Is the world getting better or not?

[welkin]

By better i mean like are we actually becoming more loving, accepting, understanding, aware, conscious, intuitive as a collective? I know many are, but is that enough to create that change? And is it less about the numbers more than about the actual steps or actions required to take?

 

For some reason, i fee like most of the world is trying to push this agenda that things are getting better. And that those those who don't see that, are probably stuck mentally/spiritually in some way where they can't see it. Me being one of them.

 

I just don't see it. I do want to point out that i try* to not create my views based off what sounds logically convincing from other people or books. Though i do listen to a lot of people and read books. So if you're going to try to find some logical justification for why it is indeed getting better, and without deeper, less 'logical' other aspects such as consciousness, objective truth, it won't be convincing enough. And yes, logic is not objective.

 

I feel like everything happening in the world is a clear mirror of whether things are good or bad. Which in my opinion is no bueno.

 

And if the answer is it doesn't matter because all shall pass. Well what happens if we just nuke ourselves into extinction, ai is created and takes over etc.

 

So therefore we're still not supposed to do anything? Okay, well what about the people who did 'something/everything' so that you could have your rights? Or those who created the technology one uses today. Or the countless of other things that creates the benefits or prevents the destruction of what we have today?

 

So if i were born in Martin Luther King's time, and he felt divinely inspired to change the world. Am i to tell him, 'that stuff doesn't matter, it shall pass or evolve into something else anyways. Don't go making your life stressful to the point where someone wants to assassinate you.'

 

Idk if this will make sense to everyone. But in Bruce lee philosophy as well as in soccer, the best defense is the best offense. The way Daoist perspective on the things i'm describing are given (At least when explained by just anyone.), it's like everything is defense. The problem with only acting through defense in sports is you just lose or die slowly.  Which i feel like is what's happening now.  I want to say i have not read any daoist texts, for personal reasons, but  it doesn't mean i don't intend to. This is just a part of 'my' process. So i may be missing certain ideas or may not convey them in how it's recognized through the text. But the point is i'm sure there can a great difference between someone's interpretation of the text and the message the original text is trying to create.

 

Of course we're doing 'something' by spreading certain teachings to more and more people. But is it in any comparison to how quickly the opposing ignorant way of living is growing?

 

So is the world getting better? Are we doing the right thing by not pushing for more? People always say we are moving in the right direction etc. But  something like knowing if the world is going in the right direction, is highly subjective to what the person's opinion of right direction is. which applies to all of us of course. However, I'm questioning if are we living through a current idea that may have fooled an entire species?

 

 

Edited October 18, 2019 by welkin

[thelerner]

I'm with the world is getting better group.  Three or four generations (& on down) ago most prejudices were taken for granted.  Pretty much all other ethnic, social, sexual, religious groups were considered lesser then ones own.  Very wide spread, to the point equality was radical. 

 

I'm 55, growing up, we'd the big insult was You're gay.  I don't even know if we knew what gay was.  Faggot was also widely heard.  You're a Pollock an Pollock jokes were big.  Insults, bullying were considered a norm.  Teachers didn't care, such casual nastiness wasn't incorrect, politically or otherwise.  For the average American Vegetarianism was a freak proposal, it was a meat and potatoes, salt & pepper world.

 

So if by getting nicer, less racial and prejudiced, I think the world has been improving.  As far poverty is concerned we've made incredible strides in the last few decades. 

 

The news is a concentration of all thats going wrong the world and it ignores the millions of common place things going right.  A constant diet of it can turn the psyche a little darker.

 

Here- https://www.vox.com/2014/11/24/7272929/global-poverty-health-crime-literacy-good-news

"23 charts and maps that show the world is getting much, much better"

 

By Dylan Matthews@[email protected] Updated Oct 17, 2018, 10:02am EDT

 

..For most Americans, these feel like bleak times. We have a massively unpopular, scandal-plagued president whose aides are being convicted of serious federal felonies. Overt, old-fashioned racism is publicly visible and powerful in a way it wasn’t only five years ago. More than 200 admired, powerful men have been accused of sexual misconduct or assault.

