One of my father's favorite phases was "The Good Old Days, weren't". When other his age would wax nostalgic about the simpler pleasures of their common childhood and say thing like "Remember when you could ride your bike into town and see a movie for a nickel?", he would respond with "Remember polio?"
That and at least by the time of the 20th century most children were actively shielded from a lot of the worst aspects of the time of their childhood giving them very little reference for just how bad it was.
@@aubreyleonae4108 Make America Great again to most people means going back to a time when it was ok to oppress minorities so they don't have to worry about being politically correct. For others it means a time when America was the factory of the World and you could get a low skill labor job that required no training. So it is appealing to a lot of people even though they know it is an empty promise because it is impossible to bring back those jobs because they were low paying and could not support someone in the costly living of the United Sates.
I actually wonder now, from reading your comment, if some rising numbers are a result of the pandemic. Many people had more time on their hands, which would allow to greater exposure to videos and such. Some of these videos and some information could be about how things could be better, or how to properly deal with certain issues, etc. Due to that, not only are some people potentially more brave, but they are less willing to put up with bs, and are more aware of what is and is not bologna. Could be reaching here, but it seems potential.
Unfortunately, the number of false accusations is rising also. A false accusation is certainly not worse than a rape, but the results can be devastating nonetheless.
@@user-ek9hg3ip9hyes if only maga would be as harsh on all accuse Rapists as they are in enforcing children having babies, their insistence women carrying dead fetuses to the women's demise etc. But Cruelity to Women is the Point with maga Monsters...
Majority of rapists are men and society failed men so are you really surprised? When men stay sellibate their whole life because they did what society wanted them to do but they never had intercourse even tho it's a ntural human need there's bound to be consequences like fetishes and loss of control arising.
@@nerychristian Often, I'll take my pupils down a certain road. At the end are 2 white houses and I ask them how much they reckon a mate of mine's parents paid for one of them in the late 60s. I've only had one person get it right (£2k). I got it right, but I had the benefit of knowing what my mum paid for a slightly smaller one in the late 70s. If house prices had gone up at the same rate as the _average_ salary, that house would cost about £100k today. People in the 70s complained about inflation, but salaries tripled over that decade. Over the last decade salaries have taken a slight dip, but in Germany they've increased by about 27% and in France by 34%. I watched a documentary and few years ago and house prices had gone up 93,000% since the queen was coronated (I think it was coronated, not born). 2 or 3 years ago a local newspaper said that in order to buy _anywhere_ in the neighbouring county, one would have to earn £70 per hour. I've long said that house prices are too important to be left to the vagaries of a "free" market economy. One person I argued with complained that rent controls resulted in fewer rental properties being on the market. I suggested that this was down to landlords being greedy, but asked him if he thought it was another mechanism, but he never got back to me. No one should be allowed to own more than 2 domestic properties, that would have served to keep prices a bit lower.
Some idiots have whined that they can't afford to pay $15 per hour, but if that's the case, *then they DON'T have a business, they have an Institution of Exploitation.* There should be no such thing as a billionaire. No one works 20 times harder than average, no one is 20 times more intelligent than average, so why should anyone get more than 30 times the average (which is what CEOs in the 80s were often getting)? Anyone who can't live on that, or believes that they're "worth" more has got serious problems. If you start a business and take a risk, you deserve more than average. If you take time and have the intelligence to qualify as a doctor, engineer, etc, you deserve more than average. If you've being doing your job for some time and are bloody good at it, you deserve more than average. If you've got a job that might not last that long (say a professional athlete), you deserve more than average. If you've got a job that might be inconsistent (such as being an actor), you deserve more than average. But the existence of billionaires isn't just damaging the economy and the environment, or "just" ruining the quality of life for literally billions, it's even undermining democracy. Someone wrote a song about them making a dime, the boss making a dollar, but if that were true of Amazon then every worker would a multimillionaire in a year.
I have pointed out, many times over the years, that society is a complex matrix. Before one of the previous elections, I was watching a news programme where they kept going to a pub with a wide variety of people in it, from local business owners to nurses to care home workers to a local billionaire. The care home workers complained about not getting paid enough and he turned to them and said, “don’t moan about not having enough money, do what I did and start a business.” Now do you know why this comment was either stupid or disingenuous, to say the least? It’s the *logical fallacy of composition.* For example, is you’re at a concert, and you get a better view of the performers by standing up, or standing near the front, that _only works for a few. If everyone did it then the benefits disappear._ Suppose everyone was capable of starting and running a business, and they all took his “advice”, what would happen? You wouldn’t be able to ring, email or skype anyone after a very short period of time, so good luck running a business without any communications. Most people would find it hard trying to run a business when they have to look after their children and elderly relatives, as no one would be teaching the children (there wouldn’t even be janitors making sure the basics of schools were working), and no one working in the care homes anymore. Good luck if you get into an accident, someone mugs you or your house catches fire, as there would be no paramedics, police or firemen to come and help you. Millions of people would die from dehydration. With no one to run power stations, pumping stations and the rest of the water system, there would be no tap water. With no one running petrol stations or fuel depots, let alone drive lorries, there would be no stocks of other fluids in the shops and, of course, no food shortly afterwards, so millions are going to die from starvation. There would be no one growing, harvesting, processing or packaging food. Roads would fall into disrepair, but that would happen long after anyone cared. *There is no such thing as a self-made millionaire or billionaire; they need TENS OF THOUSANDS of other people to HELP them, most of these people are poorly paid!* Now, even if you said, well, people could work in these jobs and then start a business, there's still nowhere near enough people to do the basic stuff and the intermediate and more highly qualified professions take time to learn and do well. Even for me to have the relatively nice life that I have takes thousands of people, around the world, many working in shitty conditions, for long hours.
The power of what we earn has gotten significantly less when it comes to meeting our needs than it used to be in the past, so the prosperity point I think should have been a hard No individually.
My solution to avoiding hedonic adaptation and being happy is partly to make sure I've got good finances, good health, good relationships and to work towards my goals. But perhaps more importantly, to regularly reflect on how good my life is, and how much worse it has been in the past.
But the government profits off of you being unhappy cause you don't need junk food to cope or antidepresants to limit depression when you're happy. That's why the government is trying to split us apart.
The interesting thing is that science says there are infinite dimensions and possibilities. Infinite x infinite leaves a lot of room for the possibilities of God-like beings.
