Even though no one alive today was alive during the Middle Ages, there is little doubt humanity has progressed a great deal since those times. At least it seems that way. Five-hundred years ago, or so, it was normal (at least in Europe and parts of North America) for women convicted of being witches to be burned alive. Most babies born rarely survived past their toddler years (the reason people had many children, to ensure at least some of them made it into their adult years), and if you got sick there was no guarantee anyone knew what was wrong with you, much less provide a legitimate remedy.
The sharing of knowledge and the advent of modern medicine have changed all that, and after centuries of violent conquests and two catastrophic world wars just last century, it appeared for a time that humanity was not only evolving but progressing into a more peaceful and enlightened species. Who could deny that? Just the thought of burning someone alive because they are believed to be a witch may seem nauseating to the average human being today, at least in most of the modern world.
This has led many to believe that since life has apparently gotten easier and more peaceful through time, that we are destined to become even more peaceful and intelligent with each passing year, because we are obviously evolving.
But are we really?
Our industrial activities since the mid-19th century have warmed the entire planet well over 1 degree Celsius, increasing the number of heatwaves, floods, powerful storms and food crises around the globe. Our ever-growing lust for meat has led to the clearing of almost half of the world’s forests to make room for farmed animals (and all the food they require), an industry which is likely the leading cause of species extinction. Speaking of which, our overall activities have reduced the population size of the world’s mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians by 60% in the last 40 years, and well over half of all the world’s mammals in existence today are what we call «livestock», living in a world of misery until we kill them.
One can argue that these are merely the unfortunate side-effects of “progress”, and that we are becoming more aware of the environmental destruction of our habits and working towards addressing those issues, both for our own survival and for the animals with whom we share this planet.
In fact, many new age movements across the world seem quite certain we are undergoing some “great awakening”, which will soon lead to a world without wars, where we are all vegans and living in peace and harmony with one another, singing and dancing happily on lush green meadows with butterflies in the air and bunny rabbits at our feet.
The world would indeed be a better (though not perfect) place if we were all vegans and we all learned to get along and stopped destroying the planet and waging wars against each other, but to be truly convinced this lovely future is somehow inevitable requires some serious magical thinking.
Indeed, violence has become less ubiquitous in many parts of the world compared to previous centuries, thanks in large part to an abundance of food, technology, and education, which have raised the standard of living in various parts of our planet. But at the same time, there is no certainty that this cushy way of life (compared to that of our ancestors) will continue, much less improve.
Hungry?
Only a few decades ago many people thought overpopulation and environmental degradation would lead to mass global famine by the year 2000. Luckily, technological advancements in food production helped increase the abundance of food in many parts of the world. As a result, many people believe these advancements will always save us from any external threats, because it is simply the destiny of our species to grow and thrive for eternity.
However, according to a recent report by the World Health Organization, “the number of people affected by hunger globally rose to as many as 828 million in 2021, an increase of about 46 million since 2020 and 150 million since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Gilbert F. Houngbo, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, admits that “these are depressing figures for humanity. We continue to move away from our goal of ending hunger by 2030.”
Among the reasons for the spike in hunger are the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the insidious yet increasing effects of climate change. The latter may have been mentioned last of the three, but in the near future it will likely take center stage. As mentioned earlier, we have already warmed the world by about 1.2 degrees Celsius compared to preindustrial times. If we were to reach 2C, the World Food Program states that “there could be an additional 189 million more people going to bed hungry,” while at 4C above preindustrial levels the world could have “a staggering 1.8 billion people” suffering from chronic hunger.
Will technology continue to save us, or will a dire reality soon set in?
It’s getting hot out there
The recent increase in global hunger is, in large part, of our own engineering, especially with regards to the war and climate change. Optimistic people, however, often claim we will soon have the climate crisis under control thanks to more technological advancements in renewable energy, which is indeed bringing down the price of solar and wind energy. Does this mean human beings have finally “woken up” to the climate crisis and are collectively mobilizing to halt the growth of fossil fuels to save ourselves and our planet?
Hmm, not exactly.
