The First Critics of Modern Life

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[@ThenNow]

Script & sources at: www.thenandnow.co/2023/07/01/the-first-critics-of-modern-life/ ► Sign up for the newsletter to get concise digestible summaries: www.thenandnow.co/the-newsletter/ ► Why Support Then & Now? www.patreon.com/user/about?u=3517018

[@susanwilliams4953]

Then & Now Insighting, thank you I learn from all your videos.

[@armchairecon]

Bro I hate modern life so much, I’m from the Caribbean and every time I go back it’s such a contrast from my job as an analyst in London, so much of it is simply intentional obfuscation and information overload and you pay to be unconfused and that’s called our service industry. It’s a normative statement taken for granted that the advancement of technology has made us better off. This is just ridiculous at this point.

[@valk5045]

I hate modern life. I am a government employee. I wanted to help make society better, but now I just long for a simple life, without the hectic information barrage of email, internet and all other mediaforms. Not simple stupid, but simple slow. I don't mind a busy environment, but modern life isn't busy it's continuous information overload.

[@wmgodfrey1770]

One aspect that's weighing ALL of us down, which this Professor also covers in another of his fascinating videos, is the phenomenon of Bureaucracy.

[@benjammin9745]

If you were born a thousand years ago would the contempt go away or simply transform to another aspect?

[@valk5045]

@@wmgodfrey1770 yes, but there is no easy alternative. Society has become so complex, there are so many mechanisms needed to keep it glued together, it"s more a symptom than a cause.

[@valk5045]

@@benjammin9745 I don't know. I know every period has its issues to be bothered by, I can only comment on my experiences.

[@TennesseeJed]

I resemble this remark.

[@M4ruta]

I never watch a 'Then & Now' video as soon as I see the upload and that's a compliment because I need to pick a quiet moment where I can watch it with full attention.

[@ezm4729]

I found your channel only recently, but I'm awed by your videos. Both in content and production. With great thoughtfulness, you clearly put into words ideas which have been loosely swimming around my mind forever. How lucky are we to have access to this quality education resource.

[@ezm4729]

also, your writing is like poetry.

[@Micscience]

I to have been thinking of these ideas as well. His videos are amazing. Good comment btw.

[@richardbuckharris189]

“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.” ― William Blake

[@rhetoric5173]

Nature is your lord's creation.

[@stephen200005945]

tysm for this but why leave out the dope maxim? "As a man is, so he sees."

[@go_all_the_way]

Dear stranger, thanks for sharing this with me. Adding this to my collection of all-time favorites

[@devstuff2576]

Did he think -look how I brilliant I sound, after he said that or is the "I am a man if imagination" ego all you

[@Mineav]

It's always a great day when there's a new Then & Now upload.

[@amazingspectator8675]

This is a great tone piece and a reflection on modern life. Keep it up!

[@ceased2care]

30:04. Says it all. A grim, but now daily sight

[@5ivearrows]

Beautiful. Your work brings tears sometimes, Lewis. Thank you.

[@guzgrant]

I can see that finally I have found a channel with commonality. A echo chamber I’m happy to be stood within . Great videos and the thoughtful content is right up my street .

[@Anglo_Saxon1]

That's a good way of wording it. Really well put together aren't they.👍

[@totonow6955]

Precisely.

[@Anglo_Saxon1]

@Alex Lawson ???

[@averagecitizen4122]

That closing sentence was really powerful. Great work 👍

[@Karaolos]

Discovered this channel today... Top tier content! Really hits where it matters. Thank you!

[@uHiblubnan]

I love the introduction of play into the concept of creativity. I work in housing/urban planning and it is so depressing seeing places for creativity being "designed". There is little understanding of how humans come to create. I get the human cognitive impulse to collate, organise, simplify, but you also need that dynamic process of failure, experimental, accidental, play in order to be creative. I would recommend Peter Hall's Cities in Civilisation if you have not read it already. He looks at cities throughout history during their creative peak and asks why then, why there.

[@tomasviane3844]

Just the playgrounds for children, nowadays. We use to make our own swings, create our own games, found an old rusted car and played driver and passenger,... but, it was a lot more dangerous!!!

[@Micscience]

@@tomasviane3844 The way I look at it is that danger amplifies meaning into life.

[@totonow6955]

The play things were covered in moss.

[@Mineav]

Your videos have been transformative for me. Thank you.

[@dorithezencat]

Thank you for the thought provoking, reflective and beautiful presentation.

