Civilization and Humankind Part 2

Yes, then, as is now, the hunters and gatherers employed thinking, memory, perception, sensing and feeling, and motor behavior. Their language was limited as was their fiction, fantasy and beliefs. Then, they began to further develop tools, form groups and increase their ability to communicate with others and increase further understanding of their natural world. However, fiction became more entrenched. Over time, the social animal became agrarian about 12,000 years ago, assimilated and accommodated into larger groups of individuals, arbitrary states and countries. The result of maturation and time passage occurred within the last 6,000 years and we now have a society, culture and way of life, considered to be most advanced. Fortunately, scientific advances within the last 500 years and technological breakthroughs have been progressing at warp speed. Unfortunately, man’s fears, anxieties, drives, needs, irrational and disorganized thinking, prejudices have not evolved. Essentially, we are somewhat like hunters and gatherers in terms of our nature, while corralled in our “advanced” civilization. Institutional groups are divisive. Institutions sell and promise fiction; pit” them “versus “us “mentality; are biased, narcissistic, and prejudiced; instill emotion to interfere with rational thought and behavior; become resistant to change; create false status; force and press for uniformity and consensus; and generate autocratic and authoritarian leadership. If mankind is to survive, our species and institutions have to change as we produce too many weapons of mass destruction; exhibit too much violence and killings; create dangerous levels of economic inequality and exploitation ; and have a dysfunctional democracy . Our species has to evolve by reducing anxiety and fear levels; become more efficient in meeting our safety [food, water and air] needs; and better able to fulfill drives and needs of sex, aggression, and dominance. If we are so lucky, then our species can likely create an attitude and philosophy of humanism for groups provided that it includes ethical and moral consequences for human interaction. It’s clear that our present civilization is not working for many, and requires something different. Time will tell. For in-depth understanding, consult Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents and Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens a Brief History of Humankind.