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  #16  
Old 12-07-2017, 09:25 AM
mr. beaumont mr. beaumont is offline
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I dunno, if you look at humanity's history we're pretty darn civil to each other now.
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  #17  
Old 12-07-2017, 09:26 AM
cmd612 cmd612 is offline
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Some people are nicer and more considerate than others. Some days I run into lots of the nice ones, and some days I encounter a higher-than-average number of jerks.

That said, I've found that whether humans in general seem to be a) horrible, rude, selfish and mean or b) friendly, well-intentioned and charitable mostly depends on my mood when I head out into the world.
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  #18  
Old 12-07-2017, 09:31 AM
ishtar ishtar is offline
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Nothing has ever been static. Communications are now shared with us instantaneously, including all of the perceived bad things happening today, whereas in the past, we were much more oblivious to everything beyond our front yard. Sometimes the communication is erroneous and/or biased to present opinions.

Every generation has gotten displaced by the next and often the older folks are not able to apprehend what the next gens have had as formative development and education. The propensity is to not like the new changes to some extent. No one likes being replaced or discarded. But we are, like our experiences, ephemeral.

With the lust for sensation and information, the fear mongers have capitalized, monopolized the news, so it is skewed toward the bad. I suspect the ratios of good and bad. overall, have pretty much remained the same. I suspect what I regard as good and bad are not universally going to be accepted by others.

The fact that resources are limited and the human population keeps growing is of greater and greater concern, so I believe that pollution and human impact on the environment are real issues that have to be recognized.

I think the golden rule is the best guideline for human relations, has the most utility.

I think it is a miracle that I am this clump of atoms and molecules and you are that clump. It is highly improbable in the universe that we would get together, be these entities, be on a planet like this and have the means to communicate like this.

I try to remember to be grateful and express my gratitude as much as possible.

I do not think another human has a better grasp on anything metaphysical than the next. Further, a lot of people use rhetoric to manipulate others and persuade them to think their ideas are more valid and sound than the next person's.

Faith is something someone has or doesn't have, and there is no arguing otherwise. It is paradoxical, because each of us is a sole person with a unique set of perspectives with uniques vantage points to assess our unique experiences. I think our ideas can be communicated only approximately, sometimes more successfully than others, but I believe there are a lot of assumptions that come together when a person says they understand another person or a chunk of history or the motives of the collective.

Whether things are better or worse now than when I was born is a matter of my perspective and attitude and beliefs. Nothing is really objective about that.

Last edited by amyFB; 12-07-2017 at 11:02 AM. Reason: removed specific religious references
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  #19  
Old 12-07-2017, 09:33 AM
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I think the short answer is that without a doubt, the chaos has increased. More people, as noted above, require more rules and regulations, more institutions and governing bodies to oversee those rules and regulations......it's gotten to the point where nobody really knows what is going on in most cases. As someone who is dealing with trying to get his Dad Medicaid coverage in a nursing home right now, I can tell you without hesitation this is true.

When people are pretty much forced to live in this chaos to survive, it can have some pretty negative effects on the way we treat each other. Most are "SO BUSY" all the time that they are on edge and scurrying to do so much with so little time. Much of it isn't necessary in the big picture - you don't need that 4k square foot home, 2 SUVs, a boat at a cottage on a lake, but we are made to feel without them we are not complete. I'm certainly glad I didn't fall into that trap.

You can squelch a lot of the chaos if you learn to live simply and require much less. That's the only way I've survived in this mess we've created. We call it "freedom" but I think for many it's far from that.
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Last edited by fitness1; 12-07-2017 at 09:53 AM.
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  #20  
Old 12-07-2017, 09:35 AM
PorkPieGuy PorkPieGuy is offline
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I'm 43, and I feel a lot like the OP. Here are some things that I've done that help with my overall attitude.

1. Stop watching the world/national "news." I haven't watched it in about a year. I figure if something important is happening, I'd get a phone call. Remember, bad news sells. Good news doesn't. The "news" is about money, not about information. There's always an undercurrent of agenda no matter what.

2a. If you are on any sort of social media, simply "unsubscribe" from people whose agenda is either politics or multi-level marketing. Even if you are good friends with these folks, just shoot them a friendly message every once in a while. Also unsubscribe to anyone you feel is simply negative. Heck, consider quitting altogether.

2b. One thing to keep in mind regarding social media - what you are seeing are people's "highlight reels," not reality. I know so many people who project a nice big "happy face" who are truly going through some inner turmoil.

3. Focus on the people around you. Be kind and helpful to those who need it.

4. Be thankful for what you have and for the good folks around you.

Anything else would break the "no religion" rule, so I'll just leave this year.