@@FoulPet Which science says there are infinite dimensions? Even string theory and m-theory don't propose infinite Dimensions but a finite amount in the very low double-digit range and even these are just speculation because it can't be demonstrated. There's complex theoretical math that suggest it might be possible but, as far as I know, there is nothing yet in science to actually conclude that this is real.
My conservative friends constantly tell me how bad everything is getting, but when I ask "How's the environment doing?" they say "Just fine, no worries at all."
And they are right. Just look around you, I can clearly see the downfall of society, economy and so on, but our weather is still the same. You have been duped, time to accept it and go on.
My dad didn't believe me when I told him there was less violence and war(as in number of people directly affected by war as a percentage of the population) now than any other time in history. Even when I showed him the data he kept dissembling. Really goes to show how scary nostalgia can be.
Data honestly amounts for nothing in practice. For exemple, her in Brazil, over 50% of the state of Rio de Janeiro is already LITERALLY taken over by criminal gangs and drug cartels, militias etc like a parallel government. But truth be told? That’s as far as WE KNOW it. It’s definitely much, much more, because there are places where politicians and authorities are under those organizations that haven’t been exposed yet. Don’t believe every piece of data you read on the internet.
I appreciate the work and the sense of balance this episode. It is good to take a deep breath and realize all good we do have. However we can't lose sight that these gains are always under threat and that we still have much to do.
All Humans need to repent & Believe in Jesus. Why? Because all Humans have sinned (lied, lusted sexually, stolen, dishonoured parents etc). Avoid the fires of Hell (justice of God) and choose Heaven today. GOD IS HOLY
why can’t we just repent by focusing to better ourselves as people and having good morals? Why do we need to repent to your god? For fear of putting us in hell, so are you repenting because you regret your actions (harmful ones, not kissing a boy or something) or because you’re scared of gettiing put in hell? Which is better, if someone truly works on themselves as a person and recognizes what they did wrong Or someone who prays for forgiveness out of fear of hell? I realize these two aren’t exclusively mutual but I think we lean a lot towards one or the other
Society isn’t collapsing, the wealth gap is widening and people (in western countries for the most part) have lost their collective ability to improve living conditions.
@@urielpolak9949 it isn’t collapsing though, there is still society. It’s just instead of a general progression towards better living conditions like it has been since the renaissance there’s literal egomaniacs trying to live like gods while spending insane amounts of cash trying to divide populations for short term gains. Besides there have been general collapses in global living standards like the end of the Bronze Age and the conditions for that are entirely different. The only thing that could actually cause a societal collapse this day and age is if we lost a large amount of our infrastructure.
@@SumNutOnU2b no I’m saying that it’s not collapsing it’s becoming a different sort of society. More authoritarian in nature. In my opinion: The language “of collapsing” is to inspire a feeling of hopelessness so we continue to collectively ignore solutions.
Becoming more aware of a problem makes you feel like the problem is getting worse. I’ve experienced this in my own life and seen it in the world. Becoming more aware of your faults and caring enough to do something about it, is a painful experience. We have to acknowledge how much better we’ve gotten as time has gone on, AS PART OF continuing to make the world a better place
I think that the worst part about it is that neither side or any side in between has any practical or real Solutions everything boils down to they expect people to spontaneously do the right thing
@@RealAICCl actually there is a solution that has been proposed countless times and utterly ignored and shot down by the ruling class every time. Can you guess what I’m gonna say? - - - That’s right, it’s socialism!
@@ThreetwoOne-wu7ye Global warming is going to hit us big time, so what are we to do about it? Do you think it is still possible to avoid its worst effects? They are starting to say that the 1.5 C goal is dead... I do not believe that all of humanity will go extinct as a result of global warming, as surely once enough people have gone to make society collapse, the emissions will stop, and whoever is left alive in the habitable areas will have to make do with a more primitive existence. But, like darkmatter says in the video, most of us are far too reliant on civilisation for survival. No doubt a few scrappy, hardy individuals will make it out the other end, and it's likely there will be enough of them to keep up a robust human population. But global warming is not the only problem we face, not by a long shot. It is hard for me to accept the notion that society is not collapsing, even though darkmatter makes some excellent points. To me, it looks like we are in a death-spiral: climate change, nuclear war, AI, increased likelihood of disease pandemics due to globalisation. Can we survive all of these? I hope so. I intend to do all I can. But perhaps it is past time humanity was humbled.
"See a scattering of meaningless/random dots under a micro(ish)scope. To the naked eye, you can see how it adds up to make the picture as a whole.", paraphrase of alan watts.
My jaw dropped when you said that world population was only 2.3 billion during WW2. I knew population boomed, but I didn't realize HOW MUCH it boomed in the last century. That's crazy.
Also, modern medicine and technology halts natural selection in homo sapiens, so dumb people are living when they should have died and passing on their genes at a rate much higher than smart, educated, rational people.
The real reason lies in the developing/industrializing countries, where in a generation or two, healthcare pushed infant mortality rates down to single digits. In many of these cultures, it was the norm to have six or seven children, because a big family not only meant more hands and a bigger safety net for the parents, but it was also hedging your bets, because young children dying of polio and other diseases was the norm. By having more kids, you'll have a higher chance at least some of them survives and takes care of you when you grow old. The thing is, when vaccines and modern healthcare practices were introduced there, it didn't change the cultural norms, so families were still having half a dozen kids... except now all of them survived to adulthood to have half a dozen kids of their own, and then in a couple of decades, you have countries with billions of people living in them.
I think, there is one more point to consider: despite society having all the means and wealth to feed and house and school and medically care for everyone, many people are starving, homeless and lack access to education and medical care. For these people it is worse to have the cake in front of our eyes and not getting it while others have more than they can eat. I think inequality is higher than ever. And it is rubbed into our faces more than ever. And those who like me are literally starving, were literally enslaved, have no access to sufficient medical care , those are certainly worse off than before, and we are not helped by statistics that show that overall society is fine. We are not fine. We do not get the help we need while others next to us get more than they need. That makes it doubly terrible, not having the bare necessities the basic needs met, and on top of that being told all the time that we are living in the best times and should not complain and on top of that having to watch others having more than they can eat while we are litrally starving and dont get anything. Please add this aspect or make a video about it. the divide between the haves and the nothaves is certainly worse than ever and the not haves are by no means better off than in previous times, especially because in todays world with all its abundance, the nothaves could be easily fed but are left to starve etc.
