Old people: is the world crazier now than it used to be?

nothing makes sense wrote:

I’m only in my mid-30s, and to me it feels like all sanity and rationality and belief in objective truth have gone out the window in the last few years. Is this true, or has the world always been a senseless clustermuck?

From people believing vaccines are full of microchips to believing in “men” giving birth…it’s all insane nonsense.

First off, how dare you young whippersnapper? I’m 50 and that is young!

I wouldn’t say nothing makes sense. I truly believe what it says in Ecclesiastes ‘there’s nothing new under the Sun.’ However, both information and misinformation travel much faster right now. When someone screws up or appears there are calls for an immediate auto-da-fe. Twitter mobs are out of control. I feel like the press has just said ‘F. It, we’re biased. The other side is bad.’ Liberals are trying to weaponize conservatism much like that was done to them in the 1980s.

However, we live in a more sensitized world. Casual racism, sexism, and homophobia is called out and not tolerated. We have a more expansive idea of who gets a seat at the table. This is a good thing. The price to pay is they we’re entertaining some patently silly ideas like men can have babies etc. I think we’ll eventually figure it out and establish a new social order.

So I think ‘stay at home dads’ are a good thing along with female cage fighters and male nurses. The price we pay now is that there is some social upheaval until we figure out how it will all work.

nothing makes sense wrote:

I’m only in my mid-30s, and to me it feels like all sanity and rationality and belief in objective truth have gone out the window in the last few years. Is this true, or has the world always been a senseless clustermuck?

From people believing vaccines are full of microchips to believing in “men” giving birth…it’s all insane nonsense.

The world has entered a dangerous and dark period of crazy, of which the United States is experiencing more than its fair share.

Our ubiqitous 24/7 media means that the world's ills are shoved in our face all the time, far more than it was a generation ago when all we had were newspapers, magazines, and the nightly news. That alone just makes it seem far worse than it was 50 years ago. Our world has always been full of this chaos.

It’s multifaceted. A chunk, I believe , is people like to be labeled. But still counted as the whole. I’ve been saying for a while that our diversity will be our downfall. For instance, In America, you moved here and became American. And were proud of it. Now everyone wants their own label and wants special treatment and their own laws. They want American to have the same laws as their tiny community of whatever without regard for other groups. Of course you can’t make everyone happy. But they don’t care. I think this follows the ancient Chinese parable- why are you here if you hate it so much?

So people deliberately interject themselves into unknown and uncomfortable situations just to ruffle feathers.

The world has been in much more tumult in the past. As others have observed, nothing today compares with the Great Depression, the World Wars, or some of the political assassinations of the past.

Wear what you want, say what you want, consort with cheaters and other illicit folk if you want. Make fun of religious folk if you think that is cute; the religious folk are accustomed to your kind. Talk politics in a echo chamber if that turns you on. Be illogical -- many people are. But know this: Anyone who touches my family, threaten our way of life, or intentionally humiliate those I hold dear will receive a prompt and substantial response.

the college library used to be a quiet place. i liked it better that way. i hate idiots who talk in the library. and tail gators. there are way more tail gaters. assh*les as far as the eye can see. but the information available now is much better than in the old days. so we need bouncers and to form gated worlds with like minded people. then we can build a much better world than it used to be. but need to build our own and police our own communities. simply remove the idiots. much too high budget of a problem. so the short answer. it's much better in my room now than it was years ago. but the room costs way more.

What up? wrote:

The world has been in much more tumult in the past. As others have observed, nothing today compares with the Great Depression, the World Wars, or some of the political assassinations of the past.

Wear what you want, say what you want, consort with cheaters and other illicit folk if you want. Make fun of religious folk if you think that is cute; the religious folk are accustomed to your kind. Talk politics in a echo chamber if that turns you on. Be illogical -- many people are. But know this: Anyone who touches my family, threaten our way of life, or intentionally humiliate those I hold dear will receive a prompt and substantial response.

You end your post with a direct threat or at least an implied physical threat. Your response is colored with paranoia and you are part of the craziness.

But as with most of the crazies, you can't see it in yourself.

You just humiliated What Up! That is his criterion for a "substantial response". He would beat you up if he could find you.

It may be crazier today, but I think the obvious answer is that because of the Internet and 24 hour news and the publication of so much that is never checked for accuracy, we're clearly exposed to so much more crazier stuff. I'm pretty sure that my grandfather in his later years and my father in his thought things had become pretty crazy. but they didn't talk about it much.

You know, with my insomnia, I've taken to watching endless Hitler and Stalin and WWI and WW2 documentaries on the Smithsonian Channel and American History Channel. Things were REALLY crazy back then. And during the Cuban Missile Crisis in JFK's era, we really and truly did all think we were going to be blown to bits. So at least that hasn't happened lately.

Yessiree Bob wrote:

nothing makes sense wrote:

I’m only in my mid-30s, and to me it feels like all sanity and rationality and belief in objective truth have gone out the window in the last few years. Is this true, or has the world always been a senseless clustermuck?

From people believing vaccines are full of microchips to believing in “men” giving birth…it’s all insane nonsense.

The world has entered a dangerous and dark period of crazy, of which the United States is experiencing more than its fair share.

This is true. The United States is at risk from within. Many great empires of the past reachEd a point where they were no longer great. Diminishment of the value of education and ethics were warning signs of past collapses.

We need to be careful.