Nooooooo. We are getting better incredibly fast.https://twitter.com/GeorgeJNasr/status/980833310376067072 …
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Partly, I'd say so. Epistemology, yes, we owe much to the great strides we've made in scientific advancement. Ethically? I think that's a mixed bag. Advanced in some respects, regressed in others, mostly about the same.
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Really? When was it better? I admit to thinking of the fact that I can vote, own property, get paid the same now as well as homosexuals and atheists being able to be so openly without dying. And no more workhouses or child labour or torture or death penalties for stealing.
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That's not people, that's culture, and yes, it's definitely improved in many of those respects. "People being better" implies that were the laws and culture different, we good people would voluntarily do none of those things. I do not think that's true.
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Coming from the religious perspective, you won't like or agree with this, but the long slow decline of people's spirits such that they value menial, superficial things over the states of their own soul and fellow men is not an improvement overall.
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Why do you think this has happened tho? Fewer people believe in a soul but unlikely fewer believe in morality. We care much more about our fellow men now. Our circle of empathy has widened to other nations & we focus much more on wellbeing - welfare, humanitarian aid, laws etc
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I don't see large amounts charity as proof that we care more about fellow men. Advancements in technology allow more people to give more, wealthier people can give more than poorer, and laws enabling charity subsidize additional giving.
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Our easier lifestyles bring out the best of us and enable us to widen our circle of empathy.
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Enabling us to do more good, which has definitely happened, does not mean we're better people for it. A better person would be good more often whether or not it's easy to be good.
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