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Indicators of economic development, like the GDP, do not always tell us how people are really doing. Or at least how they feel.

When the Pew Research Center asked 43,000 people from 38 countries if the world is better off now than it was 50 years ago, 43 percent said yes while 38 percent said no.

Interested in what things the latter group blames for their discontent, Reddit user Madbonkersbean made a post on the platform, asking everyone "What invention has most negatively impacted society?" Here are some of the most upvoted replies they've received.

Image credits: Madbonkersbean

This post may include affiliate links.

#1

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society > In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.

jzolg , Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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Turanga Leela
Turanga Leela
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Quote from The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams

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#2

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Social media

I've watched society go from mildly disgruntled over multiple decades, to flat out delusional and insane within 5 years.

Nothing else has touched that many people all at once and undermined how we used to think of ourselves

horse1066 , cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
205points
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Thee8thsense
Thee8thsense
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It causes so much distraction and splintered thinking that people avoid looking inward, toward self.

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#3

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Subscription based everything.

iGhast , Darina Belonogova / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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#4

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society LED headlights. F**k that guy.

ProbablyBigfoot , Erik Mclean / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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#5

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Religion.

Hands down.

Mushu84 , Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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#6

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Pop up ads... even the inventor hated it

wtiger430 , Anna Tarazevich / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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#7

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society The thing that has the most negative long term impact on society is probably going to be something affecting us right now that we have yet to experience the full ramifications of

My bet is on the widespread presence of plastic in literally everything

badgersprite , Magda Ehlers / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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Paul C.
Paul C.
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think the saddest thing is when humans manage to blow themselves off the face of Earth, the cr4p we have put into the Oceans will still be there for thousands of years, k!lling whatever poor creatures that have survived us. We really do suck.

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#8

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Facebook. Hands down.

Millions of users that are basically technologically illiterate with no critical thinking skills finly connected. They put faith/trust in the articles with attention grabbing headlines that are shared by their peers because they trust their peers and grew up in a time where you relied on the people in your community. But with no critical thinking skills they don't understand that an article about the earth being flat that was produced by an amateur crystal enthusiast has no scientific basis. They don't even know at the bare minimum to verify the source.

"Well aunt Edna shared it and she knows a thing or two."

It allowed misinformation and stupidity to spread incredibly quickly.

TheStankTank , Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:
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AngelWingsYT
AngelWingsYT
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Stopped using FB when it became a cesspool of "im better than YOU", anti-vax, praise be to god minions, and hail trump posts

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#9

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society I think the way that capitalism is designed to bring psychopaths and sociopaths to the top. those heartless f***s would fire their own parents/siblings for personal gain.

BiluochunLvcha , Kuncheek / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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LaserBrain
LaserBrain
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Any heirarchical society inherently does this, not just capitalist ones. Look at the asshats in charge of the Communist bloc, when it existed. The Aztecs. The Chinese empire. And so on.

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#10

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Trying to make money of almost every human need.

tuvoksnightmare , Karolina Grabowska / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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#11

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Deepfake, the fact this has lead to morphing of many women images to "punish" them or to sexualize them is scary af. Literally feels like revenge p**n

Jarisatis , Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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#12

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society AI, wait and see

GrumpyGoblin94 , ThisIsEngineering / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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Rob D
Rob D
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9 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What frightens me most about AI is that it's learning from our internet personality. It's like teaching a baby to speak exclusively by putting them in the front seat of a car during traffic and learning from the drivers road rage. AI is not learning how we actually interact with each other. It's learning how we interact with each other on the internet. That fact alone should leave us petrified of it.

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#13

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Warning labels. They impede the progress of natural selection.

CoffeeAndBrass , Mat Brown / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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#14

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Daylight Savings Time, at least where I live. You go forward an hour for spring and summer months, and you go back an hour in fall and winter. If you don't adjust very well to change, it can be a real b***h.

Flat-Investigator-96 , Jimmy Chan / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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Petra Schaap
Petra Schaap
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

apparently im the only person ever that really doesnt give a f**k

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#15

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Tiktok

BrianneLassiter , cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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Norwegian_Panda🇳🇴
Norwegian_Panda🇳🇴
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

TikTok started as a good thing but now totally fckd up. Human trafficking, dangerous content to be famous, animal cruelty etc. Bad bad bad…

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#16

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Nuclear weapons: devastating impact, global tensions, potential for catastrophic conflict.

EtherealSunseet , Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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#17

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Plastic, right now you have microplastics in every single organ, including your brain.

Carnir , Anna Shvets / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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#18

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Cigarettes killed 100million people in the back 80 years of the 20th century alone.

FausttTheeartist , Fandy Much / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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#19

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Infinite Scrolling and I daresay algorithms that feed into an echo chamber.

Swimming_Sun_1225 , Kerde Severin / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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Nimues Child
Nimues Child
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The information bubble echo chamber is the worst. It's what has fed so many negative things in our world. I miss civil discourse where we could learn from one another instead of just shouting at one another.

