A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
The older I get the more I find to detest in the modern world: the aggressively secular society, the moral emptiness, the crass materialism (though I like markets), and on and on and on. Yet three years ago, my family was blessed by the modern medical technology that allowed my little two pound premature grandson to live (and now to thrive). A few months ago I had surgery that a few years before would have been dangerous--now it's routine. Antibiotics have given all of us extra years.
The most obvious benefit of the modern world is modern medicine and drugs that prolong life. But there are a lot of other things.
Here's my question. Excluding modern medicine, what are your five favorite things that the modern world has given to those of us lucky enough to live today. Here's my list:
1. Eyeglasses (especially bifocals). Otherwise I would have spent most of my life looking at life as if in a thick fog. Generations of people, especially the elderly, were denied a full life.
2. Hot Water on Demand. Can you imagine going back to old days of the Saturday night bath in water heated on a stove?
3. The Internet. Yes, there are horrible things on the web (pornography being perhaps the worst). But it has opened a whole new world--no matter where you are, if you are connected you have a world of information available to you. It allowed us to create a community like Ricochet, where like-minded people can engage in civil, thoughtful conversation.
4. Air travel. It's often a pain while it's happening, but we have virtually conquered distance. Families can live far apart, yet see each other often.
5. Food. It wasn't all that long ago that people ate what they grew or could buy from local markets. Now we have fresh food from all over the world available in our markets: and if we don't want to cook it, we can go to a restaurant and have someone cook it for us.
What are your favorites?
- Comment (65)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (4)
Comments:
Sep '11
Re: A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
Willis Carrier: Making the South inhabitable since since 1917 or so!
Dec '10
Re: A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
This topic is too big for me.
I'll go with just one: the microprocessor. Besides the obvious communications and computers, microprocessors are in everything; washing machines, toasters, dishwashers, televisions, remote controls, automobiles, motorcycles, gps units, alarm clocks, home weather stations, wrist watches, coffee makers, the list goes on and on. And that's just the consumer stuff.
More than anything else, the microprocessor has been an agent of change, allowing us to do things that simply would be impossible without them.
I do industrial automation, and I couldn't begin to say how the micro-p has allowed this industry to develop in the last 30 or so years, and how this has allowed better quality products to be produced at much lower prices.
And this acceleration will continue. It won't always be a good thing. It certainly won't always be comfortable. But it simply will not stop until there's a microprocessor in every single thing that might be able to do it's job just a little better. As they get cheaper and faster, look for them in everything.
Edited on April 26, 2012 at 6:34pmAug '10
Re: A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
I have not read through the comments, so forgive me if I'm duplicating other people's nominations:
I wager that the washing machine has liberated womankind more than any politician-activist.
I wager that refrigeration, central heating, indoor plumbing, reinforced concrete/structural steel, and soap, have saved more lives than all medical advances and government interventions combined.
Even if we did not have the internal combustion engine, thanks to asphalt I'm able to cover the same ground in 30 to 60 minutes that once took days or weeks.
Dec '10
Re: A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
He invented a redneck deflector? Where can I buy one?
Aug '10
Re: A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
A few more:
The joint stock company has created more wealth, innovation, prosperity, and employment than any government. Praise be the Dutch!
Basic personal hygiene would be a very different experience without sanitary cellulose (toilet paper, facial tissue, sterile bandages and gauze, tampons and sanitary napkins, etc...).
The electrical telegraph, while no longer used per se, first drew the line between communication and transportation. Every single other communication and media technology stands on the shoulders of Samuel Morse (not to mention computers, since the telegraph is when we first started converting letters into zeroes and ones).
The numbered street address, first invented in Paris or Venice (opinions vary) in the 16th century, simplified personal navigation beyond measure.
Distillation, first done with water in 200 AD and with alcohol in the 12th century, without which most of modern chemistry, particularly the refining of petrochemicals and the invention of synthetic fibers, is impossible.
Edited on April 26, 2012 at 8:02pmNov '11
Re: A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
1. papier toilette
2. toilettenpapier
3. carta igienica
4. papel higiénico
5. туалетная бумага
Dec '10
Re: A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
Something that seemed so great 30 years ago that I no longer/seldom use:
FAX
Oct '10
Re: A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
You're forgetting 8-track tapes aren't you?
Edited on April 26, 2012 at 7:11pmJun '10
Re: A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
Misthiocracy:
The electrical telegraph, while no longer used per se, first drew the line between communication and transportation. Every single other communication and media technology stands on the shoulders of Samuel Morse.
I agree. It was the first form of communication that could move faster than a running horse.
Severely Ltd.
You're forgetting 8-track tapes aren't you? · 7 minutes ago
Edited 6 minutes ago
If I dig far enough in my junk room, I think I'll be able to come up with eight track tapes from such notables as The Dave Clark Five and Herman's Hermits.
Just thought of one more great thing: the left turn arrow. Although it has taken some of the excitement out of driving.
Edited on April 26, 2012 at 7:25pmFeb '12
Re: A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
Astonishing: 1. papier toilette
2. toilettenpapier
3. carta igienica
4. papel higiénico
5. туалетная бумага · 29 minutes ago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYHFMuvCsr0
What is it that a man may call the greatest things in life?
