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.
There are a lot of places in the world that aren’t any better than what you’re talking about, and it’s a testament to how resilient the people who live there are.
There are also people fighting wars with astoundingly more gruesome weapons than we used to have. At least when someone killed you with a sword, they’d have to be there, watching you die. Now people kill like a video game, with a controller and a screen.
All animals have an amazing ability to just keep pushing through, even when the situation is dire. Some do it better than others, but humans have got to be near the top.
I’m afraid we’re accumulating genetic defects and weaknesses because we’re not allowing them to be weeded out anymore.
would a “standard” commoner from back then laugh at how ‘soft’ our world has become from their point of view?
No, they’d either want the same or they’d think we’re evil magicians and want to burn us at the stake. Who tf wants more infant mortality (except for US Republicans and their ilk).
“Ah yes, dying in childbirth really builds character!”
“Contracting polio really put hair on my son’s chest and made him into the man he is today!”
“I’m so glad I can look forward to a life of hard physical labor and and death at 40. Not like those future weaklings who might survive into their 70s and beyond.”
“Oh, boy. Chattel slavery has been great for us. The family that picks cotton together, sticks together … until our owners decide to sell us off.”
There are people who sound just like this 😅
The people back then lived to 60-70 years. The average life expectancy was 30-40 years because of the extremely high child mortality. Almost like half the children died before they became 10 years old. Most of them died within their first year when the body and immune system are still very weak.
Maybe not… nutrition and general health care are a lot better these days, as is education and general access to information so if you took say, a 40-year old from 1875 and introduced them to a 40-year old from 2025, they might see someone who’s bigger than them, has perfect teeth, looks half their age, and has a pretty broad general knowledge about all sorts of things they’d know nothing about.
A bit like if a 40-year old from today met someone from the year 2175 who looked about 20, was insanely fit and a foot taller than them and could casually describe how the cure for cancer, AGI, quantum computers and fusion power worked. Could be pretty intimidating!
Not really, because what they did in hard physical labour we do in hard mental labour. And both types of hard labour exist at the same time nowadays anyway.
Ah, but you see people in the 1920’s had to fight for their immune defense to polio the old fashioned way. People in the 2020’s were handed theirs on a silver syringe and are, therefore, wussies
Physically, most of us are way weaker and in worse physical shape. (Look at old time photos for far people, or sideshow people labelled as “world’s fattest man” who would not raise an eyebrow lumbering through walmart these days.) I wonder how the balance of more manual work vs our sedentary and fatty lifestyles would play out.
I also think folks were more ready to die or get hurt as that’s just how things happened, so probably more willing to be beaten as part of a strike etc.
Here’s a half hour video on how industrial work differed from agricultural work
There are some cases where stresses back then were worse than today, but there are a lot of cases where today is worse from the point of view of certain stresses.
You also have differences in expectations. For instance, it was common for children to die due to different reasons. That vastly changes the parent-child dynamic.
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.
Thanks for your answer! I was afraid I had posed the question wrong somehow but this is exactly what I was getting at.
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Literal fascist rhetoric
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And soft men make you hard
Your question made me think about comedian Ryan Hamilton’s bit about the New Yorker visiting rural Idaho and wandering off to get gluten free cupcakes never to be seen again.
We for sure have it easier today.
Want the honest truth? Except for our current politics they would have been amazed, astounded, and hopeful for thr future. Medicine, science, technology have all made quantum leaps. Quality of life has to. They would be happy we don’t have to kill each other for resources.
I also think that, after getting up to speed, they’d fight pretty hard against measures that are meant to backslide us to that point again.
We’d have less tolerance to suffering. But we’re also way healthier so our bodies would be stronger and faster.
Quality of life is definitely exponentially better than it was at that time. However, while we may not face the same physical turmoils, I believe the mental turmoil is much, much greater in the modern day. We do not have nearly as much concern for physical health, but mental health has hit the floor. I don’t know that the general human condition is necessarily “better” or “worse”, just different