[@MediaFaust]

"Art is the goal. Craft is how to get there." (Robert Fripp)

[@dylanlanham-cook2706]

As beautiful ,poetic and thought provoking as usual, this channel always reminds my favourite things in life are a synthesis of feeling and thought, genuinely my favourite channel on KZbin , Ty for the amazing content!

[@GlobeHackers]

Lovely. Thanks again. This one really touches me. Best

[@petereissing5070]

I feel the general issue is stability with complexity. Things seem and often are much more complex (mostly administratively in companies and governments) than they need to be, yet society and most are comfortable enough there's no big push to simplify methods of existence. Then new methods and inventions get slapped on top of the old and systems become even more complex.

[@kevinnolan6579]

This was just what I needed, Love it!!!

[@beccyvc5743]

Your storytelling is so captivating! Thx for your work.

[@raffacasting]

A love this kind of videos because although they dont give solutions they still infuse us with sense-making inspiration, re-ignite the fire of our hearts that there is a different way or a third way of seeing modernity where we can merge the progress with beauty

[@MattStranberg]

Fantastic video as always!

[@nestorgutierrez4533]

Thank you for your incredible work.

[@vitalgreenspace]

This is brilliant. After walking through Paisley and East Kilbride town centres today at wondered about the parallels between early stage capitalism and those who commented on it with what lies ahead for the traditional town centres

[@chrisk1944]

Very well done, thank you 🙂

[@arturmusakhanyan4982]

Great job you nailed on this one. I love it!!!

[@EAMAMUSIC]

Brilliant video on a fascinating topic.

[@nerd26373]

This is an informative video that can enlighten us about other things that do matter in this lifetime. We appreciate all your hard work and effort into producing these types of videos. Keep up the good work. May this channel be blessed.

[@rehmans3656]

sussy

[@jose.montojah]

Oh, that last "like and subscribe" sure hit different this time.

[@unklimt890]

great video!

[@danielnwadike6763]

By far my fav yt channel

[@farzadfazeliani3958]

Phenomenal video as always. There is something about this video, that echoes the one the author did on Baudrillard, which suggests that as society advances, it's population feels increasing removed from a life that feels connected and real: to the earth, to each other, to one's work etc. i.e. As we scale population, production etc., we individually feel more atomized, and alien to the whole. I'm a corporate worker bee in my early 40s, and I find myself increasingly fantasizing about moving to smaller city than LA, where I can buy some land, have a craft and build a shop, know the people in my community, and my neighbors, adventure with my dog, walk and bike to places instead of driving a car, and reflect, write, teach and help others, whose identity and persons are physically known and meaningful to me. The hyperreality that is my world now, digital, distant, and yet omnipresent, feels wholeheartedly unsatiating, like consuming mounds of sugar for the dopamine rush, only to find myself feeling increasingly nauseous, and then crashing soon after. If nature and culture shouldn't be antithetical, but one and the same, then these feelings - which I suspect are not limited to me alone - suggest we have not figured it out at scale. And if the author argues that "play" is central to this harmony, then I don't know where & how that does/can exist, within the current dominant utilitarian paradigm that we call 'free market capitalism'; corporate PR propaganda such as 'Google's 20% time,' notwithstanding. Curious if anyone knows a city/town wherein I could pursue this dream, and/or, if anyone has ideas on how this problem could be solved more globally? Curious what's inspiring Lewis to move from London, and if he'd care to comment?

[@averayugen7802]

The smaller cities have followed the same pattern of atomization and dehumanization, its wherein the mindless system to let that happen, also if you have saved up, its your choice how to dispose of it, better places for advice than this

[@farzadfazeliani3958]

@@averayugen7802 There are resemblances, sure. But I'm not sure what you are proposing instead, and why? My question is about where to live and work, grow, develop, and contribute; not where to go shopping.

[@alexxx4434]

You know, that it is an idealized escapist fantasy. The reality is never like that. Especially now. "If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you're needing is not to be in a different place but to be a different person." - Seneca If modern life is atomizing, then we ourselves should strive to connect. If we don't have free time from work to be creative we must fight for better working conditions. Basically, it's fight or flight situation, except it's nowhere to flight. The problem is not in the vague "modern life", the problem is in the current dominant exploitative soicio-economic system, that increasingly leaves no room for deep human needs - offering surface level consumerism instead as the point of life.

[@farzadfazeliani3958]

@@alexxx4434 I'm not playing the same games as Seneca or the majority of historical figures we've learned about growing up - nobles & generals. Maybe other people want surface level consumerism or don't care enough to change it, and my job is not to change them. And I don't believe we can achieve a higher order of humanity if its orientation is born out of fight or flight. I'm just looking for others with whom I can "inquire & create". IFF that exists nowhere now, then I'll be willing to more seriously consider your cynical proposal.

