The Sky Isn't Falling: Healthcare Triage #9

Pundits, media types, and curmudgeons like to claim that things were so much better in the "good old days". They bemoan how kids are all sexed up and ruining everything now. They especially like to make these kinds of claims around the new year. They're wrong. Things are pretty much better than they've ever been, and we've got data to prove it. The sky isn't falling.
Make sure you subscribe above so you don't miss any upcoming episodes!
Here are some sources:
Teen "sex" rates: www.cdc.gov/nch...
Crime stats: www.ucrdatatool...
Divorce: content.time.co...
Mortality: 205.207.175.93/hdi/ReportFolders/reportFolders.aspx
John Green -- Executive Producer
Stan Muller -- Director, Producer
Aaron Carroll -- Writer
Mark Olsen - Graphics
/ aaronecarroll
/ crashcoursestan
/ realjohngreen
/ olsenvideo

[@Frostbain]

This is what I keep trying to tell people. You hold in your hand a device that can bring nearly any piece of recorded information from human history to you faster than you can blink your eyes. You drive to work in a mechanical beast that harnesses thousands of explosions per minute to move you faster than any other being on the planet. And these are things we consider "normal" and even, at times, boring because of how overshadowed they are by our other creations and discoveries. The present is awesome, the future only more so.

[@KrissLucia]

Technophobia greatly bothers me. I'm glad somebody is addressing this issue. I'm also glad to hear so many good things are happening right now. Sometimes I get so caught up in the bad things happening in the US and the world, that I just about lose hope. So this definitely makes me feel better about the present.

[@StupidButCunning]

While I do dislike Technophobia for the sake of Technophobia, I do feel that addiction and abuse of technology is something that needs to be addressed. Granted, a lot of this comes down to parental responsibility, requiring parents to offer guidance on how moderation is important in everything. I also recognize a source of the problem to be how well fear sells, and how our media does everything it can to keep people preoccupied with the past or focused on the negatives. I can offer no clear cut solution on how to correct this, nor have I foreseen all the potential consequences that might arise should we correct it. The only point I feel certain on is that widespread acknowledgment of the problem is the first step in reaching a solution. The fact remains that we live in a different society than we did while growing up, as is true for every generation. The faster our technology advances, the faster our culture grows and adapts to the new technology, the more quickly we need to learn to adapt ourselves. While it is nice to hold onto old fashioned values that worked fine in days prior, the same values may not be sustainable in our evolving society. Also simply because something was always done in the past in no way makes it right by right of tradition alone. I believe videos such as this are important in making people realize that not everything is quite as bad as it seems, and that through reason and self-discipline we can embrace these changes, evolving alongside them both as individuals and as a society. I also acknowledge that the problems the United States, and the world overall face are part of a very intricate web; preventing them from being solved without acute attention to detail, an understanding of the scope of the entire web of issues, and the minds of thousands of individuals working in unity to develop effective, desirable solutions for all, or at the very least the majority. Will we have ever have the entire web cleaned up? I doubt it. I view a Utopia as a naive ideology that could never be achieved due to human nature. This is not to say that we cannot remedy many of the problems we face, and lessen the impact of countless others. The world will never be perfect as perfection is subjective. The problems that can be solved will take great deals of time while maneuvering through the various types of hurdles encountered along the way. The fight will never be over, but as this video suggests it is important to not lose sight of all the progress we achieve each and every year. If you wish to help remedy some of the problems this world faces, it may be a good idea to start with yourself. Volunteer for charity events and community service, do kind deeds with no reward other than the feeling of helping your fellow man, and don't stand idle if you see a crime or wrongdoing happening right before your eyes, such as theft, bullying, or physical abuse. Together we can continue making the world a better place, DFTBA.

[@ezecoo]

Derek Bade Lucky for you, they're thinking of classifying "internet addiction" as a mental illness. Hoo-ray.

[@sirharrybriggs]

Derek Bade I prefer these problems to the problems of the past. Sure, they're new and unknown, so they're kinda scary.

[@KrissLucia]

Derek Bade I'd love to agree or disagree with you, but you wrote a whole lot but never really said anything. But I would like to inform you, as being the author of this post, that your last paragraph really hurt me. Your words pierced me. I simply stated that I see the world as bleak, and I really needed to hear these happier things. I MEANT it. I really needed to hear that, and I didn't need you to go on about being a better person and donating to charities to make it less bleak. My world is bleak because I have crippling anxiety and depression, and I have been donating all I can to charities since I was seventeen. I know you did not intend for this to hurt or be mean, but my "Sometimes I get so caught up in the bad things happening in the US and the world, that I just about lose hope." was not your place to comment on changing one's character. It really just hurt, I have no other way to describe it. I wasn't really going to say anything, and just let you be, but I kept getting notifications on this post, and I had to express myself.. I'm sorry. But I mean you harm or ill will or anything, I swear, I just had to say something...

