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Are we living in a golden age of stupidity? (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 22 points 1 year ago (13 children)

Nope, humans have always been stupid. People said the same shit when the printing press was invented, or TV, or whatever.

Seriously, crack a history book. Modern times are actually pretty good, even with all the bullshit.

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  • [–] 48 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    It's pretty good compared to, say, 100 years ago. But is it better than, idk, 10 years ago? This is highly dependent where you live, of course. But, in the US, I can 100% say life was better a decade ago and people weren't outright rejecting intellectualism en masse.

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  • [–] [S] 19 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    The idiots didn't have their own eco chamber. As an unfortunate byproduct of the social media they realised how many of them there are and organised themselves.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    54, American here. Yeah, I think we peaked in the 80s and 90s after a small setback in the 70s. Through 2010 was pretty good as well except for 9/11 fucking up our politics and legislation.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I'd agree the US peaked in the 90s. 2008 really fucked us for almost a decade, though. Economy had essentially recovered by 2014/2015sh until COVID. I'm almost 40, so most of my adult life has been plagued by crisis after crisis.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Humans have always been stupid but today technology has made it easier for the dumbest among us to be more influential than any stupid person of any prior era. This, we are in the golden age of stupidity.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    You could say the exact same thing about the smartest people being able to spread their message, and the two effects cancel out.

    Same age as any other, more or less. These are human problems that won’t be fixed until we’re no longer human.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    Yep, as long as we don't change/better ourselves on fundamental/cognitive level, the result will always be the same. Can't make the play field better if the ground rules are broken. Most systems today are shaped by excusing violence and injustice. Violence is violence, no matter what.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    New media indeed coincides with revolutions. I disagree with your final assessment. We have yet to see how this turn of new media plays out.

    Good or bad is a relative. The frame of reference should be contemporary. Just because we ostensibly have technological luxuries not mean things are going well right now. Authoritarianism on another up cycle.

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