This is the really disgusting part for me. On one hand more of us are living better by some metrics, but on the other hand, even the ones living well are beeing exploited more than they should in most of the world, and the rest are left to have little to nothing, and arent even given an oppertunity to earn their living. This is what i hate about conservative propaganda that frames homeless people as lazy people. Most people who dont have, they want to work, they want to just live normaly, but the systems in place just disreguard them. And all the whille, a hand full of bilionares are exctacting all of the riches in the world, and they then just own stuff, and they rent it out to the rest of us, and we are then expected to not only not complain, but to even be greatful for the wonderful opertunity to be overexploited or to starve to death. Idk if he has untill now or not, but if he hasnt, i think he definately should make some videos on this problem of alocating recurses in siciety and the bilionare cancer which is left to infest every sector of society. Im tired at the moment so ill cut this off here, but this is frankly an inexostable topic, and so there is much to say and to do Let me give ya an idea before i go tho Over the last half a year ive been collecting my research and long coments, in attempt to learn and revise myown views over time so that at some point i can make some anticapitalist political propaganda, be it on youtube or whare ever else You seem to have a pretty good style, so i recomend you do the same if you are so enclined at some point Just have your coments in a notebad on your phone or PC and categorise them per topic or whatever works for you The bilionares have funding and tbey fund media, think tanks, and online grifters to spread their manufactored propaganda But us regular people have the numbers, and as arrogant as it may sound, we havr the truth on our side, so we can make ourown propaganda But our propaganda will be aimed towards educating instead of misleading and repressing If we cant do much, then we can atleast gently show people a better way, or hopefully inspire them to learn and to try to make life better for their own comunities if nothing else Im not trying to put a burden on you, since you have yourown vision for your life This is just an idea that i think you could probably be good at based on reading your coment I myself find it hard to push myself to do cirtain things i find necessary, but all will be overcome in due time I wish you luck and health And i hope you have a good day
I just thought of something, and i wamt to ask Do you want to make maybe some reddit group or something like that and it can be about topics like thease, and the point is to spread awareness about things like this I cirtainly could use someone to fill in the gaps in my knowledge And i oftain find people in the coments who do just that And then i never talk to them again, and its pretty wierd, when it will be so much more advantageous to have a group on our side, just in general , not even for specific things, but especially today, given how so much revolves arouns social media Anyway, im off to sleep now
I think that in many areas of the world, certainly the western world, things are much more equal than was previously (last 100 years) the case, however, you do see everywhere the elimination of the middle class and all the wealth being accumulated by the top 1%. So the western world (especially the US) are seeing increased inequality which will eventually lead to increased political turmoil and violence.
Slaves are pretty common here in Africa, we just don't call them slaves... We call them ' domestic help' There's a neighbor I had that used her iron to burn her domestic help face but getting raped by her husband. I couldn't call the police because Nigerian police are corrupt but I called her mom. Her mom took her home the next day and the lady wasn't punished. Children are still being used as unpaid labor and you would see kids washing dishes in restaurants, running errands and working at construction sites ; the girls ( although mostly the north) are married out early so they can work in the farm instead of going to school. I really sound like I'm complaining now... I can't help but just see where my country should improve. We have so much places to go with rights , death rates and crimes ...
The situation here in South Africa also isn't as rosy as the American data in this video, so it's important to note that the majority of the answers to his questions were from an American/Western perspective.
Well, if you look at the history of Europe, you will see there society was once not so dissimilar to what you see in Africa. They once had feudalism and later, many poor people worked as "servants" and then as sweat labor in factories. You saw children working there as well. What changed this? New technology and new innovations made labor more productive and people were free to make their own choices in a somewhat free market. There is a progression that societies must make. They must become more productive if they want to become wealthier. Africa's biggest problem is that isn't embracing free markets, and rejects the rights of men. The single most important aspect that determines how wealthy a society will be is the degree to which it defends property rights. The more a nation defends property rights, the richer it will be, the less it defends property rights, the poorer it will be. It's that simple.
You know, one of the chief reasons we wanted gay marriage wasn't for the sex. It was to protect partners from the other partner's parents, who would gladly destroy the partner's life (for instance, seizing control of the home and throwing him out) and making medical decisions their biologically sick child would never have wanted. A marriage defends both men (and women) from predatory parents in medical decisions, and in many other things.
They want to be able to hurt their adult children, just as they harmed them when they were minors by kicking them out on the streets or sending them to straight camps for psychological torture. Religious people only want 1 thing, to do harm.
@@janepatton8100 Then make a personal decision never to get married. Problem solved. I don't understand what compels people like you to stick your nose into other peoples lives and demand they do things the way you want.
Your videos are freshing. I've been watching a lot of tiktok videos that are recommended on RU-vid and it feels nice to hear someone being rational and not just emotional.
Happiness isn't just about the present, it's about hope & progress and people know we've sacrificed tomorrow to get ours today. That's why anxiety, suicide and medication use/abuse are skyrocketing
Not me, probably not you! I take NO Responsibility for the downfall of the planet, as the rich are 100% in charge, not my sorry butt! I do not feel empowered at all, pretending that if only I had staged a protest, that would have gotten me put in jail, or gotten hurt and would not have saved a single acre of land. We paid dearly for expensive educations for the children that are flat earthers! They disbelieve science! They falsely believe vaccines are no good and cause autism as well as ADHD. Furthermore, the people think that organic food and being fit stops Viruses and plagues from hurting or killing them. Smallpox killed 1000's of Native Americans, they were fit and are organic !!!!
That's because people are being separated by the government to make profit because you don't need junk food to cope or antidepresants foryour depression whne you're happy. Damage is being done more and more with the immasculazation of men in the western world by the feminist movement that the government so dearly supports.
I love the animations he makes. His voice has become iconic for me and I have a hard time not imagining his neck twisting at an impossible angles as he makes certain points. I really do appreciate that when he's getting real serious, he's been dropping the cartoon and setting up his camera. It really looks like darkmatter is really wanting the religious cround to take him seriously. These live action videos aren't the goofy rib jabbing he does with his animations. This is him laying out facts in ridiculous detail. I heard a saying years ago that I have been trying to live my life by. Be the good you want to see in the world. That man is the living inbodyment of that sentiment.
I live in New Zealand, and we just suffered a major flooding event that was truly biblical in proportions. As a result of this, the current government has abandoned a large list of climate change initiatives, in order to address the financial hardships incurred by the flooding. However, there is a staggering irony to be found in this decision, As it was climate change itself that caused this flooding to be so severe. It makes me feel that we have lost control, and that we may as well go ahead and apologize to future generations right now For our lack of action. I believe a global collapse is now inevitable, although it could still be 50 to 100 years away.