For one, although production of new coal power stations appears to be slowing down globally, “coal’s last gasp is not yet in site”, according to a report from Global Energy Monitor published this year (2022). As a result of the pandemic, the amount of electricity powered by coal fell 4% in 2020, but rose by 9% in 2021 to a record high, according to an article in The Guardian earlier this year. China, meanwhile, appears ready to build more coal burning power plants than expected, in order to increase short-term energy security, which would reverse the declining trend of coal use for energy in the region.
In some countries the outright denial of climate change continues to run rampant even at the highest levels of government, especially in the United States, the second biggest polluter on Earth.
Like it or not, we have been releasing billions of tons of additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere since the industrial revolution (and more each year), which is trapping solar radiation in the atmosphere, heating the planet, and melting the Arctic Ocean. With less ice to reflect solar radiation, the Arctic warms even more, which helps warm the planet even more. This is called a feedback loop, and the previously mentioned is just one of many, like the fact that the melting permafrost on land, in places like Siberia, is also releasing additional methane that has been stored in the ice for millions of years. Methane heats the planet even faster than carbon dioxide.
Another feedback comes from the world’s oceans. As they warm, they release more water vapor into the atmosphere, which warms the earth even more, causing the oceans to warm even more, releasing more water vapor, which traps even more heat, which releases more methane from the melting permafrost, and melting more ice in the Arctic, allowing the ocean to absorb more solar radiation, which warms the Earth even more….
In fact, there is a chance we have already passed the point of no return, and global warming may be like a snowball rolling down a slope, gathering more snow and increasing in mass as it rolls down, until it becomes a huge, murderous sphere moving at full speed, one that nobody can stop.
We may have already reached that point. Time will tell.
Tensions are rising
Although it seemed for a time the world was becoming more and more peaceful, recent events have shown that trend may be reversing. Political polarization has engulfed many parts of the world, driven in large part by social media, the rampant spread of unfounded conspiracy theories that too many people fall for too easily, as well as an increase in nationalist sentiment in many parts of the world, which can lead to the glorification of one’s own nation to the point where it feels justified in invading others, because it is the nation’s destiny to impose it’s values throughout the globe, a doctrine the United States has embraced for decades to justify its military, and often violent, incursions in other nations on nearly every continent.
Only a few years ago the idea of Russia invading a neighbouring country was believed to be an obsolete fear, after all, the Soviet Union had collapsed in 1991, and for years countries were embracing democratic policies where the people had a voice. No more. According to an article by DW, “for the first time since 2004, the Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) has recorded more autocratic than democratic states. Of the 137 developing and transition countries examined, only 67 are still considered democracies. The number of autocracies has increased to 70.”
Not only is democracy on the decline and autocracies gaining traction across the globe, but the risk of a nuclear Armageddon may also be at its highest level since the Cuban Missile Crisis, considering threats from Vladimir Putin, tensions between the US and China over Taiwan, and an increasingly militant North Korean regime.
Yet even before the invasion of Ukraine, it seemed much of the world was becoming more obsessed with weapons designed to wreak havoc on society than technologies designed to protect us from, say, an impending climate catastrophe of our own making. Last year, the United Nations reported that “more than a decade ago, developed countries committed to jointly mobilize $100 billion per year by 2020 in support of climate action in developing countries.”
But that target was never met.
Meanwhile, joint world military expenditure in 2020 alone was estimated at almost $2 trillion. This means that, for some reason, most countries around the world struggle to come up with $100 billion dollars over several years, collectively, to try and save us from climate catastrophe, while they appear to have no problem coming up with $2 trillion dollars in a single year in preparation for war.
What is wrong with us, and will we ever change?
As mentioned earlier, some religions, and many new age spiritual movements, as well as most “positive” thinking people in general, like to believe we humans are destined to become an increasingly more compassionate species, and that some “great awakening” is just around the corner. Sadly, there is absolutely no evidence for this, and more recently, the opposite appears to be materializing.
With regards to the human brain evolving into that of a more civilized species, many social scientists and evolutionary biologists accept the notion that our psyches are still only equipped to handle the threats of our ancestral past, such as falling trees, lions, other predators, and other tribespeople. There’s a reason racism and xenophobia remain pervasive even today. Thousands of years ago, those who looked different from us were most likely from a distant tribe, and unplanned run-ins with those from far-away lands often led to war and even genocide.
