristic. 5) I really don't see how any of us are supposed to be able to successfully take action to contribute in any way large or small to fix the world or prevent the problems you worry about, if we're too busy being depressed about being hopeless about it.
  - qarl 3y ago
    LOL. You're definitely in denial. You have no idea what I do but here you are telling me all about it. That's very rational behavior. We can destroy the world in multiple ways, we continue to develop more, and many people are justifiably horrified by it. You're absolutely right, tho, the ones who are in denial will definitely not be upset about it. Congratulations.

qarl 3y ago

Hm. As far as I'm aware, we did not have the technology to destroy the world back in WW2 or the Great Depression. Today, we have several avenues to destroy the entire world, including one that is merely incidental. And we continue to develop more. So no, I don't believe it is a ridiculous take. I believe your denial is the ridiculous (and naive) perspective.

galdosdi 3y ago
1) Maybe not "the" world as currently defined, but certainly _your_ world, ie your entire city or country, in a time in which it was hard to escape from or imagine much outside of that. So subjectively I don't see how I (or even my family or community) am/are much worse off than a Pompeiian. 1b) I can tell you are not very well aware of previous environmental catastrophes. There's historical evidence they've happened before, including in the Roman empire. 2) Nuclear weapons were first used in 1945. The big drop in mental health happened around 2012. Uncorrelated. 3) I'm not in denial because I haven't denied any _objective_ reality. The problems are real and they deserve equally real action, just as previous historical problems did. But our subjective _feelings_ about them are out of proportion. You just spend too much time reading about these problems -- and not enough time actually doing anything about them. That's why you're so depressed, yet nothing gets better. I'm not in denial, I'm not saying things don't need to get better. But wallowing and ruminating does not help anything get better, it's just pointless self-harm that's temporarily been normalized because we're in a weird cultural moment where big tech has rapidly able to colonize our culture for the sake of clicks and eyeballs. 4) I mean, considering how debilitating the "the world is ending so nothing matters" philosophy is, even if it's correct, absent total extinction, it will be selected out pretty quickly as most of the subscribers to the philosophy avoid reproducing. Or to put it another way, raising kids is inherently an act of radical hope, making that hope an inherently transmissible characteristic. 5) I really don't see how any of us are supposed to be able to successfully take action to contribute in any way large or small to fix the world or prevent the problems you worry about, if we're too busy being depressed about being hopeless about it.
- qarl 3y ago
  LOL. You're definitely in denial. You have no idea what I do but here you are telling me all about it. That's very rational behavior. We can destroy the world in multiple ways, we continue to develop more, and many people are justifiably horrified by it. You're absolutely right, tho, the ones who are in denial will definitely not be upset about it. Congratulations.