I feel similar about this. Like yea, we're adopting more climate friendly policies now. And there are climate recovery efforts. But it feels like it's too slow, and too little to still save us from a climate disaster. And yea as you said, it might be in 50 or 100 years. Or heck, it might be in 20. But it does feel like it's already inevitable.
@@Sanquinity Certainly more wars over water will start in 20 years. North America's aquifers are not being replenished at the rate they are being depleted by corporations. That is going to have consequences.
Well, i think most rich never had to pay! There have been some short times when the people said "its enough", sadly we are not yet at that point in our times. The rich and powerfull know how to get away with everything, they always knew in all times. But its getting harder for them i think, cancel culture is at the moment just seeking for the wrong people. At the moment the movements fight each other instead of uniting. Just look at climate activists, or vegans, they both share a part of their goals but the ones attack meat eating people just because they still eat meat and the climate activists attack those that like to drive a car or need it no matter if they are vegan because of the environment! And when you get attacked from different sides, even when you care, one day you dont care anymore and step back for a better mental health. Anyway, i am for renewable energy and electric cars, but i will eat meat, one of the problems is my diabetes, to take away another part from my diet is crazy, but i want the animals to have a good life till the time has come. I am for legalization and to tax the rich properly. But that doesnt count as long as am eating meat. Even when i dont care what you eat as long as you support me, i will support you, but i am still waiting for someone from the other sides that dont call me a monster or a nazi because i support the military. And the rich feed that fire in one way or another.
We are approaching a risky transition with several factors such as the potential for AI to automate a large percentage of good jobs which among many other things could cause some serious societal issues if we don't handle it correctly, but society appears to be on the track for extremely rapid improvement over the next few decades at a rate that might even exceed the rate we have already seen. The potential for change is probably finite, but we appear to be pretty far from the maximum potential of humanity.
@@ThreetwoOne-wu7ye Climate change is challenging, but at its most basic level it is a solvable problem even in the worst case scenario where everyone on the planet simultaneously turns idiot and tries to burn all the fossil fuels possible triggering every major feedback loop we could still use brute force terraforming combined with more intensive agriculture to keep a decent chunk of the earth liveable for humans.
I never realized that Kratos was such an intellectual and such a good speaker... I mean I knew he was an atheist and all with all that Olympus drama but damn...
We have this proverb in Finnish "the time gilds the memories" (meaning, that everything in the past looks so much better when time goes on, as you'll forget all the negatives), and never have there been a better place to say it than under this video 😂
i had a friend who was always lamenting " the good old days". every time, i wondered just when there were good old days. growing up white in the '50s and '60s as part of the boomer generation i think we had it almost paradisical compared to many other generations. it wasn't so for black people; it wasn't so for lgbt+ people; it wasn't so for most people of color; it wasn't so for anyone who wasn't christian. so just when were those "good old days"?
@@margaretjohnson6259 Even if I could go back in time with money and resources, I wouldn't go back. I like indoor plumbing and the internet and Air conditioning and all these lovely things. What these people pine for doesn't exist. It's a fantasy world that is no different from Tolkien's Middle Earth. Ask your friend about whether they would like the medical technology of the 50s? The kinds of advances in just basic surgical techniques is amazing. Think of c-sections for example. Or things like knee replacements or hip replacements. Or cancer treatments. Do they really want to go back? Or what about entertainment? Does your friend like reading? Black and white TVs? radio with music from that decade? It's a fantasy world. Just because it's set in a mythical 1950s America doesn't make it any less fantastical than the latest Marvel superhero movie/show. (And actually, the marvel movies are probably better. I don't know about other people but how many of us actually watch old movies? read old books? listen to old music barring classical? )
@@jenniferhunter4074 my friend no longer resides on the planet and i do miss him greatly. it's not the entertainment or industry or technology they want to go back to. they want to go back to the times when white, cis, christian men ruled the nation. women and children were property and denied a lot of freedoms the men enjoyed. people were expected to go to church every sunday and observe christian holidays. people of color were second class, if not third class citizens. lgbt+ people were under constant threat and not allowed to live their lives. no "mixed marriages". there was little in the way of contraception and it was acceptable that women died from pregnancies gone wrong and illegal abortions. the only people the "good old days" were good for was white men and it wasn't all that good for them, either.
As a historian, I'm always bemused by people who say how bad we have it now. Sure, there is SO MUCH room for improvement in basically every aspect of our lives, we simply have it way better than the vast, vast majority of people has historically had. Cato the Elder, a Roman politician and writer, railed about contemporary art, which in his opinion was too luxurious and would corrupt the youth. It seems that whining about "society collapsing" might just about be among the only historical cultural constants. Fantastic video, thank you!
@@chudchadanstud Did it? When? When Sulla became dictator? When Caesar became dictator? When Augustus became princeps? When all free-born inhabitants were given citizenship? When Constantine adopted christianity? When the Imperial insignia were sent to Constantinople? During the Fourth Crusade? In 1453?
@@chudchadanstud Haven't you been to Italy? They lay claim to many of Rome's traditions. As does Turkey. And Russia. And others. Name me one (1) civilization that has survived, unchanged, for centuries. Culture is a constant process, and the Romans never ceased to see themselves as Romans, even though historians categorize Rome's history into separate periods. But sure, you can go ahead and be needlessly pedantic and reductionist.
@@KingNik1994 That's Italy not Rome. Rome isn't in any world map I look at. No. It's not about change. It's about a nation/Empire that is called Rome. Every historian, except you, agrees it doesn't exist today and that it had a decline and fell. Ask yourself, what caused Rome to decline.
Haven't all US presidents been episcopal/methodist except Kennedy who didn't serve a full term? And the supreme court is catholic and jewish. There are weird unofficial rules, I doubt he'd make it far.
@@Pistolita221 yep, that was Hitchens main argument. With no other delusion can you hold so strong and still be elected to office. It actually adds points in your favor when in reality it should get you laughed out of a room.
Awesome video! Thinking of my conservative friend, I have some additional questions: - Are we more mentally stable? - Are our children better protected from disturbing content? - Do we have more fulfilling marriages and better friendships? - Are we more respectful of each other's opinions? - Are our science and media more in touch with the truth? - Are we better prepared for life?
i say no to the first 5 questions. The last one isn't clear what is meant by life. Currently the western world is heading towards an animal farm for humans where every single aspect is controlled by the globalists with tech tyranny.