[@13hehe]

@@farzadfazeliani3958 If you're fortunate enough to work from home and financially capable, you could seriously look into purchasing countryside property provided there is reliable internet access? I know many people who work in university, and are fortunate enough to own countryside cottages. It'd not a fix for society and obviously very privileged, it's more of a coping mechanism to keep oneself from losing your mind. Many go to the countyside like it's an escape. I totally understand how you feel, I feel the same way. I have friends in the city, but they are totally caught up in it and don't see it, and I feel disconnected from them. I'd rather live in a small community...

[@tbear9353]

Great video.

[@ageofbumfires5216]

Damn. Really great video. Sincerely.

[@livpeake8108]

please put the quotes and citations on screen next time! fab video

[@TIm_Bugge]

Loved it!

[@sandrahudroge608]

Beautiful video

[@nguyenkhoi8745]

Thanks!

[@chrisrosenkreuz23]

insane production value

[@gabrielbickerstaff4361]

Hello Lewis! Please make a video essay about Emmanuel Levinas' ethics and encountering another person. That would be great!

[@LogicGated]

Great video

[@JB-uc1yx]

Love everything about your videos, fantastic style, commentary and content. Sound quality is superb now compared to your older videos. Can't wait for more!

[@jonathansalter5477]

Enjoyable video! Although the closed captions differ quite a bit from your spoken script.

[@Game_Hero]

21:24 This bridge is beautiful!

[@markohudler9149]

great video, what do you think about the modern life? Obviously it comes with many positives nowadays for artists because of the internet, but is it worth it?

[@aaronnix4291]

Please start listing the music in the description. I know most of it is royalty free muzak but some of it is so beautiful.

[@aaronnix4291]

Even if its just a list without timestamps or anything i can do the work, pls man. love the content.

[@cat_is_wizard7211]

You have communicated some Beautiful Truths in your video. I thank you for that.

[@gonzalvedecordoue5486]

I' m floating while listening to this. Thank you .

[@subcitizen2012]

We need like 3 or 4 hours of this haha

[@Quadr44t]

26:36 What's this song? I have heard it in many of your videos now, and, well I like it! Edit: It's only two (arpeggiated) chords too! Less really is more. I guess it really relies on the timbre and dynamics (i.e.. gain/filter ADSR in synthesizer speak).

[@endofmidnight]

fascinating arguments on modernity whether it be in acceptance or objection. keep your objective outlook because there are so few sources and thinkers to trust to do just this.

[@nichlallen]

where is that quote about "crooked lines representing the inexhaustibility of play" from? around 17:00

[@robertdegruchy160]

Excellent big picture ideas and review of historical commentaries which are still relevant today. Industrial society is all about maximum efficiency and utility- today the algorithm rules for this utility and a kind of 'sinister surveillance.It is all about the spreadsheet, the buying & selling and the ever watchful lens everywhere. Interesting to see some people going off grid, raising thief own food...but unless we want no contact with others at all, we still might. want to communicate with someone somewhere sometime. Our technology is a boon but also a burden.Enjoyed a poetry slam. Some of the readers where computer specialists...people like to have a creative outlet.Among others, Russell explored such ideas...Recently saw a short book about 'unplugging' going to read it, but the topic is very telling..well, gotta finish this spreadsheet...interesting. how we can create our own apps. without extensive traong..the question is - to what ends

[@aaron2709]

Fantastic.

[@classyalien9722]

Does someone have a list of all the authors that he cites in the video. I'm extreamly interested in learning more about the topic.

[@PilgrimVisions]

Great work, though I think Ruskin would have been a great addition to the writers discussed in this video; perhaps he is slightly later than you were aiming for.

[@goldenpiggynl1]

Can you perhaps leave a link of which sources you have used in the bio. That would be very helpfull! Thank you.

[@TheOtherMwalimu]

Have you considered the concepts of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft? I'm thinking about doing a video essay on it. Whether thoughtful, education or controversial, always look forward to a new video from Then and Now. Thank you!

[@alexanderfuchs8742]

based on the Ferdinand tönnies book? nice we had a seminar on that dichotomy at the university of Jena :)

[@Gorboduc]

Check out Jane Jacobs' book Systems Of Survival. It nicely parallels that concept.

[@ann-ri4ch]

Does anyone know the title of the Ernst Hoffman book mentioned at 13:00?

[@os3990]

I live in UK, work in London, also finding something missing. Love the video. I'm hoping 4 day work week, and removal of cars from cities and town centres will help slow this mad pace of modern life. Thoughts?

