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Kali Yuga: The Dark Age Prophesied in Many Religions

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This is a fascinating video. At 7:00, Tom Rowsell (SurviveTheJive) reads out some excerpts of the Srimad Bhagvatam(an important hindu scripture) where many if not every single prophecy comes true. The higher values are replaced by lower ones. Ones only worth in society is based upon their level of affluence and sex, people have no loyalty to their own family, culture or values. The only thing people will satisfy will be their genitals and bellies.

Everything will decay but there is a glimmer of hope. Just taking the name of Krishna would help one escape life and attain moksha.

Tom makes references from other indo european religions as well, this is not a culture war or culture war adjacent thing, mostly just something I found super fascinating given that they all were faiths that were very similar for the most part and got many things about the future right. The issue with kaliyuga is that of values, we have seen astounding technological and economical growth, the truth in many places is that many have lost values that were considered important by those who appreciate antiquity (I do at least). Many will not agree but even then, would appreciate any thots on this.

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My thought is that it's an explanation of a low-resolution view of the modern world, which doesn't fit the facts well but satisfies some people's hate-ridden contempt for others. It thus appeals to them as a result of this prejudice rather than solid evidence. If it was a run-of-the-mill theory about the abilities of snake oil to treat the common cold ("Not everyone gets better, but many people do, within about a week") then you'd treat the evidential support with the same dismissal it deserves.

I would disagree with your sentiment. This is pretty mainstream Hindu thought and it is correct about a lot more than even what I would wish to admit, at least the parts listed here.

This is pretty mainstream Hindu thought

I don't know if that's true or not, but it's perfectly compatible with what I said. The idea that evil-doers must be punished, that supernatural agencies must punish them in this world or the next, and that there are things that you must do to be saved from punishment is one of those ideas that appeals to the worst of human nature, and like human nature, it is more or less universal.

and it is correct about a lot more than even what I would wish to admit

That's mainly a psychological fact about you, so it's hard for me to dispute it (or for you to provide evidence for it) but you can ask yourself if you really want these prophecies to be bullshit or you like their implications.

Let me put my point another way, since it may have been unclear: we can interpret the statements you refer to in your OP as universal generalisations ("All X are Y") or as something else. As universal generalisations, they are all false. Thus, the fact that they fit some facts (e.g. there are some people obsessed with money and who use it as a measuring stick for status) provides no evidence for them.

What else could they be? They aren't precise statistical generalisations, like "Coins land heads 50% of the time in the long run," because they don't provide numbers: how many people today are fitting these generalisations? The statements that you reference don't tell us.

They could be interpreted as vague statistical generalisations, like "More people today evaluate people based on money and sex than before 3000 BC." In that case, it's not clear that the evidence fits the hypothesis. Additionally, the evidential support is very weak: there are many explanations why this phenomenon could be true that are at least as plausible as the Srimad Bhagvatam.

They could also be interpreted as existential statements, like "Many people today evaluate people based on money and sex." This has the virtue of being true, but also of providing no significant support for Srimad Bhagvatam or anything else, since a basic familiarity with history would tell one that rating people based on money (and to a much lesser degree sex) is a feature of just about every civilisation that has had money. It's like saying "Lots of people took this snake oil and their colds cleared up in a few weeks! Maybe this snake oil is something really important?"

There's also the question of interpretation-fitting: it is tempting, when one wants to believe that something is accurate, to fit your interpretation of what it says to fit various predictions. Many people do this with Nostradamus: "The ship of fools stands for the Republican party, and if you interpret it that way, it predicts 9/11!"

There are reasons to study ancient religions seriously and learn from them. The predictive performances of their prophecies are not among these reasons.