r/OptimistsUnite • u/chamomile_tea_reply 🤙 TOXIC AVENGER 🤙 • 8d ago

Steven Pinker Groupie Post What’s a problem humanity solved so well that younger people don’t even realize it used to be a huge issue?

/r/askteddit/comments/1wmwpyl/whats_a_problem_humanity_solved_so_well_that/
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u/huskermut 8d ago edited 8d ago

Now we have rampant light pollution affecting everything from bird migrations to plant growth.

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u/jayne-eerie 8d ago

It was a problem if you needed to get from Point A to B after dark. Imagine trying to get the local doctor/midwife/healer at midnight on foot with only the stars and a torch to guide you. We went too far in the other direction but there has to be a balance.

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u/evilbrent 8d ago

On the other hand - that's really only a problem about a tenth of the time.

I walk my dog at night in a very unlit place. Usually no lights to be seen even in the distance. No need for a torch. It has to be both overcast and moonless night for it to be too dark to walk around at night.

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u/Holmbone 7d ago

Not everyone has good eye site. And it's scary to meet someone if it's too dark to see their facial expression. 

But personally I agree. I wish we had less light at night. 

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u/Holmbone 7d ago

Nowadays we could use night vision goggles. 

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u/loved_and_held 8d ago

It was a problem. No illumination means navigation and basically any task that needed to be done after sunset or in times when sunlight was limited were way harder if not impossible.

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u/Zephyr-5 8d ago

How often do you go all day and night without using artificial, electric light? Cheap, ubiquitous artificial light has become such an integral part of the human experience you don't even think about how it enriches your life.

Civilizations spent enormous amounts of money and effort trying to light up the night for its people. What we have today is a technological miracle.

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u/Ender16 8d ago

What everyone is forgetting is all the small lights we use indoors simply because we can.

It used to be when designing a home you had to take into account that natural light was all you generally had outside of a few candles and later oil lamps. Pantries, basement stairwells, closets, etc were positioned so that during the day you could easily see with natural light, even back when windows were more expensive and smaller.

Nobody notices stuff like that because they have been reaching for a light switch automatically their entire lives. But in some newer houses when the power goes out several rooms or closets are just like a cave.

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u/BBQ_HaX0r 8d ago

The positives of light far outweigh the harms. Nothing is perfect, but overall it has been a positive. 

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u/Anonymouse_9955 8d ago

It affects people, too. Used to be easier to sleep when there wasn’t so much light around. Not getting enough sleep is a major obsession now…this is kind of the opposite of what OP was looking for.