Yin and Yang
Good and Evil are interconnected
Notice how the light and dark are always connected. One grows at the expense of the other but always connected and always flowing.
Civilization is a bit like that. People have made huge advances in technology and with it there are opportunities and luxuries that would have been unthinkable in ages gone by. However, those luxuries come with a price.
Ebb and Flow
Good and Evil
Light and Dark
Fit for a King
Have you ever thought you were living a life fit for a king (or queen)?
My guess is that you haven't.
However, do a little looking. People are able to live in homes with light on demand. Heat or cooling on demand. Water with the twist of a wrist. Access to a world of information at their fingertips. Food from across the world made available at a moments notice and in large quantities. Comfortable beds free from insects. Medicine to treat a wide variety of ailments. The list just goes on and on.
Truly we live in a world where every luxury is available.
........All for a price of course.
Food for All
Modern technology has made farms more productive than ever before. The amount of food that modern machines can harvest is incredible. The plants that we are growing are more productive than ever before in history. Our ability to preserve those foods for long shelf life is incredible. Our ability to ship that food anywhere in large quantities is truly impressive.
....provided you have the money to pay for it.
A voice for everyone
Modern technology has also given everyone a voice. It doesn't matter who you are or where you live you can contact virtually anyone anywhere. Just look at Hive. I can make a post that can be seen around the world with just a few strokes on the keyboard. Indeed with YouTube I have access to the best and brightest the world has to offer with just a simple search of what I want to learn.
.....But the ignorant and ill-informed also get an equal voice.
But what have we lost?
Sure civilization has brought us so many wonderful things. However, what is the price we have paid? What have we lost in our pursuit of luxury?
Loss of Independence
The most obvious thing I notice is that people have lost their independence. People are so used to being part of the greater society that they have forgotten how to live on their own or as part of a small community.
In the past in my country people would walk vast distances to get where they needed to go. During the Gold rush people would travel on food hundreds of kilometers to get to their destination. In today's world people think walking a few kilometers if a hardship and expect the vehicle to take them places.
In the past everyone knew how to grow food, preserve food, and cook food. A grocery store was for luxury items or trade. Now people have largely forgotten how to provide their food needs and reply on their pay and the grocery store (or restaurant) for their food needs.
People have forgotten how to entertain themselves
We live in a world where we can watch any movie, listen to any song, of play any game in mere moments. However, what happens when the music stops, the internet is cut off, or our device is out of power?
Creativity and imagination has become stunted.
When I was young children could entertain themselves by playing with other children using whatever was around. Rocks, sticks, of simple tools could become building blocks of imaginative play. Now the same children look a little lost when the technology is off.
.....and adults often don't function much better.
A loss of community
Civilization has reached a point where we can live in cities which are so large they would have been unimaginable in times gone past. I have been to Manila many times. Population density 45,000 people / sqkm and a population close to 20 million people. Without modern technology, logistics, food production, energy production, waste disposal and so on there is ZERO chance that a city so large could have existed in the past.
However, with such a large crowded city there is ZERO chance for people to feel well connected to everyone in it. In the past there was a greater sense of community as people knew their neighbors, looked after their community and felt more connected.
The loss of community is very sad. Sure there can be online communities that people can feel connected to (here's looking at you #HiveLearners) and people can have small communities within a larger mega city. However the fact remains that modern communities have many people but also a lot of isolation and loneliness.
Merging New and Old
A Bright Future or the End of Everything
Where do we go from here?
It's hard to say. At least for me.
I believe that if we can merge the best from the past and the best of the present we can make a Utopia unlike anything imaginable. With good planning a single building can hold the entire contents of a single village. With good planning vehicles can take people anywhere they want in a short period of time. With good planning enough food can be produced so that no-one need ever go hungry. With good planning technology can be made available to everyone so that all have a voice, all can connect with loved ones, everyone can connect to knowledge and information, and everyone can have a safe secure place to live
However, we aren't there yet. We are stuck in a world where a few have more than they could ever need while many don't have even the basics. We live in a world where a small portion of people make enough junk that they poison the world for the rest who live in it. Where 20% of the population hold 80% of the wealth and the remaining 80% of people fight over the 20% that is left.
Yin and Yang the quest for balance
Now imagine where the world was in balance.
If each person had an equal share...
...If people maintained their independence while contributing to society.
...If people maintained community while being part of a mega city
...If people balanced their needs in the city with the needs of the world as a whole.
....where people and nature could live in balance.