[@StupidButCunning]

Interesting that you feel I said nothing since it makes it seem like you didn't understand what I said. Also, your disorder seems to have caused you to misidentify the paragraph as a direct attack on you and a boast of my being a better person, which you seem to somewhat acknowledge within your post. I agreed with you that it's important to hear good things are happening, but that it's also important not to simply dismiss the ways technology can be abused. The "you" in the post refers to anyone reading on this open forum as a message of guidance to remind everyone that forging a better world is the responsibility of everyone. In regards to it not being my place to provide advice on handling times that seem bleak, you are mistaken. You have made a post on an open forum and therefore it is open to any advice, concurrence, or criticism that anyone reading it feels like giving. You are under no obligation to heed the advice or acknowledge it any way, but the right to say it belongs to everyone here. I also bear you no ill will but do feel you should plan for the possibility that your post will be responded to in both negative and positive fashions. This is not a bad thing since discussing rivaling points of view allows us to grow as people. I am sure you are aware with your disorder that you should try to take things as less hurtful since you are aware the hurt you feel will often be unintended. I am aware that this is a very difficult thing to do, and often times impossible without medication to assist you; which can be a grueling process finding one that works as intended without unacceptable side effects. As a final reminder, I would like to emphasize that I meant you no ill will and in fact agreed with the majority of your statement, while adding an amendment that just because an overextended fear is irrational, that does not mean it lacks a basis in valid problems that should not simply be ignored until they represent a threat. I wish you a good day and a happy new year.

[@tavinorigami]

There is an pamphlet from ancient greece complaining about the youth, the same nagging. more than 2000 years ago

[@vaibhavgupta20]

there is ted talk about this issue

[@Kirit3]

Vaibhav Gupta Can I request a link? I'm not sure what to search to find that talk.

[@vaibhavgupta20]

Sorry man cant do it I watch a lot ted talks and I saw that about 6 months ago . But the jist of it is that harvard university president speaking to students that u r worth less. And so on and on and on. He have a lot of example like this. And I am not sure about this or mixing to yaad talks together but I think in that he also talk about new msg. Language that it doesn't make us dumber.

[@Lurkas]

Vaibhav Gupta You lead me to this: www.ted.com/talks/john_mcwhorter_txtng_is_killing_language_jk ... which is an interesting speech about texting. I know I'm a little late as I just discovered Healthcare Triage (great channel btw).

[@vaibhavgupta20]

Joakim Alm thanks can't appreciate enough.

[@shintao537]

Looking at those graphs I'm struck by 1 simple question: How the hell did I survive the 90's?

[@MichaelCormier]

I'm noticing an interesting trend in my life since I've stopped getting cable and just relied on the internet for news and entertainment and not Fox or CNN: The world seems a lot less dangerous than it used to. It's good to know this isn't an illusion from maybe being less informed. This video is has a lot of useful information to put things into a better perspective.

[@paxundpeace9970]

You nailed it.

[@Frogmood]

The thing about farming, though, is not generally about how healthy the food is, but how the farming techniques affect the environment and how the animals are treated.

[@healthcaretriage]

Fair point, but that's not necessarily what people are usually complaining about when they discuss "food".

[@Frogmood]

True.

[@NanZingrone]

Healthcare Triage Pesticide residue. Not a topic you're familiar with? The health costs of working with pesticides on the farmers and everybody along the distribution stream, and the health costs of pesticide residue on fruits and vegetables that get to us -- not to mention the hormones and antibiotics in non-organic meats -- this has been in the public discourse for decades. There is a subtext to "don't worry if you can't eat organic, there's never been a study that shows organic food is better" that you're completely ignoring. Um in my world providing evidence that pesticide ridden or hormone/antiobiotic ridden food is NOT good for you is surely evidence that organic is safer in a whole variety of ways (maybe not in every way, I don't know that literature well enough to say). There are two types of evidence everywhere for everything: pro and con. Your sentence was a severe distortion of the context in which the content of your sentence lives. Not going to unsubscribe mind you, I really like your show otherwise, but this one miscommunication is not only not true in the context of all the evidence about organic food versus non-organic foods, but is disappointing in the extreme because of the subtext message it carries: eat that agribusiness chemical-laden crap because nobody's proven organic is better. Sigh ......

