# Humanity is regressing?



## STech (Jun 7, 2016)

I didn't want to take away from the Cheer Up thread (which I think is a great idea), but I couldn't help and wonder about the general notion that the world is becoming a more violent and inhospitable place. Is it really the case? Stop and think about it for a bit.

- Was everyone neighbourly and super helpful to one another in the middle ages, or was theft, murder, and pillaging common place? Were there social programs to help feed the hungry? Or did kings eat like kings and the peasants starved? How well did they treat disabled people? 

- Is there more peace in the world now, or during the 2 world wars?

- Did America welcome immigrants a 100 years ago with wide open arms?

- We tend to think kids are more promiscuous these days, but is that true, or did promiscuity hit a peak with the hippies?

- Is there more racism in Canada or the US now, or during slavery? Or as even more recent like the 50s and 60s?

- Middle east problems of the 70s and 80s anyone? How about the IRA in the UK?

- Were cavemen gentler and kinder to one to another?


Just some random thoughts, but like I said, sit back and think for a second. Are we really de-evolving, or is it the hyper connectivity that makes us find out instantly about a fatal robbery 4,000 KMs away from we live? Obviously the population is increasing, so incidents will increase proportionally, but would you rather live in today's world, or 100 years ago? Cyber bullying is a new age phenomena, but were kids never bullied back in the day?


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## CalgaryPotato (Mar 7, 2015)

I think overall humanity is progressing. Those are great examples of ways that today is a lot better than previous times even though everything is far from perfect.

The media has gradually evolved from being a source of news to a source of entertainment. We don't watch 24/7 news channels unless we think there is a crisis, so everything is a crisis now. And then with social media, bad news travels much faster. In the past we may have not known about an event until the evening news or the morning paper, (or later if across the world) but now we are bombarded that by the time the next days paper comes out, it seems like old news.


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

It could be more of a hypersensitivity these days.

For example, when I was growing up, bullying usually meant physical violence, today it can mean someone verbally disagreeing with you.

Racism was about hating a race, now it can be any statement about another race which isn't positive (maybe this statement is even racist?). 

Making a statement about "not being fit" now means you are criticizing people for being fat, when body shape/mass has nothing to do with fitness (I know many "fat" linemen in football who are in great shape). 

I also remember when you could support a cause, without visually supporting a cause...for example it was pink shirt day a few days ago. Some people accused people of supporting bullying because they didn't wear a pink shirt... the same thing happens when people don't wear the various ribbons, etc.

I also notice the media goes out of its way to find "like stories" about the latest headlines, making the sensational seem commonplace (anyone remember all the reports about school shootings after columbine? The news media was scourging up articles from Africa, and war zones all over the world to show "copycat" type shootings). 

After 911, the us government has been constantly broadcasting the terror threat levels, which never go down to "safe" levels...easier to rule by fear.

Same with natural disasters. Every time a rare one hits, catching people off guard, all subsequent chances of a repeat (meaning every slight weather change) hits the news as a weather alert or warning.

When I was growing up, my parents taught me to now willingly give people "power" over me, today we seem to be teaching people that they are all victims. 

People are still herd animals and act and react up of fear. Of course, we don't like to admit that and prefer to think we're more "evolved". Our actions though can't hide the facts, so we look like we're devolving when we haven't actually evolved much in the first place.


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## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

@STech:

there appears to be a certain bias in the way you are formulating your questions. For example, you say:



> - Was everyone neighbourly and super helpful to one another in the middle ages, or was theft, murder, and pillaging common place?
> 
> - Is there more peace in the world now, or during the 2 world wars?


Well, there was more pillaging and murder during the 2 world wars than during any time in the Middle Ages, certainly in terms of the absolute numbers but very likely in relative terms too. And the 2 world wars occurred after the Middle Ages. What does that tell us?



> - Did America welcome immigrants a 100 years ago with wide open arms?


In the early 20th century "America" was accepting about 1 million immigrants per year. Much higher rate than today, especially if you consider population at that time. From mid 1920s the answer to your question would depend on the national origin of the immigrant. Mexicans could immigrate without any restrictions whatsoever. People from Asian countries couldn't immigrate at all. 

The reality is that backwards steps have occurred quite regularly in human history. Europe regressed in the 1000 years from the first century. North Africa is more backward today than it was just half a century ago.


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## tygrus (Mar 13, 2012)

Its not that we are regressing at all, its just that after thousands of years of progress we still light years behind where we could be as a species. Thats so depressing. When I think what we could accomplish and are still stuck in tribal conflicts, corruption and wasting time on religious ideology I shed a tear. We could be so much more.


