Is our society degrading?

At 5/15/2012 1:24:39 PM, Oryus wrote:

At 5/14/2012 11:19:54 PM, darkkermit wrote:

At 5/14/2012 10:22:05 PM, Oryus wrote:

At 5/14/2012 8:07:10 PM, Lasagna wrote:

At 5/14/2012 7:42:17 PM, darkkermit wrote:

At 5/14/2012 7:39:07 PM, Oryus wrote:

At 5/14/2012 7:32:53 PM, Lasagna wrote:

To put my point in the context of your comment lasagna- we have lost things from our technological advances and certain things have been de-emphasized- but have we not also gained things?

Give your best example of a gain.

Well, I saw that you mentioned phones. I suppose the best gain from that would be it's use in emergency situations- abductions, lost people, etc.

I'd also add that crime rates have gone down, our air and water are cleaner (well air is better then industrial revolution), we are healthier then before, and society has become more tolerant.

Crime rates have gone down since when? We've cleaned up in the last 30 years only because we screwed it up so badly that even the slightest attention would be an improvement. Rivers aren't lighting on fire anymore, but they aren't drinkable! Your example is akin to being put in prison and then celebrating that you have learned a way to avoid daily assrapings. Yeah, it's an improvement, but you're still in prison :P

People are living longer but not healthier. People are fatter, lazier, and stupider than ever. We just have tech that prolongs life despite how pathetically we are treating ourselves. I'll agree that we are becoming more enlightened, but in other ways we are becoming more ignorant. Just look at TV ads, for example.

I would tend to look at our laziness and stupidity as an ongoing addiction. We are addicted to being lazy and stupid. Technology simply enables us to be as lazy and stupid as our little hearts desire.

If only logic and media literacy were mandatory in high school instead of fiction classes.... See, THAT would mean the degradation of our capitalist society which depends heavily on us being proficient in neither.

So based on that logic I'm either illogical or media illiterate, since I'm heavily in favor of our capitalist society. In fact most of DDOers are.

Explain how our capitalist society would degrade based on proficiency in logic and media literacy? Whatever is meant by a "capitalist society". Some people will define it differently. The typical definition is "individuals owning the means of production". Of course we can into the meta of capitalism, but please go on.

hehe I was waiting for this. But no, I'm not saying that all people who like capitalism are illogical and media illiterate. That would be ridiculous.

In America, much of commerce is driven by advertisements. Advertisements depend heavily on every fallacy there is in the book. If people were keen on these fallacies, they wouldn't be so keen on advertisements and thus commerce would suffer. But alas- "Buy this soap-get the girls" "Buy this car- everybody else is" "buy this make-up remover. It cleans 90%" all work, despite being entirely fallacious and meaningless. If people were more aware of logical fallacies and more media literate, either corporations would have to drastically change their advertising strategy, or they would not do so hot. Which brings me back to my statement before- it would mean the degradation of capitalism- as we know it -if people were more aware of logical fallacies and more media literate.... mediate literate at all, really. Very few seem to be.

This is my proposition- nothing more :)

So your really against "consumerism" rather than "capitalism".

I don't necessarily believe that knowing logic makes you less susceptible to media distortion. Even logical people like myself have an amygalda and emotions. I'm not watching these videos when I'm in an "analytic mood"
The fact are that these commercials transcend into my subconscious mind. If I'm going to the store and have to make a choice, if prices are equal and I don't know the quality of the products, I'm going to choose the brand I'm more familiar with.

At 5/14/2012 8:06:59 PM, Mirza wrote:
It would be interesting to know the reasoning behind the 2800 BC quote. Perhaps the larger communities became, the more cultures became mixed, hence people's behaviors started going low? That would just mean the downturn is increasing at far higher rates these days. The Internet alone has a huge impact on how people behave. It's a virtual community.

As for technology, I do think it has done more good overall, but the way we live definitely also has horrible impacts. I don't think obesity rates have ever been higher, cancer is more prevalent than ever (I think ancient Egyptians, for example, very rarely got cancer), etc. So we do get new problems constantly.

Their reasoning is almost precisely what people alive today use for reasoning. Morality is failing. The youth won't listen to their parents. The politicians are corrupt.

Every generation thinks they're special enough to warrant being around to witness the end of the world. Our tendency to idealize the past all but guarantees a general consensus on the "good ol' days" being better than "modern times."

It helps to remember that the biggest immediate threat to America in 2012 is a suitcase nuke in a major city followed by years of invasion and nation building.

In the 70s, the biggest immediate threat was world annihilation within hours triggered by the slightest miscommunication between superpowers.

