What my friends say on the state of humanity and the future?

Gentlemen,
I have read your opinions and believe that you all are right in many of your points.
My reflections are – maybe- a bit different, so here they come.
Human nature was mainly formated during our hunter-gatherer period, because it was the longest in existence of our race.
At that time there was enough space and resources on the earth . This is why I believe that so widely propagated idea of “living in harmony with nature” in the past is an absolute rubbish. Humans adjusted to the nature as long as it was stronger than them. As soon as they got enough control of some factors, they would abuse them, often with destruction of a given civilisation as a result.
When any civilisation was at it´s peak it could develop thinkers technicians, medics etc.
According to my opinion general masses of population had/have hardly education and interest in a development except for material in imminent future. Most politicians either – they survive on the mercy of the opinion of the masses.
Educating children at school in the environmental way of thinking will almost certainly have a long term affect – if we can cover all schools on the earth with necessary information/materials etc.
This does not mean that our future is hopeless. Humanity has been through many crises that it has overcome, in my opinion mostly because of visionary, charismatic leaders or extremely intelligent and industrious individuals that came with innovative solutions to the existing problems.
I could come with many examples, but this would be too long. You may have a taste of it reading Francesco Alberoni´s “Tree of Life”, or at the other end of the scale an article from “Time”: ” 10 ideas that will change the world – for the better” from March 28th 2011.
I think that particularely inventive individuals will find the way. The needs of the market (or visionary politicians) will of course give it the necessary boost. If Not……..
It was for the lack of it, that we are not already using alternative cars – created after the first oil crisis in the 70-ties.

Another big issue is to possibility to spread evil, which also follows the technical developement.It is possible today to corner the whole world market, with the consequences beyond our imagination.
We got 10 commandements when moving from nomadic to sedentary life. Obviously because it was NOT evident to the people at that time that the sins mentioned were wrongdoings.
I think we need a new set of rules covering the new possibilities of wrongdoings. Wrongdoings on a global scale. If a person commits a malfaisance that hurts many innocents to get personal gains, this person should be persecuted if it can be proven that there was an intent and it was possible to imagine the consequences. The acceptable punishment would be as a beginning to strip the person from all material goods.
Maybe an international court similar to one we already have for war crimes could be a solution.

At the end. my environmentally conscientous behaviour is modest, I try to save water, energy, try to buy durable goods, avoid buyng plastic bags etc etc. My biggest sin is, that I did not cut down on travels. Anybody willing to throw the first stone?

Regards to all,

Albert

Thanks, Benjamin, Arun and Mario for reflecting upon the past, present and the possible future. Great we share the need to reflect.
It is also common now days as before, to reflect on the state of Humanity and come with solutions and models for diverting the “total extinction” course we have taken (?). Truthfulness is important when observing the trail we have found our selves on. As I choose to observe, we live in a total accidental manner. A question to be answered is : can one develop to a state where he or she are not governed by semi conscious behavior ? We can all observe that we act in contradiction to our knowledge.
It seems that in nature the same thing function differently on different levels, so to say, on a given level things can not be different than the way they are. Think of the different states water can manifest at. As Mr. A once pointed out – energy is needed for water to shift between states. Man can not act differently, walking through Life in a poor conscious state. All is left to accident and coincidence. The out come might turn to be in his favour, but as often, not. Looking at the results of the actions we take in our poor conscious level, one should not be disillusioned but only use that to understand the limitations that govern our present state. Acknowledgment and verification of the different states of consciousness is essential for further development. I think we do not develop as a whole but as individuals.
Upgrading our consciousness will open the possibility for Harmonious development for others too.
For many, the idea concerning the possibility of different levels of consciousness sounds odd, one can be conscious or not, with nothing in between, they might say- for them the gate is closed. They will stay in the imaginary sphere they cultivate day after day and no real change will ever take place.Sorry, no apps are available on iTunes.
Our energy should be used to shift from our semi-conscious state.
All the best to you all
shai

Hi all,

Thanks Benjamin for your summary answer to the question of whether we
have become better thinkers and implementers.

My immediate response was to wonder to what extent we, in our little
group, have taken actions that reflect our knowledge? How many have
implemented changes in their lifestyles?

Perhaps not as large or grand as our awareness is. The implementers in
us lag far behind the thinkers. Or not?

For our precious, wonderful planet the answer to both questions is an
unequivocal yes.
And certainly in comparison with those who have come before.