[@khrdmn2793]

As someone that was born prior to the "good ole days" I appreciate this video for giving us some credit about how far we have come in the recent years. Our school systems have done a lot of work to incorporate sex education earlier on, and it was reassuring to see that the data does show a decline in rates of teen pregnancy and abortions. Throughout high school and college I was exposed to several different programs that attempt to educate youth on the negative effects of alcohol and cigarette smoking as well, and it seems that this may actually be doing all of us some good! I will admit that prior to this I had been convinced at some point in my life about the 50% divorce rate, but I am quite pleased to know that this is not actually the case. Our generation does not always place the highest value on commitment in relationships, and it is very relieving to be aware that it is still possible to maintain a healthy marriage, despite common beliefs. I am very proud to be a part of the improvements in healthcare that allow for us to live longer, and hope that I can further contribute as a future physician as well. I thought that his point about an increase in leisure time was important; because we are no longer working so hard to provide for ourselves and our families, the younger generations can focus on educating themselves and improving their own futures. Technology has allowed for us to learn at our own convenience, and gain access to new and exciting information in ways that were never possible in the past. I appreciate his comment about the amazing progress we have made as a society, and am more than grateful for being able to grown up in this day and age.

[@tahroo4262]

100% of divorce starts with marriage. Increase you odds of not being divorced by never getting married! >.

[@Tandreada]

Thank you! Finally, someone who doesn't automatically believe that everything sucks. Now, we need to tell this to the schools so that they wouldn't give essay prompts that further the myth that the sky is falling.

[@thescowlingschnauzer]

The examples Dr Carroll gives seem similar to conclusions I came to about rampage shootings and kidnappings: while the rate of these things is going down our awareness of them thru global media is going up faster. There's not more of it than ever; we just know more about it than we ever did.

[@BoredErica]

Dr. Steven Pinker wrote a book about this issue I think, the Better Angels of our Nature. He also noted this trend and gave other reasons we keep thinking the world is ending. But in a place like KZbin, doom and gloom comments bashing the world for stupidity, deaths and so forth rake in a lot of likes but ironically are very misinformed.

[@jellevm]

This video was brought to you by All Time Low.

[@CygnusExOne]

I don't want to live in a world without Healthcare Triage! Hello 2014!

[@healthcaretriage]

Thanks!

[@Musherino]

Man, the 80s were crazy

[@Matt-pr1xv]

The world needs more healthcare triage.

[@healthcaretriage]

Agreed!

[@fakjbf]

The statistic about drinking alcohol doesn't take into account the cultural views of alcohol. In most European countries, they generally have more lax views on alcohol. Most teens aren't drinking to get drunk, they might have a beer because it's really not a big deal to them. In the US however, we place a far greater emphasis in alcohol. We want to control it so badly, that it just drives people to abusing it in rebellion. So comparing just the drinking rates of teens in the US against teens in other countries it inherently going to give a skewed picture. The ones in Europe might have just had a drink in the last month, whereas the ones in the US are more likely to be binge drinking.

[@simonpurist4499]

Or maybe the cognitive dissonance drives people to drink.

[@fakjbf]

Simon Purist I'm not seeing how stress related to holding multiple contradictory view points is related to what I said, or is some inherent part of of being American. Please explain

[@fakjbf]

Simon Purist 1) Our votes would matter if enough people ran in elections that would not take bribes and such, and so break the cycle of bribery. It's because shitty people run and few people actually care about who they vote for that we have this problem. And it's not a USA problem, it's a problem everywhere. 2) There was no "prior USA". There were thirteen independent colonies all under the control of England. These colonies united together (hence the United part of the United States of America) to secede from England. 3) Even if your examples were factually correct that's not cognitive dissonance. An actual example of holding contradictory viewpoints is to say that abortion is wrong because all life is sacred, but the death penalty is OK because they chose to commit the crimes. With rethinking and rewording these can be resolved, but as they are they are contradictory. It's this process of evaluating your ideas and finding the flaws that leads to the stress of cognitive dissonance.

[@simonpurist4499]

fakjbf 1) Bribe-takers will always win since they have bigger campaign-budgets. 2) Your ignorance is rampant and inexcusable and I'm tired of you little gob-pipers talking through your assholes. Read the fucking Declaration of Independence, and Articles of Confederation it forms the USA; they were 13 free, sovereign and independent STATES, not colonies united into one state; and that's how they were recognized in 1783 by the world and Great Britain. Each state then seceded from the Confederation in 1787-9 to adopt the Constitution. Come on, make up MORE shit, asshole. 3. It's absolute cognitive dissonance because the People are told that they are their own rulers; but that's impossible if they don't consent to their government, and limited consent is NO consent. Pull your goddam head out of your ass, motherfucker.

[@fakjbf]

Simon Purist Wow. Just wow. You could have easily left it "Prior to ratifying the Constitution the 13 states were held together under the Articles of Confederation. This was the original USA, which they all seceded from in 1787-9 to adopt the Constitution." But rather than be polite and simply point out my error, you blow up. You act like I insulted you by making an incorrect historical statement. And considering we call nations what other would call states, there's an inherent linguistic barrier to overcome when talking about the relative autonomy of the original 13 states. So sorry for making a mistake, but you kinda seem like the asshole here.

