There has only ever been one issue stretched across the lifespan of humanity. This issue has taken on many shapes and sizes, but if you're able to cut through all the events, labels, definitions, and emotions you have around these topics and simplify it down to basic concepts, you'd find something like this.
In summary, everyone exists in a box. When someone finds a larger box to exist in, the people in the old box accuse them of being in an even smaller one. These boxes represent the progress of society, while others cling to how things were.
When everyone says and believes the world is flat, and someone comes along and says it's actually round well, in short, they burn him alive. This was a man who found a larger "box," but everyone else accused him of being in an even smaller box than the one they were in. Hence, the results that followed.
It wasn’t that Giordano Bruno was wrong it was that people couldn’t admit they were. This event is referenced so often because it's such a clear example of that dynamic.
This dynamic appears in every corner of society, and many people are already aware of it. But there’s one major “gotcha” most don’t realize. Both systems are necessary. One group looks to the past for answers, the other to the future.
But there’s a third component that most people ignore. Nature is an efficient system we are deeply connected to, that creates balance and efficacy that has far outlived humanity. When we look to the past, we should recognize the efficacy and balance found in nature. And when we look to the future, we should carry that same sense of balance and efficiency with us.
A common term is "the laws of the jungle." People usually use it to reference the death and violence that occur in nature. But this reflects more of a human mindset than it does an accurate picture of the natural world. If you pay attention, you'll notice that nature is more about life than death. While nature is incomplete without death, the majority of natural systems are focused on life. reproduction, evolution, balance, and efficiency. Nature is incredibly efficient. How many organs do you have that doesn't serve a purpose?
But what about a lion? It kills and eats other animals, right? Again, this is the kind of carnage the human mind tends to focus on. But a lion doesn’t take more than it needs to survive and provide for its family. You won’t see a pride of lions wiping out all the giraffes, leaving them extinct, or enslaving all the elephants. Those kinds of actions would destroy the balance.
Greed is a side effect of understanding death in nature and exploiting it for personal gain at the expense of the planet and our species. That’s not to say we should shy away from a fruitful life but we should pursue it in a way that enriches the lives of those around us, as well as ourselves. This creates a much stronger system, one with the potential to last for millions of years, just as nature has.
Sadly, we can't get there unless we, as a species, agree to go there. This is also why every government system fails given enough time. If you've noticed, every system of governance in theory makes sense conceptually but given time, it fails. That's because people continue to ignore and drift away from the systems that sustain life, and in return, begins to rot.
The tension of this decision creates a lot of chaos. And you don’t have to do much digging throughout history to find examples of that. I do believe humanity has decided that life is important, and that this planet is our ally in sustaining that importance. We just can’t forget where we came from, the systems that create life, and the future that benefits all aspects of existence.
Nature already gave us the blueprint, but most people think they’re above it.
Without it, society begins to wobble.
