Why do contemporary people find themselves to be more advanced than peoples in the past?

Question

aka why do we as a society today find ourselves to be "better off" or "smarter" or "more advanced" in any way? Or, are we not any better than peoples of the past?

I'll tell everyone what I think of my question in a few days by the way. Really think about this one though, this isn't an easy question.

Oh Douglas Z you missed the point...so sad for you.

Wow! Thank you everyone for you're great answers. There are 4 or 5 answers that are awesome...so I can't choose a favorite answer.

As far as what I think about my question (in the simplest way possible) is that we are not more advanced or better or more knowledgable. Look at ancient civilizations. Look at what the Romans built, the Native Americans understanding of the stars, the Egyptians ability to communicate, the Persians science, and the Greeks philosophy. These people were smart, they were figuring out the mysteries of the universe without the help from GPS or a cell phone. What are those "technological advances" without batteries. We depend upon worthless technology and the knowlege of those that have gone before us, but we have forgotten the basics. How to build a colossium with pullies baffles us simply because it's too much hard work. Sorry, but we're spoiled brats who do nothing but rely upon technology to save our lives and sustain our cushy lives, and that is a sad story.

Answer 1

Ki Ki Jo, you have asked a very complex question. You need to read up on "ethnocentrism" and further, define "advanced". If your model society is "better off" by ignoring man's connection to all creation and subduing the earth to extinction, then your model society is "better off". As for "smarter", well, is it smart for humanity to crap in it's own nest as we are now doing?
If you are seriously searching for the answers to these questions, you need to go "outside of the box" of what you have been taught and read, read. One book will lead you to another but just to mention a few authors: Joseph Campbell, Carlos Castaneda, James Redfield, and various authors writing about Edgar Cayce.
There are too many fields and authors related to your question to mention them here but start with anyone and you will find your own way. One book by title that will impact your quest in a very profound way is "The Discoverers", I think the author's last name was Boorsten but not sure.
Good luck on you venture.

Answer 2

I'll tell you something KiKi Jo - when I talk to my six year old grandson, I am absolutely amazed at his knowledge. He is nothing special brain wise, it just seems that the quality of teaching is so much better now than it was when I was a child 55 years ago. In those days, most teachers were nuns and a frustrated mean bunch of so-and-so's they were too. Information is far more readily available now which is obviously a contributing factor. Bear in mind that we did not have television in those days, and computers had not even been thought of. If you were lucky you got to the cinema once a week where you saw rubbish cowboy films. You young people are living in a most wonderful age right now, and apart from the odd war or two, things seem to be looking even brighter. The things I have seen in my lifetime will be mere trivia compared to what you will see in yours. Life is such a fascinating place at this time and you should make the very most of it. See the world, learn everything you can and try to be good - to yourself, your friends and even strangers. God bless and take care...................

Answer 3

Define "advanced." Define "better."
Cro-Magnon man was essentially a modern human. The difference between him and us, over the last 30,000 years, lies in technology. We tool-builders have been standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before us ever since, in every respect. Einsten could not have proposed his Special and General theories of relativity had he not had Newtonian mechanics to work from. The wonders of modern technology seem to increase by an order of magnitude with every generation. Your new computer is obsolete before you finish taking it out of the box.

I'm 65 years old. Sixty years ago there were no jet planes, never mind space travel or even air travel; no TVs; no electric typewriters; no microwaves, cell phones, cordless phones, fax machines, snow blowers, interstate highways, food processors, night baseball, stereos, pop-top cans and the list goes on. Refrigerators were a novelty; we still had an icebox when I was a child, and burned coal in our furnace. The radio was a piece of furniture. Our milk was delivered by a lady with a horse-drawn cart - and this was 1946! I've lived through staggering changes in little more than 50 years...and all due to technology. We are no smarter, we have only built on what has gone before. Read Greek tragedies if you have any doubt about the intelligence of those from the historical past.

Are we better off? Some would say that all the modern conveniences we enjoy make life easier. They certainly remove much of the hard physical labor that survival once entailed. Our life spans are longer. But are we working less hard? Not from what I read in the papers. We continue to chase the almighty dollar in our pursuit of status. Today's children feel entitled to expensive items that didn't even exist when I was growing up - game systems, computers, cell phones, iPods and the like - and are faced with tough choices about drugs and sex and STDs and AIDS, all issues that earlier generations never had to contend with. Technology and its vaunted conveniences do not seem to have made us better off in the long view.

If you add to the equation the multiple ways in which we have laid waste to the planet - which I need not list here - I question in what respect we can call ourselves "advanced." If the fouling of our own nest is an inevitable by-product of our "advanced" technology...I don't think we are in any sense smarter than we were 30,000 years ago.

Thanks for giving me something to think (and vent) about!

Answer 4

The further a society can distance themselves from the distasteful things in life, the more complex they view themselves.

The conveniences that we have developed makes our societies believe that we're more advanced than any of those barbarians in the past. Hand-operated can openers? How did they ever manage?! Any era that has more conveniences than the one's prior view the preceeding as more primitive. The same goes with war. The further you can distance yourself from violence, the more advanced the society views themselves. Killing is a different game when all you have to do is push a button a 50 nameless people 60 miles away die. If you're stabbing an antelope with a sharp rock tied to the end of a stick you're primitive. It's too involved. The same logic can be applied to the meat department in a grocery store. People would puke if they watched their meat being killed and processed. But once they can distace themselves from the complexities of preparation and conveniently pick up a styrofoam & plastic wrapped hunk o' chicken they're advanced.

Answer 5

We've come this far because of people from the past. Without the telephone, invented by Alexander Graham Bell over a hundred years ago, we wouldn't have cell phones. Without the radio, no tv. Without tv, no computers. The list is endless. And the knowledge we have today comes from books written in the past that now progressively leads us to where we are. Of course we're better off than those from the past--we've conquered many diseases that would kill most people and our knowledge continues to grow. We're not lazy because of what we have--we are lazy in addition to what we have. Don't you think the pioneer wife would have loved an electric dishwasher?

Answer 6

the human psyche. certain all other societies felt the same way at least to a certain extent. however, look at all the knowledge mankind has lost through war, ignorance, prejudice and other reasons. if we had the knowledge which was lost in the Library of Alexandria, the Mayan, Aztec, Chinese, Native Americans, etc. etc. all intact and available what advances might mankind have made. each of these cultures were advanced because they built on " those who had gone before " to give them a foundation on which to build.

Answer 7

definitely an ethnocentristic point of view is that we are better, smarter, stronger, safer, or more peaceful- but actually what makes us more advanced (I think) is that we now (since about 1950-1960) are approaching the study of past human lifeways in a way that makes room for the possibility that the definition of "better off" and "advanced" are completely subjective terms that may not apply to our modern society in the least. Many peoples of the past lived efficiently, peacefully, and without need or want of more of their basic necessities. - dang I am ready to start next semester. :)

Answer 8

Because we think that being able to use a computer/toaster/toothbrush we are somehow as advanced as the geniuses that invented them. We forget that technology is fashioned to be used by human beings, so of course it will be easy--that's not advanced, that's efficient/lazy. Being truly advanced is taking something raw and untouched by technology and making it into technology. This is something that I myself am for the most part incapable of doing.

Answer 9

Because we ARE more advanced. Genetically, socially, technology, industry...we ARE more advanced. As to "better off", or "smarter", that is a "value" question, and brings into play your belief system. Those words also are a comparison. But "advanced" is a noun. And that is what you ask. So I give you this answer!

Answer 10

Because we have built on contributions from people in the past.

I think that attitude is better than over-idealizing our ancestors.