Are We Blind to Today's Big Evils?

We often judge past societies harshly for evils that many people at the time didn't notice or think about. For example, most Germans claimed ignorance of Nazi war crimes, and many Britons were unaware of the slave trade's brutality. Similarly, Europeans largely ignored abuses against indigenous peoples, and few knew about conditions in psychiatric institutions in the 1950s. Today, some argue factory farming is an evil we mostly ignore.

The author suspects our society will also be judged harshly by future generations for things we are unaware of or don't dwell on. But we shouldn't be too quick to assume we know what those things are. There's a logical trap: just because we're unaware of a mistake doesn't mean we're making one, nor does it mean we're not. The author suggests we need evidence, not just speculation.

One commenter points out that historians rarely judge entire societies harshly; they understand the complex forces at play. Another asks why we care more about future generations' judgment than our own. The author's main point is that we should approach both past and present with humility, recognizing that we probably have blind spots too.