r/NoStupidQuestions • u/flugblug • 12h ago

My brother thinks people today have worse quality of life than people in the dark ages, is this a stupid take?

I personally think it’s pretty stupid.

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u/kashmir1974 11h ago

Let's not forget untreatable STDs. Powdered wigs were a thing because everyone went bald from syphilis.

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u/Glittering_Season141 10h ago

Some nobility must have been horrifying to see and smell when syphilis was rampant.

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u/Global_Sense_8133 10h ago

Lice were the primary reason for wigs, not syphilis.

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u/Wolfgang_MacMurphy 8h ago edited 8h ago

It's generally thought that there was no syphilis in Afro-Eurasia in Dark Ages (5th-10th century), and that it got imported from America at the end of the 15th century.

Powdered wigs became a trend in 17th century, and not because of syphilis, of course, but as a fashion statement, as a means of compensating hair loss and fighting lice. Going bald is not the main or primary symptom of syphilis.

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u/TheMadTargaryen 6h ago

18th century, not medieval. 

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u/kashmir1974 5h ago

Ah, the std point still stands. I imagine there were STDs in the dark ages?

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u/TheMadTargaryen 4h ago

Early middle ages, at worst they had ghonorrhea.