[@Micscience]

I kind of agree with you. I have never gave removal of cars much attention and I could see how much enjoyment I would get from a group bike ride. Though I really think computers such as smartphones have a negative effect on people. I like the access smartphones bring to the world but I feel like we are becoming more disconnected. We are being over entertained by content about life rather than life itself. Idk just my two cents.

[@hellouser5498]

Remove cars, bring more migrants for cheap labor and plant more trees

[@svang1013]

The Amish were right all along. They are more intelligent than us all combined.

[@marimota5083]

I adore all your posts, watch them again and again, love you always try to find the humanistic side .

[@beneddie6592]

...... it's not even that they should coexist, they should be one and the same, the same side of one coin 👌 well said, and overall well done mate. Thank you for all your efforts and hard work.🙏 ( Living in accordance with nature should not be a reminder, but a rule; for we are a product of nature and going against it would mean, going against the fundamental nature of what it is to be a human beings and that in my opinion will soon or later lead to our own distraction and possibly demise!!! 🤔🙏

[@TIm_Bugge]

@17:20... Notice... If the individual is an interchangeable unit of the 'we', then mystery and play, that which is ONLY available to the individual, is deprioritized.

[@annford6640]

Just for the record... I create craft projects while listening to your offerings. Little mini lessons... just lovely. Thanks for being so thorough and insightful.

[@davidhull9510]

Beautifully spoken and researched

[@scottandcoke1342]

I wash myself with a rag on a stick

[@oniongingertomato2216]

Good lad

[@slammesh]

top 5 things i've watched. thanks.

[@iberomagazineiberomagazine9251]

Great Video !! Albert Camus !! that is what I want, a full video

[@Gerardeux]

This was life affirming

[@deathwarmedup73]

2:53 I never knew Lou Reed once worked as a welder.

[@storyseller2799]

thank you for those beautiful videos, not too complicated, but full of wisdom and always relevant ❤️

[@dadedraak]

Song at 1:20?

[@gmbs360]

First class! Bittersweet.

[@holeshothunter5544]

Pretty good at 1.25 speed. That's the problem with life, too.

[@MorphingReality]

Hoping for a mention of Jacques Ellul and Neil Postman :)

[@jose.montojah]

Oh, that last "like and subscribe" sure hit different this time.

[@Myst165]

I'm really curious what you think about the new AI art generators.

[@joeshugabowski1444]

Its a scam

[@f1r3hunt3rz5]

It's an inevitable progression. Hate it or love it, just like how cars replaced horse carts and machines replace human labor and digital replaces analogue, it is already here and it's only gonna get better at its task.

[@Myst165]

@@f1r3hunt3rz5 And yet a lot of technology we thought was harmless at the beginning, has proven to be very destructive in the long term. We're so blinded by the positive aspects that we don't even consider the downsides. Like for instance, it worries me that it's pretty much impossible to make anti-AI art, because AI can just eat it up, metabolize it and make infinite iterations out of it. We can't do what impressionists did when photography came out, so we're really not dealing with the same kind of technological progress. It's something else.

[@angustin6590]

Nice

[@DPRSashatown]

The Separation of Town and Country is one of the fundamental contradictions along with the same process for natural systems, the Metabolic Rift. Our cities only exist as products of pillaging the countryside, and the uneven development of the countryside only intensifies as the cities demand more. There's no hope of solving that without some sort of reintegration of the two.

[@gulagwithahumanface4471]

Real shit

[@Proctor_Conley]

WOW!

[@sherirobinson6867]

I wonder what they would have thought of the invention of plastics?

[@Jhawk_2k]

I wish I had more people in my life that thought like this too. I suppose i should take some responsibility and seek them out, I know they're out there

[@johncooley9920]

What was it about the Baroque era that produced such beautuful music ? Recorders became oboes, harpsochords became pianos. Something about how societies were structured ? Was it the competition of power between church and state ? Was it a right balance of rebellion and submission ? Can we see something similar in the music of the 1960's ? Or maybe 1940's to 1970's ? Yet at the same time, architecture suffered. It became less human. Perhaps while something is new and changing, there's a good balance of freedom and structure. But soon it becomes too formulaic and needs a paradigm shift. Perhaps art, science and belief beat at different rhythms, while responding to eachother. Quality of life seems the ultimate goal. Yet there always seems to be a huge disparity between rich and poor. Always a disconcern for the suffering of the lost. Those who've given up.

[@ezm4729]

btw there is subtitle error; It says the first nuclear bomb was dropped on nagasaki instead of hiroshima.