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#20

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society High-fructose corn syrup

Moon_Jewel90 , Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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Moë
Moë
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The US allows the lobbyists with the most money to set policies

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#21

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Kid friendly 'youtube shorts'. I just feel like it ruins the attention span of children, giving them short/one minute attention spans over time. They just get sucked into that s**t. I know it's not super significant compared to other inventions that could've negatively impacted society. I'm trying to think of something that might not have been mentioned here yet lol.

Bojack89 , Jessica Lewis thepaintedsquare / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa)
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa)
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Super creepy too. I saw a documentary about it a couple years ago. I wish I could remember where I saw it, but it was about groups mashing together free 3D animation assets with kids songs in order to suck kids into these endless playlists on YouTube for ad revenue. Parents will just hand the toddler an Ipad and the kid spends hours watching these playlists and YouTube counts it as interaction so the "creators" get money. At least it's creepy and at worst it's dangerous.

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#22

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Asbestos. I feel very bad for the people who were unknowingly affected by it.

beligerentMagpie , Elina Volkova / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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Rostit.. .
Rostit.. .
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Asbestos didn't do anything but exist. Man dug it up and made clothes from it. I swear some people are half awake when they type this nonsense

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#23

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society The 24-hour news cycle .
They have so much time that they have to make more stories to keep you informed. 24-hour news will be our downfall. Half an hour every night is enough.

VeryFastTony , alleksana / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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#24

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Junk food.

yic0 , Caleb Oquendo / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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cerinamroth
cerinamroth
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not a bad thing per se, but lack of will power is! I love a cheap and dirty burger occasionally, but I think the last time I had one was 10 years ago. Chips (or fries) I have more frequently, but not more than once every few months.

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#25

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Leaded petrol is estimated to have lowered the IQ of everyone born in the 60s and 70s by around 6%.


That's my excuse anyway, what's yours?

night_of_knee , Connor Forsyth / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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Mint Sauce
Mint Sauce
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So what's the excuse for the low IQ of people now....?

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#26

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Everyone here is only drawing from relatively recent examples , but if you go back longer then really alcohol is the winner here as it has had the most long lived and consistent negative impact on all societies around the world.

dettrick , Mahrael Boutros / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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Invisible Potato
Invisible Potato
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

and technicaly speaking, without beeer we would not have a civilization, beer was a safe drink becase water wasnt drinkable... but yes, i have to agree, alcohol had very long and very negative impact on society. and its legal becase someone could make money of it, noone cares if its harmfull. they would sell azbestors drinks if they could make a money of it...

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#27

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Sugar in our food and drinks.

PrizedMaintenance420 , Alexander Grey / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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Jon Steensen
Jon Steensen
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

especially in those products where it does not belong at all. E.g. bread is not supposed to taste like cake, but the producers don't seem to mind as long as they can get people addicted.

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#28

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Ive got a few here but if i have to pick one:

Fractional reserve banking and fiat currency. Giving the banks power to manipulate the value of currency has been a blight on society, it has been used to enrich the banks and steal wealth of money, i wish we could go back to money being a unit of value not a fiat currency that can be manipulated.

SneakyLabradoodle , Expect Best / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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LaserBrain
LaserBrain
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's an insidious invention that enslaves people and transfers more wealth to the already- wealthy.

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#29

Guns. Literally their only purpose is to take the life of another living thing.

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Phoenix
Phoenix
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There have always been weapons. Before guns there were swords, bows and arrows, battle axes, etc. Unless the need to provide and protect are eliminated, there will be weapons.

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#30

Coffee pods

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Xenon
Xenon
Community Member
9 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Two guys who hate their inventions: The one who invented K cups, and the one who invented pop-up ads.

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#31

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Adding lead to gasoline, adding lead to house paint, using lead pipes ... I know that lead is a fundamental element, but exposure to lead in our environment causes cancer and brain damage.

Count2Zero , cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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#32

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society It's often speculated that had the cotton gin not been invented, slavery might have ended sooner

limasxgoesto0 , Teona Swift / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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#33

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society PFAS

pipocapop:

This should be higher on the list. Almost all waterproof products and stain resistant products contain PFAS. Even fast food wrappers contain them. It is found in majority of water supplies and 90% of people’s blood and we don’t fully understand the health effects. It does not degrade and accumulates in the food chain.

Robertorgan81 , Esra Afşar / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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#34

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society Shareholder Value

PamelaOfMosman , MayoFi / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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Nimues Child
Nimues Child
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Focusing on this quarter's bottom line for shareholders to the exclusion of all else is destroying our economy and society.

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#35

Nuclear arms race and proliferation...

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#36

Industial production of tobacco products.

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#37

Bitcoin

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BigCityLady
BigCityLady
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Cryptocurrency is accelerating climate change and no one seems to highlight the dangerousness that it is causing. I hope it ALL implodes upon itself!

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#38

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society The leaf blower: Satan's own instrument.

ED_the_Bad , Vlad Vasnetsov / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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#39

Lobotomy.

In hindsight very few unlucky people actually underwent lobotomy but still.

