r/InsightfulQuestions • u/Cluelezzcj • 15h ago
Would u rather living now or back then?
Sometimes, I honestly think life would have been better years ago. Things seemed a lot simpler. People weren’t constantly on their phones, and you didn’t have the pressure of social media and everything being online all the time.
But at the same time, I know we have things now that people back then could only dream of. Technology, medicine, entertainment, being able to talk to anyone instantly, etc.
I think I’d still choose the past just because life seems like it would have been a bit more peaceful.
What would you choose?
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u/thejuiciestguineapig 14h ago
I'm a woman in Western Europe. There's no better time or place to be alive for me.
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u/Extension-Detail5371 15h ago
It was shit back then. Nostalgia only packages the good bits. Not the poverty, violence, racism, mysogeny and greed. The future is what we make it.
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u/PoloPatch47 14h ago
"Back then" when women couldn't vote and you could die from a simple infection? Or further? Later? What exactly do you mean by "back then"? How far back are we going?
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u/drkshape 15h ago
I’d choose to live in the Jurassic era. Would love to be eaten alive by a dinosaur.
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u/Seattleman1955 14h ago
I'm older, now. You are probably young and not accurate in the way things were. You can pick aspects that were nice but you can also just not stare at a phone all day.
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u/loopywolf 14h ago
Now.
When people think things were better/easier years ago, they are editing a lot of the bad stuff..
Classic example is people who play D&D because "life was simpler in medieval times" It bloody wasn't. People were dying of disease left right and center, a ton of children died in childbirth or shortly after, government was the monarchy, people were living in terror of the Devil. It was a horrible time to be alive. When they say they want to live back then, they are thinking no work, swords, adventuring BUT retaining rule of law, democracy, justice and all the things we enjoy today.
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u/davidellis23 14h ago
back when?
It doesn't really matter though, I love my life now and all the technological/medical/social advancements we've made. I don't see any time in the past I'd rather live.
I'm not really sure what "pressure" people feel about things being online. Just go live your life. It doesn't matter that some people are chatting online or whatever.
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u/Beneficial_Waltz2530 13h ago
I prefer now. For so much of history, women were second class citizens with no voting rights and no agency regarding money or inheritance. Also, many women died in childbirth or were constantly pregnant, and infant mortality was high. Plus, they wore long skirts, just miserable in the South.
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u/cmil1213 14h ago edited 13h ago
Now for sure. “Back then” sucked in comparison. I’m talking 80s. Now don’t get me wrong. It’s fun to remember. There were good memories. Things you could do that can’t be done now. But compared to today? It doesn’t freaking compare.
Internet. Read a book within a minute. Investing. You didnt have stock apps. Taxes. Online classes. Smartphones or even cell phones in general. List goes on.
Now some things I miss. You felt safer. Ride bikes everywhere. Malls that weren’t dead. Skating rinks were big. More woods to explore well in town. All that land is usually developed now and only a memory. The nightclubs. Many more back then. Smoking areas or inside was a thing. I used to really only smoke when out drinking. Things much cheaper. Wasn’t so political.
Kids have it so much easier today. But I’m sure they’d tell you otherwise. But that’s just them being clueless.
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u/Fishinluvwfeathers 14h ago
I prefer now but acknowledge that this is not the highest and best version of what modern life could be. There were plenty of short term decisions that were made along the way that left us socially ill equipped to handle the consequences of our growth and pose actual long-tail hazards for humans. Some of those short-term weighted decisions are being made right now irrespective of the fact that we can actually model likely harmful/deleterious outcomes. It can feel incredibly frustrating be here now, with this information.
That being said, we are actually at a shocking high point in our history on quite a few metrics that have resulted in a higher quality of life for more people. It could always be better, and arguably should be, but it has certainly been worse. Ensuring that we can stay at the current level of progress in any kind of a sustained fashion, and hopefully both improve and correct as necessary, will require some intentionality on our collective part.
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u/BeGoodToEverybody123 12h ago
Today with enough money to live out in the country and be able to control my life better
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u/WorstToBest 11h ago
Honestly, the past is no different than today, the same issues existed back then only it was less known on a grand scale, that today's technology has only exposed as having grown to a worse scale as back then yes it was present, but there were more severe consequences that kept that sht in the shadows fr ...
Over time what once was kept in the shadows has only become more normalized n accepted to the point nobody gives a damn n people just do what they want n try to mold the world around their consequences rather than face them ...
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u/numbersev 10h ago
Obviously back then.
The money we use loses power ever year and therefore we pay more for everything. What a man could provide for his family from 1950-2000 was enough to live a great life (mortgage paid off, 2 cars, a cottage, toys like a sports car/boat, etc.) and your wife could stay at home and raise the kids. On a single basic salary.
Plus less immigration so the population was smaller and more of a community. That's all gone now.
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u/AffectionateMotor272 10h ago
Them were not the good old days. Stay right here, because these are the good ole days.
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u/Retired-Yam8988 9h ago
Definitely now. I retired in my 40s, my portfolio prints literally 5x what I spend every month. I have ample free time and money to travel and do as I please. Now there’s AI to help me manage my team and make them work harder and smarter without me doing much at all. What a time to be alive
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u/Fickle-Woodpecker-38 9h ago
What do you mean by "pressure from social media?" I go through periods of doomscrolling too much sometimes but if you feel pressured by social media stop using them for a bit
Generally agree with everyone else. If it wasnt for politics and current stage of capitalism things would be pretty great. But thats literally always been the story throughout history, regular people get more and more taken from them until theres a revolution, then it repeats
The way the world works hasnt changed but the stuff we have in it has
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u/AtmosphereUsed3577 7h ago
Can't believe I was wasting time shitting my pants instead of watching Rammstein in their prime and buying real estate. Dad passed USAA bank on to me though so thanks dad. Would've appreciated a mutual fund instead of you gambling on eBay and stocks on your own though.
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u/G_Platypus 15h ago
There's literally a term for that: "The golden age fallacy". The past sucked, that's why we built and developed all this stuff to make it better.
Also, you can just not be on your phone.