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Society has undergone drastic changes over the past decades. Technological advancements and shifted values have led many to believe things may be taking a turn for the worse.
These changes also ignited a recent Reddit discussion, with someone asking, “What worrisome trend in society are you beginning to notice?” People got candid about the alarming evolution of artificial intelligence and overconsumption while pointing out the decay in moral values.
It’s quite a gloomy topic to open up but an eye-opener, nonetheless. Scroll through to find the readers' responses, and feel free to chime in below.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
The sheer lack of empathy people have now. It's genuinely startling.
JK 11 months ago (edited)
I'm so glad this is the first post. Today I had an interview in the SW US for an admin position with a worldwide disaster mitigation and recovery company. I brought up empathy in direct dealing with victims of disaster. She said that was one of the characteristics they were looking for in the candidate. Then I flip on my tv to find the LA fires. I hope I get the job and can make a difference. Edit: I was home when I saw the coverage of the LA fires.
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#3
Parents aren't parenting anymore -kids need rules, consistency, and structure!
keyboardtek 11 months ago
We spent a ton of our time with our daughter. But guess what, peer pressure, phone use, social media, and the internet has a greater role in shaping their brains. Sadly.
#4
People can't spell. Most often noticed in online postings, but even novels and professional articles are frequently riddled with typos or other mistakes.
keyboardtek 11 months ago
If people used spellcheck and at least proof read what they typed, it is easy to catch mistakes.
#7
People don't believe in facts when they don't fit their opinion. They also don't make any effort to look something up if they don't know it, instead, they make up their own "facts".
Nikole 11 months ago
That’s how we (U.S.) got the dementia-riddled rapist criminal as president again.
Johnnynatfan 11 months ago
Yes it is. I am still saddened and angry that people still voted for his loser a*s after everything that has happened. I have no hope for the future of this country now and want to leave.
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SirWriteALot 11 months ago
The notion that facts can have "sides" is baffling to me. They share these comics where one person looks at a number 6 and another at that same number from the other side and thinks it's a 9. Well no s**t. But that is not how facts work.
keyboardtek 11 months ago
The two political parties each have their own media that makes up facts. They have different morals. Conservatives are obsessed with sexual issues and they are perfectly OK with income inequality and excessive greed.
Nikole 11 months ago
Well, you can’t make up what Trump been found guilty or liable of… And did you hear about the batshít things he said today during yet another meandering and odd (at best, terrifying at worst) speech? No media spin. He is insane.
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Geoffrey Scott 11 months ago
..or rely on one source of info for their facts. Once contacted NPR and PBS on the opinion slant of some coverage, told them if I wanted to be told HOW to think I would watch/listen to CNN or Fox. While these (NPR/PBS) are only one source, they at least have the ability to present both sides of an issue to let you decide what's right.
#8
Wages are not keeping up with prices.
Libstak 11 months ago
The worst is, if wages go up finally by say $20 a week, every govt dept from water, to rates and every utility raises their price by 20 to $30 EACH, they ALL want 100% of that increase each plus then some and the prices of food and goods all go up as well. Its effing ridiculous.
#9
Overconsumption.
iseefractals 11 months ago
Americans account for 4% of the human population, but 15% of emissions, despite the fact that 92% of the country has access to clean water at the tap, account for 10% of plastic water bottle usage (60 billion) the EU has similar access to clean water with double the population and consumes 47 billion. 29% of U.S emissions are from transportation (cars, trucks, vans) which is 4.5% of global emission total.....global share of emissions from cars, trucks and vans? 10%. The U.S accounts for 21% of global beef consumption, 30 billion pounds worth. China accounts for 28% of global emissions....but they also have 4.2x the population of the U.S, meaning per capita they're producing LESS THAN half the emissions of the U.S. Australia, a country with a population of 26.4 million people, accounts for 4.5% of global emissions, 1/53rd the population of China, but only 1/6th the pollution, nearly triple the per capita output.
#10
We don’t own anything. Everything is subscription.
#11
Illiteracy- it’s an actual pandemic.
Nathan Lewis 11 months ago
I don't know what this says but I'm gonna take it as a personal insult
#12
How much the rich people treat us like expendable puppets. Getting us fighting each other over the dumbest s**t, keeping us distracted, bribeing our governments, and of course invading our lives at every angle they can get.
#14
Lack of humanity, empathy and community.
Being primitive, ignorant and sociopathic is becoming more and more of a virtue. Society is becoming more and more mean-spirited.
keyboardtek 11 months ago
Right wingers and Republicans want an all White country again. Well I was raised in an all white suburb. Even among an all white population, humans separate themselves into us vs. them groups based not on color of their skin, but on other petty qualities. At least half of my neighborhood kids were probably sociopaths.
