The year is 2016, common era. 20 years ago was 1996 and things seemed pretty alright(ish). If you were to take a peak back then, and a glance (not a detailed look, obv) at now would you say we were moving towards a historical peak or trough? Why?
Why are you holding a cup with your feet?
Peak in some ways, not in others.
A 96er wouldn't understand our obsession with the internet, particularly social media. They also wouldn't understand the existential angst the West feels over terrorism//financial crisis/the rise of China/government surveillance.
But they'd still think it's a trough, because us 2016ers would all seem like needlessly serious, self-centered, self-righteous people to them, and these qualities come about through hardship.
>>889993
>For the purpose of determining what is history, please do not start threads about events taking place less than 25 years ago
>>889993
I'd say the late 90's and early 00's were the peak, and now we're either already in shit or moving towards shit
The world has never been better since the dawn of mankind. No more large-scale wars, people have never been richer, technology is advancing faster than we can comprehend, medice allows us to live three times as long as our ancestors, products and information from all over the world are easily accesible...
So far, 2016 is the best time to be alive.
>>890059
>whig theory
>>889993
The beginning of the internet was peak mankind. Now we are at the beginning of decadence.
I can see it with my generation already (29yo) and the younger generations, i have many examples, friends, brothers, cousins, nephews. The internet + videogames is the end of human creativity.
They make it so easy to "feel" that you achieved something, it is a surrogate feeling, it kills the need for achieving great things, like writing a book, doing crafts, arts, etc. Nobody will ever do those things ever again unless it's their payed job. New generations have ZERO concentration, ZERO memory, ZERO willpower. It's the end.
>>890071
Forgot to mention, now i'm even beginning to see young couples shutting down their BABIES with youtube videos. They hipnotize them with these specially made youtube videos for babies that have many colors and flashy stuff so they stop with the "mommy, how do you call that? mommy", "how is babby formed?". It's almost as if they hate their kids and they dont care that they dont learn shit.
>>890073
That's the same thing people said about television.
>>890080
The difference is that television is not omnipresent
There is 0 proof in the statement that the world is going "down a shitter", or overcomming some "peak". First of all how are you even judging that? Second if you're asking this question, you obviously think it's going to shit, and you want reinforcement. Third, that is a retarded way to look at people and the world.
Just so you know, every single generation has said this about future generations, and they will keep on saying this. Humans are incredibly egocentric and twat-like. We complain, bitch, and exaggerated about what other people do or don't do. We hardly ever look at anything objectively. We concentrate on examples from our daily lives to justify the world as a shit place, when in actuality we're just miserable for no reason, for example this dick head: No.890071.
You're probably still in college, so here's some advice. Lighten the fuck up you depressive faggot.
>>890100
Parents still let their children in front of televisions many hours a day.
>>890109
I'd say few generations have faced a future as dire as ours.
Recession up the ass, hordes of refugees at europe's borders, racial tensions in the US at an all time high, xenophobia rising (I like Trump but let's be honest with ourselves), Cold War rivalries being resurrected, a death cult controlling half of Syria and Iraq and performing attacks upon the west, the revolution in robot development which will put many people out of jobs, the list goes on.
Things aren't as bad as the middle ages or the 1930's, but they are indeed grim, and there's no need to lie to yourself about them
>>889993
Trough. I foresee a near collapse of today's world that will be reforged as a newer and better future through the chaos that ensues. We're nearing the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution :P
>>890059
This.
Yes there are bad things but overall things are improving.
>>890126
You completely missed how he said every generation says the same thing about future ones.
Can we have a massive decline? Of cause.
Are we declining? Only Captain Hindsight will know
>>890165
Yes, throughout history people have thought that the future will be shit, but now the odds are stacked in the favor of it being shit.
Unless God himself descends and solves all these problems we'll have a decline, because I doubt they'll magically dissapear on their own
the way I see it, there are two possibilities:
we are consumed in this high age of decadence and humanity faces a dire future of constant war and hardship like an extended 30 years war on an international scale
OR
we ascend and become eldar
>>890202
We are basically the eldar right before the fall
>>890029
Whoops, move it back to 1991 then. We're about to unleash a can of whoop ass on Saddam Hussein in a way that hasn't been seen for decades.
>>890126
>main stream media much?
And I'd say you're wrong. There is always something going on in the world. There have always been people who have been talking about how horrific the world is, and how it's only going to get worse. You ignored that.
Yet for some reason, people live way longer than before. Child mortality is at an all time low.
Reading ability and education is at an all time high. Equality at an all time high. Conflict though occurring, is still no where near as bad as it used to be 50-100 years back. Media blows everything up 100x...
Recessions have always been present, they are part of capitalism, you can't hide from that. Also, I see you've probably lived through like 1 in your life. Their severity can be fixed: gov. intervention.
Job fields are forever changing, some get created, others seize to exist.
Cold war rivalries being resurrected (you might be onto something), but if cooler heads prevail, nothing bad will happen. International tension has always existed: ALWAYS.
Death cults have always existed, except now it's convenient for them to get coverage (yes, I know conspiracy, but just think about it: fighting terrorism? Really? Let's stop being naive).
