Is the world getting worse and worse or is my perception of the world changing as I get older?

Question

Sometimes I have such anxiety like I don't even want to bring kids into the world because of all the hurt, hatred and disease there is. People drive like animals and there is no common courtsey in public places anymore. Am I just seeing the world differently, or has it really changed?

Answer 1

Maybe this will help:

" People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful you will win some false friends and true enemies; Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway ".
--Mother Teresa

Answer 2

Oh, please do not be discouraged.
Neither the world is getting worse, nor your perception is 'changed'.
It is just that your perception has deepened well, to be able to become more responsible and to consider before just begetting children like all animals do and even most people do !
Only a person who has this enhanced level of perception can do something with involvement and meaningfully about it.
And more importantly, such parents would be the best possible parents, and their children would become more capable with such caring guidance about doing something to better the situation.
In eastern philosophy, lotus is chosen as a symbol of a religion (rather a way of life, now more popular as a 'religion) ! More the slush, better the lotus ! So, a lotus like flower can bloom with such caring parents, even with slush all around.
The question is indeed very pertinent, and thoughtful.

Answer 3

The world is not getting "better" -- we have never lived in a world approaching 7 billion population.. with a nutcase like Bush in control of the most power ever accorded one person.. And yes.. crime & ignorance are spreading here in America.. so it is wise to keep on your toes.. And.. to highlight the danger:

On January 12, 2007, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in a press release noted that the Doomsday clock was to be moved forward to highlight the "Most Perilous Period Since Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (BAS) will move the minute hand of the "Doomsday Clock" on January 17, 2007, the first such change to the Clock since February 2002. The major new step reflects growing concerns about a "Second Nuclear Age" marked by grave threats, including: nuclear ambitions in Iran and North Korea, unsecured nuclear materials in Russia and elsewhere, the continuing "launch-ready" status of 2,000 of the 25,000 nuclear weapons held by the U.S. and Russia, escalating terrorism, and new pressure from climate change for expanded civilian nuclear power that could increase proliferation risks. [2]

The official announcement will take place on January 17th, 2007 at 14:30 hours GMT.[3]

Answer 4

I agree with you. But I also think that the media has play a big part on our lives, all they show is the horrible things that happened in the world. 50 years ago they wouldn't show have of the things they do now, and I think that is what have changed us. The world has always been in wars and horrible things happened all the time since the beginning of times. But still humanity survives and moves on to generation after generations. I sometimes think, "why would be the point of bringing a child into this cruel and horrible place?", but I really don't want to die not knowing what motherhood is and all the wonders, hope a purity that a child brings into the world. If we all give up now and stop having kids then who will keep searching for world peace. I know is along shot and I'm sure that in my lifetime it wont happen, but I can't help to wish that one of my generations will. And with that I say to you, don't give up an life, We are worth fighting for.

Answer 5

I don"t think the world has gotten any worse. I believe that it is only perception and how the media influences this perception. We improve in some areas and decline in others. As the races of the world move and mingle we become more tolerant to other ideas and races.
Is the world worse now than in the past? Perhaps the people who lived under Genghis Khan could answer that.

Answer 6

I think most of the people living in the usa are living in a false sense of what really exists imo. The average person is totaly blind to all the bad things going on in this world and how they have a direct effect on how things happen. The belief that you dont have any effect on your own future is one of the most dangerous beliefs a person can have. It doesnt change the fact that you still have effect on your world but it does effect the way you view it and yourself. I think the perception of the world becoming worsee and worse is just a sign that you are starting to care more and more about all the bad that happens in the world. Just try not to get lost in your care for the world and people around you. If you lose control of self in the world you become a drownding man whos violently struggling that takes anyone who trys to save them with them...

Answer 7

Neither. That adjudicative element in your soul increases in sophistication just as the experiences subject to it accumulate. At a certain point you will hopefully realize that "the world" is a vague conception, not a perception. World history is misleading because we are aware of, but no longer familiar with, a pre-history. With our individual lives, the same: an increase in the ability to analyse accompanied by forgetfulness of our former innocence. And then the peripeteia may very well occur through parental awareness of the child's innocence. An exhaustive cyclic pattern, in mind, soul, and body.

Answer 8

According to the geniuses behind the doomsday clock, it is apparently getting worse.... but I believe that it is merely perceptual. We have always had people killing one another. If you look at Cain and Able... what a story so long ago. Sex with your brother's wife... and then murder.... But now, media plays the role of educating us as to how bad the world truly is... but we can be betrayed by our own family quite easily when money and sex are involved. We see this often today. Money, power, sex. I believe the world is no different today than it was thousands of years ago. There are more people, and the news travels faster, but it is all the same...

Answer 9

You're seeing it differently. I've been through it too. If you're really concerned about the whole world take a trip out to a country town. Every time I do I am amazed at how slow paced and set back life is there. It's like a breath of fresh air. (from the Twin Cities)

Answer 10

I don’t think the world is getting worse.

Imagine how our parents and grandparents must have felt as the air sirens warned of bomb threats and they dashed us into bomb shelters, or rationing out a meager wage to feed 5 children and sleeping in a single roomed home?

I think the way in which you view the world is an outward expression of how you see yourself. The good news being that the good times like the bad all come to an end and therein lies the balance we all seek.