[keiferski]

Yeah I think this is definitely a part of it. The average kid living in NYC a century or two ago was exposed to many more repulsive things on a daily basis than anything social media can come up with today. What's changed is that the expectation of "dealing with it" has evaporated.

[kalleboo]

"Dealing with it" often just meant becoming an alcoholic, or a woman/child abuser, or other unhealthy outlets for your depression.

[keiferski]

Definitely used to be more common, but it wasn’t as if everyone was one of those things. My point was more that people were a bit tougher then, as they had more difficult everyday lives.

[relaxing]

You’re not tougher if you’re harming yourself or others to cope.

[keiferski]

The idea that everyone prior to contemporary times was harming themselves or others to cope is nonsense.

[relaxing]

I think we’re talking about some sort of population average. A median New Yorker.

[relaxing]

> The average kid living in NYC a century or two ago was exposed to many more repulsive things on a daily basis than anything social media can come up with today.

I don’t even need a citation here, I’m just curious what you’re imaging when you say this.

[keiferski]

Jacob Riis exposed a lot of these things:

https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jacob-riis/riis-and-reform.html

The amount of filth, trash, disease, and other unpleasant things used to be pretty crazy in NYC (and in other places like London or Paris, for that matter.)

https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/when-new-yorkers-l...

[relaxing]

Trash in the street doesn’t seem psychologically damaging in the same way as social media telling you you’re worthless if you don’t do XYZ?

[keiferski]

Are you familiar with how squalid the conditions were for many people in the early 20th century? It was a whole lot worse than "trash in the street." More like, animals rotting in the street, ten people living in a studio apartment with no windows or fresh air, diseases widespread, people working 15 hour days in brutal conditions, etc.