#15
Death of Expertise. Everyone's opinion is now valid.
Lucas Jackson 11 months ago
Yup look at the pandemic people arguing with actual doctors and scientists because Facebook told them otherwise
#18
No business takes responsibility anymore. You just always get the run around. If you have a problem, there is, in many cases, nobody who will fix it.
This month, I had $700 overcharged on my phone bill. I called customer service, and after waiting an hour on hold, they said I needed to go to the store. I went to the store, and they said I needed to call customer service. I convinced them I had and they told me someone would have to do it another day. Ended up having to go back a few times to get it fixed.
Or a couple years ago, I ordered groceries from the website of the grocery store. Something got messed up and I called the store. They said I needed to call some other company who actually does the shopping and have them fix it. The other company wouldn't even take my call! Just a robot that wouldn't help.
It used to be that if you had a problem with a business, you could just settle it with the business. See a person and they'd work it out. If you didn't feel like going in, a customer service agent on the phone would fix it. It wasnt even that long ago. Hell, I remember in 2015 or 16 having an issue with Amazon and getting offered a free month of prime. No chance that would happen today.
It really wasn't that long ago that things were much better.
#19
Authoritarian personalities being accepted as ok again. As if we don’t have endless examples from all eras of history showing how bad that turns out.
keyboardtek 11 months ago
Americans do not learn a true version of their history. All gets whitewashed.
#20
Everyone is on their phone and missing the life right in front of them. Children feel ignored because their parents are staring at screens instead of them.
Lucas Jackson 11 months ago
Yeah we need to get back some level of control but I fear we’ve just gone too far already. I see increasingly younger and younger kids now with phones and iPads of their own. Is scary
#21
Me-ism. It's become all about what someone wants, everyone else can go to hell.
Nicole Weymann 11 months ago
"Don't let anyone stop you from fulfilling your dreams" yeah, right. My dream is flapping my arms to fly - stupid physics 😤 . And while MY delusions are relatively harmless there's a number of psychos, egomaniacs, and plain desperate people out there, who would like nothinhg better than making one lasting impression or another, make someone "pay" for their misery, or make their homicidal fantasies come true.
#23
Our brains being cooked by short internet content, 6 seconds at a time. Find it harder a harder to pick and focus on a book..
#24
The difficulty of using the internet. Yes I accept the cookies, close the advert, skip the sponsor, oh no this video is 30 minutes on how to toast bread, find a 5 minute another one, no dislike button, ah yes let me favourite it, on no I was auto signed out for security reasons, get my phone to 2fa, oh I need to also type in the code from my email, 2fa into my email, no I wouldn’t like an office 365 subscription, complete the recaptcha, oh my password expired and can’t be set again as the old one? I’ll just login to YouTube using google. or was it using my Apple ID? Or Facebook? or twitter, or Microsoft account… oh god I can’t remember which one I originally used. Oh and while I’m ranting, search engine results have definitely gotten worse over time.
#25
Social media making people feel like their lives are "less than.".
General Anaesthesia 11 months ago
People letting "social" media tell them what their lives are supposed to look like. E.g. the absence of critical thinking.
#27
Misinformation. If their beliefs are proven wrong, they cling to anything else that does even if it’s false and spread it like a virus.
#28
The rise of manufactured outrage as a business by professional grifters.
Find a group of people who feel disenfranchised, tell them the source of their woes is because of X group/thing that is unfairly targeting them or keeping something from them, and to never, never, never ever question themselves because they have a massive victim complex.
It's become a multi billion dollar industry at this point.
#29
The bystander effect. Instead of helping people when they're in a dangerous or harmful situation, no one does anything. They just watch, or they take out their phone and just record. It's really concerning.
#31
We've become society of achievement, depression and burn out are becoming prevalent, everyone has to achieve and if you don't, then you're loser.
#32
Increased use of disposable products and lack of efforts to recycle, reduce, and re-use. People just put stuff in the trash bin and it magically disappears.
ChugChug 11 months ago
This, especially plastic toys for children. You can buy kilos of it for pennies and they land in the bin after a very little use. Ive seen children toys thrown out unponed. Its not only the waste, but also children are unable to value toys genuinley, because its dirt cheap and parents buying them like crazy.
#33
I think the internet is driving us insane as a species and we are starting to make really bad decisions from the bottom to the top because of it. we are all heavily addicted to our devices and science has clearly shown this has SEVERE adverse effects to our overall mental health.