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cerinamroth
cerinamroth
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My mum's school friend was lobotomised when they were in their teens because she had anorexia. Mum said she didn't seem to have a problem with anorexia any more after that but that she had a whole host of other problems instead and was never the same again. No wonder. That was in the UK in the early 70s.

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#40

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society The invention of Fentanyl. Destroyed so many people, families and frankly society in general.

Howry , Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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Ace
Ace
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No, it did not. There are other drugs, some equally bad, some worse. Like most of them, Fentanyl is very good when used for the purposes it's intended for. Society in general is exactly where the blame lies.

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#41

The stock market. 100% serious

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Geoffrey Scott
Geoffrey Scott
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

...causing the elimination of defined benefit pensions thereby transferring the risk of loss to retired people. "Oh, you have a 1/2 million for retirement...not any more!"

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#42

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society The snooze button

Livid-Ability1653 , Miriam Alonso / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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#43

The real answer is the misuse of psychological research. People learned how to use words and imagery to manipulate the masses, and it spiraled into modern times: instant gratification at our fingertips, advertisements guiding us by the nose, the dopamine hit of seeing engagement of social media, etc.

Without a good understanding of human psychology, these things might have still come about, but it would have been slower, less effective, and people could have learned. Instead, we have companies that focus on encouraging the populations addictions and marketing the..

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#44

The 9-5

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cerinamroth
cerinamroth
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Would you prefer the traditional farming hours of 5 a.m. til 9 p.m.?

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#45

Highly processed food. I can understand the mass production of it at a certain time but now there's no need for it. Eat whole foods people. "But it's expensive" NO IT ISN'T.

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Jeevesssssss
Jeevesssssss
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It actually is. Many people live in areas where the ONLY locally available food is processed, shelf-stable food - food deserts/swamps. Many people work multiple jobs and don't have the TIME to go further afield to source fresh produce - time = money, and travelling = money. Some people cannot afford to run a proper fridge or freezer so cannot store fresh/frozen produce, and people living paycheck to paycheck also cannot make use of deals to stock up. Lots of people literally have no clue about how to start with cooking, and it can be intimidating. If you've never cooked you have to buy equipment - pots, pans, knives. Proper cooking uses energy when bills are rising. And often it takes time. Time = money, and if you're working multiple jobs you're exhausted. And if you have kids you don't want to be battling with them over food when you get home. I cook, simply and cheaply, but I have advantages others simply DO NOT HAVE.

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#46

Protestant work ethic

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#47

Smartphones

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Ban-One
Ban-One
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The invention itself is a good one I'd say. Comes in handy many times. How and how much you use it is a matter of self-control (if you're a grown-up).

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#48

Kids with early access to the information highway.

My friends child, a 6 year old built a webpage for homework yesterday. It was very basic, but he was asking the right questions and utilizing them while building the site.

And we, my friend and I were talking about how scary this is, because now this child will be bored out of his mind as an adult, and most likely will be depressed beyond what we can imagine. And since this is being done from school and everywhere, we can't really limit the usage.

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LaserBrain
LaserBrain
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He won't be bored, he'll just be making more and more complicated websites and programs.

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#49

From Bad to Worse: 40 Inventions That Have Backfired On Society The private automobile. Gigatons of carbon in the atmosphere, largest source of microplastics in the ocean, smog, millions of deaths and hundreds of millions of injuries, pollution of fresh water through oil run off and salted roads, fragmentation of ecological habitats by bisecting contiguous habitat with death corridors, promotion of sprawl development, promotion of social isolation and disintegration by creating a culture of McMansions in said sprawl in which they have nothing to do but watch Fox News, defunding or outright destruction of public transit networks, underfunding of sidewalks and bike lanes to the point where obesity-related diseases are destroying public finances.

F**k. Cars.

fantasticmrspock , Efrem Efre / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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Rob D
Rob D
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But if industrialization has taken its course without automated transportation, we may be even more screwed. ...Horses at the modern world scale wouldn't be doing the environment any better. I'm not defending fossil fuel, but horse pollution was its "vehicle emissions crisis" of its day that not a lot of people consider.

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#50

The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. They have greatly increased the life-expectancy of those of us who live in “advanced” countries, but they have destabilized society, have made life unfulfilling, have subjected human beings to indignities, have led to widespread psychological suffering (in the Third World to physical suffering as well) and have inflicted severe damage on the natural world. The continued development of technology will worsen the situation. It will certainly subject human beings to greater indignities and inflict greater damage on the natural world, it will probably lead to greater social disruption and psychological suffering, and it may lead to increased physical suffering even in “advanced” countries.

_Cheezus Report

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SadieCat17 (she/her)
SadieCat17 (she/her)
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can tell that this person doesn't have any type of chronic medical condition. I am personally very thankful to the people pushing science and development. The encouragement of overconsumption under capitalism to stimulate the economy is the problematic part. (Also it's very offensive saying advanced and third world, the currently used terms are undeveloped and developed with lots of statistics and charts designating stages of a society's development.)

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