[@balsarmy]

For me surveillance and protests became a start point to notice changes in reality. And I started to think that even minimalistic design we have is so close to the design of asylum

[@brohikhondker9669]

Excellent video. However, I thought the sound of you breathing in is a little too distracting. This was probably done to make it feel more human and not robotic but still found it odd.

[@kaemonbonet4931]

I thought the guy on the thumbnail was Coldplay. I was like, "that's an interesting argument what did they do?"

[@timkbirchico8542]

43 years ago, I saw the cities with people stacked on people, streets after streets of people packed together. I imagined billions of chimps in the same circumstance. we wouldn't allow other primates to live in such a crowded and exploited state. we are apes also. I have lived in the Sierra Nevada since I left the city 34 years ago.

[@hughmcharg111]

Robert Burns "Ode to a mouse"

[@kenhiett5266]

We live in a time in which words mean more than actions. This results in corrupt leaders and dysfunctional governance unaccountable to a manufacturing consent press.

[@replica1052]

to surrect planets is how to live in a universe (life as center of the universe )

[@Fucyallfr]

Walking around looking like he's on BBC amazing production

[@aidencahill2664]

Before you leave London we must utilise our time optimally by having a coffee ;) For only in consumption can I satiate the frantic depthlessness of my modern condition.

[@quentinvalentingualberrena8127]

Not only have the industrial revolution and its consequences been a disaster for the human race, but the agricultural revolution and its consequences have been the source of all disasters.

[@lonepheasant3489]

Modern life isn't better it's worse time to reverse the curse

[@gulagwithahumanface4471]

How is that what you got from this video

[@BGuitney]

Lol ur awesome host man! What a beautiful and awe inspiring subject matter and thoughts on deep and introspective stuff. Bee and ants. They’d be, no pun, who’d have make and ability to ufo and walk through walls and travel this universe. Well I imagine other. Here my thoughts, to be advanced and mind wwharpingly able the,level of understanding and we’ll love for all life and knowledge. It’d have to be, no pun , together and no jealousy no hate no struggle. Only opportunity and probably a better word or mindset of viewing having to learn or do something not intended. Well then it have to be work and doing what they like and wouldn’t do anything different. Not like some ppl, dad, cussing cause a part need changed on the car or figured out. I enjoy working on cars. I love it. I don’t want shit to break and cost me. But that too. Money couldn’t be a thing to these advanced civilization of Bee people. Ever time they go to fridge that plant ten times more food than they just took when they get nectar. lol they love that shit. They Bee all up in that pollen like oh yeah hmmm, no pun intended with bee, haha yes there was. I done that totally intentionally. A gray alien? Big eyes and triangle shape head. THAT A DAMN BEE YOU ALL! Or and ant. But get this image you fly naturally it’s embedded in ur dna in ur very essence. Now how might that give perspective on flying and traveling via space ship 🛸 over us walkers and runners crawlers and flopped dashers and swimmers? It be a massively helpful in having the natural aptitude and insight for what alll is……. Hell idk cause its that different and awesome than what I can actually perceive. I mean I can put my self in another’s shoes and really get down to it with a lot to truly understand and open mindedness to kniw just what how and all but damnt. I’m have to ask a Bee then yo bruh mentor me in being the bee 🐝 to better help my fellow earth life thrive and get of this one sphere with no insurance in if this one gets rocked by a planet killer rock 🪨 zipping around like a wild man out there. We fight our selfs and we don’t see that if we populate the stars that we can, that’s abundance for real there will always be enough for every thing and one. Now going around stripping a whole world of everything it had and taking its own beauty and look, lol bad way to say, but we can’t do that now just cause it can be done and personally may not ever be effected by that. Unless u thoughtful and with love, yeah then ud feel some type of way bout trashing that one planet and leaving it a shriveled up shadow of it former beautiful aweome self. Like a negative Mackey hateful lost one be draining naïve and loving positive one. Robbing or depleting their own unique birth right to be. Lol THAT SHIT HAS TO STOP. LOOK you all have the ability to be better than Jimi Hendrix on a guitar if that’s what u want to do. Do it! He did. Made Eric Clapton feel like a simp amd hack not even meanng to be all look how good i am he just was like man I’d like the play a set hopefully they’ll like it and that’d make my day! Imagine

[@Game_Hero]

Even if I respect the critics of modernity, I enjoy it, especially my internet and the access to information and knowledge that I get starting with my education that I would probably never had got two centuries ago. Nostalgia shouldn't blind people on how many people devoted their lifes to for what they can enjoy now.

[@samakolBanbol]

William Blake was