Are 21st century humans more stressed out than humans who lived in the past? (death, speech) - Great Debates - City-Data Forum

City Data Guy · 10-02-2012, 02:03 PM

If so, why do you think that? If not, what do you think was the most stressful time period and why?

texdav · 10-02-2012, 11:08 PM

I n'tthink so. Life in many times was shire terror ;not just stressful. Stress is pretty individual thing really.I would think the most stressful now that compares to many times is being in a war zone.

knowledgeiskey · 10-03-2012, 05:21 AM

No

We have tools to facilitate us today.

mörkrädd · 10-03-2012, 08:02 AM

Yes.

Living is a lot more complex than it used to be in almost every aspect of life. It is very hard to exist if you do not follow the pack.

Oleg Bessonov · 10-03-2012, 08:28 AM

i don't know about other
but as for me, earlier centuries people were more simple and without modern problems.
with desires to realize themselves, comes and new difficulties relationships, more stressful

duongmanhcuong1188 · 10-03-2012, 10:17 AM

I think so. Nowadays, people have to work more because of the internet and mobile. However, nobody wants to come back the pass because the life today is more comfortable (and we don't have fb in the pass).

ragnarkar · 10-03-2012, 10:24 AM

People in the past just accepted that life wasn't as secure as it is today. War, disease, famine, disaster, etc. was a part of life and they just accepted it more easily.

Nowadays people have better lives but they stress over smaller troubles to a greater degree than hundreds of years ago.

So, short answer: yes.

nightcrawler · 10-03-2012, 11:08 AM

we have more technology to help us, you would think we could work less, but we are working more.

and everyone lives for a cell phone, people cannot do a thing without thier cell in their hand.

it is sickening already.

if people can text and drive than this is really pathetic.

that a text is more important than human safetl.

sick

cb at sea · 10-03-2012, 12:49 PM

I think the stress level is probably the same. In "simpler" times, I'm sure folks stressed about how big of a deer or prey animal they may kill, so they could have food. I'm sure they stressed about that animal they just killed would go bad before they can store it properly. I'm sure they stressed about having to find a couple trees large enough to cut down, drag home and split so they could heat their home and cook their food. I'm sure they stressed about that cough their child has come down with, but the poultice they've put on her chest isn't working....

I think we all stress....over different things! I think I'd rather be stressing over today's problems, than the problems our forefathers faced!

Rathagos · 10-03-2012, 01:04 PM

I think stress was more intense the farther you go back in human history. As we've evolved (if you want to say we have) over the centuries and millenia, we've devised ways to identify and deal with stress.

I'm curious as to what people have to be stressed about today? Jobs? Don't need them, there's government safety nets. Crime? We have police forces. Disasters? We have agencies to handle that. Religious freedom? In this country, at least, we're okay.

As you go back in time humans were a more ruthless species in many ways. There wasn't a store to just go buy food at. Jobs were not as plentiful as they were today. Hunting and fishing relied on the time of season - and wasn't guaranteed.

As we go farther back, we didn't understand disasters, and, therefore, weren't equipped or knowledgeable on how to deal with them. Sickness far more often led to death than it does today. Wars were a way of life, as was dealing with different governments and the way they claimed taxes and kept order. Freedom of speech was not even a concept - and alone could lead to death.

As we go farther back still, agriculture was a new concept, so lifespans were shorter. Preservation of the tribes was paramount and we didn't have the tools necessary to hunt effectively, but still needed to put food on the table for survival. There was always the persistant chance of attack by rival tribes or other civilizations.

And, again, what do we really have to be stressed over today? Traffic? Someone calling another out on Facebook? Losing a cell phone? Even the things that transgress time (providing food, housing, medical) are far easier to deal with in today's society than years or centuries ago. No government provided free things as they do today. Stores didn't exist as readily as they do today. Physicians were far fewer and mortality rates were much higher for common illnesses.

We have stressors today, but they are no comparison to what it was in the past. And, we have more knowledge of it and how to deal with it today. Whether people actually do or not... well... that's another matter.