So, when I write a comment, and then delete it almost immediately, how are you able to reply to it several hours later?
I know reddit would issue a notification that couldn't be deleted (often abused to insult users without consequene); what happened here?
I'm curious because I've read notifications that later disappeared, so I figured that's what happened.
Out of deference to OP, my self-obsessed butt-hurt doomerism is behind this spoiler tag:
Tap for spoiler
The second thing I want to talk to you about is your thesis is shared by a very bad book which I think is called The Better Angels of Our Naure. If you're interested in testing your theory instead of it using it as a spiritual palliative, you could try the podcast If Books Could Kill's examination of it.
For my part, I find that modernity suffers under the delusion of infinite progress towards an end goal. It's a secular replacement for Heaven in the afterlife, which socially and psychologically functions the same way as the afterlife--it keeps us calm as cows on their way to slaughter, whether it is the feudal slaughter or the capitalist slaughter makes no difference. And it puts our lives in a context that is forever improving.
I find the "life is better now" a little resonant with that delusion of progress.
As an experiment, I guess there's a lot to be said for it, but ultimately you will determine the outcome you want by the parameters you choose. For instance, if you choose things like life expectancy, modernity is obviously better. But if you value things like social cohesion, medieval europe might have been better, even with the intestinal parasites. Currently 40% of people (Americans?) say they don't have a single friend they rely on.
Finally, I take no comfort in what you are saying because I can see before my own eyes that my country--the United States--is methodically and deliberately preparing to commit a genocide (whether it completes it is another question) and I will not drink your nepenthe even though my life would be subjectively "better" and less worrisome as a result.