Not sure about that 2nd one though... Helping a butterfly through its eclosion struggles can damage them, and similarly over-sheltering a child might leave them unprepared for adult life.
@@iwersonsch5131 ooh... that does in fact change the question. Addictions are a different beast, and imo they aren't fueled by "disturbing" content. They're more of a subset of the previous one. :-)
1. Yes (We aren't killing each other over ergot driven hallucinations nearly as often, we're less prone to believe spiritual BS and torture someone rather than give them medical aid or mental treatment) 2. Yes (well there are no longer public executions, they're less likely to be raped or die or have a family member die, I'd call those pretty disturbing) 3. Yes (Yes, far less forced marriages and child marriages. Friendships aren't limited to your physical neighbor, nor communication restricted by the speed of mail) 4. Yes (sure. we don't kill each other over differing opinions anywhere near as often, as much as many of us wish we could sometimes) 5. Yes (science clearly is, that's why we've made such progress, we literally use the proof of this daily. Media generally is, much more than social media at least. Fox news is full of shit though, how's their lawsuit coming along again?) 6. Yes (hence we actually survive childhood)
I have been watching your videos for many years.. and wow.. this is your magnum opus (so far..) I cannot wait to see what you do in the future. THANK YOU..
Im so glad you ended this video on the point of happiness. As someone who is surviving the damages of trauma day to day, i can say that knowing the deepest and darkest cracks of the human mind has made me incredibly sensitive to the good moments.
All I know is things have gotten worse for me throughout my life, especially in the last 5-10 years and my perception of society is more negative now than it has ever been.
I know what you mean, but i realized that i simply cannot stand idiots anymore, once i just ignored it, the orlder i become the less i can stand assholes and idiots. There have been times when i earned more, but also times as i earned much less. In my country the minimum wage is now 50% higher than in the past as i had the worst paied job. But you also have to consider, that prices got more expensive too. 20 years ago i earned 950€/month in a factory, at the moment i work at the same place, just a different job and for another company, and my wage is now around 1500€/month and when they offer me a direct contract i will see if i can earn as much as in my best time 10 years ago. I dont think they will pay as much, but the company where i earned the most is looking for workers, maybe i can use that as tool or go there. Anyway, my parents are gone now, thats worse and that will not change anymore. We will see what the future gives us and what possibilities we will have to change it to the better.
Agreed. People are more open about bigotry after Trump's era, people are addicted to their phones and social media since maybe the 2010s, this media makes people more divided and with lower self esteem, while also spreading fake information and reducing attention spans and critical thinking, and more. A few years ago I found it easy to read multiple books in a day, now I struggle to watch a 30 minutes youtube video. I used to play outside and go outside much more often, now my posture and fitness are laughable. Social media just wasn't a thing when I grew up, so hanging out with friends or family didn't have to mean while taking pictures and looking at our phones. And yes more awareness is spread for social issues, but opposition has gotten equally as intense. People are just generally more confrontational and unforgiving of each other. Generally I'm just less happy than I was just 5 or 10 years ago.
Dark matter is a quack cherry picker comparing life today to the 50's as if that's what people are even saying when they say "society is collapsing" pretty sure before this sad era we are currently living in we WERE actually living in the greatest time period in human history. Dark matter pretending as if the current timeline hasn't entered an area where if we continue to head down the same path that we're currently on it can mean catastrophe in the near future, that's what everybody is talking about, not this fake narrative this video would have u believe "you're unhappy now because u used to believe we would have flying cars by now" get real... nothing of actual value was actually said in this video..comes off like a neo democrat
Yeah true it’s got so much worse from when I was a young child to now. I completely understand the point he is making in this video and it gives us important perspective but it feels like America is on the precipice of fascism and with climate change it feels like if we don’t change course shit will get so much worse for our children and grandchildren and shits been kinda depressing lately like I don’t know how to make friends I feel like I’m glued to my phone and just generally feel kinda lost lately with that
The Jim Crow passage “Lewd, wanton, and lascivious persons” reminds me of the anti-trans bill just passed in Arkansas, where anyone dressed in clothing not matching their sex at birth can be arrested. Jim Crow is coming back.
I don’t think the narrative should be “college degrees are useless”. Rather it should be “college degrees are no longer worth the investment”. You’re not guaranteed a job with a degree, even in areas where employees are theoretically in high demand. If you are given a job, it’s not unlikely you’re paid far lower than what you are worth, far too low to pay off student debts AND live more than paycheck to paycheck trying to pay ever increasing rent or mortgage and buy ever more expensive food. They’re not useless, they’re currently just a long-term detriment due to cost of education and living, and you may be better off forgoing getting one until you can ensure you can get one without loans. And nowadays, that too is unlikely. You either take the loans and spend the rest of your life paying them off, or avoid them and go without. No matter what you choose, you end up in the same situation of barely scraping by if you’re lucky.
In the "knowledgable" section I loved the perspective on humanity constantly working to make life easier for future generations. Just knowing how much current problems can preoccupy us and how hard we work to try to find solutions, it's no surprise it must have always been that way, and we stand upon mountains of work done before us.
Because of the Internet, the fast media and the instant acess to information, we are able to know everything that's going on all around the world all the time. I feel like that's TOO MUCH information, TOO MUCH awareness. All this creates an underlying anxiety and restlessness that coats our mind. It creates a natural need for resolution/climax where all that anxiety and restlessnes can finally resolve. So saying "society is collapsing" gives people a feeling of certainty in the informational mess we live in; they feel like they finally know how it will end, it gives them the feeling of knowing what is going to be the resolution/climax that they crave so much. In reality, things are way more complicated and we don't know what is going to happen; that drives people mad. Funny enough, we do live in the most prosperous and safest times ever, but most people will only notice that when it's too late.
"Jefferyyy! What is this handsome guy talking about? Of course society is collapsing! Fewer and fewer people are worshipping me! That's a collapse!" ;)
I think it's well-understood that our society is in a golden age. However, it's also clear that it is unsustainable. It's difficult to be optimistic about the upcoming decades.
Agreed. This entire video is a great example of normalcy bias: “Will I die tomorrow? Well, I didn’t die yesterday; in fact, I was quite healthy. At this rate, I will not die tomorrow and quite possibly will never die.” Another way of putting this is: Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
@@foodconnoisseur9321 Yes we can. But there are also people investing in divide and conquer just because most of the times divide and conquer is an effective way of people infighting and killing us off. Sadly enough we're being forced to consider that as well.
