Discussion How did the previous generation cope?

[daemos]

I recently started thinking about this, the previous generation(s) are the ones who built practically everything we know and have.
My question is really simple, how did they cope? How did they manage to thrive in such conditions of working 12-14 hours; having some rugrats and still keep pushing.
I feel as if this is such a non issue in modern society, everything has become so much more accessible and it's all so easy. You don't really have to struggle as much as you would have back then and still it feels hard but in a different way? Is there anyone who shares this feeling, like I know what to do but I just can't; I can't get started/continue, in another perspective it's really some bitch behaviour I can't seem to get rid of.

 

[Karrikin]

Roles, as someone once explained to me.

 

[CarbonBased]

I think many people of the current generation wouldn't agree that they have it all that easy, and in my opinion, they have some good arguments. Still, if we assume you're right and life is indeed that much easier for our generation, there is an interesting thing to consider. Have you ever heard of Universe 25? In a nutshell, a researcher put a bunch of mice in an environment where they always had every their need taken care of and observed what happened to their population. If that sounds interesting, I would suggest that you watch some videos about it on YouTube (there's plenty of good ones). Otherwise, you can read a very short summary of what happened in the spoiler below.

Spoiler

Eventually, the population of mice dropped to 0. None of the mice were sick and they had plenty of food, water, and everything else they might need. They either became overly aggressive (killing each other's offspring and such) or just isolated themselves from other mice until they died of old age

 

[divinemistress87]

Alcohol and cocaine

 

[mjolnir]

I don't think things have become much easier; the way people are exploited has simply changed, becoming quieter and more subtle. If today's question is, "Should I be doing more?", the question used to be, "Am I allowed to do this?" In the past, we were limited through prohibition; now we are pressured through possibility. The "you can't" has given way to the "you can," and it is precisely because we are told we can be anything that we carry the constant feeling that we are never enough.

 

[daemos]

I don't think things have become much easier; the way people are exploited has simply changed, becoming quieter and more subtle. If today's question is, "Should I be doing more?", the question used to be, "Am I allowed to do this?" In the past, we were limited through prohibition; now we are pressured through possibility. The "you can't" has given way to the "you can," and it is precisely because we are told we can be anything that we carry the constant feeling that we are never enough.

Holy fucking shit, the is some of the most accurate writing I have discovered on the internet.

 

[Ilfryth]

People used to be a lot more religious/devout for one

I second the post above prohibition/possibiliies above but I also think that the absence of mass media, smartphones etc just made people live much simpler lives and be okay with things such as boredom or those responsibilities. They just didn't view other options as even possible

 

[charlieee]

I recently started thinking about this, the previous generation(s) are the ones who built practically everything we know and have.
My question is really simple, how did they cope? How did they manage to thrive in such conditions of working 12-14 hours; having some rugrats and still keep pushing.
I feel as if this is such a non issue in modern society, everything has become so much more accessible and it's all so easy. You don't really have to struggle as much as you would have back then and still it feels hard but in a different way? Is there anyone who shares this feeling, like I know what to do but I just can't; I can't get started/continue, in another perspective it's really some bitch behaviour I can't seem to get rid of.

I think that one of the things that have drastically changed is the access to information we have now.
Pretty basic answer, but now we are way more exposed to crap and just horrible news, which really takes a toll on people.
Before you just had to care about your problems and your family/friends. Now it's the whole world, all the time.
It can feel like there is no way out of all of this which could led to a loss of hope amongst other things.

 

[daemos]

I think that one of the things that have drastically changed is the access to information we have now.
Pretty basic answer, but now we are way more exposed to crap and just horrible news, which really takes a toll on people.
Before you just had to care about your problems and your family/friends. Now it's the whole world, all the time.
It can feel like there is no way out of all of this which could led to a loss of hope amongst other things.

Counter to this; most people you'll meet in the real world do not give 2 flying fucks about what's on the news, especially after their little covid stunt.

 

[charlieee]

Counter to this; most people you'll meet in the real world do not give 2 flying fucks about what's on the news, especially after their little covid stunt.

I wasnt referring to daily news but like the big things happening these days. Idk what kind of people you've met but the ones I've met give more than one fuck about what's happening rn ( climate change and so on).
There's a few studies on this, about how younger generations are affected by all of this way more than we think.
Feel free to dig up, I'm sure you'll find plenty of interesting stuff.

 

[mjolnir]

The book "The Burnout Society" (2010), by South Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han, addresses the transition of social control. The author argues that the current "performance society" has replaced the old "disciplinary society," changing the way we are controlled. It is an important read for understanding how social changes bring with them differences, even in the mental illnesses that predominate in each segment of society; perhaps this will help you in some way.