At 5/15/2012 11:13:04 PM, Wnope wrote:

At 5/14/2012 8:06:59 PM, Mirza wrote:
It would be interesting to know the reasoning behind the 2800 BC quote. Perhaps the larger communities became, the more cultures became mixed, hence people's behaviors started going low? That would just mean the downturn is increasing at far higher rates these days. The Internet alone has a huge impact on how people behave. It's a virtual community.

As for technology, I do think it has done more good overall, but the way we live definitely also has horrible impacts. I don't think obesity rates have ever been higher, cancer is more prevalent than ever (I think ancient Egyptians, for example, very rarely got cancer), etc. So we do get new problems constantly.

Their reasoning is almost precisely what people alive today use for reasoning. Morality is failing. The youth won't listen to their parents. The politicians are corrupt.

Every generation thinks they're special enough to warrant being around to witness the end of the world. Our tendency to idealize the past all but guarantees a general consensus on the "good ol' days" being better than "modern times."

It helps to remember that the biggest immediate threat to America in 2012 is a suitcase nuke in a major city followed by years of invasion and nation building.

In the 70s, the biggest immediate threat was world annihilation within hours triggered by the slightest miscommunication between superpowers.

Governments collapse all the time. Terrible incidents happen all the time in history

At 5/15/2012 11:13:04 PM, Wnope wrote:

At 5/14/2012 8:06:59 PM, Mirza wrote:
It would be interesting to know the reasoning behind the 2800 BC quote. Perhaps the larger communities became, the more cultures became mixed, hence people's behaviors started going low? That would just mean the downturn is increasing at far higher rates these days. The Internet alone has a huge impact on how people behave. It's a virtual community.

As for technology, I do think it has done more good overall, but the way we live definitely also has horrible impacts. I don't think obesity rates have ever been higher, cancer is more prevalent than ever (I think ancient Egyptians, for example, very rarely got cancer), etc. So we do get new problems constantly.

Their reasoning is almost precisely what people alive today use for reasoning. Morality is failing. The youth won't listen to their parents. The politicians are corrupt.

Every generation thinks they're special enough to warrant being around to witness the end of the world. Our tendency to idealize the past all but guarantees a general consensus on the "good ol' days" being better than "modern times."

It helps to remember that the biggest immediate threat to America in 2012 is a suitcase nuke in a major city followed by years of invasion and nation building.

In the 70s, the biggest immediate threat was world annihilation within hours triggered by the slightest miscommunication between superpowers.

This reminds me of my last sexual relationship. Every week for a month straight, something happened that was very nearly the end. It became natural to assume that these harbingers and close calls would be continually overcome, until one of the close calls actually did end our relationship.

Just because the end has been foreseen but not realized in the past, doesn't mean it can't happen in the future. Nukes were a pretty legitimate means to our destruction. In fact if one simply expands the timeline over how long humanity can successfully control nuclear proliferation, it seems that the chances of armageddon increase steadily and surely as time increases. In 100 years nukes will likely be in many more countries and a century after that they could be everywhere. Our wholly unsustainable way of life these days is a new way that the end may be near, as resources start to dwindle and pollution starts overcoming our air and water supplies.

Yes, it is! There are some really screwed up things going on in the world. Just the other week, I read the front headlines of my the online news and it had an article on the youngest criminal at the age of 3. The liberal society is letting use push moral boundaries further and further. Even if its legal, it doesn't mean its moral. Just think of the GFC. However having said that, I am not against gay marriage

At 5/5/2012 2:02:22 PM, Aaronroy wrote:
In the moral and economic perspective, I think the USA is progressing.

Are you serious, morally?

At 5/25/2012 9:45:57 AM, kelly224 wrote:

At 5/5/2012 2:02:22 PM, Aaronroy wrote:
In the moral and economic perspective, I think the USA is progressing.

Are you serious, morally?

He's a conservative. Any questions?

Define "degrading."

At 5/26/2012 10:32:39 AM, Lasagna wrote:

At 5/25/2012 9:45:57 AM, kelly224 wrote:

At 5/5/2012 2:02:22 PM, Aaronroy wrote:
In the moral and economic perspective, I think the USA is progressing.

Are you serious, morally?

He's a conservative. Any questions?

No hes not lol.

People are walking around naked and chewing the faces of of the homeless. What does that say about us? At least a Zombie Apocalypse solves all the problems of a degenerate society by wiping it out. I guess that solves the problem!

Society is doing great! It keeps on progressing, I don'y really understand why people think otherwise? As time goes on society learns from there mistakes and forms better opinions. Society is not perfect yet, but it keeps on getting better.

At 5/5/2012 1:43:19 PM, OberHerr wrote:
Do you think it is?

How is it?

one is expected I think to say yes...it is changing, while there are in many places savages or little better society appears somewhat stable.