>>890264
I agree that the media is perpetuating negativity in order to get ratings, but it already exists on its own.
>Job fields are forever changing, some get created, others seize to exist.
yet the jobs that will be created will be incredibly high skill, and all the average joes will have nowhere to turn
>International tension has always existed: ALWAYS.
I doubt there's going to be a thermonuclear holocaust but the sword of Damocles it represents is terrifying
>Death cults have always existed, except now it's convenient for them to get coverage
They have, but they have always been limited; even Al Qaeda didn't believe in bringing about the apocalypse
>>890275
Yeh it exists on it's own, but it doesn't mean that we don't make it out to be worse that it was before. There is a massive amount of social, cognitive, and evolutionary psychology literature on this: doomsday thinking, self-fulfilling prophesy, etc. You should read up on it.
How do you know that future jobs are going to be high risk? If anything, they will be more safe (that's what history tells us). Or do you mean as in job security?
It is terrifying, but it doesn't mean the world is a worse place because of it. It's just means that we are capable of killing more people in a shorter span of time (capable the key word here). I don't think it will happen either. In a some respect I think nuclear capability levels the playing field a bit: "Samuel Colt made all men equal", it's similar, requires heads of state and politicians to actually debate, come to agreements, and be civil.
We create a monster through sheer pain, suffering, and death (weapons, ammo, and "democracy"), yet we expect people not to retaliate and to be thankful that we "liberated" them. Then we have our soldiers come home, talk about how freedom this, freedom that, orders, savages, terrorists, liberals, blah, blah, blah, fighting for your freedom 2500 miles away, blah, blah, blah. You see where I'm going, don't you?
It's a matter of perspective. The bombings and number of casualties that have occurred in Western countries are so minuscule compared to what the people of the Middle East have had to endure.
Not a supporter of radical dogma (or any dogma), but, we created their animosity.
>>890126
Holy Shit, mate. Those things have been blown out of proportion.
Apart from Brazil and Venezuela, the whole world is growing (I honestly don't know why you think you are in a recession);
Refugees from Syria might be the "biggest" problem right now, but are far from being a disaster;
Racial tensions are just being vocalized a lot more, but are far from being high, specially if you compare it to how things were in the past.
I don't know why you think Cold War rivalries are being ressurected. Both Cuba and Iran are being opened to the world. China is too dependent on the US and on international trade to do anything. Russia has had its economy crippled by sanctions.
ISIS is losing territory fast. Soon they will be just a terrorist cell hiding in a cave.
Technology is not going to put people out of jobs in the long run. If that were true, 90% of the world population would have become unemployed since the Industrial Revolution.
Summing up, you are an idiot.
>>890071
Zero memory? Isn't that more prevalent in older generations?
>>890024
>self-centeredness and self-righteousness come about through hardship
What? no they don't. At least not exclusively, probably not even in the majority of cases.
Depends on what sense...
Economically speaking, humanity was not ever as rich as it is right now. People live longer, have more teeth, are better fed.
At the same time, people are not happier. Many people are miserable and take a lot of alcohol, drugs and anti-depressants. People are aimless, can't see anything above physical pleasure as a good and you have a lot of people thinking sex is the greatest good, with the negative effects you would expect (broken families, miserable people, etc).
Also, it is not true that people are always pessimistic about the future. In the Victorian era, people were very optimistic. Before WWI, people were very optimistic. In the early 90's, people were optimistic. Sometimes people are optimistic, sometimes people are pessimistic.
As for this generation, there IS something wrong with it. It is not only the hedonism. Look at this:
http://emorywheel.com/emory-students-express-discontent-with-administrative-response-to-trump-chalkings/
Those people are very weak.
>>890510
Such naivety.
>Apart from Brazil and Venezuela, the whole world is growing (I honestly don't know why you think you are in a recession);
We survived 2008 but another one is coming
>Refugees from Syria might be the "biggest" problem right now, but are far from being a disaster;
>tens of thousands of people with radical ideals without IDs free to roam across Europe isn't a disaster
>Racial tensions are just being vocalized a lot more, but are far from being high, specially if you compare it to how things were in the past.
Yes, compared to half a century ago everything fine and dandy.
Baltimore and Ferguson were nearly LA riots level of violence, and you've got tensions all over the country
>China is too dependent on the US and on international trade to do anything. Russia has had its economy crippled by sanctions.
>he thinks the sanctions hurt Russia meaningfully
>ISIS is losing territory fast. Soon they will be just a terrorist cell hiding in a cave.
they've been losing ground for two years, yet the terrorist attacks both in Europe and abroad have only increased.
Seems to me we're fighting a hydra
>Technology is not going to put people out of jobs in the long run. If that were true, 90% of the world population would have become unemployed since the Industrial Revolution
Yeah, because the fast food industry and the auto industry will surely keep on hiring people when they can have much cheaper and cost efficient machines doing it
>Summing up, you are an idiot.
And you are a child with stars in its eyes
>>889993
It peaked in 1996 and then it went downhill the moment the Spice Girls happened.
Coincidence? I don't think so.
>peaked in the 90s
Speak for yourself Yankees, both Major and Blair caused a few small leaks to turn into a totally sinking ship