UKDeek 11 months ago
Easy... just ignore the science. Works for everything else such as climate change, vaccinations, shape of the earth, etc. Of course, I'm being facetious here; the internet is a very powerful tool for information sharing, and has supported me in my job many times, but like everything, you need to understand how to use it, fact check and the like, rather than just believe everything wholesale.
#34
Here’s a concerning trend I’ve noticed:
the growing disconnect between people and genuine human connections. Young adults are experiencing increased loneliness, while everything, including relationships, has become disposable and monetized.
The rise of social media addiction across all age groups has led to a decline in real-world social skills and in-person interactions. When emergencies happen, people now instinctively reach for their phones to record rather than help.
What’s particularly troubling is the decline in empathy.
People are quick to mock others’ misfortunes rather than show compassion, often using phrases like “f**k around and find out” instead of offering support. This lack of emotional intelligence makes many societal issues exponentially worse.
The subscription-based model taking over everything from software to car features, combined with rising wealth inequality, means fewer people can truly own things anymore - from homes to digital media. We’re becoming perpetual renters in an increasingly disposable world.
Nicole Weymann 11 months ago
I don't mind renting stuff thet's expensive (flats, a truck for moving,...) - as long as the "landlords" are regulated, meaning no "because I feel like it" rent raises, and ownership comes with responsibilities, like maintenance. I do NOT wish to "rent" apps and subscribe at a monthly cost, and STILL be bombarded with ads, get my data leaked to all and sundry (aka choke on "cookies"), and accept decreasing service to boot (like "no more interaction notifications for YOU, but, hey, care to hear about celeb drama?!")
#35
The Dunning Kruger effect has never been so observable on a global basis. So many people think that their 20 minute Google research makes them more knowledgeable on a subject than those who have dedicated their adult life to it.
#36
Isolation and loneliness - meaningful relationships are key to happiness and human wellbeing.
EDIT: My comment was inspired by the book The Good Life by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz. I’d recommend reading it if you’d like to learn more about the importance of relationships and their impact on wellbeing.
keyboardtek 11 months ago
Relationships are hard to sustain for more than a few years. I think people are brainwashed by TV and the media into creating unrealistic standards for a partner. No one has any tolerance for human shortcomings. They all want the perfect mate. Women are expected to look like models. Men are expected to have high paying jobs.
#37
I feel like people are starting to lose the ability to have actual, meaningful conversations. 😬 It’s like everything is either an argument or super surface-level small talk. Social media plays a huge part, I think everyone’s so quick to jump on trends, cancel someone, or just share their hot takes without really thinking things through.
It’s worrying because we’re all connected more than ever, but at the same time, it feels like we’re drifting further apart. Like, can we just chill, listen to each other, and not immediately try to “win” every discussion? 😅.
Geoffrey Scott 11 months ago
Start by finding agreement where you can and then work on the details.
#39
Increasing stress, anxiety, and depression are becoming normalized, especially among younger generations.
#40
Rapidly reduced common civility.
#42
How stupid people are.
#43
Lack of compassion for disabled people.
Kabuki Kitsune 11 months ago (edited)
I would argue that the lack of compassion you see, comes from the ever present experience of running into people who have self-diagnosed themselves with all manner of disabilities, from relatively minor things like learning disabilities, to full fledged crippling disabilities, and then getting angry at anyone who dares question the self diagnosis. Essentially creating a situation where it's hard to show compassion, when it's so common that what a person is claiming to have through a disability, is at best just a cry for attention; and at worst, a scam to garner money through donations, or even government programs. A short google search of "Caught faking disability" turns up countless accounts of people who were exposed for doing just that. One even scammed some 1 million dollars before they were caught.
#44
It's a symptom of a larger problem, but I've noticed that a growing number of people seem to think that space travel and exploration is entirely fabricated. I've also noticed that a growing number of people believe in spurious pseudo-archaeology ancient aliens c**p. So basically a bunch of people believe that the greatest achievements of mankind are either fake or that they are not products of humanity. If people are no longer inspired by things like that, will they still strive to push the limits of what is possible for humanity? Will they teach their kids to think that way?
#45
Blatant and intentional littering. I'm shocked by the frequency with which I see people just toss their trash on the ground or pitch their fast-food trash out a car window.
#46
The generations that could afford things are having trouble in retirement. What does
That mean for my generation?
Geoffrey Scott 11 months ago
I am a boomer, I urge everyone to contact their Rep or Sen (US) every time the concept of raising the retirement age is floated . Musk and Bezos are taxed on the first 1st 160k of income, no more than that. While the people who got them that astounding success by carryout their directives, must rely on a 401k that very well could be halved overnight. DON'T LET THEM DO THAT!.
