A part of our self worth comes from the assurance that the knowledge we gather during our lives is valuable. Accelerated progress is taking that away from us and it might just break us.
Posted by Last-Dentist-2@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 32 comments
Coming of age used to mean you had enough time to gather a solid enough base of knowledge about the world to be able to make it on your own.
Now everything we knew about how the world works is constantly changing so rapidly that all knowledge is obsolete by the time you internalize it. At some point this is going to take a toll across entire generations.
TuneGlum7903@reddit
Ummm....have you heard of the 1970 book "Future Shock" by Alvin Toffler?
You are saying EXACTLY the same thing he did in 1970.
Last-Dentist-2@reddit (OP)
Wow thanks for mentioning it! Looking forward to reading it
quakerpuss@reddit
I already feel this when it comes to wisdom from my parent's that isn't societal or culture based; though even those are eroding now. The way things 'were' hardly apply anymore, and beyond advice of how to talk to or handle certain individuals, it's clear that now more than ever--everyone has no idea what the fuck they're doing.
Last-Dentist-2@reddit (OP)
everyone has no idea what the fuck they're doing
This is literally the post I've wanted to make for weeks but I knew it needed a little mor work to read as insight and not just like a rant. Nobody knows nothing anymore! You can't predict how society will work! Nobody in human history had ever been born in a world like this. Everything you thought you knew about the world is now considered a transitional period towards today, which is the new normality.
tjawz@reddit
You've articulated something I've been feeling for years that I haven't been able to quite put a finger on. Any ideas on how we can use this awareness to cultivate a more meaningful or satisfying life in spite of it?
Last-Dentist-2@reddit (OP)
For me an option is to anchor myself to some types of knowledge that are timeless, like music, or a different language. Those will never stop being stimulating.
Collapselemonade@reddit
The impact of internet on knowledge has been disheartening. Moon landing denial, earth as a sphere denial, medicine denial... Everyday the world becomes more hostile to the very concept of knowledge.
Last-Dentist-2@reddit (OP)
That's what we usually think, but while it's obviously been happening and I agree on how awful it is, at the same time we got to build the LHC, and now domestically available AI, in a matter of decades. Knowledge has been doing its thing regardless, from a scientific progress perspective it's a net positive. But my point is that even then it might still be detrimental. And this is all separate from political dilemmas.
Odd_Awareness1444@reddit
It all boils down to Christofascists in the US and other equally BS religions worldwide.
Shumina-Ghost@reddit
Honestly, yeah. This.
fiddleshine@reddit
Not being able to experience the seasons changing predictably anymore due to the climate crisis has taken a huge toll on my mental health. It’s hard to watch friends celebrate a streak of unseasonably warm days in February when I’m shaking my head like, “it’s not supposed to be like this.”
schillerstone@reddit
I feel this so deeply 🫶
Hilda-Ashe@reddit
I live on a small island in an obscure corner of the Pacific. We don't have winter, but we do have seasons that basically come down to "lots of rain" vs "little rain." Knowledge of seasons is absolutely critical to farming successfully here (there are no massive aquifers to tap into), and as of the last few years the messed-up cycle of seasons has been battering us. For those of us who are old and can remember when the world was more orderly, the psychological toll is unbearable.
PsudoGravity@reddit
No summer last Christmas
fiddleshine@reddit
Pacific Islands are some of the places getting hit the worst on the planet. So many people here in the continental U.S. turn a blind eye to that. It’s infuriating.
Malone_Matches@reddit
To be fair you can enjoy the days while still knowing its fucked
fiddleshine@reddit
Eh, it’s already too muggy here for my tastes and I’m sweating and using AC already, so not great.
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fashionistaconquista@reddit
This is like when taxi drivers saved for years for a medallion and then Uber came. 😂
mem2100@reddit
The folks who bought medallions were ruined. Some unalived themselves....
ConstableLedDent@reddit
Welp...guess I'm off to google "taxi medallions" now...
mem2100@reddit
Historically NYC was very aggressive when it came to fining unlicensed cabs out of existence. Then rideshare showed up with a legal loophole.
The value of a New York City taxi medallion has fluctuated significantly over time. Initially, medallions were worth around $10 in 1937, but their value rose steadily, reaching over $1 million by 2013. However, with the rise of ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft, the value of medallions plummeted, falling to around $100,000 in 2018. Historical Price Points:
Present_Cable5477@reddit
Kids are now able to hand in phd level work papers to their teachers.
Ghostwoods@reddit
They always could and still can -- go to a college library and photocopy one. ChatGPT can't generate one for them though.
Junopotomus@reddit
Honestly, AI isn’t to that level writing-wise.
shinygoldshovel@reddit
Correct. The distinguishing factors for Ph.D.-level work are acknowledgment of and engagement with contemporary consensus coupled with a contribution to the cutting edge of any discipline/field.
Current AI hallucinates sources, regurgitates existing information, and cannot make original claims.
Cornpuffs42@reddit
They aren’t writing them tho
Major_String_9834@reddit
Some knowledge is becoming obsolete, but I'm more worried about knowledge being falsified.
willitexplode@reddit
Truth told, it's been freeing for me. If my most useful assets were knowledge, creativity, synthesis, etc, are now entirely commoditized, no amount of pressure on myself can change outcomes so it's like--liberating.
OGSyedIsEverywhere@reddit
Have you heard of the "race" scenario OP? I don't have much belief that it's likely but it is the endpoint of what you're talking about.
Either we collapse and the knowledge-obsolescence cycle breaks down or the knowledge-obsolescence cycle goes on without stopping.
IncindiaryImmersion@reddit
At some point? It's literally taking a toll on everyone right now.