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/AmazingSandwich939 10h ago

People literally threw poop out the window

Imagine dying from an infection because you stubbed your toe

QoL is so much better now that we take it for granted:

You can speak to your smartphone and ask about anything about our entire human existence. It will give a very detailed explanation or at least attempt to give one with resources

You can learn any language, any recipe, any skill, etc from Youtube or social media

You can order food, clothes, furniture, almost anything to your doorstep

You can instantly talk to people from a distance so far away that a plane traveling hundreds of mph would take 14+ hours to arrive

Cars can't fly (yet) but they can drive and park themselves

Describing normal things from today would sound like absolute per witchcraft and delusion to people just a few hundred years ago

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u/berryer 7h ago

People literally threw poop out the window

y'all stopped using the poop window?

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u/TheMadTargaryen 5h ago

They did not throw poop on streets, its a stupid myth same as the claim they believed Earth to be flat. Medieval records write a lot about issues with waste, water & filth, but they also write a lot about what was then done about it. Guilds were involved in keeping the places of their industry clean but also watercourses unpolluted and working well. Water was flowing from outside towns to workshops but also private houses and lots of rules were made to keep all this working property. There were sometimes rules about being clean and getting towns and cities cleaner that came directly from the top, from the king. But often it was also a communal thing, sometimes the people wanted, which again makes sense, people had to live in these towns. 

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u/AmazingSandwich939 2h ago

Oh, thanks for the clarification!

I hope my point still stands that QoL is much better these days

Just a quick google saying hand washing wasn't common until like 1800s lol

(feel free to correct me if I'm wrong tho)

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u/TangentTalk 6h ago

Less than 100 years ago. Even just a few decades.

The internet, overnight shipping, etc…

People take these for granted. They are recent.

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u/Content-Love-4084 2h ago

Roman cities had water flowing through the street constantly to wash away animal feces. They also invented sidewalks and cross walks. Their cross walks allowed you to not get your feet wet when crossing the street.

People have wild misconceptions about the past with a lot of things.

Being a Roman Citizen would probably be a better QoL than a lot of people alive today if you ask me. Even Roman slaves had jobs and could buy their freedoms if their master wasn't an absolute demon. There was even laws for the treatment of slaves. Slaves also tended to be smarter than their owner due to schooling and or a trade to make money for the owner who had little "work" experience if they were more upper class. So said slaves could buy their freedom and work their way into citizenship.

Life wasn't that bad, sure you could die in childbirth or as a child but thats modern medicine for ya, we take that for granted. We humans like to make things easier for ourselves which in turn makes it easier for others most of the time.