Is Society Becoming More Unnecessarily Complex?

[Pioneer1]

It appears that society is becoming more and more complex and complicated to the point that soon you'll need to be a high IQ genius or have some extra super human talent just to be able to make a decent living, let alone be very successful.

Back when I was a kid, and especially before.....
All you had to be was of normal intelligence, normal looks, and pretty much no special talents.....and you could get a good job, build a loving family, and live a great middle class life.

If you graduated from high school, were able bodied, and stayed out of jail....those were the ONLY qualifications needed to:

-Get a good job.
-Buy a house.
-Buy a new car ever so many years.
-Support a family.
-Eat good with atleast 3 square meals a day
-Have good health insurance that paid for nearly everything.
-Retire with a social security that supported you and most likely a pension

Ofcourse  EVERYBODY didn't have this, but the majority of people I saw were able to accomplish these things.
This was the case in Michigan atleast.
I can't speak for other parts of the United States and much less other parts of the world.

Sometime in the early 90s it seems the bar started raising and the list of requirements started getting longer.

A highschool diploma wasn't enough, now you need a college degree....first a Bachelors then a Masters.
Infact, when I was a kid, to be a Nurse all you needed was a highschool diploma and the rest of your education would be provided in nursing school.
Now they're require Master's Degrees in many programs.

Where as having a solid work history was enough to qualify for a mortgage on a home, then they started going in extensively into your credit history.

There was only one or 2 health insurance companies back in the day, and when you got health insurance it covered everything.
Now there are DOZENS of companies wanting you to pay hundreds of dollars a month in premiums but only cover this at 10% and that at 30% and this one doesn't cover vision while that one doesn't cover dental.

You're having an issue with a bill or some other issue that requires customer service and you have to navigate your way around a maze of voice messaging systems before you can....IF you can....talk to a real live human being, who is usually from India or some other nation.

They even require an extra fee in most communities just to pick up the garbage, where it used to be free!

And wages have barely increased since the 90s.
I think the Federal minimum wage is still under $8 an hour.

Does this sounds like society is "progressing" to any of you?

How is making things more complicated so that only very smart and connected people with higher education can function in it, "progress"???
 

[ProfD]

The short answer is no....society isn't becoming more complex.

 

Human beings are the same creature they've been for thousands of years.

 

Making it in a society is all about knowing how to play the *games* that people create to control the masses. 

 

The biggest *problem* most people have is being too lazy to play the game &/or waiting for someone else to make it easier. 

 

Kinda similar to the school kid or either copied other's work &/or cheated. Too lazy to put in their own work.

 

Many adults never grown out of being lazy either mentally or physically. 

 

AI is going to put a whole lotta people outta work especially if they aren't good with their hands.

 

The USA wil have to come up with a Universal Basic Income (UBI) to provide a stipend for people to survive meeting their basic needs.

 

However, there will always be people who are willing to do just enough to have more than everybody else.

 

it's really just a matter of knowing how to play the game which includes being able to pivot if/when necessary.

[Pioneer1]

ProfD

 

 

 

Human beings are the same creature they've been for thousands of years.

 

I believe this is true to a certain extent.
Being as such.....
If they demand higher standards (more education, more pristine background, more energy, better body, etc.) from those same human beings, wouldn't that simply end up locking more people out of social success?

If human beings aren't becoming smarter or more intelligent as a whole, why demand more education out of them?

 

 

 

 

Making it in a society is all about knowing how to play the *games* that people create to control the masses. 
The biggest *problem* most people have is being too lazy to play the game &/or waiting for someone else to make it easier. 
Kinda similar to the school kid or either copied other's work &/or cheated. Too lazy to put in their own work.
Many adults never grown out of being lazy either mentally or physically. 

 

I wonder how much of it is laziness vs how much of it is simply not having the intelligence or mental energy to navigate such obstacles?

To overcome mental laziness, that means a person must put in much more mental energy.
However a naturally smart and quick-witted person wouldn't have to put in as much energy to do the same amount of thinking and planning.

 

Think of school.

We all knew some super smart kids who aced every test and didn't have to spend time studying.
Where as the average kid would have to spend hours thumbing through the text books trying to learn enough to pass the test.

 

 

 

 

The USA wil have to come up with a Universal Basic Income (UBI) to provide a stipend for people to survive meeting their basic needs.