[@donfolstar]

Great video. LIked. Subscribed. I love you. Wait... I got a bit carried away, just the first three things. Ignoring the food issue which I could drone on and on about for days, there was one statistical trend you mentioned that deserves clarification. It is generally agreed that the reporting of crimes increased post civil rights which accounts for some of the upward trends in the 70s/80s. Great news- that means the 60s, those numbers we're just getting down too again, were likely higher so lowest crime rate eva!... maybe.

[@Zerkbern]

I tried to post this on facebook and got this error: "Your message couldn't be sent because it includes content that other people on Facebook have reported as abusive." WTF?

[@tabula_rosa]

some people take being told that their fussy conservative grandmother is wrong as a form of physical assault

[@Zerkbern]

Just sad. You would think with the billions of $$$ FB has they could pay people monitor the "flags" then to whitelist reputable channels against this sorta crap.

[@nilmereth]

Great video! I agree, our lives are better and easier than ever before. However, your focus was exceedingly narrow on a couple of subjects; for instance, though modern farming practices have had been a great boon for human health and happiness, they've also had devastating impacts on our environment, which affects our long term health outcomes. Antibiotic resistant disease, reduced biodiversity, groundwater depletion and contamination, green house gas accumulation... all are the result of modern farming. I understand that this may have been outside of the scope of your video, but the reality is that these issues need more attention, not less. The sky is not falling, but we must be aware to take action.

[@SeanMRoberts]

The lesson to be learned from this video: The 1980's were awful.

[@danheidel]

"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise [disrespectful] and impatient of restraint" Hesiod, 8th century BC

[@kappyfulliness]

hear hear!

[@InorganicVegan]

So much for his hypothesis. XD

[@InorganicVegan]

Good ol' days...? Um, I'm a transsexual, pansexual, atheist, socialist, Hispanic, woman... I'll stay here in the modern world, where I won't get lynched. Thanks. O_O PS - The good ol' doctor is cute...

[@tabula_rosa]

David Bowie Sama Sensei Senpai Sama Sensei Kun Pansexuality is having no genderal preference. It's like bisexuality, only whereas a bisexual is sexually attracted to both women and men, a pansexual has no attraction to men or women and therefor no reason to pick one over the other.

[@LZKS]

While people complain computer usage worsens teenage behavior, it actually doesn't. As triage pointed out, statistics show that everything has been getting better since 2000, when personal computer started to really pick up. Internet gives bullies more place to bully? No! If used properly, it actually acts as a haven from bullying. Instead of dragging kids away from computers, if they were taught how to use it properly, maybe cyber bullying wouldn't exist. In a way, you old-fashioned thinkers are the ones indirectly causing cyber bullying.

[@LZKS]

Besides, US teens were never problematic to begin with... compared to the rest world at least. Again, as Triage points out, US has one of the best teenager behavior (substance abuse, violence, etc) in the world. Cyber bullying? Hah! No other countries even put that on media either because it just happens too often or they're not pussy enough to even care.

[@Marmonery]

Hahaha, this has got to be my favorite episode! Disproving common media-crazed theories is AWESOME! I didn't even know half the statistics presented here!

[@srabbelier]

Lots of great statistics on how, really, life is much better now than in "the good old days". Nice way to start 2014!

[@SamuelSandeen]

Awesome video. Talks about how now is actually a pretty awesome time to be alive.

[@ChibiQilin]

When writing became widespread, great philosophers thought that it would be the end of human memory. People would rely so much on writing things down that their memories would decline, whereas before they would memorize long stories and oral traditions. They thought writing would be the end of humanity.

[@healthcaretriage]

Exactly!

[@tabula_rosa]

The thing is is that they were right. It wasn't the end of the world, but the technology we use to replace our own faculties do, in the long run, end up replacing them if we let them. It's not neccesarily a bad thing, but it's a thing to be aware of none the less

[@jmitterii2]

+Vinh Vu That's what some of the Ancient Greeks and Romans thought. The Arabs, Jews, and Koreans for instance embraced writing, so much so that both made the language in which they wrote very meticulous in pronunciation to ensure every word was being remembered exactly (every tittle of the words) they actually made specific special annotations on how each word was to be spoken; where as by memory many things changed let alone the language itself, hence why Greek and Roman pantheons have such a huge variety from other ancient sources.

[@birkett83]

I think you're thinking of Socrates, who said: [Writing] will create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the reality. Obviously, he didn't write that himself, but one of his upstart students (Plato) had the audacity to put pen to paper and record what he said ;-)

[@myneus]

I am really looking forward to the changes of the next generation. They are more open minded, less aggressive and being smart is cool now for kids. This will hopefully leave a better world for my daughter.

