[bitpush]

> So it's not just me, an old man yelling at the cloud. The world is getting shittier.

This explains why Cory has been very irritated for a long time. If your outlook is world is objectively worse than 50 years ago, or even 20 years ago - then it makes sense why you're constantly upset at things.

"The arc of the technological universe is long, but it bends toward progress."

[jfengel]

The "it's not just me" part is because he's citing a survey. He has been irritated for a long time because everybody (or at least a statistically significant sample) is irritated.

[MarkusQ]

Yeah. A survey of other people who like Cory (I haven't checked this, but it's almost certainly true) are _also_getting_older_.

If the pollsters somehow stumbled on a pocket of people who don't age, this would be the most stupendous example of burring the lede I've ever encountered.

[jfengel]

They are indeed getting older. It's difficult to get a good survey sample of people going backwards in time.

[hn_acker]

The National Customer Rage Study is a cross-sectional study. The organization (Customer Measurement & Consulting) picks a new sample each time. Has the proportion of older people in the US population grown so much as to explain the increase in customer complaints?

[MarkusQ]

Yes.

A lot of what we're seeing is yet again due to the largest generation in US history (the "boomers", so called because they were a population boom) progressing through their lives. Everything from the summer of love (when they discovered hormones) to the OMG we're old! vibecession.

[andai]

Which way does fertility bend?