Noted in Passing....

The degraded nature of a culture may become apparent in various ways.

Ancient philosophers and psychologists alike will tell you that the emotion of awe (or reverence) is important, and under-appreciated.

Yet, the most prominent mention of "awe" in recent public discourse involved the massacre of innocents.....

ancient philosophers and psychologists?
e.g. psychologist Dacher Keltner ("Born to be Good") or the Plato scholar George Rudebusch ("Socrates")