Not true at all. You need to read more tech/scientific literature. We can edit genes, we can compute, communication are far more advanced. Lots more things recently.
American life expectancy went up a lot more from 1900 to 1950 (48 to 67) than from 1969 to 2019 (70 to 79). I'm excluding 2020-22 for obvious reasons.
The 20th century "promised" us flying cars, moon colonies, and a 15 hour work week. None of them are even close to being fulfilled.
Yeah...and don't forget a cure for cancer, reversal of aging & homeownership for most people that worked full-time. 😉
1900 had no heavier-than-air aircraft, and 1950 had supersonic flight. And that's just one example out of many.
Life in 1972 wasn't that much different than today. We had cars, color TV, microwave ovens, nukes, spaceflight, rubberized tracks, 1200' tall skyscrapers, and even basic video games like Pong. It's not even close to the difference between 1900 and 1950.
Not true at all. You need to read more tech/scientific literature. We can edit genes, we can compute, communication are far more advanced. Lots more things recently.
They could compute by 1950 and compute well enough to put a man on the moon by 1969.
The difference between 1900 and 1950 is almost two different worlds. A person from 1900 transported to 1950 would be amazed. In fact it would probably take him days or weeks to even navigate and understand the basics of his new life. A person transported from 1972 to 2022 would simply notice that everybody had their faces glued to portable screens.
It's too easy for intelligent people to make money online now in a whole range of relatively pointless ways, from affiliate marketing to developing some stupid addictive smartphone game. I'll admit though, technology is starting to get exciting again, and in another 20 years we might have a lot of the things people in the fifties thought were 20 years away - such as robots in most people's homes, colonies on Mars, 'bionic men' (or gene edited super men)...
It's true as well that the two World Wars, and then the Cold War with the Soviet Union, speeded up technology. Something good that might come from the Russian invasion of Ukraine is technological innovation.
I became a lot happier when I just ran to keep in shape. Maybe I don't have great natural endurance, but I don't miss the general everyday fatigue. I got lucky too. I married an echo-cardiologist in my early 30s and she pushed me to 1) care about a lot more things (family, friends, overall health, and career) and 2) encouraged me to work on my gratitude as she saw real misfortune in the hospital everyday. Somehow, I listened! But, I don't want to minimize the pain the OP is going through. The docs at the Mayo Clinic (where my wife worked) take your symptoms very seriously and would complain to me about how hard it is to effect cures, as these folks are very much into cures! Smart people like the OP need to move down to heart, not just stay in their head. A very hard thing to do.
Do we appreciate what we have more as we age? Having been injured for months at a time, I find joy in going on a 4 mile run! I recently ran a 200m race and finished 14th out of 30 but it was an incredible experience just to get in the blocks and hear that gun go off. If you feel like crap - go help someone who is worse off than you. Do something with your life to help someone else.
Or even use your running to help others get into the sport.
My goal is if I can make it to Boston (3:10 or bust by April 2024, M40-45 at race day), I'll probably be done running competitively or chasing PRs, but my dream is to assist as a volunteer XC coach somewhere. Also work at a shoe store on the side as a hobby--not for the money--but to just be AROUND RUNNERS!
Once I can break 3:10 and get that BQ it'll be good, and sub-1:30 1/2. I'm not even looking to break 3 at this point.
Getting visible and into the running community will help you feel good about helping others, and still using your talent as a runner in ways you might not have thought about before.