"Hot water, good dentistry, soft lavatory paper."
Aug '10
Re: A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
tabula rasa
Misthiocracy:
The electrical telegraph, while no longer used per se, first drew the line between communication and transportation. Every single other communication and media technology stands on the shoulders of Samuel Morse.
I agree. It was the first form of communication that could move faster than a running horse.
Not only that, but at its core the Internet is merely an incredibly fast network of miniaturized automated telegraphs.
Hell, the gazillion electronic connections inside a single computer is merely an incredibly fast network of miniaturized automated telegraphs.
Feb '11
Re: A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
As a severely nearsighted person whose ancestors were mostly Irish peasants, the fact that Ben Franklin invented eyeglasses or that refracted lenses have been around for centuries would have meant nothing to me if I did not live in the modern era. Instead I would have been so handicapped by my physical infirmity that I would have lived in a corner in a hut somewhere subsiding completely on charity and forced to remain silent lest my natural cheekiness (good humor?) cause my benefactors to toss me out on my ear. So hooray for glasses!
And as someone who cooks lots and lots of meals (six active children who play or work outside at least 2 hours a day), I say hooray for the stove and oven combo that, whether electric, gas, or a combo, allows us to prepare food without hours of prep work (cutting the wood, starting the fire, etc.) at high temperatures that remain steady throughout the cooking process.
Charlotte, I agree re the clothes. I dress nicely but simply (Target is my clothier), and I love the ease of ladies' clothing today. Woolen underwear? No thank you.
My tadpoles don't know what an iron is.
Mar '11
Re: A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
One word... just one word... are you listening?
Jul '10
Re: A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
1. Laser eye surgery: cured me of my near legal blindness.
2. The automobile
3. Pain numbing medicine for surgery.
4. The Internet
5. The cell phone
Mar '11
Re: A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
Since all of my top 10 list is taken above...
1. Cheeseburgers. With bacon, as the good Lord intended.
2. Women doing stripper pole dancing as exercise, (as the good...)
3. Sports on digital television. If you're willing to pay for it every game everywhere in the world is on TV.
4. Aluminum is a good one too, think of all the things aluminum is used for. Strong and lightweight and inexpensive.
Aug '10
Re: A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
bourbonsoaked:
4. Aluminum is a good one too, think of all the things aluminum is used for. Strong and lightweight and inexpensive.
Very high strength-to-weight ratio. I find tinsel distracting.
Apr '11
Re: A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
In order of Importance:
1. Water on-demand - I don't have to choose where to live based on the local river or lake; I don't have to dig, build and maintain a well, then fetch water from it 2 gallons at a time; I can clean my body and my home whenever I feel I need to; I'm never very thirsty.
2. Electricity - Can you imagine having to go to bed at dusk? Virtually every other modern convenience proceeds from this one as well. Try to think of those things you cannot live without, and at least half of them are powered by electricity.
3. Internal Combustion Engine - I can go where I wish, when I wish, with as many as I wish. Or I can have something brought to me if I would rather not go myself.
4. Television (no, seriously!) I am never going to Yemen to visit their volcanic national park, but I can, to some extent, have the experience. (It really is a lovely spot...) Despite it also being a time-waster's paradise, I have access to images and sounds that truly enrich my life.
5. Pain Killing Drugs - 'Nuff said.
May '11
Re: A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
bourbonsoaked:
2. Women doing stripper pole dancing as exercise, (as the good...)
· 2 hours ago
Elevates the heart rate for both the exercising women and the men watching them.
Edited on April 27, 2012 at 12:50amAug '10
Re: A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
tabula rasa
Misthiocracy:
The electrical telegraph, while no longer used per se, first drew the line between communication and transportation. Every single other communication and media technology stands on the shoulders of Samuel Morse.
I agree. It was the first form of communication that could move faster than a running horse.
Well, except for semaphore. Or smoke signals. Or jungle drums. Or yodeling.
;-)
May '10
Re: A Cranky Critic of Modernism Lists His Favorite Things the Modern World Has Given Us
tabula rasa
Michael Collins
tabula rasa:
1. Eyeglasses (especially bifocals). Otherwise I would have spent most of my life looking at life as if in a thick fog. Generations of people, especially the elderly, were denied a full life.
Eyeglasses are my absolute favorite too. But did you know that they were invented in the Middle Ages? Speaking of "modern" I think that very word was coined in the 13th century. · 2 minutes ago
I'm sure you're right that they've been around a long time. I think modern technology has allowed them to be much perfected in the modern area. So please give me a mulligan on that one. · 22 hours ago
I think Ben Franklin invented the bi-focal lens. But the most amazing vision invention by far is the implantable lens for cataract surgery. When I was in high school I had a teacher who'd had his cataract-clouded lenses removed and he wore Coke-bottle glasses. Now, surgery takes a half hour and you're watching TV, without glasses, that evening. And there are other amazing surgeries that save sight that would have been lost 30 years ago.