The Wrong Side of History

[rowyn]

History is full of things that are abominations in modern Western society but which were not only tolerated but seen as outright positive things in prior eras (and which continue to be treated as such in some parts of the world. Eg:

* slavery
* treatment of women as property
* racism
* sexism
* serfdom
* indentured servitude
* colonialism in the name of "civilizing the savages"
* criminalization of miscegenation

Etc.

These are things that people pretty much don't argue in favor of in modern America. Granted, there are enormous debates over how much discrimination remains based on gender or race. But very few people will argue that discrimination on those grounds is good. In other areas (like sexual orientation or discrimination against those who are not cisgendered), the debate is more vehement. The trend line is towards acceptance but we're not there yet.

Sometimes I wonder what's next. In two or three hundred years, what will humanity be looking back on and saying "How could those 21st century Americans commonly accept something so awful, so abominable, as that"? Not something that we're really debating right now, but something that most people don't even think about. Something that's just the background of our lives, just the way things are and always have been.

Some of my candidates:

* Animal rights: maybe in 2310 "pet ownership" will seem as cruel and inhuman as "slave ownership" today.
* Employment: "employee" will be considered a step up from "indentured servant" -- "It's not as bad as slavery, of course, but still wrong".
* Children's rights: all current forms of disciplining children will be regarded as child abuse.

These aren't things that I actually think are horrible, mind you. I'm just trying to imagine what things I could be terribly wrong about, just as I consider many things people in 1710 took for granted as "part of the natural order" to be terribly wrong. And of course, there are fringe groups on these issues already: PETA, Communists, "unparenting" in its more radical forms.

What do you think that you might be wrong about?

Comments

on point 3...

[tahkhleet.livejournal.com]

...how are we going to get out of that one ? As far as I understood the wiring on it in our brains is really strong. to the point that several of the really obese people I know don't just feel undesirable, they feel outright monstrous >.< and they should know better and yet no amount of logic or emotion budges them. It's like something gets bent having to look at themselves in the mirror and get a "wrong" result....it's even worse than gender dysphoria in these cases, at least their experience versus the "average" I've heard about.

Re: on point 3...

[elusivetiger.livejournal.com]

I really don't know. And to be fair, obesity is an item I feel society _should_ shun to some degree if only to promote personal well-being, an area where American society is doing a horrible job. It is not compassionate to pretend to offer no judgment when so many people, including children, are borderline obese and will have to struggle with the severe health challenges and reduced quality and length of life that accompany it. But I think that has a great deal to do with the modern food choices and prices that surround us and how they interact with he psychopharmacology of many ingredients of modern "food", particularly sugar/starches.

I was thinking more along the lines of short/tall (especially for men), small/big-breasted, "wrong" shape, features, etc. etc. where some degree of genetic blessing vis a vis attractiveness is still such an enormous advantage in society. There are powerful animal forces at work there that it will probably take a very long time to overcome with a more evolved sense of personal measure.

Re: on point 3...

[rowyn]

I ... really don't agree with you on obesity.

Yes, absolutely people should help one another to do those things that promote our health and well being. Eating nutritious meals and exercising are good things which should be encouraged.

But there are many reasons why people are overweight, and while yes, most of them connect to poor eating and/or exercise habits, not all of them do. I don't think that shunning or judging people based on their weight does a whole lot to reduce obesity-related health problems, and it certainly creates additional health problems, both physical and mental. :/

I think obesity is going to be a problem that technology solves for us, though. Eventually.

Re: on point 3...

[rowyn]

Our brains aren't hardwired to judge particular traits as attractive/unattractive; that's largely societal conditions. Witness all the fads on what body type is ideal, or societies where obesity is prized. Desirable facial features vary wildly too.

But in the long run, technology may make the whole question irrelevant, because it may become trivial to change every physical characteristic about your form, perhaps because lives are led entirely in virtual reality or perhaps because nanites in your body can reshape you at whim.People may well still judge each other based on appearances -- but those appearances will be ones *chosen* by the individual, and no more arbitrary than the choice of books that one reads or the hobbies that one indulges in.