According to David P. Barash, professor of psychology emeritus at the University of Washington and an expert in evolutionary psychology, “almost certainly there have not been any significant changes in the human mind during the last 45,000 years or so.” This means, on a cerebral level, we are basically the same people today who a few centuries ago were burning “witches” alive. The reason we appear to have become more “civilized” is probably just the result of advances in technology which have made life easier.
On a global level, most rational world leaders in the modern world know it is usually more beneficial to exchange goods with another country than to invade them. The slowdown in warfare compared to previous centuries, in broad terms (and with many exceptions), probably has more to do with the benefits of trade than with ethics.
Regardless, considering the interconnectedness of today’s world and the abundance of nuclear weapons, what may appear to be a skirmish between two nations can turn into a global conflict with the potential to unleash a mass extinction event, and the farewell of our very own species.
Even if we do manage to survive into the next century, all we need are the right circumstances (like the collapse of the global economy, or worse, a lack of food and water) to turn us back into those witch-burning savages of our not so glorious past. A nuclear winter or the now unavoidable effects of climate change may just bring about such circumstances.
But hasn’t the internet made us smarter?
When the internet first came out many people believed the ability to easily share information from all corners of the globe would make us all more intelligent and enlightened. But the opposite has proven to be true. Attention spans have dropped significantly, especially among young people, and the most efficient way to capture their attention is by way of short, simple, and entertaining videos.
The problem is that reality is often complex, and understanding the world can require extensive reading. Short videos oversimplify reality, and make it easier to see things in black and white, with no regard for nuance, the reason politics has become so polarized (if you’re not a woke liberal who embraces the idea of there being 50 genders then you must be a neonazi).
Since dwindling attention spans lead to the need for over-simplistic interpretations of the real world, social media has become fertile ground for the spread of science denial and belief in bogus conspiracy theories, along with outright indifference to undeniable global threats.
Actually, throughout much of the 20th century it appeared people were getting smarter, what was known as the Flynn Effect. But in recent years those apparent gains in intelligence have been losing ground as young people’s IQ test scores are dropping like melting glaciers into the ocean. We are no longer getting smarter. We are getting dumber.
What can we do?
It would be great if whoever oversees everything that happens on Earth (that small group of extremely powerful individuals conspiracy theorists like to blame for everything from Covid-19 to the recent hailstorm that damaged their car) would have a collective awakening and use their power to make the world a better place.
The scary part of this whole story is that no one is really in charge (at least not at the level conspiracy theorists believe), and the world is a much more chaotic and disorganized place than most of us would like to accept, and the most powerful individuals are not always the smartest or most rational thinkers. Sure, there is probably a «button» that if pushed could release the most destructive weapons in history and end life on Earth as we know it in a flash, but there is no single button that will end world hunger, political polarization, radical nationalism, global warming or human deprivation.
What can be done? Well, if there were a group of powerful individuals in control of almost everything, and they realize things have gotten out of control, then perhaps they could team up with the world’s top biologists to engineer a new generation of Humans 2.0 with genetically modified brains that are more evolved, peaceful and intelligent, and who would eventually replace their outdated predecessors, us.
That could lead to a real great awakening.
But that’s quite a long shot. For now, let’s just try not to burn any witches.
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If you’re a passionate reader then you may very well enjoy my fiction novel The Shadow in the Mirror, where you can find out what’s actually going on with Harold Hopkins (genre: paranormal suspense).
Harold’s only wish is to lead a normal life. Yet for reasons he can’t comprehend, he is shunned by all living things. No matter how hard he tries, he is unable to garner attention from the woman he loves, nor can he foster genuine friendships or find a decent job. Meanwhile, since childhood, he has been haunted by his own reflection in the mirror, which frequently acts as a window to another world. The person on the other side is everything Harold wishes he could be, like a clone of himself leading the fruitful life he was destined to lead. He finally sets off in search of answers, where he learns about the unearthly events that took place when he was born, and discovers the tantalizing truth about his own existence…
Available on Amazon both in paperback and Kindle here.
