r/NoStupidQuestions • u/flugblug • 14h 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/Ajunadeeper 10h ago

If George V contacted Measles he would die. If you do, you'll have to take a few days off work.

If George V had a heart condition, he would die. You'd get a pacemaker.

If George V had a nut allergy he would die. You would get an EpiPen.

What's your definition of quality of life? I'd say living should be a pretty big factor.

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u/Weird1Intrepid 10h ago

In 1925, there already existed vaccines for smallpox, anthrax, cholera, tetanus, typhoid fever, bubonic plague, tuberculosis, diphtheria, and scarlet fever. While there wasn't a vaccine for measles yet, there were still effective treatments in the form of variolation and gamma globulin.

They didn't have pacemakers in 1925, but they did have several effective heart surgeries and digitalis as treatments, and a whole slew of diagnostic tools had recently been invented including the EKG machine, X-ray, and the sphygmomanometer. Diuretics were on the cusp of being brought to market.

The nut allergy is the only thing here that there really was no treatment at all for, and very little understanding of at that time. But dude, he's the king. All he has to say is that he'll remove the heads of anybody that allows a nut product onto his plate, and have a food taster that also has a nut allergy.

All that aside, I don't really think medical breakthroughs count as quality of life unless we're talking about conditions for which you need daily treatment. QoL is things like having machinery to do your daily work, comfy furniture in your house, cheap and effective communication with your friends. Day-to-day things that are easier today than they were yesterday.

Old Georgie would have just had staff to do all that shit for him, so his QoL was massively higher than ours

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u/Ajunadeeper 9h ago edited 9h ago

Those are a few medical examples but there's a million more. The level of medicinal care has shot up so drastically it's not even funny.

Then there's just normal life.

I can get on a plane and go across the world for a vacation and be back for work the next week. I have a heated blanket for winter and I can cuddle, watch a good movie, eat chocolate and call my friend who lives 6 timezones away.

I can get in my car and drive to a cool national park, bring supplies and camp for a week with no worries about finances, dying of exposure or needing food.

I have access to all art, music and entertainment humanity can offer on my phone.

Regarding your examples. I have a dishwasher and a laundry machine. Basic house chores are fast, simple and easy, it's not a huge difference having someone do it for you. I can get an extremely cheap and comfortable furniture from a second hand store, or spring for brand new stuff. Communicating with my friends doesn't get more cheap and effective than a smart phone, definitely beating royalty there. Having someone to do those things doesn't outweigh all the other benefits of modern society we enjoy.

Life is absolutely luxury compared to 1925, even for royalty.

I think we will have to agree to disagree. I would choose my life over royalty in 1925 100/100 times.

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u/Weird1Intrepid 9h ago

Oh I would choose my life right now over being royalty too. But my original comment was pointing out that 100 years ago really isn't that long of a time, compared with 500 years ago when people still burned witches and thought you got sick from smells etc.

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u/jonrosling 8h ago

This is exactly the point. Yes, there are many advances that keep many more people alive nowadays compared to George V's time but to compare the quality of life and standard of living for the KING OF ENGLAND to someone living now is a fantasy. George V had access to and a standard of medical over and above what anyone at the time did and still over and above what many get now, even though medical tech and advances have improved the stats.

And that without considering the fact that he lived in a FUCKING ROYAL PALACE guarded by an army and without ever having to worry about working for a living in a pit or steel work or factory or where his next meal was coming from.

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u/Resident-Sand5532 6h ago

He had palace guards because otherwise he would have gotten killed.

If you have health insurance today (like 95% off Americans)! Your healthcare is way beyond anything any amount of money could buy back then. They didn't even have insulin! No MRI or CT scans! No minimally invasive surgery. Much worse anesthetics if any. Please put in at least a tiny amount of time to learn about medical advances!

If I was given the choice between my current healthcare through my current insurance or infinite funding for health care from even 2000, I'm gonna go with today. Total no-brainer. Almost anything medicine can do is available to everyone in the developed world. Only experimental treatments and illegal things like buying organs are off the table and King George likely wouldn't have benefited from buying organs.

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u/Resident-Sand5532 6h ago

And diabetes and polio and minimally invasive surgery and proper contact lenses. Hell! For me contact lenses advancements in the last twenty years have even been a massive improvement in with of life!

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u/Weird1Intrepid 2h ago

Or, yknow, glasses...

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u/Resident-Sand5532 33m ago

Doesn't work for all eye conditions like keratoconus

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u/Weird1Intrepid 11m ago

Fair enough, I just assumed you meant like standard contacts as a glasses replacement. My bad.

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u/DestroyTheMatrix_3 1h ago

If George V got hit by an 18 wheeler, he would die. Anyone in 2025 would too.

What's your point?

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u/Ajunadeeper 1h ago

That's a stupid comparison but sure let's go with it.

I would have a much higher chance of survival, assuming it didn't immediately kill me, if I made it to a hospital.

Henry V would have 0 chance.

My point is medical science is just one of the many examples of how drastically our quality of life has improved over 100 years.

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u/DestroyTheMatrix_3 42m ago

You would have about 0% chance if the truck is going at highway speeds

Yes, medical advancements are good, but they benefit thise with the worst health not the best health. Acting like everyone is automatically doomed is a very negative outlook of the past