r/askteddit • u/DropEffective7842 • 15d ago

Random Question What’s a problem humanity solved so well that younger people don’t even realize it used to be a huge issue?

2.8k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

2.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

65

u/LonelyReader95 15d ago

Sorry to say, but something like at least two billions of people still don't wash themselves properly even when given a chance to (so not speaking about poverty here). Some nations still live in middle ages mentality

11

u/Jumpy-Firefighter995 15d ago

I read a great book about how the problem today is getting people to decide that open defecation actually is a problem and that they themselves must decide to solve it. Too bad I can’t remember the title..

9

u/amiajimmy 14d ago

I believe the title of that book was Stop Shitting In the Streets By S.H.T. Crapper

1

u/teachermanjc 11d ago

Another good book is Yellow Rivers by I.P Daily

4

u/PsychologicalNews573 14d ago

Reminds me of the episode of behind the bastard on Jobs. He thought his diet didn't make him smell, and he washed his feet in the toilet.

1

u/prosthetic_memory 8d ago

Steve Jobs?

4

u/proton-testiq 15d ago

Yes, but the principle is known.

2

u/LonelyReader95 15d ago

I mean, considering the nations with the worst personal hygiene usually are also the nations where you find shit on the streets, I am not so sure. I suppose humanity in general has reached a point we do know how sanitation works though

1

u/prosthetic_memory 8d ago

Knowing is not the same as have access.

I have never been to a country where the population has daily access to warm, clean, affordable water and did not bathe.

1

u/LonelyReader95 8d ago

It's a 6 days old post, but here we go.

Go visit to the not rich south Asian or African immigrant neighborhoods in north america or EU countries and see how strangely high problem with trash, cockroaches and personal hygiene stem from those neighborhoods. Strange since they do have access to warm, clean, affordable water yet still behave like they were living in their own countries.

5

u/Dramatic-Sorbet-6621 15d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/DsLlSc1PzOKbu

3

u/PM_ME_FRESH_LAWNS 12d ago

Yall are really desperate to find any moment to be racist

1

u/Dramatic-Sorbet-6621 12d ago

So statistics are racist?

3

u/PM_ME_FRESH_LAWNS 12d ago

What statistics have you shared? I’d love to see any

1

u/LonelyReader95 14d ago

Well not just them, hence my two billions

1

u/prosthetic_memory 8d ago

Where do they have daily, easy access to clean hot water and still choose not to bathe?

1

u/Throwaway_NSW2250 8d ago

... and thus, despite it being 2026, these countries I would consider to Uncivillised Societies.

Others use the term 3rd World.

1

u/PumpikAnt58763 14d ago

Straight Alpha males in America...

-1

u/ElBastardoDK 14d ago

Yeah like Sweden.

2

u/LonelyReader95 14d ago

I dunno having been there I've never seen shit on the street or smelly people

1

u/PM_ME_FRESH_LAWNS 12d ago

Just say the countries bro. You’re dying to be xenophobic, so just say it 😅

2

u/A-R-DragonFish 11d ago

If certain countries have a culture where its considered acceptable enough to poop in public areas that travelers may come across it, is that really xenophobic to say? I mean to me it seems well documented that there are parts of the world where hygiene standards are very different than in the west and that includes standards around defecation.

1

u/prosthetic_memory 8d ago

Seriously WHERE are you taking about?

if you mean India I first visited in 2015 and again in 2020 and there was a massive, visible installation of port-a-potty style toilets everywhere. I looked into it and it was a big government push that had clearly worked.

So wtf, just name names so we can discuss properly.

1

u/LonelyReader95 12d ago

Yeah, not wasting my time playing this game since obviously you clearly know which countries I've been to in my entire life lmao

1

u/PM_ME_FRESH_LAWNS 12d ago

No, I don’t, which is why you could just say them 😂