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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Replying to @RickVonJaeger @HPluckrose
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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Replying to @RickVonJaeger @OldSaintRiot
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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Replying to @HPluckrose
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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Replying to @RickVonJaeger @OldSaintRiot
Our easier lifestyles bring out the best of us and enable us to widen our circle of empathy.
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Replying to @HPluckrose
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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Replying to @RickVonJaeger @OldSaintRiot
It's bigger than that. What has changed culture is security. When you're not fighting for the existence of yourself, family & tribe, you can look around more and widen your circle of empathy.
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Replying to @HPluckrose
I, uh, don't see how that contradicts the things we've been saying. Being alive and not having to worry about our tribes' survivals does enable us to do more good. Can't do much good when your tribe is dead or enslaved, obv.
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Replying to @RickVonJaeger @OldSaintRiot
I'm not sure what we're disagreeing on, Do you think we disagree? I was saying we have made moral progress. You have pointed out what helped that and I agreed that it did.
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Replying to @HPluckrose @OldSaintRiot
What he is saying is that we are not better people, it's that our position is better and that's why we do more good. That had our position been better 50 years ago we would have been doing just as much good as we are now. The change is not in us, but in our situation.
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I don't think anyone is claiming humans have changed. Our brains remain the same. Society has made moral progress.
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