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## STech (Jun 7, 2016)

mordko said:


> @STech:
> 
> there appears to be a certain bias in the way you are formulating your questions. For example, you say:


How so? Please elaborate if you can. I am curious, and I wasn't intentionally leaning towards anything, but those were just random thoughts about everyone remincing about the "good old days". Otherwise I agree with you and Calgary Potato, in that overall we're progressing even though some regions might not be. Or we could be taking one step back, and 2 forward, but I totally disagree that we're going backwards all together. And like JAG said, it's probably just the hypersensitivity coupled with hyper-connectivity. 







tygrus said:


> When I think what we could accomplish and are still stuck in tribal conflicts, corruption and wasting time on religious ideology I shed a tear. We could be so much more.


AMEN.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

In most ways we are much better off, but there are still some things that have to be worked out.

Political correctness became the word for replacing "manners" and it was a good premise, but as always some people take it to the limit and tarnish a good concept. Then there is a backlash and it all gets sorted out.

I view Muslim radicalism as a part of history. It will peak and fade away as such things do.

Iran and North Korea are problems, but not end of the world kind of problems yet.

Russia with Putin in charge is a problem, because of his vision of rising Russian power. China is more amenable to reason, trustworthy and engaged in the world, but they do have their own world view of protecting their own backyard. The Chinese still remember the Rape of Nanking in 1937, when the Japanese invaded the Chinese capital and murdered 300,000 of the 600,000 people living there.

Cllmate change is happening and will be expensive to provide solutions. But it is long term and humans will hopefully adapt.

The one thing where I believe we are going to end up in problems is the huge and growing wealth disparity.

A minute number of families own most of the assets and robotics and technology will acquire them more wealth, leaving a lot of people unemployable and wondering how they will survive.

This is what causes complete societal collapses, and it needs to be addressed as Brexit and Trumpism may be the canaries in the coal mine.


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## new dog (Jun 21, 2016)

In the old days it was tougher and you had to stand up for yourself and provide for yourself and your family. Communities tended to work together more to overcome problems. Today we are better on the bullying side and technology has certainly freed us up.

If there is a disaster like a power outage or a sun flare or something that puts the power out long term, we would find out how far we really have advanced. Would communities come together or will we devolve into a mad max world.


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## olivaw (Nov 21, 2010)

The world is definitely a far better place than it was a hundred or a thousand years ago. For most of us, it is a better place than it was 20 years ago. 

It's far from perfect. Intolerance and prejudice persist. Governments, groups and individuals have access to awesome destructive power and some are willing to use them indiscriminately. Despite progress, world wealth disparity continues to exist.he U.N. didn't fulfill our best hopes for it. The Internet didn't usher in the peaceful global village that was expected, instead we got spam, bots, trolls and nastiness. 

But we've made progress, even if we have a long way to go.


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

> North Africa is more backward today than it was just half a century ago.


 South Africa is backward much more and every one knows why


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

> For most of us, it is a better place than it was 20 years ago


 Don't agree


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

Is humanity regressing? .....'course it is...to the lowest common denominator...just look around you...and 'social media' is to blame...


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## Haligonian (Nov 3, 2012)

STech said:


> I didn't want to take away from the Cheer Up thread (which I think is a great idea), but I couldn't help and wonder about the general notion that the world is becoming a more violent and inhospitable place. Is it really the case? Stop and think about it for a bit.
> 
> Great observation and comment STech, but, I meant our more recent past. My comment from the Cheer Up thread was referring to how we as a society recently interact with each other. Sure life is much better than it was many years ago, but, it seems that hate crimes may be increasing lately to levels higher than they were a year or two ago. I don't know the statistics, just a general personal observation. Also, the name calling and bullying on the internet is disturbing and seems to be increasing. I think the Cheer Up thread was a great idea sending a positive message. Have a great weekend.


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## STech (Jun 7, 2016)

sags said:


> The one thing where I believe we are going to end up in problems is the huge and growing wealth disparity.



Ah ha, this is a pretty good point, and I agree with you that it's getting worse. This I believe is regression to the days of kings and lords on one side, and peasants on the other. Are we going to see major revolutions in our lifetime? It's certainly possible.



Haligonian said:


> Great observation and comment STech, but, I meant our more recent past. My comment from the Cheer Up thread was referring to how we as a society recently interact with each other. Sure life is much better than it was many years ago, but, it seems that hate crimes may be increasing lately to levels higher than they were a year or two ago. I don't know the statistics, just a general personal observation. Also, the name calling and bullying on the internet is disturbing and seems to be increasing. I think the Cheer Up thread was a great idea sending a positive message. Have a great weekend.