[@ezenart]

If I were you, I'd consider changing the title to a more attractive one. New Year themed videos are hot right now. I wasn't expecting this and turned out to be very, very interesting and educational. Great content, congrats.

[@rocket9595]

I think its important to keep in mind that outside of America, the legal drinking ages worldwide vary, so there are places where it's entirely legal for high-schoolers to be drinking. In parts of Europe, for example, the drinking age is 16. In the UK and Australia, it's 18, so high school seniors are legally able to drink.

[@12Rman21]

conclusion of all those crime graphs, the 90's where the WORST

[@netsquall]

Yup.

[@Andoeriz]

Fuck. Thank you. It annoys me hearing from all the doomsayers that we're living in some impending apocalypse because of the exact opposite of what you just said.

[@Quagthistle]

This reminds me of a poem quoted in "Remember Lot's Wife" by Elder Holland (Jan. 13th, 2009), written by Edwin Arlington Robinson: "Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn, Grew lean while he assailed the seasons; He wept that he was ever born, And he had reasons. Miniver loved the days of old When swords were bright and steeds were prancing; The vision of a warrior bold Would set him dancing. Miniver sighed for what was not, And dreamed, and rested from his labors; He dreamed of Thebes and Camelot, And Priam’s neighbors. . . . Miniver cursed the commonplace And eyed a khaki suit with loathing; He missed the medieval grace Of iron clothing. . . . Miniver Cheevy, born too late, Scratched his head and kept on thinking; Miniver coughed, and called it fate, And kept on drinking. [Miniver Cheevy (1910), stanzas 1-3, 6, 8]" Elder Holland follows this by saying: "To yearn to go back to a world that cannot be lived in now; to be perennially dissatisfied with present circumstances and have only dismal views of the future; to miss the here-and-now-and-tomorrow because we are so trapped in the there-and-then-and-yesterday-these are some of the sins, if we may call them that, of both Lot’s wife and old Mr. Cheevy. (Now, as a passing comment, I don’t know whether Lot’s wife, like Miniver, was a drinker, but if she was, she certainly ended up with plenty of salt for her pretzels.)" I think that sums up the general point of this video quite well. :) The pundits have their own agenda, and they make money by scaremongering. If ever there was a time to "not believe everything you see on TV", it's now.

[@OwlishFun]

Brilliant! I'm so glad you did this video, it was wonderful! I hear this a lot about university, it's one of the things I like least about the place. Loud, strong, sadly misguided and short-sighted opinions about the state of the world. I once heard a woman state that she would never have children because this was the worst time in history to live and she couldn't bring children into it. Sigh. I may whimsically think back to my memories of the early 90s but I'm so proud of the world as it is and where it's going. There have always be troubles and wars throughout history, but we are ever moving forward, and as you have so wonderfully highlighted, we are healthier and have access to more information than ever before. Happy New Year Dr. Carroll! May 2014 be better even than this one :D

[@erstname1321]

As a freshman in college, I constantly see posts from former teachers, parents and other families who complain about my generation. I will take joy in posting this the next time someone tries to tell me I am going to ruin the world.

[@ltericdavis2237]

I just want to state on the topic of alcohol, that in some of the countries included, the legal drinking age is in teenage years. Just wanted to state that.

[@brumagemm]

Don't forget that war is at an all-time low as well, even with all the unrest in the Middle East. Even the Korean and Vietnamese Wars don't register much on a world history scale. War is still a terrible and avoidable thing, but just remember that this is still not the end times; things are pretty great compared to last century.

[@healthcaretriage]

Yep.

[@jmitterii2]

+brumagemm The only difference now, is that our populations in all cities including the Middle East are 10 times bigger, add nuclear war potential, or even more likely the more effective technology at killing one another you have potential for what would have been a much small population being decimated to being a huge nightmare. So in that regards it's the higher we are the greater the fall. Somethings aren't as good, we have higher income inequality world wide and nationally than the 1920's, even the period in the late Victorian early 1900's had less income and wealth inequality. But most things are better. It's just if things do fall, they fall apart in a big way. The Syrian war is one very obvious example, with millions of refugees. Bigger better we are, the harder the fall. On another note though the particular statistics he described are doing better. Yet people irrationally fear those things as getting worse.

[@InsightfulZen]

Great video! Healthcare Triage is becoming one of my favorite youtube channels :) Could you do a video going over the safety of tap water? I've seen ads saying that tap water is too acidic to be healthy, and my friend talks about fluoride being bad for your health. I'm pretty sure these are just false claims, I've long seen people play up tap water, but it would be nice to hear these myths proven or debunked from a trusted source.

