There are those who glorify the past, the golden times long gone, in other words, the “good old days”. Allegedly, in those times people were good and honest, and virtue ruled the world, so we should return to things as they were or at least as we imagine them to have been. From this perspective, any change is a step further away from the glorious past and the important tradition.
On the other hand, there are others who only see a dark past, full of cruelty and injustice, so they consider all those who lived before us as barbarians and ignorant, except for exceptions like heroes. On the surface, the present is the highest peak of human achievement so far, but at the same time, it still has so much to achieve. From this perspective, every innovation is good, and the future is seen as a continuous and linear progress towards a better world.
It may seem unusual that such two different views coexist. Accustomed to thinking in certain patterns, we make a mistake by thinking that everything new is the same as egzistencije. Svaka generacija može pridonijeti napretku društva, ali isto tako može učiti iz grešaka prošlih generacija.
S druge strane, postoji i moderna inačica razmišljanja koja naglašava važnost novih ideja i promjena. U svijetu koji se brzo mijenja, važno je biti otvoren za inovacije i prilagoditi se novim situacijama. Ova perspektiva naglašava individualnu slobodu i kreativnost, te potiče ljude da razmišljaju izvan okvira tradicionalnih normi.
Kada su ove dvije ideje u sukobu, može se činiti da su nespojive. Međutim, mi smatramo da upravo njihova međusobna nadopuna čini najbolji pristup. Kombinirajući mudrost koju nam donosi prošlost s hrabrošću i novim idejama koje donosi budućnost, možemo ostvariti pravi napredak. Samo otvoren i uključiv pristup razmišljanju omogućuje nam da iskoristimo najbolje od oba svijeta i stvaramo pozitivne promjene u društvu.
The combination of cyclicity and linearity is a complex one. When we delve deeper into questioning our knowledge, we sometimes have to navigate through the depths of ignorance. Looking at the present from this perspective, we see that we are not at the pinnacle of human achievement, but neither at the bottom. We can acknowledge the existence of certain positive elements that we should protect and preserve, as well as negative elements that we need to change and improve. Therefore, there are positive and negative elements, those that bring more unity and harmony, and elements that bring disharmony, disunity, and consequently suffering.
In other words, we have achieved a lot, but there is still much more ahead of us.
What are the victories and challenges of our present?
We have embarked on an incredible exploration of the physical nature and have come to understand its laws in order to create innovative technology, never seen before in all of human history.
Today, technology entails the development of new tools that allow us to control and manipulate nature according to our will. technology can be used to improve medicine and learning, communication, arts and crafts, to make our lives easier and for many other benefits that we can only imagine. Technology can also create much more precise, but also crueler weapons and weaken our intelligence and innate skills, disrupt communication, and provide us with a too comfortable life…
Without the guidance of reason and soul, technology is our sword of Damocles hanging over our heads, while we imagine ourselves sitting on the throne of nature. We still need to adopt intelligent criteria for the use of technology – especially criteria that prioritize the human factor above all else. As long as comfort, innovation, and profit come at the expense of human life and the sanctity of nature, we will never be able to find a way out of the cycle of destruction.
Before promoting artificial intelligence, it would be wise to develop our natural intelligence. We still We need to learn how to master ourselves in order to be able to control technology, just as an artist needs a clear image, discipline, and inspiration before using tools to convey the beauty of nature in an artistic work. Otherwise, we will become slaves to our machines, not because of their “intelligence” but because of our lack of it.
Since the Middle Ages, we have been gradually fighting against intolerant and irrational ideas that have limited human horizons and killed philosophers, scientists, and other free thinkers. The free and rational exploitation of nature and its laws has led us to a scientific “golden age”. However, we have slipped from the tyranny of irrationality to the tyranny of rationality. In other words, what we cannot see does not exist.
Spiritual traditions of billions of human beings have been discarded as childish nonsense and superstition, leading to a life that is empty and purposeless, seeking to replace the depths of knowledge with a spark of information. Our perception of the universe has been superficialized, reducing it to mere matter and energy. Based on chance, where everything originated out of nothing and for no reason, the human being is imagined as a random result of a blind process, as a mistake and as an orphan in the universe. It is not surprising that alongside today’s scientific flourish, we are witnessing a return to the irrational and fanatical as a direct and easier way to fill the void.
If we have learned anything from the capitalist experiment of the 20th century, it is that comfort without content does not bring happiness.
We should save the heart of spiritual traditions in order to find our place in the universe again and rebuild a way of life that is sacred, natural, and meaningful. No political or economic solution alone will be enough to revive humanity. Without spiritual renaissance and a return to archetypes, humanity will be missing its essential part.
In the last two hundred years, the standard of living has significantly increased, allowing a large part of humanity to live in conditions that most people in In the past, we could only dream about the present. We must question the nature of this so-called achievement. What price are we paying for this new mass-scale standard of living? Many are already feeling the consequences of it.
“After me – the flood,” are the famous words of King Louis XV, and it seems to be the general attitude of our generation as well.
It is easy to blame big corporations, the “creators of the Matrix,” for feeding this destructive machine. But who are the ones actually consuming and fueling this machine? The problem lies not in the desire for a higher standard of living, but in our interpretation of a high standard of living that ignores common sense, as well as scientific studies that show that positive relationships and a sense of purpose contribute more to happiness than material comfort.
We still need to define a lifestyle that is in harmony with nature, our human nature, and our environment. We must rediscover the simplicity of a good life and the benefits that come with such a simple life. Some countries are going through a major social experiment of mult ikulturalism is a concept where people of different nationalities, beliefs, and ethnic groups strive for a harmonious coexistence. As a result, many large cities around the world showcase an enticing diversity of colors and beliefs. This is the outcome of globalization and a movement that has emerged over the past century with the aim of greater openness and inclusivity. We still need to achieve a balance between equality and individuality, and we can only do so by distinguishing between our essence and our form – who we are from what we are. We are different, yet we are also the same. This paradox lies at the heart of our multicultural challenge, and only when we truly understand it can we find the right formula for living together in harmony, which does not imply agreement on everything. We should be wary of an empty culture that makes us part of a mass based on our lowest common characteristics. and much of what we missed. Realizing what we still need to achieve and the gap between our ideals and practice could be discouraging and we might feel overwhelmed by problems. But that is not true. As Lao-Tzu said: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. We should try to take at least one step and we will realize that we are not walking alone. By working together, humanity can achieve miracles.