I think undoubtedly we'll always see peaks and valleys in crime sprees, but I believe (but could be wrong) that most stats show overall crime is down. And the internet has ushered in a brand new era of interaction and communication, however, keep in mind that mass adoption of the internet, even in advanced countries, still hasn't reached 20 years. Given the thousands of years of humans, 20 years is nothing. A very large part of the problem with the internet is that standards haven't been set yet, so unfortunately we're going through growing pains. I'm not trying to make excuses for the awful side of the internet, but I still don't think it's human regression.


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## wraphter (Sep 21, 2016)

The world got a peace bonus when the Cold War ended and the USSR collapsed. This was a great day for humanity. The evil of that barbaric ,totalitarian regime far surpasses anything that Western governments could implement. This lead to globalization ,the rise of the BRIC
countries and an increase in prosperity worldwide. 

Unfortunately in the last 8 years during the passive presidency of Barack Obama the world has become a more dangerous place and
the possibility of nuclear war has increased. The disintegration of regimes in MENA has impacted Europe and the US and led to an upsurge in the populist right . Russia, carrying on the ignoble tradition of the USSR, led by a belligerent ,cunning psychopath, has emerged 
to destabilize the international situation further. 

But there is grounds for optimism. Communication technology ,the internet, genomics leading to advances in personal medicine hold out the promise of a better tomorrow if we can get through the next 20 years.


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## lonewolf :) (Sep 13, 2016)

In order to survive man must think both positively & negatively to be able to examine ideas in their entirety weather good or evil & if true or false. The thinking of the masses cycles from optimism to pessimism with in cycles of cycles of various degrees. When optimism is high less chance of war, pessimism is high greater chance of war. True or false that's for you to decide.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

STech said:


> - Was everyone neighbourly and super helpful to one another in the middle ages, or was theft, murder, and pillaging common place? Were there social programs to help feed the hungry? Or did kings eat like kings and the peasants starved? How well did they treat disabled people?


^ ^ ^
NO, NO, NO, and disabled people were left to fend for themselves...beggars. 



> - Is there more peace in the world now, or during the 2 world wars?


I wouild have to answer that with a qualitative NO. Any peace these days is interrupted by the have-it-all going after the have nots because the "haves" control all the wealth. 
WWWIII? It has been predicted and may be triggered by events in the ME. 



> - Did America welcome immigrants a 100 years ago with wide open arms?


American has practiced racial discrimination for all the years they have been a country. The black population is from former slave colony "imports"
A blantant example of America's racial discrimation in 1939 were a boatload of Jews from Nazi Germany. 



> The MS St. Louis was a German ocean liner most notable for a single voyage in 1939, in which its captain, Gustav Schröder, tried to find homes for over 900 Jewish refugees from Germany. After they were denied entry to Cuba, the United States, and Canada, the refugees were finally accepted in various European countries, and historians have estimated that approximately a quarter of them died in death camps during World War II. The event was the subject of a 1974 book, Voyage of the Damned,


Hitler and the rest of his Nazis used this boatload of Jewish refugees as a test to see if there was ANY COUNTRY outside of Europe that cared enough to receive them as refugees...in the end, nobody wanted them, so the boat returned to Nazi Germany and this helped to the Nazi progroms of extermination.

Nobody wanted these refugees, and nobody stood up to Hitler until it was too late when he invaded Poland on Sept 1, 1939. This was a tremendous mistake attributed to the
" free world" of the time...resulting in the (overall) deaths of 80 MILLION people estimated in Europe (military and civilian combined) and more in the Pacific where the Japanese got murdered and enslaved MILLIONS. 
What was the true cost to humanities progress from the second world war? 



> - We tend to think kids are more promiscuous these days, but is that true, or did promiscuity hit a peak with the hippies?


it's always been there in the background,the hippies just brought it out into the open for everyone to see.


> - Is there more racism in Canada or the US now, or during slavery? Or as even more recent like the 50s and 60s?


Racism has always been there in the background in Canada..the Ukranian/Russian early settlers were targeted and certainly after many refugees immigrated from war torn Europe in 1946-early 50s.



> - Middle east problems of the 70s and 80s anyone? How about the IRA in the UK?
> 
> - Were cavemen gentler and kinder to one to another?


ME problems have been there for centuries..but it got accentuated with the division of the former Palestine to be recreated into the autonomous state of Israel in 1949. 
Since then it's been a see-saw battleground between Jews and Arabs, both laying claim to that vital piece of land. 

Caveman were just skull bashing "riff-raff" humans that enjoyed doing what they did best. Fighting others for control.

of course CARVERMAN...is a refined 'riff-raff" version of the early cave dwellers.....and very gentle to everyone on this forum too....



> Just some random thoughts, but like I said, sit back and think for a second. Are we really de-evolving, or is it the hyper connectivity that makes us find out instantly about a fatal robbery 4,000 KMs away from we live? Obviously the population is increasing, so incidents will increase proportionally, *but would you rather live in today's world, or 100 years ago?* Cyber bullying is a new age phenomena, but were kids never bullied back in the day?


