#89 - Are We More Humane Than Our 15th Century Ancestors?

Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History podcast has always challenged me to see the present through the lens of the past. A recent episode — Episode 68 – BLITZ: Human Resources, about the Atlantic slave trade, raised a provocative question: are we truly more humane than our 15th-century ancestors?

Between the 15th and 19th centuries, around 12.5 million Africans were enslaved and shipped to the Americas and the Caribbean. Carlin explores this horror with his trademark depth, but what stuck with me most was his implicit contrast between "then" and "now" — as if we’ve evolved into something better.

Let’s talk about humanity.

The modern narrative is very optimistic and full of pride: we are progressing, becoming more empathetic, more just. Empathy has become a moral buzzword, a marker of our supposed advancement. But what if this progress is more illusion than reality? What if we’ve simply mastered the art of hiding the truth?

I argue that we have not necessarily become more humane than our ancestors; instead, we’ve become experts at hiding cruelty — particularly in modern systems like industrial animal agriculture. It hasn’t been eliminated, just hidden.

In the 15th century, violence was a visible part of life. Public executions were not only punishments but also spectacles, reflecting a society that accepted cruelty as a tool for order. Animals were raised and slaughtered locally, often in open markets where their deaths were no secret. While these practices seem brutal to us now, they were transparent—society did not shy away from the reality of suffering. This wasn’t empathy—but at least it wasn’t hidden.

Take our "modern" relationship with animals. In 2022 alone, we killed 83 billion land animals for food. The number of fish killed is estimated to be over a trillion. Chickens make up the vast majority. In nature, a chicken might live ten years. In our food system, most are never given that chance. Male chicks are killed almost immediately (less than 1% are needed for breeding), broiler females live six weeks, and laying hens about a year.We waste roughly 25% of all food calories produced — as if that life were worth nothing. If empathy is a defining virtue of our age, it often stops at the dinner table.

We say we're not animals, as though being one is shameful. We insult others by calling them pigs or chickens. These metaphors allow us to distance ourselves from the very creatures we exploit. The animals that suffer the most are often associated with negative human traits—perhaps so we can ignore their suffering more easily.

Our society has carefully sanitized the cruelty of the meat industry. When French supermarket chain Leclerc displayed whole animals—hares and pheasants—with fur and feathers still intact, it outraged animal rights groups. This practice, reminiscent of historical markets, unsettled us because it exposed the reality we prefer to ignore. I believe this concealment allows us to maintain a facade of empathy while perpetuating suffering on an unprecedented scale.

Imagine a time traveler from 1450 stepping into a modern home. He’d marvel at our abundance, our order, our polished civility. But would he believe we are more humane?

They witnessed public executions; we do not. Yet, the death penalty persists in nations like the United States and the death of a condemned person today is not less real.

We buy meat from clean, sterile supermarkets. Behind that perfection lies the most brutal and efficient slaughter system in human history. The suffering of modern farm animals exceeds that of their medieval counterparts. But we don’t see it. We don’t want to. We build cartoon farms for children, where animals smile and roam free. Chicken nuggets come with no origin story — and we prefer it that way.

Are we more humane because we’ve hidden cruelty? Or just more skilled at looking away?

True resilience—as individuals and as societies—requires facing reality. It demands that we ask hard questions and look directly at what makes us uncomfortable.

So before we congratulate ourselves on moral progress, let’s ask one uncomfortable question: are we really more humane?

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References

Dan Carlin's Hardcore History - Show 68 - BLITZ Human Resources

Bogore, E. B. (2020, November 10). French supermarket sells dead furry animals in vacuum packing. Animal Rights News. https://ananova.news/french-supermarket-sells-dead-furry-animals-in-vacuum-packing/#google_vignette

Gerten, D., Heck, V., Jägermeyr, J., Bodirsky, B. L., Fetzer, I., Jalava, M., ... & Schellnhuber, H. J. (2020). Feeding ten billion people is possible within four terrestrial planetary boundaries. Nature Sustainability, 3(3), 200-208.

https://ourworldindata.org/data-insights/billions-of-chickens-ducks-and-pigs-are-slaughtered-for-meat-every-year