Short answer: yes. And a very large portion of the population has no idea *why* things are falling apart - blaming “loose morals” or “sexual degeneracy” instead of the corporate oligarchs that are buying up all influence in our political system…
I looked into my family tree recently and a grandparent many times over had 3 boys named Sjoerd to have 1 to carry the name (Sjoerd II) in the years around 1850. None of the first two made it past the age of two or possibly four, the records are unclear. Then the same couple had to have to tries to have a Lijsbeth. At some point I became bewildered that many great grandma endured so many pregnancies so frequently with many miscarraiges, stillborns, and sickly children by sheer malnutrition, I would hazard to say she must have eaten heartily and been very lucky with the deliveries. Many of their children had children, that were old enough, but some of those same children died shortly after marriage and preproduction, I think I saw an age of death of 22 or 23 and of 30 and 1-2 children of their own. Then, I was astonished, one of their children made it to 95 as far as I recall, dying the year my grandparents were born, and a grandchild nearly reaching 100 (unheard of in my family; 65-70 is a very fortunate age in the past 2 generations). This is despite knowledge of some heart condition among my family of the last century that some do not survive despite modern medicine.
This was an excellent deep dive.. Very thought provoking and informative. I came to this channel about 10 years ago for the religious comedy. It gave me a sense of sanity feeling alone in the southern US as a religious none. Over the years your content has been more than just laughs.. It's been very thought provoking and I'm thankful for you above all content creators.. Thank you.
This is the most thought provoking video I have seen in many years. DM brought up things I had never thought about and I'm 55 years old. A wonderful video I throughly enjoyed. I have been a subscriber for many years and will continue to be.
"at the speed we are driving, mistakes are less forgiving" wow, that's an excellent quote. I don't want to give the impression that that's all I took away from the video, your research and discussion was sobering and uplifting for me, and it's important to acknowledge that we are going in the right direction as well as that there is room for improvement. thank you!
@@ominous-omnipresent-they Your statement reeks of the privilege of inexperience. Such is the case of ignorance being bliss. But try keeping the same energy when your elderly mother or precious grandmother gets robbed, beaten, and brutally gang (ra- ped) by a group of delinquents. Or your daughter receives the same at the hands of a trusted family member. Then convince yourself that you still have unwavering "faith" in humanity. History bares witness to the fact that the only thing consistent enough in mankind that we can have *"faith"* in, is our predisposition for causing suffering, anguish, and destruction to everything we lay our hands on... to include the planet itself. Indeed, man is a wretched creature that needs to be saved from itself.
I think this video misses out on an important concept: stability. An important part of people being satisfied in life is how confident they are that they won't lose it all tomorrow. Weather justified or not, I think that confidence has dropped massively in recent times. The fact that people now view themselves in a much more precarious position is probably one of the largest contributors to the general malaise that has set about society.
@Tyler Braden If you're stressed, you won't be as smart and if you're not as smart, you'll have delayed reactions to their strategies, or you won't see them at all. If you don't see their strategies, you're less likely to intercept what they're trying to take from you. I saw the inflation coming back in 2020, when they first pumped the M2 money supply, and I made my moves in concert with theirs, so as to not be left behind. I've been able to preserve and grow my wealth alongside theirs, even though I'm not "part of their club", as George Carlin put it. When my stress is high (back when I was a hardcore trader), I can strategize. It comes with practice. But when I'm fully strategic, long-term and stoic like I am now... I'm truly deadly. They don't want you to be deadly. They want you to own nothing and be complacent about it.
You will be surprised how much of this is cyclical. You do not remember (or may be you are young) how much instability there was after 9/11 or other times in the recent past.
It looks to me like the better people have it the less satisfied they are. Plus there’s a large group that love to blame others for their own failures, and then they go out and vote for exactly those (R) that are actually going to make their lives worse.
@@neurolancer81if one were looking for a beginning of a cycle of unease, the legal fallout to 9-11 is worth looking at. Many people still don't realize how many rights they lost in the Homeland Security, etc al. acts.. But I think the erosion of personal freedoms continues and is a large part of said unease and malaise
To one of your final points, I agree... it becomes harder and harder for humans to be grateful for things when humans acquire more wealth. The lack of gratitude (because one loses the ability to receive a gift that they couldn't obtain for themselves) certainly has a correlation to whether someone is happy or not.
I have said for years now that the current "decline of civilization" is an illusion caused by the exploitation of bad news by corporate media, the ability to hide inside echo chambers on the internet and the extended era of prosperity and stability over the last few decades making it seem like any drift backwards is a catastrophe. The human brain did not evolve the ability to process all of the world's worst news all the time while skipping the positive elements, and be able to comprehend how that negative input can distort our perception of what reality seems to be.
You're right about trauma survivors appreciating the little things, at least in my experience. I escaped a fundamentalist Christian cult, my very abusive family, and my abusive now ex-husband 4 years ago. While living on my own, working, and struggling to pay bills (while simultaneously trying to cope with PTSD, BPD, MDD/depression, and GAD/anxiety) -- while life has become incredibly challenging for me on a personal level, my mental, emotional, and psychological quality life has also improved exponentially. When I was a kid I thought for some reason (trauma induced perhaps) that I wouldn't live to see my 20s. I turned 26 a few months ago. If my past self saw where I am now, past me would've had a panic attack, because I'm no longer religious and I'm queer. However whenever I reflect on some of the thoughts past me had, past me was already thinking and wanting the things that eventually took me to where I am now. Thank you, Dark Matter, for making me reflect on my life and appreciate what I have now. 💜
I didn't think I'd live past 40, mainly because my Cold War generation had to do air raid drills in school. At random times, on random days, unannounced, an air raid siren would blast throughout the campus. We had to all drop to the ground and crawl under our desks. The teacher would turn off the lights, close the window blinds, and we all stayed under our desks, in silence, in darkness, until the "all clear" siren sounded. When that siren sounded, we got up, and lined up peacefully, orderly, and quickly, in the hallway outside our classroom, and the teacher did a roll call. Then, we'd head back to the classroom, and finish that period of instruction. We mostly assumed a bomb would fall on our school and wipe us all out. It was literally drilled into our brains. Twenty three years past 40 and here I am, wishing I had planned some things a bit better and for the long term. So, good for you for realizing sooner than later, that we can't know about the days to come, and not limiting yourself based on the unknown, but rather making your own unknown, known by your own design.