Kids were bullied when I went to "skool back in the 50s'. Of course we didn't have the modern day inventions we have now such as iPhones where everyone can take selfies of themselves posing naked and distributing these images on Facebook, nor being able to multi-task texting while driving, smart tvs and computer...and credit cards where we can buy as much "stuff"....as we don't need.... and pay later for it...or maybe not. 

In the "old days" say 70 years ago in the 50s, you had to go out and actually do some physical work to earn some money not apply for social assistance because YOU CAN!
So it is debateable whether we are progressing..or regressing due to changing values.


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## wraphter (Sep 21, 2016)

> We tend to think kids are more promiscuous these days, but is that true, or did promiscuity hit a peak with the hippies?


The sixties reaction to the uptight fifties was very deep and profound. 
The sixties increase in sexuality may have been induced by the advent of an oral contraceptive in 1960. The move to legalize abortion
was also important. At the same time there was the success of feminism and gay rights. These movements had a profound effect upon society.
Sex became decoupled from reproduction. The fertility rate dropped below replacement in the West but not in the Muslim Middle East.
As a result of this low fertility rate Canada now doesn't have enough workers to pay taxes to fund the social safety net--medicare,pensions and the like.

So now Canada and other developed countries must increase immigration to fund our social programs. This has created profound problems
as the original inhabitants and the newcomers get into conflict.

The society that Osama bin Laden attacked in 2001 was a thoroughly feminized one, scarcely able to defend itself.


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## STech (Jun 7, 2016)

wraphter said:


> The society that Osama bin Laden attacked in 2001 was a thoroughly feminized one, scarcely able to defend itself.



Ummm, excuse me? You mean the United States of America? 



The same USA with the most advanced, and most capable military in human history?


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## wraphter (Sep 21, 2016)

STech said:


> The same USA with the most advanced, and most capable military in human history?


I take it you don't approve of the US military and its mission to provide stability in the world ? 

Is it not possible that feminism and a pre-occupation with individual self-actualization can exist alongside patriotism and a strong military?

There was always political conflict in the US and there still is.

The military was in disrepute because of the loss in Vietnam, for one thing.

Bush went to Ground Zero and holding a megaphone said the world will soon hear from the US.
Then he invaded Afghanistan.

What would Obama have done? Probably given a speech cautioning not to blame Muslims and gone to the UN to form a committee to look into it.
He was incapable of invading a Muslim country.

A couple of times Obama said terrorism was not an existential threat to the US. (So bring on those Muslim immigrants)


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## SMK (Dec 10, 2015)

STech said:


> - We tend to think kids are more promiscuous these days, but is that true, or did promiscuity hit a peak with the hippies?


It's true, but not just from kids. There are also plenty of "promiscuous prudes" of all ages. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/19/a-nation-of-promiscuous-prudes/


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## STech (Jun 7, 2016)

wraphter said:


> I take it you don't approve of the US military and its mission to provide stability in the world ?



Why are you trying to look for something between the lines that doesn't exist? And going off the rails so easily.

I was gobsmacked by your comment. Who in their right mind would classify the mighty American military, or America as whole, as thoroughly feminized, and scarcely able to defend itself?


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## wraphter (Sep 21, 2016)

STech said:


> Why are you trying to look for something between the lines that doesn't exist? And going off the rails so easily.
> 
> I was gobsmacked by your comment. Who in their right mind would classify the mighty American military, or America as whole, as thoroughly feminized, and scarcely able to defend itself?


So you didn't answer my question regarding your attitude towards the American military. i am guessing you are against the military but I
am not sure. 

It is possible for two or more trends to exist at the same time and be in conflict. Undoubtedly a large portion of the US population and their values could be classified as effete, especially as compared to the strict,masculine,anti-female monotheism of Osama. In his version of Islam, women know their place. 



> Characterized by extreme refinement or self-indulgence, often to the point of unworldiness or decadence: "the effete taste of people surfeited with expensive comforts" (R.P.T. Davenport-Hines).
> b. Having or reflecting an attitude of social superiority; pretentious or snobbish: "Throughout its amateur era tennis was a country club sport, denigrated as elitist and effete" (Stuart Miller).
> 2. Depleted of vitality, force, or effectiveness; exhausted: the effete monarchies of Europe.
> 3. Effeminate: "As a manly adventurer ... [


The US is scarcely able to defend itself from out of control immigration and now its democratic institutions have been
compromised by cyberhacking. It is daily becoming more dysfunctional,enemies within and without and hybrid war from Russia that have caused great confusion.


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