#47
Sephora for kids.
#48
Acceptance of obesity.
Whatever they say, I continue to see people support obese people and tell them to accept themselves as they are when that is dangerous and leads to health problems.
I don't understand how years ago, in the mid-2000's we all agreed that models and extremely thin people (bulimia/anorexia) were a problem and how there should be a change but currently we accept obesity and even some praise it but do not realize that anorexia/bulimia and obesity are two sides of the same coin: eating problems.
Becca not Becky 11 months ago
You shouldn't hate yourself based on your body type, no matter how you're built. But every one of us should take action to optimize our health, and the idea of a good quality life should be the motivation, rather than just looking a certain way.
#49
A generalized increasing sympathy for authoritarianism, in people of all political stripes, and particularly in young people.
Geoffrey Scott 11 months ago
It all fits, 'tell me what to think. Too complex for me to do it myself.'
#50
More people are rude. .
#51
Probably not so new, but the complete lack of consideration for privacy. Take photos of your trip, share special moments you had in public, but leave the public out of focus
Like those trends where people take pictures and/or videos of a random stranger somewhere and post them online without consent to bash them for what they're wearing or what they're doing. Let people just live their lives without fear of judgement.
#52
People not living life for the enjoyment of it, more for social media.
I was in Portugal last week. Went past the beach and it was around 17 Celsius and sunny. Not hot, not cold. There was a young girl in Bikini doing her thing recording videos and taking pics while her miserable looking, fully dressed boyfriend sat on a towel. Afterwards she put her phone away, threw on several layers of clothing and f****d off. Obviously she was just there to brag about how hot it is and how great the beach is for her social media even though it wasn't really true.
#53
We shrug off the real problems we are not meant to notice because they are too difficult to solve, and or some of us profit off some of them so we don't want it stopped.
Geoffrey Scott 11 months ago
US folks, think about if building the interstate highway system were proposed today. Would it happen?
#54
FOMO. This covers a lot of scenarios.
* too much social media and you compare your life to people literally only posting their best pictures (or rich strangers literally paid by companies to go on expensive vacations).
* feeling like your ordinary loving relationship "isn't enough" and you might regret missing out on dating other people.
* hating your own body/face because all you see is celebrities with photos done via professional lighting with a whole team whose *only job* is to make them look good (including heavy photoshop editing after).
* It can even be something as stupid as enjoying DIY projects but getting so discouraged by the immaculate houses you see on google images that you give up trying.
I think people lack a lot of perspective to realize how artificial and curated the internet is. I think the more you remove yourself from it the less you'll feel worthless... because honestly you're comparing yourself to something unachievable! And even if you *were* a millionaire with a whole team dedicated to making your life as easy as possible guess what, marriages can still suck, friends can still suck, you'll still get bored lonely and sad sometimes--no one posts about that online so you don't see it.
#55
Social media will destroy us. We will live in "Black Mirror" future.
What do you think ?
Dread Pirate Roberts 11 months ago
Ikr? Wtf is with that hate boner he has for Nathaniel? Nathaniel is funny!
Load More Replies...
Uncle Schmickle 11 months ago
The "dumbing down" of society. What's going on here ? Education standards are so low, I don't know how anyone gets a job. So many ignorant people. If I was a conspiracy theorist (which I'm not), I'd say this has pervaded society to the extent, there must be someone, or some "force" ( Government, big business ? ) behind it. The "mushroom syndrome" ..... keep people in the dark and fed on BS.
Jon Steensen 10 months ago
I think a lot of it has to do with the internet too. Previously writing and publishing books were hard, and hence there were filters that sorted out the worst b******t from being spread. That meant that once you got around to look something up, you could be quite sure that it was relatively correct. Nowadays any idiot can make any nonsense up and have it spread to thousands of people in a few hours, as there is no editing. That can make it really hard to figure out what is up and what is down and which information you can trust and what is pure nonsense -and sadly this important skill isn't taught properly in schools, as the development has happened so fast and society hasn't really caught up and is still in the phase of realizing the flipside of it.
Load More Replies... Nicole Weymann 11 months ago
How about "none of the above"? From this list my first concern is the "my ignorance is as valuable as your knowledge" attitude, with all the side effects: Dunning Kruger, misinformation, lack of ACTUAL critical thinking (NOT blind opposition to any authority, including science, OR blind trust in incompetent/biased sources), and the impossibility to DISCUSS different ideas without getting yelled down because of being in the wrong party/faction/friend group/bubble.
Sand Ers 11 months ago
Overconsumption is going to render the planet uninhabitable for humans. The other three are trivialities compared to that.