 

This is all real, and truly alarming. But it would be a mistake to view that as the sum total of the world in 2018. Under the radar, some aspects of life on Earth are getting dramatically better. Extreme poverty has fallen by half since 1990, and life expectancy is increasing in poor countries — and there are many more indices of improvement like that everywhere you turn.

 

But many of us aren’t aware of ways the world is getting better because the press — and humans in general — have a strong negativity bias. Bad economic news gets more coverage than good news. Negative experiences affect people more, and for longer, than positive ones. Survey evidence consistently indicates that few people in rich countries have any clue that the world has taken a happier turn in recent decades — one poll in 2016 found that only 8 percent of US residents knew that global poverty had fallen since 1996.

 

I wonder if the world is relying more on facts and you're relying on your feelings and personal situation.  Are you starving and looked down upon because of your race and nationality.  Are you repressed?  Will you go to jail if you say something against the government? ..

 

 

If its any consolation you'd probably feel even worse in another decade du jour.  Or maybe not, people were way more stoic in the past.

 

Edited October 18, 2019 by thelerner

[silent thunder]

In the history of phenomenological reality... has any raindrop ever fallen in the wrong spot... that i, or any other influence could have set it right through action or avoidance?

 

Better for whom?

 

Better than what?

 

Co arising conditions are as they are, ever shifting and balancing, yet never balanced.

The universe of phenomenon is as it is...

This is it.

 

What else?

 

[welkin]

On 10/18/2019 at 1:10 PM, thelerner said:

I'm with the world is getting better group.  Three or four generations (& on down) ago most prejudices were taken for granted.  Pretty much all other ethnic, social, sexual, religious groups were considered lesser then ones own.  Very wide spread, to the point equality was radical. 

 

I'm 55, growing up, we'd the big insult was You're gay.  I don't even know if we knew what gay was.  Faggot was also widely heard.  You're a Pollock an Pollock jokes were big.  Insults, bullying were considered a norm.  Teachers didn't care, such casual nastiness wasn't incorrect, politically or otherwise.  For the average American Vegetarianism was a freak proposal, it was a meat and potatoes, salt & pepper world.

 

So if by getting nicer, less racial and prejudiced, I think the world has been improving.  As far poverty is concerned we've made incredible strides in the last few decades. 

 

The news is a concentration of all thats going wrong the world and it ignores the millions of common place things going right.  A constant diet of it can turn the psyche a little darker.

 

Here- https://www.vox.com/2014/11/24/7272929/global-poverty-health-crime-literacy-good-news

"23 charts and maps that show the world is getting much, much better"

 

By Dylan Matthews@[email protected] Updated Oct 17, 2018, 10:02am EDT

 

..For most Americans, these feel like bleak times. We have a massively unpopular, scandal-plagued president whose aides are being convicted of serious federal felonies. Overt, old-fashioned racism is publicly visible and powerful in a way it wasn’t only five years ago. More than 200 admired, powerful men have been accused of sexual misconduct or assault.

 

This is all real, and truly alarming. But it would be a mistake to view that as the sum total of the world in 2018. Under the radar, some aspects of life on Earth are getting dramatically better. Extreme poverty has fallen by half since 1990, and life expectancy is increasing in poor countries — and there are many more indices of improvement like that everywhere you turn.

 

But many of us aren’t aware of ways the world is getting better because the press — and humans in general — have a strong negativity bias. Bad economic news gets more coverage than good news. Negative experiences affect people more, and for longer, than positive ones. Survey evidence consistently indicates that few people in rich countries have any clue that the world has taken a happier turn in recent decades — one poll in 2016 found that only 8 percent of US residents knew that global poverty had fallen since 1996.

 

I wonder if the world is relying more on facts and you're relying on your feelings and personal situation.  Are you starving and looked down upon because of your race and nationality.  Are you repressed?  Will you go to jail if you say something against the government? ..

 

 

If its any consolation you'd probably feel even worse in another decade du jour.  Or maybe not, people were way more stoic in the past.

 

 

Thanks for your perspective and resour@thelerner

Edited November 19, 2019 by welkin

[welkin]

2 hours ago, silent thunder said:

In the history of phenomenological reality... has any raindrop ever fallen in the wrong spot... that i, or any other influence could have set it right through action or avoidance?

