LogFAQs > #910533976

Nrrr posted...

how can you say the 2000/2004 era or the 90s was more informed or reasonable or optimistic? people have, if anything, more access to true information now than they did back then. you are using some serious nostalgia goggles if you think people were more reasonable. the complexity of the world has not really changed, the perception of certain people has only changed because the internet has allowed everyone to interact with each other and see the way other people interact with each other, too. if you think the world is more complex, it is because you weren't seeing as much of it before, not because the world itself changed.

90s were definitely more optimistic. At least late 90s were. Early 90s had some level of recession as well.

2000 era was more informed because most of the issues were much less complex. You were younger, but anyone who didnt come of age over the past 15 years (aka somebody already in their 30s in 2004), were much better off. Also the total amount of absolute garbage opinions were smaller due to social media (or lack thereof). The ratio was more tolerable. People just went outside, maybe said something wrong, but only 4 people heard it.

A perfect illustration of whats going on these days is kinda like the scene in The Big Short with Selena Gomez and Richard Thaler. Only instead of synthetic CDOs, were now having this with just...dumb opinions. Ben Shapiro says something (most likely dumb, occasionally he says something i don't think is terribly dumb i guess), somebody makes a youtube video in support or against Ben Shapiros dumb comment, and then people make comments about the person who commented on Ben Shapiro. What happens when this entire thing implodes? This has gotten exponentially more stupid (and dangerous) since 2007, with perhaps another era starting around 2015 or so.

Things weren't anything great in 2000 or 2004 (late 90s were great although people overextended a bit in the tech sector). Also keep in mind the 2000 election didnt get crazy until after election day...the debates were actually pretty tame with Gore frequently agreeing with Bush a lot...I think Gore came across as the follower and Bush the "leader" in debates sadly, but they weren't beyond absurd. Things got this way in 2007. Even in 04 you didn't have nearly as many of layers upon layers of opinions (which also allows more out of context taking). Opinions about people's opinion on someone else's uninformed opinion etc. Who knows how wrong people can skew things after it goes down the chain.

Could you even imagine if the 2016 election had an ending like 2000s? Florida's 500 votes or whatever. The amount of social media absurdity? I mean it was already awful as hell. The campaign season was already awful, that ending would of been about the only thing that could of upped it even more.
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Casual Revolution 2007 - 2016