[@aschaber94]

Finally a video I can send to my grandma to prove that the world today isn't as scary as it seems. Thanks so much!

[@Vsirin]

I really, really love this show. Happy new year, Aaron.

[@healthcaretriage]

Happy new year to you as well!

[@PogieJoe]

Wow! That makes me feel pretty good. :D Just what I needed to hear for the new year! Bad news gets all the press...

[@dibolado]

I can't thank you enough for doing this show. You're doing the world a huge favor, sir. Winston Churchill would be proud.

[@Ashleigh31892]

The 80s and 90s look terrifying on a point graph.

[@tabula_rosa]

you should have seen them in person. *shiver* all that flannel...

[@cmeflywva]

You made some good points. I would like to hear some mental health statistics since we have been hearing about issues so much in the news recently. I really enjoy your channel. Thanks!

[@scott98390]

No way are your kids going to walk over to the computer to look up a fact when they can talk to Siri and get the answer. It is indeed a great time to be alive.

[@history2girl]

I found this one very interesting because it resonnate with something I have been seeing for a long time. I am an historian and looking through the archives, I see alot of documents from people complaining about different things who were better before and how their present is not as great. Like a document from the 50s stating that the actual music is bad for young people, same thing goes for dancing, the electricity even has its critics. I personally found documents with similar critics (not about electricity but about the good old days) from the 19th and the 15th centuries, even Cicero wrote about it. We can found that longing for the "better days" in every century, nearly everywhere (I am quite sure, though I don't know everything), and I don't know if it's human nature but it is quite recurrent throughout history. It must have been true sometimes though. :)

[@Correctrix]

Yep. People have been whining about decline since Cicero's _O tempora! O mores!_, and before.

[@AtticusAmericanus]

All he does now is whine about his missing hands. As I typed that, I felt much darker about the up and down hands underneath our comments.

[@G2DwarfStar]

Sh*t I had to walk to the library just to watch this video... and without sound...... thank you for the captioning!

[@RKH1502]

0:21 "That's especially because the kids these *jays*[...]"

[@HashSl1ng1ngSlasher]

lol, the 90s, it would seem, were NOT a good time.

[@plehjack]

Bravo for starting the year on a high note.

[@steinal1169]

When a nine year old girl tells you she needs 50 trillion cookies to build her antimatter condensor, you know the world is awesome.

[@PuissantPike]

Thank you for including sources!

[@claudiuscluver3787]

Haha, radio, color tv? Add Platos critique of writing to the list. 4000 years old: "these kids with their writing, nobody remembers anything anymore these days."

[@anders3299]

People are not longing for organic animal farms because they think it's healthier (although it undoubtedly is, for the environment at-least) they are doing it out of moral behavior because of the mistreatment of the livestock.

[@Motorvill]

Thank you guys for all you do!

[@PoseidonXIII]

I like to come back to this video now and then because it makes me so happy to be alive now!

[@neelavdutta1049]

Can't wait to break some of these statistics out... another great video

[@commongrackle]

Great video! I am tired of the overly negative people who cry "the new generation sucks, culture is declining, I can't stand modern society." It's always nice to see some perspective.

[@WU00110154]

Should show this to my mum. But she'd be like "Why you on internet? Internet corrupt you mind. Very bad."

[@RyanGatts]

This is one of my favorite videos. I'm sick and tired of how "terrible" everything apparently is in the greatest moment to have yet occurred in the history of the human race: the present :D

[@agirlcalledrinn]

Read the graffiti on the walls in Pompeii, and you'll find people have never changed in the ways that matter most. Specifically, look up the stuff written in the Lupanar. It's both crude and hysterical. If I remember correctly, there's even a "your mom" joke in there.

[@tabula_rosa]

People don't change. Just our circumstances

[@winthropandrews2674]

I love this channel. It is amazing and I have learned so much. Thank you

[@Cucumber-ej1pm]

Why did violent crime rise so much in the 80s and 90s?

[@Dylan-gh6fb]

michael jacksons music videos.

[@SuperBigdude77]

Quinn Weber A lot of it had to do with the crack epidemic and also unemployment homelessness and extreme poverty was high through out most of the eighties and also the early 90's. Between 1990 1992 a lot of the desperation was dew to steep government cuts in many social programs.

[@shitmichellesay]

I really love and appreciate these videos, but I find it pretty hard to believe that organic food isn't more nutritious/safer than non-organic food. Could this maybe be a topic for a future video? I'd love to learn more. Thanks for making these and happy 2014! :)

[@edoist16]

Please do an episode on the truth and scares of artificial sweeteners!

[@healthcaretriage]

I'll add it to the list.

[@IoEstasCedonta]

"I bet if we dug into the archives..." This sentence and "it's only a theory, not proven law" should tell you all you need to know about this show's methodology.