 

Better for whom?

 

Better than what?

 

Co arising conditions are as they are, ever shifting and balancing, yet never balanced.

The universe of phenomenon is as it is...

This is it.

 

What else?

 

 

Better for those who come here and are almost immediately outcasted by the world they grow into. Because usually those are the ones who wish they could experience the world to the fullest without limitations, without stomping on anyone else's toes and on top of that with everyone else. Because they are the ones who even with the possibility of abusing power, are less likely to abuse it, because it's about not having power. Because there's nothing to defend against or rule over. which is in opposition to the ideas the world has lived through till this day.

 

if one believes that everything that happens in the world is entirely in flow, then there is no argument. As therefore one would have to accept that both light and dark are to sides of the same coin. Then those who feel the divine or unstoppable urge to do something in opposition to what currently exists is also part of the flow. Objectively speaking, from God perspective, maybe nothing is good or bad. Because one views it from the highest point. But i'm not sure one should apply that to every situation especially if living in physical reality. counteractions, changes, require emotion ideas attached to it. it may be possible to label something as bad as a way of identifying what one needs to do. And that may just mean bringing things to balance.

 

I don't believe that it's about making excuses about the world so that one can live as one chooses, becuase those who choose to awaken, will. But it's hard to deny that even if awakened, the very world we live in will continue manipulating those around us. Those whom which we are directly connected to whether we like it or not. And nonetheless does have an effect on our experience in this world.

 

 

Edited October 18, 2019 by welkin

[MegaMind]

Technology is getting better, people are getting worse.

[rideforever]

People are getting worse as they have no way of learning.

Technology does everything, and if you do something yourself you have to follow rules like a robot.

So nobody can really learn and then everyone is depressed.

But you can still shop on Amazon, and watch Netflix.

Maybe that's all life is about anyway !!!

 

Prejudices of the past were based on the people of the past.

Those people had to deal with reality or they would starve.

Over time they grew wise and an understanding of life occurred.

That wisdom is now called "prejudice".

 

But, as has happened many times in the past, the strength of that society brought riches.

And society grew and the wisdom and hard work brought prosperity.

But then people didn't have anything to do.

Technology did everything.

Then they got fat and stupid, and ill.

They destroyed all old "prejudices" because they came from a different world.

It didn't mean anything to anyone any more.

One of those rules is that you have to earn the right to break the rules by doing such a great job.

That one has been thrown away as well.

 

Then society goes into freefall and people start to suffer badly.

Lot's of blaming this person or that person.

Outside there is a great party and people cheer claiming progress.

Meanwhile society is full strife, diseases of the body, and diseases of the mind.

The environment around is badly damaged.

Still they cling to the great festival of progress.

 

One day it collapses like the stock market.

No food is left, and people do what they have to.

It gets ugly fast.

And people stopped caring long ago.

Because they were ill the whole time.

 

A few escaped because they were honest.

And somehow they stumbled through so much bullshit and found a real teacher.

And they were taught how to escape.

There were few, but they entered a narrow gate.

 

Nobody believed them.

Back out there, the party of progress was going on.

After a while every single one of them was dead.

 

This story has been explained many times to every single person on the planet.

In one way or another.

 

[thelerner]

I've found technology is a wonderful way to learn.  I can listen (podcasts) to and have access to amazing teachers (online universities, indepth youtubes) in just about any field.  From shorter 30 minute lectures to indepth classes, often for free.  When it comes to learning, Tech can be a great friend.  Course mostly we learn from people, our friends and parents. 

 

Often Amazon can get you goods faster and cheaper, and if you're going to watch TV Netflix has some good original programming as well as network programming with no commercials.  There's good TV and bad TV.  Really good TV is well.. really good.  Nothing better then when you connect with an original series (call out to Stranger Things).  In turn it allows you to connect with other who were into it.  Like anything else, moderation is the answer. 

 

You can come up with strange instances, but generally thinking of 'Prejudice as Wisdom' in terms of looking at other groups of people is not the best way to go, in my book.   One can be proud of ones group without falling for the pitfalls of tribalism and nationalism.

