Originally Posted by
PeteHski
So basically are you saying above that the modern S-works appears to be objectively better than a 1920s bike only because of our conditioned world view?
A
I would argue that in reality many people in the modern world (probably the majority of people over 65) are conditioned to be scared of change and technological progress. This very thread provides ample evidence, lol.
I am saying that every human has been and is embedded is a world view; these paradigms are different for different times and places. A person is not capable of completely escaping his/her culture's world view; it takes effort to step out of this world view and it's never entirely possible. Our culture is imbued with the idea of progress, the idea that human history is one of constant progress toward a better and better future, that the past is merely a stepping stone to the great age we live in, that we must continue to make changes in the name of progress. And, progress means advances in ease and comfort: pushing a button to shift gears, barely needing to squeeze the brake lever; maybe bicycle automatic transmissions will be the next big thing.
These ideas seem second nature to us, but it doesn't take a lot of anthropological research to find cultures who see things differently. Many peoples have seen history as cyclical rather than as linear progress; they see the human condition as constant rather than advancing. And really if we look at it, sometimes it seems like for every step forward our world takes, our world takes two steps back; like the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Anyway, if we step back a minute from this reverence for progress, we might have a little more understanding of people who see the Raleigh bike as simpler, more lively, more fun than the newest jet age carbon bikes. Your linear list of pictures implies that every bike except the last one must be relegated to a past age and is irrelevant today. The only people who would like such bikes are scared of change; and people especially paranoid about change are over 65. Leaving aside your obvious patronizing of anyone who disagrees with you, I might suggest that people over 65 have lived long enough to see the ups and downs of the history and technology of the last century and are a little skeptical that our world--and the bicycle--are getting better and better. It's possible they enjoy more what they have instead of restlessly becoming dissatisfied and trying to move into some chimeric golden future.