If we, the human race, are making progress, then why...?

Question

Why are things getting so much tougher? We are pushing our three year olds to learn things I could not do in kindergarten. Why is every thing getting so much more competitive? In the fifties, you could buy a house and support a family on one paycheck. If we are progressing, shouldn't things be getting easier instead of tougher?

Answer 1

It is called survival of the fittest. For human beings that has always meant being the best at leveraging existing technology and developing new technology. We long since moved away from being the fastest and strongest. For human beings, the ones who prosper are the smartest (it is more complicated that that, but that is what it boils down to). Therefore, if you want your child to have a competetive edge, that child needs to read earlier, know math and science better, and be able to use computers.

Also, it depends on your definition of progress. That is endlessly debatable. It sounds like your definition is that progress should make life simpler and slower paced. Unfortunately, all human progress has always been centered around speeding things up. Faster ways to travel, produce cotton, make computers. get your christmas presents delivered to you. We focus on being faster, and that translates into our daily lives as well.

Answer 2

It's been said, and I assume by someone wiser than me, that, if, when you're young, you're not "liberal," then you have no heart. When you're older, and more experienced, If you're not "conservative, you have no brain!"

It is, however, the younger people who now outnumber by an ever-widening margin, the "older generation," in spite of the modern medical miracles of which we boast. That's because we are working longer, and under more stress, and more hours in a day, more days without vacations, etc. Why, just getting to work, if you DRIVE, (but, if you do, we won't be able to breathe, soon), is now, more often than ever before, a life-threatening ordeal.

News media are of no help, and chronic depression, PTSD, and the woeful side effects of the drugs used to treat the "disorders," are keeping pace with whatever longer lifespan we could have.

Lest we forget, all the social programs that never before existed, and drain the public treasury at an alarming rate, while we continue to pretend that our society, nearly alone, can handle ALL of the downtrodden, tempest-tossed people in the world, and all without even a "how- do- you- do" at the border(s).

Elderly ladies and small children's diapers are routinely searched, when travelling because it would be politically unacceptable to the liberal news media and, present company included, some of us, too!

My rhetorical return question is: Where have our minds gone?
Can we not see the dollars and cents cost to the ever-shrinking "working class?" You know them, the parents who put most of us through school until we could grab those goverment grants, and loans, and incentives? Where'd that money come from (Oh, Dad can work a few more years, can't he?)

I haven't mentioned the human cost to our health, physical, mental, and, yes, spiritual. That's because, as a former Medic, (14 years), I saw too much of the exponential increase of this charade to really want to "go there," because, well, it's depressing.

If WE, the people, are in charge of our government, determine the direction of education and of our society, then, why not just look in the mirror and admit it? It's time for the "back to the drawing board" route.

You'll forgive me, I'm sure, for sounding like the typical, "angry White male," and, for being one of those "&%*@# CONSERVATIVES," or for being a burned out "elderly person," a "combat veteran," and all the other daily INSULTS and uncivil slurrs we throw at each other all day and all night long, in person, in the media, in our hearts and minds, won't you?

I think it's because we've made our beds, and they're getting tougher for our poor, tired, insomniac bodies to sleep in.

Ponder, my friends

[e-mail] aka

p.s. A Clue! "What Man has done, Man can un-do." (unless, of course, we're all AFRAID of each other)

Answer 3

Along with the progress, there are so many other factors at work here that makes your (and my) life more difficult every day.

When it comes to cost of living, its is due to inflation (see link below). Also, we are consuming a lot of resources we have faster than we can replace them or recreate them. (see sustainable development link). And if that wasn't bad enough there are more of us now than there used to be (see population growth link)

Having said that... (I should copyright that phrase) we can't take human progress as a given. In fact, even though the overall effect was towards progress, in the past there have been many occasions when we took a few steps back (eg. dark ages). Can you believe that the Greeks (one of the most advanced civilizations) actually forgot how to read their own text at one point so later they had to invent a new kind?

Answer 4

like to attempt an open your eyes to the very lies you think are accessible. in spite of the shown fact that it sort of feels you're too deep to work out the certainty. right this is a touch diagnosis for you. 20+ cultures, worldwide huge, have products that factor to 2012 timeframe. NO the place does it state destruction, great coming of God, etc. it is all atheist mumbo jumbo. It says " a great substitute ". Then define Revelation interior the bible. It does not recommend great destruction, great wars, etc. It skill " the disclosing ". every physique with a million/2 an training can surely see those have the comparable which skill. And neither speaks of wars, destruction, etc like human beings desire to think of. Open your guy or woman eyes and the certainty could desire to be considered. persist with and repeat others, you tub in a shower of lies.

Answer 5

We're trying to do more....with more.

It's kind of like an evolution of sorts where the more things we have at our disposal, the more we want to try to beat past generations in terms of discovery, and a host of other things.

It's like when you start making more money, but you start spending more. We have much more technology today than we ever have, so we're trying to prepare people earlier to let them "hit the ground running." The idea is there are a lot of things to do, and only so much time to do them.

Answer 6

I have no idea. I was forced read at 2 and I ended up skipping kindergarten and reading at an 8th grade level! All that stress made me just want to quit school.

Answer 7

Because the human race is headed in the wrong direction. People are depressed and full of anxiety, and there are horrible illnesses and on and on. This isn't the way it was supposed to be, but our forefathers chose this direction for us, now it's uncontrollable.

Answer 8

social darwinism. the ones that are smarter and better get the higher paying jobs while the rest are simply looked over. it's survival of the fittest applied to our society.

Answer 9

Humas are greedy ... so you have to stay competitive to be on top of the greed chain. otherwise you could end up homeless