 

[daemos]

I wasnt referring to daily news but like the big things happening these days. Idk what kind of people you've met but the ones I've met give more than one fuck about what's happening rn ( climate change and so on).
There's a few studies on this, about how younger generations are affected by all of this way more than we think.
Feel free to dig up, I'm sure you'll find plenty of interesting stuff.

I can promise you on a piece of paper, the majority of young people I know (I'm 19) do not give a single fuck about shit like climate change. (And there's nothing wrong with that as it's out of our individual control (and no working together does not work, some humans are simply trash and will not co-operate), and mostly over-exaggerated bullshit by the mainstream media.

 

[charlieee]

I can promise you on a piece of paper, the majority of young people I know (I'm 19) do not give a single fuck about shit like climate change. (And there's nothing wrong with that as it's out of our individual control (and no working together does not work, some humans are simply trash and will not co-operate), and mostly over-exaggerated bullshit by the mainstream media.

Same age as you. I think it depends on the country maybe because I can assure you there's a lot of people my age and older that care a lot about what's happening around the world and are affected emotionally speaking. I did take the example of climate change but there is other things like geopolitical factors (especially if you live close to a sensitive area), or even the current economy.
There is a lot of other things that I don't have in mind rn but to sum it up bad shit are happening and we are seeing in 4k 24/7, it may not directly affect us but constant flow of awful news does affect your vision of the world and your mental state at some point.

 

[hurts2b]

Well. Some of them certainly didn't. Some of them did very likely kill themselves. Some of them died in labor or as babies. Not everybody had to survive. Just a large enough percentage to populate the earth. We don't know what the suicide stats back then were.

 

[Sphinxi]

Friction is conducive to developing meaning in life, I think. Struggle is inherent to the human condition, and absent of struggle many people simply don't know what to do with themselves. Not to mention community structures previous generations had

 

[witchcraft]

Things were slower. Well, at least from what I know of my own country through my parents and grandparents.

Speed limits were lower; the only people driving around like Max Verstappen were young kids having fun (for better or for worse), not because they were psychologically tweaking out over getting to somewhere they actually needed to be.

For the longest time there wasn't even a "fax" machine; now we have instant text message, email, facetime. With perhaps the exception of emergency services and doctors (idk for sure), you could not be expected to be on call at all times by your boss. It was harder to get a hold of people anyway. It was more understandable to not be able to get immediate hold of someone; now we have location trackers and software on computers at the office that report you if your mouse doesn't move for 15 seconds. It was normal for various business transactions or other interactions / services / communications to take two or three days. Places of employment were properly staffed, not running on skeleton crews to maximize the profits of some rich fuckwad. This is anathema to people now, who feel entitled to immediate answers and solutions even if it's their fault for waiting until the last second.

The expectation for everything was slower. You'd receive mail slower. You'd receive news slower. You'd get answers slower. People weren't tweaking out about how their one-day delivery wasn't able to make it.

Society is now constantly on figurative meth. That's the pace of life today. Everything is now now now now now. This is all the price of "convenience." Does it seem worth it? Not to me. Squeeze more out of every day, gotta squeeze more, because I'm being squeezed, so to compensate I need to squeeze others, and they need to squeeze, we all need to squeeze. Everyone is a sponge squeezed so tightly that all of its life, all of its water has been fucking wrung from it.

Instant gratification around every corner. Quick hits available everywhere. Fiending for that next dopamine hit. Everything precariously balanced on the mind of people who are strung-out. Advertisements forcefully gaping you from every orifice, your eyeballs, your ears, people constantly trying to get your attention, fighting for your attention, more content being uploaded to YouTube alone every single day than you could watch in a lifetime, a thousand streaming services, movies, books, games, a barrage of negative news, just a neverending assault on your mental bandwidth.

People are strung the fuck out even if they're sober. The treadmill of life has been put on fast-forward. Unless you're David Goggins, you will burnout, or tire and fall behind, or injure yourself. Or all it takes is one simple trip. One little thing to not go right and it's catastrophic.

So much of this stupid bullshit can wait. Should wait. Not unreasonably long, mind you. But a lot of things can wait. So much of this stress and pressure is completely unnecessary when you take a step back and look at it all. The ridiculous things people file complaints about and speak-to-the-manager about. I was waiting in the drive thru for 10 minutes, unacceptable! This is outrageous! You should be ashamed! Who's in charge here! What's the corporate number!

At times, it is indistinguishable from someone on crack.