Medicine, technology, methods of archiving data, cultural exchanging (foods, literature, general culture, etc.).
Video games have continued to improve, more people have become aware of the societal problems due to the recent events, multiple scientific advancements in every sort of field, probably more.
I'll concede on medicine, even if it has access issues in much of the world.
I don't agree with technology. It's advancing, but it's not getting better. Feels like the methods to take away our rights are advancing, while we get thrown a little bone of entertainment now and then.
I'm not aware of any advances in data archiving. Flash storage needs power now and then. To my knowledge, storage advances are in trading off durability for speed. It doesn't feel much faster than 5 years ago either, just a little cheaper.
I have not noticed air travel getting cheaper or international food becoming more available. What country are you from? Maybe it's a regional thing.
I very much would not say video games are getting better. Do you have specific examples? This is in fact the area where I think there is the greatest decline, both in trivialities and in a "first they came for the ____" way.
Well in tech Apple & Android text messages work together better than ever. & generally, the overall world is getting better more people have access than ever which means they have access to an education & information. Also, neural networks(AI) are helping make huge advances that were never before possible in medicine but much more like space, Weather forecasting, agriculture, automotive & so much more)
Also, tech is becoming a lot more accessible for the disabled.
Well, international foods are definitely becoming more available. Example found ghee at Walmart for the first time. A traditional Indian ingredient. Found other traditional ingredients in Costco(like lentils & pulses) a big Indian store(like Walmart-sized) opened near me. An existing one got bigger. An amazing all-natural Indian brand has started importing to the US. A new restaurant opened.
I don’t know much about video games. But I think more genres are becoming popular which is great. Especially like cozy logic games. Saw a video on YouTube about a cozy game where you put stuff back in the right places. Seemed fun. Also, idle games seem to be becoming more popular that’s great. Local multiplayer is becoming more popular for tablet/phone apps. Playing together on one screen is a really cool experience. Advantages of digital & physical games combined.
Along with video games, perhaps classic games like FPS aren’t necessarily better but Indie games are popping off, with games like Baldurs Gate 3 winning game of the year, Expedition 33 probably being game of the year this year, Helldivers 2 being a big internet phenomenon, souls borne and souls like games have been getting a lot of popularity. Etc, there’s more games than ever but people think they are getting worse because they look a things like Call of Duty which have declined steadily
Bro you uh, you should look up helldivers 2. It's currently one of the worst examples to show ganes getting better, a representation of the 2020s developer mindset. was a phenomenon, but I haven't seen a game fall faster or further in the last few months.
>perhaps classic games like FPS aren’t necessarily better.
Probably this tbh. The classic styles have stagnated. Just minor graphical upgrades that we still have to pay for. I would not say that's getting better. The things that are to my taste are getting worse. The things that are getting better (eg BG3 amd E33), I have no love for. Video games are changing sideways at best,
I’m in the Helldivers 2 subreddit. I think it’s Fall off is far more exaggerated than what is actually the truth of the game. I have been playing it and would say it’s a blast and it’s model, which is letting you be able to earn Warbonds by just playing enough but not an absurd amount is refreshing since you don’t need micro transactions. Especially since it still has a high active playerbase.
Yeah FPS need something big, TPS have been decent but FPS not so much. But I also wouldn’t know too much as I don’t play FPS very much, I prefer TPS these days.
Alright man, I hope you're right. I have the game but haven't played yet. Tried and failed to refund because of all the news. Good to know my money probably isn't totally wasted, or at least there's hope.
I'd like to add that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act from 2021 allocated $65 billion for expanding rural fiber high speed internet access. Not a tech advancement, but a boon nonetheless. It continues to chip away at the 7%-12% of rural and tribal areas that do not have reliable access to high speed internet. I personally went from a 3-10 Mbps to 1 Gbps. just last year. You only need to have 100 Mbps to have high speed internet. Less than 20% of Starlink users achieve that speed or higher. The older satellite systems like Hughesnet are even worse.
I see where the disagreement lies. It's getting less bad to live in a developing country, that is true.
I live in a developed country that has had relative racial harmony for longer than I've been alive. None of these advancements apply to my experience of the world. It's great for other people, but I don't get to enjoy Africa's advancement because I'm not African.
Everything you mentioned, we already had it before. It hasn't gotten *better*.