Also remember, when you complain about the weather, the only thing you are changing is yourself (I have to remind myself of this daily!). Take care and best of luck!
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  #21  
Old 12-07-2017, 09:49 AM
buddyhu buddyhu is offline
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I am not a big fan of questions of this form; which is not to say that I don't have such thoughts, and not to say that I sometimes don't get discouraged and disheartened by the actions that impinge on me and my loved ones. There is no point in making comparisons between "now" and some memory of the way things "used to be". If things are worse now, my task is to quiet my mind, open my heart, and do what I can to relieve the suffering that I see. If things are better now, my task is to quiet my mind, open my heart, and do what I can to relieve the suffering I see.

The thoughts I have about whether things are better, or worse, or the same as they were 50 years ago (or 500 years ago) don't help me do what I need to do to take care of myself, and when there is energy to spare (which there often is), to do something to make things a bit better for others.
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  #22  
Old 12-07-2017, 09:50 AM
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I sometimes ponder the disappearance of the phrase, "I'm sorry." I frequent a local warm water pool which has family time on weekends. I tread water for 90 minutes in one spot, and have kids and their fathers (mothers seem much more subdued in their aquatic interactions with their kids) crowding my "personal space" through lap swimming (it's not a lap pool - there are two others so designated), ball throwing the length of the pool, and just general rough housing. I know that I'm probably coming off as a curmudgeon, but I really enjoy my warm water pool time for therapeutic reasons and resent those who are all over the place and eventually invade my space. When this happens either by parents or kids, the phrase "I'm sorry" is noticeably absent. What happened to respect for elders? This happened last Saturday, and finally when their errant ball flew into my space, I said to the father, "You do realize that you're not the only ones in the pool." This was after the ball had flown out of the pool several times before." Yeh, I know, get out of my pool.....
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  #23  
Old 12-07-2017, 09:58 AM
PorkPieGuy PorkPieGuy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RP View Post
ball throwing the length of the pool,

Man oh man, one of my biggest pet peeves is when I'm on a rare vacation with my family, and we are all enjoying our time at the public pool, and you see people show up with a football. Someone ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ends up getting hurt or hit in the face with it.
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  #24  
Old 12-07-2017, 10:09 AM
RustyAxe RustyAxe is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RedJoker View Post
That's an interesting perspective. I'm the opposite and I see more people fighting for the rights of other minority groups now than in the past. I know I am surely more aware of the good of the many, especially those different than me, than I was in the past.
I see a lot of people fighting for the rights of THEIR minority group, yes.
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  #25  
Old 12-07-2017, 10:17 AM
amyFB amyFB is offline
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Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly View Post
... ......As I get older I try to understand that I am not of these times. Part of what that means is that I read the actions of people today by yesterdays experience. I can only imagine how our parents dealt with us in the 60s.
Thanks for putting that out there Mr Jelly, I think it describes very well how each generation is likely to form opinions about the generation following them.
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  #26  
Old 12-07-2017, 10:21 AM
jpd jpd is offline
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Secondly, in 1960 information about the U.S. and the world came to me (living in a major urban area) via 4 television stations, 2 daily newspapers and a dozen or so radio stations.

In short it's much more likely today to experience either first hand or through media the bad behavior of our fellow man. I personally believe that we're neither more materialistic, self-centered or badly behaved as human beings than in the past. We're simply more acutely aware of those attitudes and behaviors than ever before in our history as a species. Perception is reality.
And there it is Technology cuts both ways
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  #27  
Old 12-07-2017, 10:30 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PorkPieGuy View Post
Man oh man, one of my biggest pet peeves is when I'm on a rare vacation with my family, and we are all enjoying our time at the public pool, and you see people show up with a football. Someone ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ends up getting hurt or hit in the face with it.
Yeh, it seems to become almost eminent domain or manifest destiny where family members/friends position themselves at opposite sides and/or corners and start hurling. Is "common sense" that uncommon these days or does the texting/tweeting mentality fail to recognize real personal space of others???
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  #28  
Old 12-07-2017, 10:36 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PorkPieGuy View Post
Man oh man, one of my biggest pet peeves is when I'm on a rare vacation with my family, and we are all enjoying our time at the public pool, and you see people show up with a football. Someone ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ends up getting hurt or hit in the face with it.
Its well known that the decline of the Roman Empire started by bringing footballs into the baths. All downhill after that.
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  #29  
Old 12-07-2017, 10:52 AM
leew3 leew3 is offline
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Just waiting for complaints of kids on the lawn as this thread continues....
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  #30  
Old 12-07-2017, 10:52 AM
Nyghthawk Nyghthawk is offline
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Do what you can to be the change you want to see.

"Better to light one candle than curse the darkness."

People are what we are. 5 years ago, 50 years ago, 5000 years ago. Read the Old Testament sometime and then talk to me about how rude people are today.
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