It would be a Utopia worth of calling the "Pinnacle of Civilization"..
... of we can keep on following progress and calling it Civilization and destroy the world we live in.
I certainly hope the world finds a good balance
Or as a Christian I hope that God comes back to restore it for us
Thanks for reading
And as always, look forward to replies and comments :)
Now imagine where the world was in balance.
If each person had an equal share...
...If people maintained their independence while contributing to society.
...If people maintained community while being part of a mega city
...If people balanced their needs in the city with the needs of the world as a whole.
....where people and nature could live in balance.
It would be a Utopia worth of calling the "Pinnacle of Civilization"..
... of we can keep on following progress and calling it Civilization and destroy the world we live in.
I certainly hope the world finds a good balance
Or as a Christian I hope that God comes back to restore it for us
Thanks for reading
And as always, look forward to replies and comments :)
A Few Final Thoughts:
- I have to use hive.blog because peakd and ecency wouldn't let me upload an image. Very odd.
- I only got two hours of sleep last night because of a sick dog. If my train of thought seems a little frazzled just know I'm not operating at 100%
We live in a world where one percent population occupies 95 ٪ of world's wealth...... so no equality is imaginable..... well, imagination has no boundaries. !LOLZ.
Yin and yang is the scenerio for all times. Everything comes with a price. Every plus has a minus in it. It depends on us which path we want to choose.
I am wondering which area I should comment on. You have provided an exhaustive explanation on the subject and every area is well explained. I doubt your not working on 100%.
I was thinking the other day what if I was in the era where there were no artificial lights. We would sleep on time and would wake up with sun. How abundant time would be.
I think Civilization has put us in a lot of burdens. Besides, all the points you have mentioned we need to put extra efforts for being disciplined. For instance, in a world without smartphones, internet and T.V I wouldn't have to fight a urge to consume a little more.
The best article read so far on the subject! 👏
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Theyre super sketchy
Credit: reddit
@terganftp, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of amberkashif
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Tergan back at it again with yin and yang good and evil. I mean theres gotta be that balance with creation theres also destruction O.O.
You wrote really well and I think you made some great points all in all I think if we compare the past with what is now, I think I wouldn't wanna go back to the past despite us losing some of the stuff but we have it really great and we dont have as much wars as in the past . I think we have it great O.O if anything id be curious probably to live further in the future where maybe we can live beyond in a virtual world after we die or something. That would be cool but who knows xD mayb eimc razy
I wouldn't want to go to the past either. Advances have brought us to a place where everyone could live a wonderful life. However today's society is based on greed and money. People are dependant on technology and "the system". If we could focus on embracing the new and using it to promote a better life for all while retaining our self sufficiency and a sense of community then I'd be super excited to see the future.
However if the focus is on greed and not caring about others, pollution, environment or personal health/fulfillment then the future is bleak indeed.
As for a VR future.... with advances in AI and computing I can imagine a world where you could virtually experience any scenario you can dream of made real by AI rendering.
However, as a fan of cyberpunk novels is be nervous about BTL VR (better than life)... works so awesome that you forget to come back to the real one and die when your real body gets neglected.
Be interesting to see what the future holds.
Thanks for replying
i mean like dive in full body experience like sword art online for example.
Yes tergan need to embrance the new. i dont think focus is on greed entirely. theres benefits to everybody and with enough people speaking up i doubt itll get too bad for pollution enviornemnt etc
Sword Art Online is a good example:
The idea of a game as immersive as SAO would be awesome. Truly. I actually hope there is such a game when my body is too old and decrepit to explore the real world. However, with such a realistic virtual game who would want to come out and explore the real one?
As for not too bad with pollution.
It already is too bad. Plastic pollution and Global warming are major issues. Nature is dying and if it goes people follow after. Although this is a big discussion not fit for comments :)
IF people do speak up and make the changes needed to protect the world then indeed the future can be a Utopia.
As for the focus on Greed. Perhaps you are right that was a little too broad a term. However, with the wealth inequality in the world much needs to be done to ensure that all people have access to the wonders of a modern civilization.
Again.... a topic far too broad for a comment section ;)
Love getting your responses.
Thanks.
im ok with not waiting to come out and explore the real one haha. O.O i think the pollution and global warming are majori issues but its getting slowly helped. we were probably in for more of a disaster in the past but a lot of businesses are seeing the eco friendly side and theres people that will buy products that are more eco friendly so itll take time but things will get better.