I technically disagree, most periods human history had “good times” and the happiness of those people was relative to their expectations and equilibrium with the social and technical possibilities of their moment. You might be miserable if you were teleported to a relatively comfortable life in the year 1500, but they were probably every bit as content as some financially comfortable credentialed working class individual today.
You make an excellent point, my only rebuttal would be that on average people are have become much kinder and more compassionate as they’ve moved up on the hierarchy of needs. Which I believe demonstrates that an ever increasing amount of people are living in comfort and security in our current world, much more than in the 1500s, though I’m sure you could find them.
I technically disagree, most periods human history had “good times” and the happiness of those people was relative to their expectations and equilibrium with the social and technical possibilities of their moment. You might be miserable if you were teleported to a relatively comfortable life in the year 1500, but they were probably every bit as content as some financially comfortable credentialed working class individual today.
You make an excellent point, my only rebuttal would be that on average people are have become much kinder and more compassionate as they’ve moved up on the hierarchy of needs. Which I believe demonstrates that an ever increasing amount of people are living in comfort and security in our current world, much more than in the 1500s, though I’m sure you could find them.