[@CaptainDibbzy]

My favorite thing about media is Plato (from ancient greece) complaining about hwo this new fangled writing thing that kids were doing was going to distory everybody's memorys.And we know he said this because he wrote it down.

[@youcantkissghosts]

Can I just say that I love your jump cuts?

[@nescophe]

I paused this video at 0:01 because I recognized the framed skull and muscular system in the background. I just came across them yesterday while searching for quilling! What a coincidence to see them the day before watching my first Healthcare Triage video.

[@kaleidoscopicepic14]

I agree with you, but one thing has gotten worse - income inequality has grown hugely in recent years.

[@healthcaretriage]

I'm not saying everything is perfect. But curmudgeons are rarely complaining bout income inequaliy

[@UnknownXV]

What the hell happened between 1980 and 1990 to cause such a dramatic and consistent drop across almost all forms of crime? That's almost spooky.

[@jpheitman]

We banned leaded gasoline.

[@lee443123]

jpheitman spot on.

[@Brynsane1]

Roe v Wade in 1973

[@jpheitman]

Bryn Lundberg-Yates -_- What are the odds that every single abortion was a future Charlie Manson?

[@Brynsane1]

freakonomics.com/2005/05/15/abortion-and-crime-who-should-you-believe/

[@ems7623]

The sky isn't falling, but the ceiling in my room is.

[@Timjaro]

It's longing for the old and familiar vs. the strangeness and novelty of the present, and the unknown of tomorrow.

[@MilesReiter]

On most of this I'm in complete agreement, but about the processed/gmo/whatever weird stuff foods vs organic I disagree. I can cite at least one study from France showing highly increased rates of tumors in rats fed monsanto corn. It's not a human trial, and it doesn't prove causation, but does that mean that GMO, pesticide covered foods are safe for us to eat? Absolutely not. I've also seen a few studies showing that the more processed the food, the less nutritious. Again, these aren't causation studies, but the way I see it why take the chance by eating things like that until we know for sure.

[@TheSnahsnah]

That's a useful approach if you can afford it and a good reason why I think GMOs should be labeled as such. However as you said these studies are small and not very conclusive, and there are a lot of bigger studies, which say the opposite is true. I know, there is a lot of economic interest on that side. And processed food being less nutritious doesn't make any sense. If by nutritious you mean calories (that's the definiton I've been taught) that contradicts just everything I think about processed food. If you mean less Minerals, Vitamins etc. I agree. But what bothers me about this going back to "natural" food is that you're just bound to get screwed over. The reason why food is grown in such an "unnatural" way is because it's very efficient. "Natural" foods are just very expensive. That's why corporations will do everything to make you believe it's "natural" while maintaining the least "natural" way of production possible to keep costs low. And it's very easy to do that, because what makes natural food natural is actually very hard to define. Hence the excessive use of "" :D Because of that I think the word "natural" has become useless if you want to buy healthy food.

[@InorganicVegan]

That study has been discredited so many damn times. The rats themselves were GM to have higher tumor propensity. If it were true, you'd be dead, since most of what you eat has been manipulated genetically.

[@MilesReiter]

***** It's not necessarily the GMO that's harmful, but in the case of the corn the modifications make it roundup resistant so that they can coat the stuff in roundup and kill everything else. Roundup is definitely carcinogenic and when you literally make it rain that stuff it's going to end up in the corn as well, and then in us if we eat it.

[@MilesReiter]

TheSnahsnah I'll definitely give you that natural doesn't mean anything, but certified organic does, at least as far as having stuff not be filled to the brim with pesticides and other chemicals, and when possible buying local is great as well.

[@MilesReiter]

Diana Peña That's true, but there was a group of rats not fed the GMO corn as well that were also the variety that has a higher propensity for tumors. They had less than the group fed the corn.

[@thepandagirl96]

I definitely wouldn't give up healthcare triage! Hehehe, very informative episode, keep em coming :D

[@YouWillNeverKnowMan]

I'm gonna share this with A LOT of people.

[@mikemcfall]

The world has been being ruined for at least 140 years without things getting all that much worse.

[@modsandendsGG-3883]

This is my favorite video from your channel. Thanks.

[@ShreccAttacc]

There is evidence that the pesticides and fungicides used in conventional farming harms insects, many of which are really, really important. That seems a pretty good reason to support organic. Do it for the bees! Also there is no time in the past when it was not worse to be a woman. Great episode.

[@ringhloth]

The divorce thing is a really badly represented statistic. The divorce rate is given as number of newly divorced couples in a year over the amount of newly married couples. So the divorce rate IS 50%, but that doesn't mean that half of all marriages end in divorce. In fact, this is a really bad measure of what's happening. In a population of 1,000 people, all of whom are married but two, and those two get married, but fifty couples get divorced, the divorce rate is 2,500%. So a high divorce rate could simply mean that a population is very old.

