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Are we modern humans, across the board, enormous wussies compared to people, say, 150+ years ago? (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Considering things like modern medicine not being available, infant and child mortality, the gruesome nature of most work back then... would a "standard" commoner from back then laugh at how 'soft' our world has become from their point of view?

What can we infer from people's mindsets and resilience back then vs now, and do you think we're on the verge of a return to these conditions?

I think techno-feudalism has the capacity to be much more brutal than any old time machiavellan clown. The way our minds are deliberately manipulated by algorithms nowadays are much more subtle and insidious than anything the tyrants of yesteryear could've dreamt up, while at the same time convincing people they have it better than ever.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

That's an interesting question. Many people are answering the question "Would people from 150 years ago think the quality of life is better" instead of "Would they think modern people are weaker."

I think that depends on how you define "weak" or "strong." Physically, I think there is less manual labor needed, so in general people from the past may look at us as weaker. The understanding of mental health and resilience is lesser in the past, but if conveyed in relative terms, I do think they would see how more resilient we need to generally be to things now like doom scrolling and algorithms that we are exposed to in the present.

Humans are pretty adaptable. Since we generally have more access to resources now, I would argue modernity has the side effect of hindering our sense of agency. Likewise, we are adapting different "strengths" based on the challenges we get in the present.