I say with a plural, because the world as we know it is being torn apart at the seams, so that nothing that we know is any longer recognisable to the past. We might look somewhat the same as humans a few decades, but the way we behave is bizarre and unrecognisable to that history.
I always believed that history doesn't tell lies, and so whenever I want to infer anything at all be it crypto projects, long term value of a commodity or even just to analyse the practicality of anything I just go through history and check around, I always believed some data will be present to help. But these days it's difficult to understand history because all that history has done is to take us in the direction it wants to take us, make us believe what it wants us to believe.
I think whatever is happening in the market now is just market mechanics and irrespective of the FUD, recovery is certain.
But if the current system is to survive then it has to be able to provide something of value that can be held into, because just like you said, people are getting smarter with new technologies coming out everyday.
History might be the biggest liar, because it is written by the winners.