[@tchingchow]

I agree with most things except the farming part. It may be easier for us, but it is far from ethical. Monofarming puts farm animals in large numbers in very close proximity and their unsanitary living environments promote disease... hence the heavy use of antibiotics in agriculture, which is one of the greatest promoters of antibiotic resistance. I see your point, days of old might not be better, but days of now have much to see improved.

[@osaka35]

Thank you. Finally, someone on the side of science when it comes to agriculture.

[@Green0Photon]

Faith in humanity restored! This is amazing! Thank you for this video. :)

[@ZennTempleRiffs]

What a great video! An awesome rebuttal to all the propaganda from the talking heads on TV telling us how bad things are. And they do not even have graphs to back them up! Lol. Seriously, great stuff. I am subbing.

[@michaelbrothers664]

This channel is great. Really important and want to see it stat.

[@cbbuntz]

I would imagine that if there was limitless porn available to our fathers when they were young, many us would not be here.

[@NickGreyden]

Just curious what happened in the 80's with crime. It looked like one heck of a steep curve!

[@SarahRody]

This was really interesting. All of the graphs show violence going down in recent times, But what on earth was going on in the 80s and 90s? Almost every graph peaked then for violence, etc.

[@TheEntroseth]

There's always room for improvement so the present will always seem crappy. But sometimes I'm glad I have such an awful episodic memory so that nostalgia doesn't skew my view of the past any more than it has to.

[@shamelesstruth]

3:20 What was going on in the 80s and 90s to make them all so much higher?

[@fairtony]

whats with all the peaks around the data, for crime, in the 90s?

[@tabula_rosa]

Our economy bloomed in the 90's, and with it came resurgant support for the low-income, and also increased availability of abortions

[@TheSienn]

Love the videos! Keep up the great work HCT

[@Wifi_Cable]

This video was really needed.

[@drdcs15]

I love your movies, as a practitioner could I suggest something? the line in about section saying "for those of you that need sources"? Could I suggest maybe something more congruent with evidenced based practice: i.e. "please look at our sources"?

[@healthcaretriage]

Fair enough. No insult was intended!

[@drdcs15]

Healthcare Triage hey thanks! Seriously though, I love the information you are putting out, and you do it in a way that is super fun and interesting. Thanks again for all of this!

[@danr.5017]

I am of the opinion that things only get better when people work towards fixing things. When people are told things are getting worse they put resources into fixing problems. Let people think the world is getting shittier, that is what in in reality making it better.

[@simonpurist4499]

No, things only get better when information gets more accurate, and con-men like this guy are bent on presenting an impossibly false optimism in order to seem superior and gain followers, about as condescending and manipulative as his prophet Obama (peace be upon him).

[@danr.5017]

Simon Purist You existing proves my point. You are a pessimist. Cynical and can't grasp simple facts, Obama is christian and a politician. Not one person claimed he was more than that, he acts like every politician. there is no need for but hurt. If it weren't for people like you then I wouldn't feel the need to explain fact to you. Your ignorance allows me to think closer to better enlighten you.

[@BrentODell]

Simon Purist The only people I have heard, ever, refer to Obama as some sort of messiah or prophet are his opponents. Most of the people on the left are quite critical of him(in part because his policies aren't all that 'left'). As for calling someone a con-man because he points out that the good old days weren't always good, and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems, I really don't get the vitriol. If this guy finds encouragement in these numbers, and wants to share that, what's the problem? Do you rail against religious people when they ask folks to pray for this or that cause? Do you find the need to jump on everyone who holds an opinion contrary to yours?

[@simonpurist4499]

Brent O'Dell That's nice.

[@danr.5017]

Simon Purist Why is it nice?

[@zukodude487987]

In the good ol days youtube was more functional and not attached to G+

[@brandonfrancey5592]

People in general don't like change. Even for the better. Imagine any task that you have done for the majority of your life, now there is a new machine that either does it for you or makes the work much easier. Not only might you be a little resentful that machine wasn't available in your time, but you think that if the new generation doesn't do things the old way, they won't appreciate how much easier things are.

[@HeliosMaximus]

I study ancient philosophy and I can guarantee that we've been complaining about how contemporary entertainment is rotting our minds for pretty much all of recorded history. Plato had the same to say about Greek Tragic plays. He said that watching people pretend to do bad things or stupid things and enjoying it is a detriment to our well being.

[@rentAscout]

You. Are. Awesome! I been saying the newer generations are betting in every way but my older friends think I'm crazy. Keep spreading the truth my friend!

[@spudmanwsmb]

This channel is so fantastic

[@healthcaretriage]

We agree!