Discussion
Are You Noticing This?
kaffekaka: I am sure it is really a spectrum but sometimes it seems there are two kinds of people: those that sympathize with the kind of thinking the blog post describes, and those that find it insufferable.
boomlinde: Bad title
jiggawatts: > none of them ever opened a fridge and cracked open a cold drink on a hot day.Iced drinks have been a thing for millenia.In Europe they'd cut blocks of ice from glaciers or simply high mountains and cart them down to the cities covered in hay for insulation.
simianwords: Insufferable are those who legitimately think that everything in the world is "enshittified" and we had it so good in the past only for the elite people (bad) to ruin every thing. I'm not exaggerating - this is foundationally what many think.This is such a common trope that you can see it everywhere. "Do you remember how the internet was in the 2000s??? with AOL and IRC??".
Frieren: > For all the things it is easy to lament about the world, it’s disputable that we live in a time of abundance, medicine, knowledge, and opportunityI do not think that for the west the problem is a lack of technology but a lack of opportunities.When all growth goes to the top .1% the rest are left disfranchisement. Countries go to war without citizens consent, companies change contracts by sending a simple email and without recourse, draconian surveillance and break of privacy is accepted with a click... people does not just need food and entertainment, we need to be part of society and have a say on it. Inequality has removed that possibility.We crave freedom and power to change things. Currently, our only freedom is to accept what we are offered or to get nothing.A better world is possible, unionizing, collective agreements, more accountability from our political representatives, split powerful monopolies...I like my phone and my computer. I like good movies and video games. But I need to be able to participate in society as an active actor not just as a puppet for the powerful.
simianwords: the level of agency you have in the way your country works is better now than ever before.
keiferski: I guess I must be in the first group, because I can’t really understand how someone would find it insufferable. It’s basically just telling you not to be cynical about everything, and to notice that some things do indeed get better.It reminded me of wabi-sabi, which essentially says you should appreciate the imperfection and impermanence of things.
borski: I think what you're describing are those who are able to learn to be present, versus those who are cynical. I also think there are more than just those two kinds of people in the world; it is far, far more varied than just this binary, so I agree it's a spectrum.In general, though, I find cynical people insufferable, because they find everything insufferable.
Frieren: Depending on timescale. If you mean it is better than 200 years ago I agree. If you mean better than 20-40 years ago lets say that it is debatable.But if we go onto larger scales it flips again. Before the rise of cities, smaller societies allowed for a more involved social participation. I doubt that live was better back then, but labor was dependent mostly on one self and immediate family and neighbors. So, autonomy was higher even if the rest of parameters for well being were worst.
simianwords: any evidence of this?