 

Perhaps they should considered Universal Healthcare FIRST before a Universal Basic income.
No use in getting a guaranteed $2000 a month if your healthcare costs exceed $5000 a month and insurance only pays a fraction of it.

 

 

 

 

it's really just a matter of knowing how to play the game which includes being able to pivot if/when necessary.

 

But again, that's a matter of intelligence isn't it?

Ofcourse smart people will know how to play the game or figure it out.
That's one of the benefits OF being smart.  You learn and you learn quickly.
But what about those in the normal intelligence range?
Do they get left out of the equation if they are too busy working and to trying to keep up in a fast paced constantly changing society, to sit around figuring out how to play some game?

[ProfD]

16 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

If they demand higher standards (more education, more pristine background, more energy, better body, etc.) from those same human beings, wouldn't that simply end up locking more people out of social success?

The operative word is *they* which is *who* is controlling the games.

 

 

16 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

If human beings aren't becoming smarter or more intelligent as a whole, why demand more education out of them?

It's more than being smart &/or intelligent.

 

*They* who aren't necessarily smart &/or intelligent use them to create & control the games the masses are forced to play.

 

16 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

I wonder how much of it is laziness vs how much of it is simply not having the intelligence or mental energy to navigate such obstacles?

There are people who are neither smart nor intelligent when overcome the obstacles. Those individuals work harder. 

 

16 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

To overcome mental laziness, that means a person must put in much more mental energy.

Not necessarily. Some people put in more physical labor to succeed.

 

16 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

However a naturally smart and quick-witted person wouldn't have to put in as much energy to do the same amount of thinking and planning.

There are plenty smart, intelligent, quick-witted people who are more broke than a bag of glass because they never figured out how to play the game.

 

16 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

Perhaps they should considered Universal Healthcare FIRST before a Universal Basic income.

They will offer both Universal Healthcare (UHC) & Universal Basic Income (UBI).

 

16 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

it's really just a matter of knowing how to play the game which includes being able to pivot if/when necessary.

 

But again, that's a matter of intelligence isn't it?

Ofcourse smart people will know how to play the game or figure it out.
That's one of the benefits OF being smart.  You learn and you learn quickly.

That alone doesn't guarantee success as mentioned above.

 

16 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

But what about those in the normal intelligence range?
Do they get left out of the equation if they are too busy working and to trying to keep up in a fast paced constantly changing society, to sit around figuring out how to play some game?

Not necessarily. They have to work even harder for those who control the game.

 

The average person who works hard is rewarded with just enough crumbs to survive & then they die.

 

The cycle has been ongoing for centuries. Technology makes the game look different but it's the same. Especially from the vantage point of those who create & control it.

[Pioneer1]

ProfD

So you believe TENACITY is the ultimate key to success?
Just put in a lot of effort and dogged persistence?

The is evidence to support this view.
 

[ProfD]

1 hour ago, Pioneer1 said:

ProfD

So you believe TENACITY is the ultimate key to success?
Just put in a lot of effort and dogged persistence?

The is evidence to support this view.

I don't believe tenacity is the ultimate key to success but it certainly is a strong prerequisite. 

 

A number of other things factor into the equation as welll...networking, opportunities, luck, etc.

 

No doubt if an individual is tenacious in multiple aspects of playing the game they will find some measure of success.

[Pioneer1]

ProfD

I think SEEING success and DEMANDING success also play huge roles.

One of the reasons AfroAmericans are among the wealthiest Black people or people of color period on this planet is directly related to our proximity to White Americans.
Seeing and working around them and seeing their wealth and success motivated us to achieve the same and DEMAND opportunities to do so.

Other groups around the planet saw this from a distance....on television and in movies....and decided if we could do it, so could they.
 

[ProfD]

5 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

ProfD

I think SEEING success and DEMANDING success also play huge roles.

One of the reasons AfroAmericans are among the wealthiest Black people or people of color period on this planet is directly related to our proximity to White Americans.
Seeing and working around them and seeing their wealth and success motivated us to achieve the same and DEMAND opportunities to do so.

Demanding opportunities i.e. asking for a job can enrich some people.

 

IMO, creating opportunities generates wealth which is money that extends beyond a couple of generations.

 

Black people as a group have amassed wealth over several decades.  The next is figuring out how to make it grow exponentially.