Past Horrors

Poul Anderson, The Stars Are Also Fire, 25, p. 332.

Venator lists past horrors:

wars
tyrannies
fanaticisms
rampant crime
millstone poverty
wasted land
poisoned waters
deadly air
broken spirit
alienation
loneliness
triumphant mediocrity, then idiocy
suicidal civilizations

 - of which he has learned through reading and other media, including virtual reality, guided by the AIs. It seems that they have given him an entirely one-sided view with the moral that our peaceful present and unfolding future are infinitely better than their human past.

Let us also list:

cooperation
language
story-telling
myths
music
tools
crafts
skills
horticulture
agriculture
cities
writing
poetry
literature
visual arts
mathematics
medicine
architecture
engineering
drama
inquiry
philosophy
trade
exploration
science

- and many as yet unrealized potentialities.