@@Raelven I'm so sorry, that sounds absolutely terrifying, especially to go through as a child. Even if you didn't plan to be here, I'm glad you are. Thank you so much for your wisdom. I hope your life is peaceful from this point on 💜
@@sassylittleprophet It wasn't terrifying, but it led to some choices that weren't the best. My life is great, I am happy even in hard times. I consider it a learning curve. 😉
For what it's worth I'm proud of you! 😁.... I have PTSD from combat and severe sexual abuse so I emphasize. It sounds like you are far more functional than I am. I live in a motor physical pain, am 37 as of 4 days ago and live with my aging father. However, I just got into therapy, got help from an addiction specialist, and am trying for disability again while pursuing a small home business. I'm far from a gun nut, I'm a far leftist but also a highly trained fit Army Ranger. So I'm working on training people whom should probably have some protection, trans community is a big one. I am also a motor writer but writing every day. I cannot write so well on this tablet, hard to type and weird auto correct features so don't judge too harshly on this post
@@TheBoxingCannabyte thank you so much! 😊 I'm very proud of you for getting into therapy and starting your own business! Your trauma sounds so debilitating considering everything you've been through, I'm glad you keep moving forward. (Also, as a non-binary person, thank you so much for your support!) 💜💜💜
My thoughts exactly. I used to be homeless for 2.5 years and when I got off the street I thought "What does anyone really have to be upset about?" Things are amazing and many of us could have it MUCH worse. Believe me.
Now you're a homeless man on the internet begging for subs... and if you're not begging - what's wrong with you? What are you gonna eat when the night comes?
"What does anyone really have to be upset about?" The fact that people end up living on the street. With our current level of technology (our ability to produce enough for everyone with minimal labor), there's simply no excuse for the existence of homeless people.
@@jeffreymoffitt4070 I would say that we should have a UBI and universal healthcare (including mental health, dental, optical, reproductive healthcare, etc) to replace as much of the complex and ineffective welfare system in the US as possible.
Um. Pain. Suffering. No matter how much of it you've had, having more of it isn't great. I've gone long stretches without food too. I still hate being hungry. I've gotten serious injuries. Getting a superficial cut still hurts, and so does the infection if I'm not careful. Nobody has suffered so much that they get to say no other suffering matters. Not you. Not me. Much of my suffering _came_ from people who think suffering that's less than the worst they ever felt doesn't matter. So what do I have to be upset about? Anti-humanist BS like this, masked as positivity.
As soon as you put up the list I immediately had to ask “on what timeline” because the answers become so dramatically different if are speaking of years, decades, centuries, or millennia.
This is the main message of Pinker's book Enlightenment Now. I think the major problem is that unlike in the past, we now have a few ways to completely eradicate all life on the planet.
That part about returning to one's base level of happiness perfectly explains why people spend money on things for emotional reasons and never being satisfied.
I think the one issue that we are hard-pressed to find a worse version of in the past though, is our industrially-inflicted environmental damage that will now inevitably carry ecosystem-ruining levels of irreversible habitat loss, like in The Amazon. I get the feeling you'll mention this later on in the video, but to me this issue underpins all others, and our childrens' generation stands to endure natural disasters, floods and droughts at an unprecedented rate no matter what we do now.
In fact I don't mention it, because I wanted to focus on the present. But you're right and I was thinking of doing a video about that all on its own. It really does deserve its own video. There's still a lot of deniers out there.
The value of π... The human race is Mother Earth's form of malignant cancer... We are nothing more than a self-destructive unfeeling and unthinking parasite...
How is ruining the habitat of another animal in the amazon, wrong as that may be, creating floods or droughts around the world so big that they are of upmost urgency for the human race and irreversable? Where is the evidence for this? The evidence suggests dry areas are getting greener. The climate change narrative is a corporate-political distrsction, always has been. There are damages done by humans to nature, that must be avoided going forward, but none of them are dooming us to inmediate or even future extinction via natural disasters. And I'm surprised that DarkMatter believes it too, since it's exactly the type of apocalyptic mentality found in Catholicism
I think people get happier as they get older if only because they have more happy memories to source from. I remember the happiest time of my life perfectly, and yet at the time I wasn’t actually as happy as I am now remembering it, even though I also feel extremely sad that I’m no longer in that time anymore.
"The thing about happiness is that you only know you had it when it's gone. I mean, you may think to yourself that you're happy. But you don't really believe it. You focus on the petty bullshit, or the next job, or whatever. It's only looking back, by comparison to what comes after, that you really understand that's what happiness felt like." - Conrad Kellog, Fallout 4
I like how you presented this, there are so many people trying to paint our times as bad, full of suffering, while others claim the good ol'days were better, most of them do it for political gain or to expand their religion, but we are the most "blessed" as a result of human ingenuity that has improved our lives; even for me, I live in the third world and I still get to enjoy a life expectancy higher than that of my ancestors. But this all, at the same time, shows how little people learn from the past, as there are some who truly believe we are suffering and people in the past had it better, ignoring the pain that many went through to make us live like we now do, some people would call us "privileged."
Society may not be collapsing, but it is definitely moving into a time period of immense political, economic, and social crisis all over the world; intensifying class warfare, intensifying interstate warfare, and outright state collapse will probably define the 2020s to 2050s.
I think it's heading for collapse because I acknowledge that life moves in cycles, or at least like a spiral and the fact we are so far ahead of the worst times makes me think that the bottom is around the corner.
It's in transition. Nationalist governments are starting to not make sense in the face of global problems like the pandemic, and climate change. There's going to be a lot of resistance to coming up with solutions to address these things. Chiefly, we probably need a planetary government. This is an opportunity to enforce the humanist bill of rights globally (at least that's what I see) to uplift as many human beings as possible.
@@nefspeaks1983 I am sorry Mr. Weed and Mr. Pesimist - You don't see correct pattern here... America is collapsing because they can't possibly imagine not having influence over the world on the internet... We don't care about movies or other expensive media made by actors and directors that feed interest into American economy... Now I just want to see a monkey in Africa fart 👍
Marvellous video, as always. In the 1980's, perhaps the most famous medical doctor in Australia was "Dr James Wright" (not his real name), who made regular appearances on a daytime talkshow. He was a gentle-speaking man with an infectious smile, who would explain and demystify basically every aspect of health from an evidence-based perspective. (I later learned he was a devout Christian, although he never mentioned this in any of his TV sessions, focussing solely in health related matters). One particular catchphrase he had was "In that bad old days..." that he was constantly using, to refer to how horrific medical treatments for various ailments had been in the past. I always thought it was a refreshing change from the way people say "the good old days" as if everything was better in the past.
