Life was peak in the Middle Ages

among nobles anyways, for instance after the battle of agincourt william executed all of his prisoners sparing only the nobility and most of medieval warfare usually consisted of skirmish/raids to weaken the enemy or in some instance to try and force battle, like the "chevauchée" during the 100 years war or william's harrying of the north in england.

 

That sounds plausible. Wikipedia has this to say about life expectancy during the "dark ages":

My point was that old age wasn't unheard of. Not that that's a good thing. Even these days, most people are finished by 50, the remaining years being mere survival. Not growing too old is usually a good thing.

 

If you are living in a cage then being "finished by 50" is a welcome relief, isn't it? But what if there are worlds outside that cage?

 

I remember joking with a friend that content which begins with "hear me out" will usually wind up being entertaining and so far, that hypothesis has been accurate.

I lot of the pros of the middle ages are attainable today. If you want a good, honest, hard labor job, then go into the trades. Most don't work on a Sundays unless they're services positions. I know some friends who went this route, accumulated their hours for their journeyman's license, and then started their own one-man business where they take on jobs whenever they want. Some even choose not to work on feast days. None of them are hurting for money, since there is plenty of work to be had. Sadly, a lot of the younger generation either aren't interested in this kind of work or aren't aware of it. I think a lot of the youth are brainwashed into thinking everyone should be in college and have a degree. I've also always found it ironic that the same companies that were founded by men who never went to college demanded that their employees have college degrees. Personally, I think they wanted this not because they thought the degree made the person better but because they knew that person was in debt so they could be more easily controlled vs. someone who had the smarts but didn't have the debt, but I digress.

As for the getting married young, well, I think since the average life expectancy was lower back then, people had to have their shit together by a much earlier age. Even today nothing is stopping you from getting married young, but since most people aren't pressed to grow up fast, there is a lot of wasted youth that happens before people finally mature. If they mature, that is. Depending on where you live, sometimes immaturity is incentivised as well as sloth.

Sadly, prostitution was still a very big issue back then as it is now; There is a reason it's called the oldest profession.

 

I'm saying neither. The "cage" I was talking about is the self-created mental prison which nearly all of us live in.

 

No need to do that. Why not go to work on yourself? Then you will have the key to open the cage door and walk out.

 

I was thinking that.

Here's a video of a historian reviewing the historical accuracy of some movies set in the Middle Ages.

A word of warning it contains brief nudity from the film A Knight Tale. According to the historian back then they weren't so bothered by nudity since there wasn't much privacy.

 

Isn’t it just Paul Bettany’s pasty butt, though? Very medieval, and not triggering at all. There is a suggestion of sweaty snuggling, but it happens off screen, I think.

And when I say it’s important to consume media critically, I do not mean we need to be negative and nasty about everything. What I mean is, it is better to be mindful of what we are consuming, and consider whether it is true, and in what sense, and which ideas from it we will accept or reject, rather than let everything we watch or read have equal influence over how we think and relate to the world.

 

I think some people in the Middle Ages had better lives overall than some people in modern times, and also some people in modern times had better lives than some people in the Middle Ages.

A really healthy body/mind in the Middle Ages is better off than a really sick person in modern times.. and the other way around as well

 

With the exception of the sword wielding knight, you could do all the other things that you mentioned right now. I would replace the sword-wielding knight with getting strong in a gym and learning martial arts, this way you would be a badass wherever you went.
The difference is that hygiene is way better so the women don't stink, you would have all your teeth, and you would be able to extend your lifespan by about 3 times. I'll take the modern era on my terms and not let the soft BS out there keep me from enjoying myself while I try to be a badass.

 

I don't think one period of history was better than the other. There are good and bad things from every time period. Positive aspects of the Middle Ages would be stronger communities and families. It was during the Industrial Revolution where there was a breakdown because many people left their community and families to find work in the cities. But strong communities and families isn't just a feature of the Middle Ages, it carried on into the Renaissance and the Reformation. Another thing that was better was little allergies - today there are more allergies than any point in history.

As negative aspects, I would say no running water is a big thing. A few months ago, my water company turned off our water for about a week because there was a risk of contamination. You don't realise how important running water is until you don't have it. If I wanted a drink, I had to use bottled water. It wasn't just drinking water that I went without. I had no showers and couldn't even flush the toilet. Back then they had none of that.

From my understanding, there was no freedom of speech. You couldn't openly criticise the government (the King or Queen) and if you were a peasant your movements were controlled by the nobility. People didn't marry for love. It was a business transaction among the nobility and peasants didn't bother with it.

I could mention diseases and a lack of modern medicine, but that's already come up.

Movies can be a good starting point, as long as you read or listen to historians. The purpose of a movie is to entertain and tell a good story, historians purpose is finding out the facts (which isn't as easy as it sounds).

She's done some documentaries on the medieval times. Here's two below:

 

Like, I know you admire the middle ages my guy, but trust me I think you would get tired of living in it after a few weeks, at the latest. Sure the world is far from perfect now, but I think there's at least some point in modern history that you would think it is better than the Middle Ages. Like the 80s? 90s? 00s?