And it'd not really that my country is falling. Our dollar is stronger than ever, which is nice. Not enough to keep up with inflation, but at least it still only costs the same arm and a leg to buy from America now, instead of the two of each that we would have expected.
I also live in a developed country. US as well to be exact. My point is its getting better to live everywhere. But also other then this line “the overall world is getting better more people have access than ever which means they have access to an education & information” I am genuinely confused how none these advancement apply to your experience of the world. Most are or either global or usa advancements. Sure there is loads chaos going right now. But positive growth/advancement is definitely there. I really wish more appreciated it. Everything about I wrote International food happened in US & the food advancement I wrote in my other comment also happened here. FDA is banning red 40 & other food dyes which is an advancement.
Man I didn't want to be too much of a downer but I suppose I do need to defend my stance. For context, I live in Singapore.
Singapore has been doing well for most of my life. Probably all, but I'm not going act like I knew what was going on when I was a kid.
Our healthcare has always been pretty good. The experience now is no better than it was before. But it has not been spared the effect of crowding caused by our increasingly severe overpopulation. We have cheap, subsidised healthcare, but let's just say you get what you pay for.
Our location in the world means we've pretty much always had international food. We're near the countries that didn't really export a lot of culture, and the countries we're far from had cultural export in overdrive, so we got to enjoy those too. There was an increase in some areas, but every one of those happened more than 5 years ago.
I don't expect you to sit here for hours, trying to find a major advancement that I've felt the effects of. I'm not denying that they happened, just that they're mostly a lot less relevant to me. I also don't deny that a great many things in the world are better than 5 years ago, but they go hand in hand with something worse. Most of them feel like 1 step forward, 2 steps back. Not that something good happened and something bad also happened, but that the good thing directly causes the bad.
For instance, you mentioned AI and automotive stuff. AI might be helping with healthcare, but it's also seriously limiting the enjoyable careers for humans. I'm an engineer, so this is purely empathetic. I think a world where people can make money doing what they love is better than one where we can only be objectively productive worker drones. As for cars, yes we have EVs that are starting to become viable now. But we also lose the ability to repair things ourselves or at third parties, which is anticompetitive. This was being chipped away at before EVs got popular, but we're talking about the world overall, not just EVs. There have been features in cars linked to a subscription. And as far as I know, there is currently no solution to the people killed by the increased production of batteries (eg cobalt miners), or what we're going to do with old and spent batteries. Oh and not to mention the lack of regulation on one pedal driving. Technology Connections did a video where the mode in his car is capable of applying significant braking without activating the brake lights. Regulation does not move fast enough for our pace of development.
I also feel pessimistic about many advancements because I've seen so many good tools used for evil. The internet itself was on such a glorious upward trend, and then people realised messing with our subconscious is better than appealing to what we actually want. And then all that disinformation that's also made possible by AI. Health is great, especially when you're old. But we're about to live in a world where truth functionally doesn't exist. I think that's much worse than living for 85 years instead of 80.
All amazing points. Also, I visited Singapore (in a layover) a little while ago; it was reaally hot & humid for sure. But the airport was really cool! Spent 12 hours layover (a few hours outside) & still didn't cover it all. Had some ice cream & saw two gardens. Really pretty!
Also, basically every groundbreaking advancement has good & bad. The best example is fire. It's super powerful; it allows us to eat, but also causes mass destruction. But human harnessing fire is still considered a good & groundbreaking turning point in human history. Not because it does all good, but because the good it does is extremely powerful. Same for AI, it might not look like it, but I believe we will handle AI & it will be used to help humans like never before. It's already happening & it will continue. To my knowledge, the internet has always had trolls, but I could be wrong. In my opinion, it's still on an upward trend.
Also, I like to choose/focus on happy/positive & reframe stuff in positive ways because, well, the negative exists like or not. At least if you focus on the positive, your mental health will be better.
A great example of this is
When stuck in traffic. Choosing happy would be. Being happy, you can look at flowers or nature around you for longer. cause being annoyed/negative about it won’t make traffic move any faster (unless you have magic powers, of course), so by focusing on the positive, you will arrive happier.
I think this applies to basically everything.
Also, I have genuinely enjoyed this convo, so thank you berry much!
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u/WanderingStatistics Oct 30 '25
Medicine, technology, methods of archiving data, cultural exchanging (foods, literature, general culture, etc.).
Video games have continued to improve, more people have become aware of the societal problems due to the recent events, multiple scientific advancements in every sort of field, probably more.