The more I think of it, the more I think this time was the actual peak of civilization (from a westerner's point of view). The Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Nagano in 98, when the world was singing the Ode to Joy was that peak moment for me [0]. After that, it went all downhill.
Not that I do not enjoy the vision of passing the stick from organic creatures, made by happenstance, to purpose built machines. But as a human, I do miss the endless opportunities of the 2000s chaos and I feel like they were better times than todays monitored, calculated, cold life under cameras & microphones.
All we can do is to try our best within the time we're allotted.
Edit: date