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I think a great many things have substantially improved in recent years. Computers, emails, smartphones, and the internet have revolutionized many aspects of our lives. We have extensive and rapid access to information. We can easily keep in contact with friends.
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Gays and people who are different have been gaining respect and rights that never existed in the past.
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Healthcare has advanced. A great many diseases can be successfully treated. Those include mental health issues such as better understanding and treatment for autism, PTSD, and concussions just to mention a few.
Completely agree!
I did a quick search for 21st century advances and found many great breakthroughs and inventions in the last 15 years
New NASA Images Highlight U.S. Air Quality Improvement.
Car gas mileages have been steadily improved. Automatic transmission can be as good or with better gas mileage than manual transmission. Solar panels are everywhere. People are also much more health conscious. You don't have to put up with smoking in restaurants, offices. One does not have to search for a specialty market for organic foods. Chain and fast food restaurants now offer healthy menu choices etc.
I also think that tremendous progresses have been made in the last 10-15 years with respect to equality and equal rights.
We have a black president who was elected twice, a female VP candidade and a 1st Mormon presidential candidate from the Republican party. I think it is historical that we now have the first female US presidential candidate. There are also many female world leaders and CEOs of major corporations. I agree with jrkliny that "Gays and people who are different have been gaining respect and rights that never existed in the past".
Do I feel like completely retreating from the 21st century? No way Jose!
At the other house we were the youngest among the retired group there and I got very tired of hearing CONSTANT complaints about the "modern" world and "young people" and how much better things were in the past. At this house the majority of my friends are in their 30s-50s and just a few are my own age and most discussions are about the future, not the past.
Life and the world have changed - sure, not all of it is for the better (the complete lack of any kind of personal privacy, for instance), not all of the technologies are wonderful. But the world spins on and it is up to us to make the best world out of what IS, not seek to go backward.
oh man - the young people complaint! I've reminded my relatives that they have young people the same age as the young people they hate. I'm sure their parents are complaining about yours!
I worked with "youngsters" when I was in the military. They are amazing.
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I personally see our current times as the best our western civilization has ever enjoyed. Technology has allowed us to stop doing many of the things, whether dangerous, tedious, or just plane under valued, we never wanted to do. It has allowed us to start ending poverty through economic development and has provided the ability to develop vaccines to eradicate certain diseases and treatments to cure many forms of illnesses and cancers. Social progress has given equal status to more classes of people, at least here in the West. War and crime is on the steep decline across the world. Education is freeing millions of men and women from poverty and virtual enslavement and will most likely help the world control it's population growth.
Are there still issues? Absolutely. Climate change and energy policy are 2 big issues that demand a great deal of work and provide an existential threat to our civilization. Religious extremism, having existed for the last 4,000 years, will not have a simple solution. Poverty, especially the further bifurcation of the haves and have nots, is an issue that one way or another must be solved. And over consumption of non-renewable natural resources are furthered by our consumer society. All tough problems but not unsolvable with enough will and focus.
It's easy to complain that things were better in the 'good old days'. Unless you were poor, uneducated, sick, hungry, homeless, living in a war torn country or where crime was out of control, etc.
Nope - I look forward to new discoveries, new ideas, new yummy things to eat - lol!
Who knows - cure for cancer might happen in 2017 - why stick around in the 1990s!
Oh Please, cure for cancer. "They" don't want to cure cancer or any disease for that matter. Too much $$$ in sickness and poor health. What would they all do for work if we really cured.
Keep trying to go to the moon etc. We need to get millions off the streets and not doing it. Vets and so many many others .. Many do so well but MANY are barely living.
Oh, I love that we've FINALLY had a black president in that "WHITE" house and probably a woman will be next. And so many are open with their gender identity. Many many good changes for sure.
Oh Please, cure for cancer. "They" don't want to cure cancer or any disease for that matter. Too much $$$ in sickness and poor health. What would they all do for work if we really cured.
Keep trying to go to the moon etc. We need to get millions off the streets and not doing it. Vets and so many many others .. Many do so well but MANY are barely living.
Oh, I love that we've FINALLY had a black president in that "WHITE" house and probably a woman will be next. And so many are open with their gender identity. Many many good changes for sure.
Gee - I was going to say how awesome that you live in Santa Monica. I saw you post in the other thread.
My friend just moved from there and I don't know why. Seems like such a nice place to live. Beautiful weather - no AC needed.
Now, however, it seems to me that the modern world is just mostly ugly and/or unpleasant; and it just makes me want to isolate myself in my home and become a complete recluse. Does anyone else feel that way?
No, I don't feel that way at all. The world has always had its ugliness and unpleasantness somethings worse than today. It's just that in the 21st century we have the means to learn about them faster and more in depth than ever before. Sometimes that can be overwhelming and it makes it looks as if these are the worst times ever. But like every other century, the 21st has it's good points as well as bad.
Regarding technology, I take that which is useful to me and don't concern myself with the rest. Just because it's there doesn't mean you have to use it.
Now in the 21st century with online ordering it's more possible than ever before to be a recluse. You can get anything you need just about by ordering it through your computer. So if you choose to be a recluse, it's easier than ever before.
I fantasize about either buying an RV and traveling or getting a beach condo and just reading all the books I've always wanted to read for the rest of my life. And drinking wine, of course! And I might just do that.
Gee - I was going to say how awesome that you live in Santa Monica. I saw you post in the other thread.
My friend just moved from there and I don't know why. Seems like such a nice place to live. Beautiful weather - no AC needed.
Have a great day
The closer to the ocean no A/C is needed. But, stores etc have to keep their stores cool, so yes on A/C. Inland it's hotter. Desert good grief...HOT. But dry. No bugs. I've been here 50+ yrs from the E.C.
But with this climate change we're HOT near the ocean and we'd love some days of rain. Going into 5 yr draught.
Last edited by jaminhealth; 09-01-2016 at 03:52 PM..
I think a great many things have substantially improved in recent years. Computers, emails, smartphones, and the internet have revolutionized many aspects of our lives. We have extensive and rapid access to information. We can easily keep in contact with friends.
I agree with all those points as far as humans go but I try to think a little more holistically and as far as the earth and all the life on it, I don't think that things are better at all. We, as in all life on earth, are not headed in a good direction.
Advances like longevity mean more people on the planet. More people means more rain forest gets cut down and more open land in Africa gets turned into farms and ranches. The losers in all of this are the wildlife that used to live in those places. Longevity is great for me, bad for everything else.
Human technological advancement is a zero-sum game which is too bad but I suppose there is nothing to be done about it. People aren't going to change. Other lives on earth are going to continue to get the short end of the stick.
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