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Well, while I was also mostly joking with that second comment, respect for calling me out on it. For the record, I do know that people have always been this stupid and that much of the US is ridiculously gerrymandered. If anything I was maybe projecting a bit as I suspect I got COVID a few years back and my short-term memory has been off ever since. It's been a point of concern for me as, I admit, it's made me feel more stupid.
I do think people are getting worse, but in reality I blame misinformation campaigns for that.
The one thing I will (politely) disagree with in your comment is your characterization of pot smokers being hard left or disengaged with politics. I think it's much more universal across the spectrum than you're suggesting. Now that it's legal in Canada it seems like everyone uses it to some degree. That's an exaggeration but I'm continually shocked by some of the people I know coming out of the woodwork as users, and many are not even close to hard left (and are engaged in following news and voting for the party I loathe).
Anyway, respect again for sharing your opinion and I'm truly sorry if I offended anyone with my earlier comment. I'll leave it up for the sake of posterity.
Stupider or wiser relative what? If we measure against a what it takes to live a wise life at the time then people are definitely getting stupider (and you are absolutely correct). The wisdom required is rising much more quickly than the wisdom possessed.
Perceptions are also easily swayed because we've been on an unusually long objectively (not relative) downward slope. Some think technology of communication the last nail in the coffin, that we will never begin to become wiser again. They may be right. You may be very, very correct. But, hope is an important thing. In this, I think one should believe what's necessary for personal morale.
You made me think more about pot smokers. I think you're correct. Even in my own observation they're a much more diverse group than I present. And, I bet a lot of them keep their habit totally private.
I came down on you pretty hard there. I think you saw I wasn't attacking you personally. You received it so well you even changed my perspective. This is why I've faith in humanity. We've still got the special sauce.
No hard feelings at all. I made a well-intentioned but dumb joke that wasn't well-received and you had the guts to call me out on why people were reacting so badly. I respect that, and am always open to changing my perspective in the face of new evidence.
For what it's worth, it sounds like we're largely on the same side here. With Lemmy being such a small place, I even recognize your user name as someone I'm pretty sure I've come across before and thought, "this sounds like a smart person."
I'm definitely with you here. I used to buy into the liberal notion that the world is objectively getting better (liberal as in the classic/European meaning, not how it's typically used here in North America). I think that was largely true for a long time since WWII, and it's probably still true in several metrics. Overall though, it feels we're on a major downward trend in many places where it really matters such as the climate, wealth inequality, global strife, etc. I'll admit that's had me pretty demoralized but then I have some good interactions with folks in here that helps me see a little light in all the misery, so thanks for that.
Thank you for the compliment. But, in this facet the biggest difference between us is probably only how much time our parents bought us before we had to fend for ourselves. My ideas aren't special, just regurgitated and stitched together pieces of work by actual smart people.
We're on the same side because any reasonable and intelligent person is on our side. We came from all directions, reasoning our way to the same basic conclusions: It's broken and humans suffer. We'll sacrifice to fix it together.