If you watch the news, it seems like things are getting worse. We think it is all going to hell. The news likes you to believe that so you have a heightened sense of danger, so you will keep watching.
Would you trade places with an ordinary person living 300 years ago? Before you answer, imagine giving up your running water, refrigerator, heating system, and access to modern medicine. We sometimes picture the past as simpler and happier. But how much of that picture includes what it actually took to get through a day?
Chelsea Follett’s book, The Grim Old Days: An Introduction to the Preindustrial Past, explores life beyond the kings, castles, and famous battles. What did ordinary people eat? Where did they sleep? What happened when they got sick? Drawing on her book, I will post over 25 Think Daily posts that will explore everyday life before industrialization—from birth and childhood to work, food, dentistry, and aging. Some details may surprise you. Others may make you very happy to be alive today.
We still have problems worth solving. But understanding where we started can help us appreciate what we have—and recognize what human effort can accomplish. So much of what we consider ordinary would have been extraordinary to our ancestors. Perhaps a closer look at their lives will help us see our own differently.
I think this is a good exercise for Think Daily readers to get a historical perspective on life today. These depictions of “The Old Days”, which were really not too many generations ago, can be depressing. But my intention is the opposite: to make us all happy we are here now, rather than then. It was not my doing to be born in 1964. I am glad I was not born in 1864 or 1664! Life with freedom and capitalism sure has made things better for humans like me. I hope by the end, you agree more than ever.
I will not do a solid month of ‘Grim Old Days’ posts. I will sprinkle them in, maybe a few a week. I hope you “enjoy”.