Load More Replies...
Papa 11 months ago
If this was mentioned above and I missed it, I apologize, but I'm mildly concerned about how it doesn't seem to occur to some people to figure out something for themselves, but instead jump right to asking someone for the answer. I have been very active on forums related to the software I use at work, and I am constantly surprised by the frequency of seeing a question I don't know the answer to, but I figure out with just a few minutes of experimenting. The person who asked the question could have done the same thing, and gotten the answer faster than asking and then waiting for an answer.
StrangeOne 11 months ago
Not everyone thinks the same way, in the same sequence.
Load More Replies...
Jon Steensen 10 months ago (edited)
Dating. Modern dating culture has become a hell to navigate. There are too many option, so the fear of missing out leads to paralysis by analysis, and people becomes some entitled a******s who just moves on to the next one as soon as one little thing doesn't go exactly like planed. Before the dating apps, you could observe people a bit from the distance (in a non reepy, nonstalker way, e.g. just smalltalking a bit with the cashier in the supermarked, or see how the girl in your class behaved amongst her friends) to figure out what they were really like, before you committed to a date. Today you have to make that decision based on a highly edited picture and a carefully crafted biography. Communicating via text makes it impersonal, and makes it feel much safer to act like a d**k, than it is when you have to look someone in the eyes and can emmidiately sense the hurt you are causing (and run the risk of being smacked in the face too). It has become a meat marked, where you have to sell yourself for as high a price as you can get, and it feels like a job interview.
Dread Pirate Roberts 11 months ago
Ikr? Wtf is with that hate boner he has for Nathaniel? Nathaniel is funny!
Load More Replies... Uncle Schmickle 11 months ago
The "dumbing down" of society. What's going on here ? Education standards are so low, I don't know how anyone gets a job. So many ignorant people. If I was a conspiracy theorist (which I'm not), I'd say this has pervaded society to the extent, there must be someone, or some "force" ( Government, big business ? ) behind it. The "mushroom syndrome" ..... keep people in the dark and fed on BS.
Jon Steensen 10 months ago
I think a lot of it has to do with the internet too. Previously writing and publishing books were hard, and hence there were filters that sorted out the worst b******t from being spread. That meant that once you got around to look something up, you could be quite sure that it was relatively correct. Nowadays any idiot can make any nonsense up and have it spread to thousands of people in a few hours, as there is no editing. That can make it really hard to figure out what is up and what is down and which information you can trust and what is pure nonsense -and sadly this important skill isn't taught properly in schools, as the development has happened so fast and society hasn't really caught up and is still in the phase of realizing the flipside of it.
Load More Replies... Nicole Weymann 11 months ago
How about "none of the above"? From this list my first concern is the "my ignorance is as valuable as your knowledge" attitude, with all the side effects: Dunning Kruger, misinformation, lack of ACTUAL critical thinking (NOT blind opposition to any authority, including science, OR blind trust in incompetent/biased sources), and the impossibility to DISCUSS different ideas without getting yelled down because of being in the wrong party/faction/friend group/bubble.
Sand Ers 11 months ago
Overconsumption is going to render the planet uninhabitable for humans. The other three are trivialities compared to that.
Load More Replies... Papa 11 months ago
If this was mentioned above and I missed it, I apologize, but I'm mildly concerned about how it doesn't seem to occur to some people to figure out something for themselves, but instead jump right to asking someone for the answer. I have been very active on forums related to the software I use at work, and I am constantly surprised by the frequency of seeing a question I don't know the answer to, but I figure out with just a few minutes of experimenting. The person who asked the question could have done the same thing, and gotten the answer faster than asking and then waiting for an answer.
StrangeOne 11 months ago
Not everyone thinks the same way, in the same sequence.
Load More Replies... Jon Steensen 10 months ago (edited)
Dating. Modern dating culture has become a hell to navigate. There are too many option, so the fear of missing out leads to paralysis by analysis, and people becomes some entitled a******s who just moves on to the next one as soon as one little thing doesn't go exactly like planed. Before the dating apps, you could observe people a bit from the distance (in a non reepy, nonstalker way, e.g. just smalltalking a bit with the cashier in the supermarked, or see how the girl in your class behaved amongst her friends) to figure out what they were really like, before you committed to a date. Today you have to make that decision based on a highly edited picture and a carefully crafted biography. Communicating via text makes it impersonal, and makes it feel much safer to act like a d**k, than it is when you have to look someone in the eyes and can emmidiately sense the hurt you are causing (and run the risk of being smacked in the face too). It has become a meat marked, where you have to sell yourself for as high a price as you can get, and it feels like a job interview.
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