Most every movie going child and adult knows the wisdom in the
Buddhist thinking of ‘fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate and
hate leads to suffering.’ Only they would start with ‘Fear leads to
the dark side.’ as they quote Yoda in Star Wars.

Or the messages embedded in Avatar, Wall.E, Star Trek, maybe even 2001.

Since WW II we’ve increased food production and distribution capacity
enormously. These days there’s lots of fine tuning going on. For
example Carrefours and Sainsbury’s building supermarket networks in
India. Field to market spoilage of fruits & vegetables has
traditionally been 35-40%. Supply chain supermarkets reduce it to 5%
increasing enormously the availability of produce.

Supply chains, started during the war ensured that every American
soldier in Europe could be supplied with daily rations of M&M’s and
Coca Cola. One might argue the moral benefits and expense but the
point is that The Flying Tigers picked up on supply chains after the
war. Corporations like Macdonald’s refined and fine tuned them.

Assembly lines started with Springfield rifles and Chicago’s slaughter
houses. The Model T drove the ideas to incredible development.

We do these things as a matter of routine today. Increasing
implementation and penetration? Well perhaps a matter of precious
time.

Another cute idea is that no two countries both having Macdonald’s
have ever engaged in a conflict. Gotta check this one out, seems there
might be something to it.

Who will make the decisions necessary? Neither politicians nor
consumers seem to be likely candidates.

My hunch is that it will be corporate leaders and those close to them.
They are, on the whole, fairly smart, wise and powerful. Also more
spiritual than we think.

Not dictators perhaps but they certainly can influence our lifestyles
and the degrees of freedom we perceive ourselves as having.

Hmm, how to illustrate this? Mads Øvlivsen is an excellent example.
They are around although we hear mostly about the rapacious. That’s
what gets ink in a business driven media.

There are so many business leaders who go about doing mitzvahs and
working for the greater common good. Many more than we like to
think… a group think in and of itself, darn.
I’m not saying that Wrigley’s chewing gum or Toyota cars will do it. I
am saying they have a pretty good chance of trying.

Kids are readily influenced by the brilliance of marketing. Yes. But
there are also many bright kids who are not. I don’t think that pep
talked group thinkers are as prevalent as all that. Could be wrong
though.

For me the question is not of whether we think or implement better. We do.

The question is not whether we can solve what may fly into our faces.
The answer could be yes. It won’t be Cop 17, 18 or 19 but through
corporate initiatives.

Their efforts will be catalyzed and enhanced by the global cortex
we’ve built ourselves since ARPA put together the first internets and
the world wide web kicked in with html.

A fantastic invention this global cortex, it generates diversity and
is acted upon by selective forces that drive the development of the
social media among more profound things. Its been breathtaking in its’
takeovers & makeovers of our behaviors.

The question is more on the order of whether or not we can see
ourselves as a whole earth. Whether we can know and practice the idea
that whatever we do affects the rest of us.

The butterfly effect if you will. Or Rumi’s wonderful, ‘All know that
the drop becomes a part of the oceans. Few understand that the oceans
become a part of the drop.’

Will the sun rise or set on us? The answer, for now, is yes

Which yes?

Wonder, if you will, along with me, to what extent we, in our little
group, have taken actions that reflect our knowledge?

How many have implemented changes in their lifestyles?

Hugs,

Dear Arun
I appreciate your angle on things.
I always get suspicious, when I am presented with the notion that the past was better and the future bleak. Not so says I. Just a few decades ago we were on the brink of atomic annihilation, forests were suffering the consequences of acid rain and the seas around us were heavily polluted. Not so any more in western Europe. Wealth and education tend to clean things up. The rest of the world is fast catching up with us. Yes the world is changing, evolving. North African political change largely due to electronic and mobile communication and media.
Good leadership points the way, but transformation depends on the movement of the masses. Large well educated middle classes seems to help. Elitist leadership, the wise knowing best and leading the stupid masses invariably gets corrupted and fails.
Will humanity succeed in avoiding extinction in the coming centuries? I am pretty optimistic in spite of climate changes, tectonic upheavals, overpopulation etc. etc. Of course a large meteor may be on collision course with Earth this very moment. It was nice knowing you guys!

Like Benjamin I am convinced that our future lies in the stars, like Arun I am certain that science is necessary to get us there.
Mentally we are not capable evolving enough in time. Perhaps when we start interfacing with the coming generations of super computers. However that will probably create as much grief as joy and innovation. Did anyone see Terminator?
We may suffer, but we will persevere (I hope) and we may as well enjoy ourselves while we can.

Mario