I tell my wife every now and then; "we're getting more civilized by the year", she shrugs it off in disbelieve, even when confronted with the facts. Instead of being happy she is wrong..
Truly one of Dark Matter's best videos in my opinion. Very interesting and though provoking, especially since everything feels so negative sometimes when being bombarded with bad news from every direction. Especially liked the analysis on happiness and the hedonic baseline. Thanks DarkMatter, you kept me hooked for all my free evening hours again!
Got some good points there, although, I must say, your questions, even though you answered them very well (except the happyness one perhaps), are not a good indicator for wether or not society is collapsing. They are more useful for determining how well our civilization is doing. Most of what you did was to compare to the past, through that, you can't decide on wether or not society is collapsing.
@@somad6997 Agree. They were always doing this. In older times they were allowed, elites ruled and did what they want and it wasn't a crime. Today it is a crime and they have to hide it all.
you (along with thunderfoot) are the most consistent thinker in youtube. I've been following you since like 2009... and I was ready to come into this video and answer YES, our society is collapsing. And although I still think our society is collapsing, you made me appreciate all we have that people didn't before us...
One thing about the war statistics that should have been mentioned is the duration of the wars. A lot of the ancient wars you mentioned were fought over decades sometimes centuries. Losing 3.5% of all humans in 6 years vs losing 25% in 100 years are 2 different things. I still agree we are living in overall more peaceful times but if a war today were to escalate the death toll has the potential to reach the billions. It seems people are more scared by the THREAT of war rather than the war itself and understandably so.
All Humans need to repent & Believe in Jesus. Why? Because all Humans have sinned (lied, lusted sexually, stolen, dishonoured parents etc). Avoid the fires of Hell (justice of God) and choose Heaven today. GOD IS HOLY
@@timromanal7183 Look ill share something personal. I’ve personally seen Jesus (Not worthy), Heaven and Hell. Hell is worse than what you think (I was shaking after that experience), and Heaven is better than what you think. I have also received a personal healing miracle, I can go into details if you want. This is how God works. If you give Him the benefit of the doubt, He gives you more and more. Would I spend even 2 minutes preaching if I had an ounce of doubt? (I’ve experienced way too much)
I always say that this is the best time, in human history, to be alive. People think I'm crazy. Being a retired soldier (a former combat medic, and currently a health scientist), I typically cite how peaceful the planet is, and our public health successes.
In a way yes. Materially and technology wise we are indeed living unprecedented times. But those things don't always bring happiness, and in many cases can bring suffering. There is definitely something festering beneath the surface of civilization, we just can't agree on what it is.
@@Whitetiger187 We’ve become more socially atomized precisely because survival takes less COLLECTIVE effort. The internet has also made a lot of things more impersonal.
@@marshallsweatherhiking1820 true. I think having less of a collective effort is causing a lot of problems because humans need interaction. The internet has not only made things more impersonal it has also stoked a lot of misunderstanding because of its limitations on communication that is simply not natural to humans. Not to mention the corporations and politicians compitalizing on this as well.
I love how a combat veteran is so sure the world is more peaceful now, after they're out of it and likely half a world away from the current front. When a military power like the USA can and does wage multiple simultaneous wars, occupations, and general bombings constantly, any claims to the world being more peaceful in modern times are laughable to say the least. Clearly you did not fully appreciate the sheer size of the enterprise to which you were attached.
im an information junkie and this video just had me on the edge on my seat. the points you selected are pretty much what is driving our society to where we are today, which is not a bad place, we are living in exciting times with many technological wonders that would be considered magic in the past, seems though people have already forgotten where we came from and their statistics compared to today's. we do have to remain vigilant as quickly as we got our human rights we could loose them , also keep our democracy safe so that we can continue to thrive. honestly i really enjoy this video , it was really well though out and put together and i wish more people would be this way to look at the stats of things and just breathe things are ok
I agree with some points (to some extent), but my issue with this narrative is that you seem to be looking at things from one dimension, where social dilemmas and political conflicts are far more complex than this. For example, you can't measure wars solely based on the number of casualties, because wars now have a much bigger scale and are much more destructive in terms of infrastructure, roads, buildings, green areas, and both mental and physical health on the long run. Also, internal military conflicts are more frequent now, so it doesn't feel more peaceful. Not to mention the issue of freedom, and it's philosophical loopholes. There is some truth to what you are saying, but it definitely doesn't answer these questions fairly and inevitably. But it's a good start to understand our modern life.
Once upon a time I trolled some racists, telling them about what I call "inverted racism". When you look at animal breeding, "pure" breed often has diseases as result of breeding. With humans, the more "pure" you get, the closer you get to incest. So advocating "pure race" with humans basically means you advocate incest. But "inter racial" combines the best traits and is therefore "superior" to the products of incestuous relations.
40:36 maybe this sounds weird, but it's really reassuring to hear someone I respect in the atheist community actively say they support trans rights, because unfortunately despite many people calling themselves skeptics and free thinkers they sure don't follow evidence when I comes to trans people. Thank you for being so based.
It's so strange to me how athiests can make really good logical arguments against religion and God, but somehow can't transfer those skills to politics. A shocking amount of athiests helped initiate the Gamer Gate conspiracy and are just permanent members of the alt right now. It's just sad. Thank God TJ from The Amazing Athiest made a sincere apology video and promised to do better. I wish more athiests would follow his lead and embrace progressive politics.
The first exoplanet (51 Pegasi b) was discovered in 1995. It made the COVER OF TIME MAGAZINE. *No one* (except folks like flat earthers) was debating whether extrasolar planets existed in 2008. They WERE, however, debating whether they were COMMONPLACE. It did take the Kepler space telescope (launched in 2009) to settle that question.
Excellent video. I always like to point out that even a lower class citizen in most developed nations today is living a better live than even a king in medieval times. Really puts things into perspective.
Thank you for this video. I have always had similar feelings that most people just don't appreciate how high we have climbed and how easy we have it. Happiness, for the most part, is not reliant on wealth or what we have access to compared to previous generations. Thus people are more depressed and unhappy because they have become increasingly disconnected from nature and each other (and other things as well). Making them unhappy or depressed. That's at least part of the picture.
