Are people becoming nicer?

[The Orson Empire]

War has existed for as long as Humans have existed, and it will never go away. War is simply apart of Human nature. However, the reason there have been no wars between major powers ever since WW2 is because of the threat of mutually assured destruction (MAD) due to the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Had nuclear weapons never been invented, the chances of the United States and the Soviet Union starting WW3 during the Cold War would be much more likely.

[Waideland]

Less violent? Maybe. Nicer? Hell no.

[Blackwing Coast]

There is the saying that a soft land breeds soft people, and the world is getting softer (how long that will last with the climate change is another question, but our chances of surviving it as a global civilization are not even that bad - if we build enough swimming cities (it would cost less than continental dams)). But that we are softer now is a good thing - we are more comfortable around each other and safer to be around. And we have more time for the sciences and arts (albeit we also waste more time.)

Let's hope that when one time aliens invade they are tourists and their lifestyle has softened them up, too.
The worst thing that could happen is that we get caught up in an interstellar war that has already degraded to looting and pillaging, and destroying entire star systems for area denial.

[Blazedtown]

I'd say yes, but if you asked that in New York, they 'd just tell you to fuck yourself.

[Constantinopolis]

The reason there's less war is mainly because there's less reason to, you know, go to war. I mean, things have kind of settled from the world-wide power vacuum left by the Napoleonic Wars.

The whole globalised, inter-connected capitalist economy helped quite a bit, too.

Funny. The previous major period of capitalist globalization ended in the First World War.

But in any case, we should all keep in mind that the OP is talking about more issues than just war...

[Communal Ecotopia]

Are people becoming nicer? That probably depends on what we mean by "nice". There's more tolerance and education in the world, which is always good, but it may drive people to mask their real feelings. Yet, I feel a concomitant loss of sociability in contemporary times. Neighbors don't chat as much and helping one's community seems lower on people's lists of important things to do.

[Southern Bardara]

We are the same we were 2000-3000 years ago, we just have advanced technology and we don't know what to do with it thats all.

[The Sotoan Union]

War has existed for as long as Humans have existed, and it will never go away. War is simply apart of Human nature. However, the reason there have been no wars between major powers ever since WW2 is because of the threat of mutually assured destruction (MAD) due to the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Had nuclear weapons never been invented, the chances of the United States and the Soviet Union starting WW3 during the Cold War would be much more likely.

You and I think a lot of other people aren't reading the whole thing. Sure wars are still around. But why are war crimes a thing now? Why has genocide become unnaccaptable? Why do people view wars as things that need to be avoided rather than glorious tests of manhood? Answer these questions.

[Liriena]

I'd say people are becoming overall nicer, particularly in terms of how we treat those who are different from us, but technology has made ignorant, impolite and outright hateful acts and expressions more visible, has given people prone to such acts and expressions a responsibility-free platform, and since we humans are fascinated by such things, media exposes us to them constantly. Population increase might also have something to do with it.

[Syonanto]

As Depeche Mode said, people are people. I don't think as a species we are significantly "nicer" or "less nice" than we were when we started keeping track of events thousands of years ago. The idea that we are collectively marching ourselves toward utopia (or, on the flip side of things, marching ourselves toward apocalypse) is a myth, albeit one of the most popular myths of our age.

[The Sotoan Union]

As Depeche Mode said, people are people. I don't think as a species we are significantly "nicer" or "less nice" than we were when we started keeping track of events thousands of years ago. The idea that we are collectively marching ourselves toward utopia (or, on the flip side of things, marching ourselves toward apocalypse) is a myth, albeit one of the most popular myths of our age.

To that end, is the idea of a dystopia also a myth?

And if you don't think humans are becoming nicer, do you think that something has altered the way we behave?

[Syonanto]

As Depeche Mode said, people are people. I don't think as a species we are significantly "nicer" or "less nice" than we were when we started keeping track of events thousands of years ago. The idea that we are collectively marching ourselves toward utopia (or, on the flip side of things, marching ourselves toward apocalypse) is a myth, albeit one of the most popular myths of our age.

To that end, is the idea of a dystopia also a myth?

Of course it is. Utopia literally means "no place". A dystopia is a dysfunctional utopia.

This is not to imply that myths don't have their uses. However, they can also outlive that usefulness, or be taken as something more concrete than what they are.

And if you don't think humans are becoming nicer, do you think that something has altered the way we behave?

No. I think we are behaving as we have always behaved since our species came on the scene; there has been technological and social innovation, but no moral progression.

[The Sotoan Union]

To that end, is the idea of a dystopia also a myth?

Of course it is. Utopia literally means "no place". A dystopia is a dysfunctional utopia.

This is not to imply that myths don't have their uses. However, they can also outlive that usefulness, or be taken as something more concrete than what they are.

And if you don't think humans are becoming nicer, do you think that something has altered the way we behave?

No. I think we are behaving as we have always behaved since our species came on the scene; there has been technological and social innovation, but no moral progression.

