We are both better and worse than our forefathers. Our forefathers worked hard to achieve the simplest things, yet they were much happier. We depend on machinery to do our work, live much longer lives than our forefathers, and make use of luxuries our forefathers did not have, yet we are unhappy.
Have you ever wondered whether we are better than our forefathers? Our forefathers lived much different lives as we do in the present, and this question can be answered in so many ways that no answer can be seen as correct or incorrect.
Continue reading as we discuss why our forefathers lived much more straightforward and happier lives than us, even though they worked much harder.
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Why Could We Be Better Than Our Forefathers?
Generally, one could argue that we live a better life than our forefathers did. Materially, we are much better than our forefathers. We have much more facilities available when it comes to health, workplaces, traveling, and so much more. We have advanced significantly in the field of technology that has made life much easier than it was in the time of our forefathers.
As the first example, you can look at communication. The distances have been wrapped up, and our world has become a global village. Secondly, when it comes to traveling, both short and longer lengths have become faster, easier, and safer than during the times of our forefathers.
When you look at the technical side of things, computers and the Internet have significantly changed and bettered our everyday life. The automatic machiners and robots have reduced labor in such as way that we have machines to do the simplest and the most difficult tasks, even in such a way that it completely replaces the role of humans.
Agricultural procedures have not only become almost effortless but productivity has been increased as well.
When it comes to the field of medicine, we have overcome the most significant number of academics that have ruined society at times. These are things like tuberculosis, malaria, as well as the plague that were deadly diseases in the time of our forefathers. Presently, they are not fatal diseases, and our vast knowledge of medicine has increased our life expectancy and child mortality rate.
When it comes to general education, we have surpassed our forefathers greatly. We have developed a whole schooling and education system that has led to incredible advancements in medicine, technology, transport, and many other modern findings. We are much more civilized and educated than our forefathers.
We have explored the universe and reached the moon and other planets. We also explored the biggest part of the ocean that has ever been explored before.
Why Could Our Forefathers Be Better Than Us?
If you turn the annals of history back to ancient times, our modern society feels overwhelmed when they realize how challenging the lives of human beings were a few generations earlier.
Despite all these important advancements we have made in the modern world, man has lost his peace of mind. Our forefathers led simple lives and had no material desires, hence the reason why they were so calm and satisfied.
Moreover, our forefathers had plenty of time to spend with their friends, relatives, and family. They were emotionally attached to each other, which gave them a sense of security and fulfillment.
On the other hand, modern man loves and even chooses material things over fellow human beings. We have weakened because we pursue wealth and material comfort over human interaction. We tend to have a much higher rate of mental instability that comes from us not achieving the materialistic things we want in the world.
Our modern happiness does not come from our friends and family, but from material things that could only be achieved or bought with money, which our forefathers would have not even thought of during their time of living.
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Our forefathers lived in caves, where we live in our luxurious homes. Our forefathers used to eat uncooked food, where we now have the choice to look up a recipe and cook our food on stoves inside of our homes.
When our forefathers had to travel, they had to walk even thousands of miles on foot, where we have the choice of either public transport or making use of our own vehicle. Additionally, where we walk around clothed in name brands and different types of clothing, our forefathers couldn’t get clothing to cover their bodies and had to walk around unclothed during the hottest and coldest of times.
Overall, our forefather’s quality of living was the same as animals’, yet they were satisfied.
Scientific advancements have provided us with so many luxuries that were not available nor even thought of throughout the lives of our forefathers.
Our forefathers were social beings because they helped and cared for each other. They shared meals amongst themselves, even though they were not family or related in any way to one another.
Due to our technology today, we are imprisoned in our homes and rarely leave our homes unless we have to purchase something. We also tend to choose these forms of technology over our friends and loved ones, as we feel like technology can completely replace the want and need for human interaction.
Religion is a crucial part of any human being’s life. Our forefathers were extremely faithful and firmly believed in their chosen religion, but the youth of today has been so divided with religion by being manipulated by the West’s modern ways.
Moreover, in the time of our forefathers, the religious leaders were not as corrupt as ours are. Our forefathers had many moral values, but we have entirely lost ours.
When it comes to the wellbeing of our environment, our forefathers surpasses us again. Our forefathers preserved and cared for their environment by planting several trees and plants, and they used natural fertilizers that contained no harmful substances.
Additionally, there was no industrialization, which means that no cars or factories released harmful gasses that may lead to global warming, such as carbon dioxide. Today, we are suffering from respiratory diseases as well as other sicknesses because of industrialism.
When we think of the food we have today, we might think that we are better than our forefathers in the aspect of making better-tasting food and preparing our food in much better ways.
This, however, is entirely false, as lots of the food we consume today makes us ill without us even realizing it! Processed food is greasy and unnutritional, and our forefathers had a much more healthy and nutritional diet than we have today.
If our forefathers could have seen the life that we live now, they would surely be disappointed as we are not as hardworking as they were. They worked day and night to achieve the slightest success. We depend not only on machinery to do our work but also on these machines to replace us, while reaping the benefits for ourselves.
Because of our dependence on technology and science, we have grown lazy and obese. We watch television while we are aware of its harmful effects on our physical and emotional wellbeing.
Conclusion
Everything that has been stated above actively demonstrated that our ancestors were much happier than ourselves. Sufficient reason has also been provided to support each statement. We have modern problems that might require modern solutions, but we created these problems for ourselves.
In short, we may say that we are better off than our forefathers when considering the several scientific advancements and facilities that have been founded over the years. However, we are hollow and weak due to our eternal chase for materialism. We have not yet learned how to use our discoveries to benefit us emotionally as it already does physically.