 

Looking around my neighborhood, people here still work hard.  I, myself don't, but people here do.  Its how they earn there living, the rat race.  Different professions then the past, but change happens. 

 

While intelligent preparation for the future, including savings and skill is smart, I don't see the use of mourning a dark reality that hasn't happened.  Rideforever you're complaining about a 'freefall' that hasn't happened.  Things will go up and down but one shouldn't rob oneself of all the good things in life because one is waiting for the apocalypse to happen.  Cause you could die of old age, waiting and preaching for dark times when poverty, prejudices and crime continue to drop. 

Edited October 19, 2019 by thelerner

[Taomeow]

Depends on who you ask, and what time period you're comparing to what other time period, and where exactly.

 

Every 1 in 200 people living today, according to only the known statistics (the real numbers may be much higher), is a slave.  Not metaphorically, literally.  There's more slaves in the world today than at any prior period in human history.  (Yes, even in percentages of the population, not just in absolute numbers.  Yes, even in Sumer, thousands of years ago, slaves constituted a smaller percentage of the overall population.)  Modern slavery includes forced labor, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, debt bondage and forced marriage (impossible to refuse or leave).  Most victims (71%) are women.  1 in every 4 modern slavery victims is a child.  Children are found in every type of slavery from labour to sex trafficking to forced marriage. 

 

Profits from modern slavery per victim are higher in developed economies. In 2014, the EU and other developed economies made an estimated $46.9 Billion USD in profits from modern slavery.  

 

Tip of the iceberg though.  Most people in conditions that don't formally met the definition for "modern slavery" are not much better off.  

 

I think there's a few prerequisites for believing that the world is "getting better":

 

one has to be perfectly indifferent to the plight of the overwhelming majority of the human, animal and plant life in our world today;

belong to the 16% of the world population living in the so-called "developed" countries;

belong to the about half of that 16% that doesn't live in poverty, i.e. to the lucky 8% of the world population.

 

So, the lucky ones who are all right, what about the remaining 92% of the world?  Oh...  you should see it to believe it.  I've traveled, and not just to where the 8% can't stop counting their blessings.  I've seen quite a bit of the remaining 92%.  I assure you that it's a hell of a wonderful world for anyone too young, too old, too sick, too poor, too powerless to matter.  Key word "hell."      

 

[moment]

3 hours ago, Taomeow said:

Depends on who you ask, and what time period you're comparing to what other time period, and where exactly.

 

Every 1 in 200 people living today, according to only the known statistics (the real numbers may be much higher), is a slave.  Not metaphorically, literally.  There's more slaves in the world today than at any prior period in human history.  (Yes, even in percentages of the population, not just in absolute numbers.  Yes, even in Sumer, thousands of years ago, slaves constituted a smaller percentage of the overall population.)  Modern slavery includes forced labor, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, debt bondage and forced marriage (impossible to refuse or leave).  Most victims (71%) are women.  1 in every 4 modern slavery victims is a child.  Children are found in every type of slavery from labour to sex trafficking to forced marriage. 

 

Profits from modern slavery per victim are higher in developed economies. In 2014, the EU and other developed economies made an estimated $46.9 Billion USD in profits from modern slavery.  

 

Tip of the iceberg though.  Most people in conditions that don't formally met the definition for "modern slavery" are not much better off.  

 

I think there's a few prerequisites for believing that the world is "getting better":

 

one has to be perfectly indifferent to the plight of the overwhelming majority of the human, animal and plant life in our world today;

belong to the 16% of the world population living in the so-called "developed" countries;

belong to the about half of that 16% that doesn't live in poverty, i.e. to the lucky 8% of the world population.

 

So, the lucky ones who are all right, what about the remaining 92% of the world?  Oh...  you should see it to believe it.  I've traveled, and not just to where the 8% can't stop counting their blessings.  I've seen quite a bit of the remaining 92%.  I assure you that it's a hell of a wonderful world for anyone too young, too old, too sick, too poor, too powerless to matter.  Key word "hell."      

 

I so much understand your cynicism, I truly do. I have been in the hell of the lost (at a very young age)  my empathy is great for you and yours", continue to be you.