Then why do we behave differently then we used to? Is it purely society? What has caused society to change this way in your opinion?

[The Orson Empire]

War has existed for as long as Humans have existed, and it will never go away. War is simply apart of Human nature. However, the reason there have been no wars between major powers ever since WW2 is because of the threat of mutually assured destruction (MAD) due to the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Had nuclear weapons never been invented, the chances of the United States and the Soviet Union starting WW3 during the Cold War would be much more likely.

You and I think a lot of other people aren't reading the whole thing. Sure wars are still around. But why are war crimes a thing now? Why has genocide become unnaccaptable? Why do people view wars as things that need to be avoided rather than glorious tests of manhood? Answer these questions.

What we consider to be moral and immoral changes over time as different cultures become dominant. Nevertheless, that does not change the fact that wars and atrocities still happen.

[The Sotoan Union]

You and I think a lot of other people aren't reading the whole thing. Sure wars are still around. But why are war crimes a thing now? Why has genocide become unnaccaptable? Why do people view wars as things that need to be avoided rather than glorious tests of manhood? Answer these questions.

What we consider to be moral and immoral changes over time as different cultures become dominant. Nevertheless, that does not change the fact that wars and atrocities still happen.

But they've gotten significantly less, well, atrocious.

[The Orson Empire]

What we consider to be moral and immoral changes over time as different cultures become dominant. Nevertheless, that does not change the fact that wars and atrocities still happen.

But they've gotten significantly less, well, atrocious.

What is considered "atrocious" is subjective, but I would not say they have gotten less atrocious. They just occur on a smaller frequency than in the past.

[Des-Bal]

No. Our nature fundamentally has not changed.

[Des-Bal]

But they've gotten significantly less, well, atrocious.

And significantly less productive.

[The Sotoan Union]

But they've gotten significantly less, well, atrocious.

What is considered "atrocious" is subjective, but I would not say they have gotten less atrocious. They just occur on a smaller frequency than in the past.

Since it's now illegal for soldiers to just take women as trophies and haul them back to their country, I'm inclined to believe that war has gotten more civil.

Might I also add that the percentage of the human population that has actually died in conflict has increasingly lowered.

[The Sotoan Union]

But they've gotten significantly less, well, atrocious.

And significantly less productive.

I would say modern war has gotten more productive.

[Costa Fierro]

I don't think people are becoming "nicer". The reason why there are not that many wars these days is because a lot more people are going to be affected by them than previously through globalization.

Society, at least in the technologically driven first world countries, is becoming increasingly more narcissistic. Also, tolerance of homosexuality is not so much people becoming nicer but people being exposed more and more to homosexuals and such and generally not giving two shits about what people do in the privacy of their own homes.

[The Sotoan Union]

I don't think people are becoming "nicer". The reason why there are not that many wars these days is because a lot more people are going to be affected by them than previously through globalization.

Society, at least in the technologically driven first world countries, is becoming increasingly more narcissistic. Also, tolerance of homosexuality is not so much people becoming nicer but people being exposed more and more to homosexuals and such and generally not giving two shits about what people do in the privacy of their own homes.

I don't see how society is becoming narcissistic, but I think I will take this over the alternatives of past societies given the decreasing crime rates, increasing access to education, and the decline of segregation and harassment.

[Des-Bal]

I would say modern war has gotten more productive.

No, it really hasn't. See it used to be two states fight and one benefits and the net result is increased state capacity. Now the way it works is multiple groups fight, nothing is won, states remain weak. The Third World is trapped in a cycle of perpetual weakness and the result if unimaginable human suffering.

[The Sotoan Union]

I would say modern war has gotten more productive.

No, it really hasn't. See it used to be two states fight and one benefits and the net result is increased state capacity. Now the way it works is multiple groups fight, nothing is won, states remain weak. The Third World is trapped in a cycle of perpetual weakness and the result if unimaginable human suffering.

The third world is stuck in a cycle of insurrections and civil wars more than it is conventional wars against other nations. No one ever benefits from that. This all comes from instability, which is more from poverty and certain historical events then anything else. War is just a symptom.

[Des-Bal]

The third world is stuck in a cycle of insurrections and civil wars more than it is conventional wars against other nations. No one ever benefits from that. This all comes from instability, which is more from poverty and certain historical events then anything else. War is just a symptom.

That's the point. Conventional warfare strengthens the state, civil war weakens it. This CREATES instability it CREATES povety and the reason it continues isn't because of history it's because of the African Union and the UN. Africas borders are completely arbitrary, if regions were permitted to secede, and if states were permitted to attack and conquer, this cycle couldn't continue. The same thing happened in Early Modern Europe but the difference was once a state was weak it was destroyed and replaced with a stronger state that could not only defend itself but provide for it's people. That isn't being allowed to happen in the third world because of international disgust with war and the desire of both African states and the international community to preserve the balance of power. That means leader enact authoritarian measure which they can't adequately enforce resulting in a decline in both state capacity and standard of living.