parsonsknows has already asked that but not the way I will.The thing that makes me ask that,at first look,obvious qusetion is the fact that people can get used to everything.For example if your PC is broken I will be fealing very bad to say the least.We can't imagine our life without a TV or a car or anything else we take for granted nowadays.But guess what-medieval men weren't depresed of the fact that they didn't even have electricity and do you know why-because they couldn't imagine something better than the life they had.Now we go to the next part of the question.Are we happier now that we have all of these technological advancments?When you think about it those qusetions are the same.after all the point of progress is to make us happier,right-wrong!We are more stressed and we have as much as to worry about as people a thousand years ago did.
2007-01-26 08:34:52 · 5 answers · asked by brich_inc 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Considering that in the middle ages, most men my age would be dead, yeah, I'm happier with progress.
- That most people would have had teeth with cavities yanked out by plier without anesthesia in the local barber shop, yeah, I'm happier.
- That most of my family has not already died from plague, hunger, Typhoid, flu, or being bled to death while seeking a cure, yeah, I'm happier now.
- That I have a flushable toilet, a garbage disposal, and sanitation in place of a hole in my backyard or a street window, yeah, I'm happier now.
- That I was more educated by my 8th birthday than most medieval people were during their entire lives, yeah, I'm happier now.
- That I don't walk through dung-filled streets, full of lice in my hair, in mud up to my knees, yeah, I'm happier now.
- That I don't have to worry about food poisoning (I have refrigeration) or even a source of food, yeah, I'm happier now.
Somehow, I don't believe that a person 1,000 years ago was less stressed. There were too many deadly or painful consequences for too many possible conditions. Thinking that this generation has it so much worse than the last is a form of temporal chauvinism, in that our bias to our own woes makes us think we're somehow exceptional to everyone that came before us. Personally, The medeieval person would be far more stressed about whether the tooth ache that started this morning would kill him than I would ever be about a broken PC.
Finally
- That I have a choice as to whether I'll be stressed over life without a car or TV, rather than never have the opportunity to enjoy them at all, yeah, I'm happier now.
2007-01-26 09:09:39 · answer #1 · answered by freebird 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The point is the exploration of the human potential, of which no one can say what it is. Given that no one living today can reference personal experience on the hardships and complexities of medieval life, I'd say it's difficult to say one mode of life is superior to the other. After all, any problem to someone can be totally unweildy if the person freaks out about dealing with it. If you treat it as a small thing, then it's a small problem to you, so the idea of our society being more complicated might be true, but more streesful? That truth is in the eye of the beholder. All you need to realize is you are a fraction of a spec of dust in the universe and suddenly you problem doesn't matter quite so much and the potential for human advancement is staggering.
2007-01-26 16:48:08 · answer #2 · answered by neuralzen 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the point of progress is to make life easier not necessarily happier. sometimes they do such as advancements in medicine. some people would probably be dead today if a cure had not been found. but advancements in technology like a game system or something else that's futile is just for exploitation and sales.
2007-01-26 17:37:01 · answer #3 · answered by nys1star 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is one flaw in your question: You assume that we agree that technological advancements are necessarily progress. The point of PROGRESS as I see it is progressing in our ability to be human beings while in touch with our spiritual beings. Some would say it: to be in touch with the fact that we are Spiritual Beings having a human experience. Technology is one small and insignificant part of that game. HOW we USE technology; one of our tools in our toolbox, is more important and isdetermined by our actual progress as humans. You can see it here...on this very board.
2007-01-26 16:47:47 · answer #4 · answered by mountain woman 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
As logic progresses
spirituality degresses
Were do you think happieness comes from,
Logic, or spiritual?
2007-01-26 16:44:29 · answer #5 · answered by danksprite420 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