There's always been a significant amount of chatter and debate on the nature of humankind, and the state as well as the direction of society. Whether we talk about the glory days of the Akkadian Empire, the Babylonian era that followed it, the pip-squeak nations and empires of the Ancient Greek and Romans, or the fresh-faced societies that appeared after medieval times in Europe, many a philosopher, politician and common folk have seen fit to comment on those points.
A big constant in those many thousands of years has been the struggle between essentially the supernatural and rational schools of thoughts. One advocating humankind and this Earth as some kind of set piece in a game between supernatural beings that far exceed our capability of reason and power. The latter advocating humankind as individuals in a world that can only be understood if regarded and interpreted in a rational, logical fashion. The former school of thought promotes religion and so-called spiritualism. The latter is commonly referred to as humanism.
When it comes to my own views, it has likely helped that I grew up in an environment where religion was practically absent, and critical thought encouraged. Unshackled by views forced onto me while still developing my thinking skills, I have always found the concept of humankind being a set piece somewhat ridiculous. It was quite obvious to me that everything that I could see around me and see on television was humans doing things to other human beings. Whether they were nice or not so nice things.
The main issue I see with the non-rational school of thought when it comes to humankind's position in this world is that there is no evidence to support it. Though many are adamant that there's 'something more' and that 'some things cannot be explained', scientific progress over the past centuries has shown that the only place where this way of thinking truly flourishes is within the gaps of our knowledge and understanding. Religion and spiritualism are therefore symptoms of ignorance where our brain tries to fill in the gaps, finding patterns and understanding where there is none.
Realistically, I have always been a humanist, in the sense that I acknowledge that there are no higher powers other than us humans, with societies shaped by our intellectual capabilities and our other defining features. There are no gods or mysterious forces to take into account. No gods to communicate with or take orders from. Our lives are not determined by supernatural beings, but our own to live and decide about. Mostly, that is.
While in essence we can decide about our own fate and lives, sadly too many in society are born, grow up and will die in a society that is in every way as restrictive as the gods of religious texts could impose on their followers. The cruelty of religious and other dogma, that of induced economical scarcity of resources, the denying of education, healthcare, affordable housing and a happy existence based on one's social status, etc. All of those things are inflicted by human beings upon other human beings.
Nobody told them to do those things. Much like with the horrors inflicted during war time, the horrors we inflict upon others during peace time happen because at some point societies and groups of people become more than just individuals, and irrational rules and laws take on their own life, perpetuated in a system that's both formed out of individual human beings, and which strips those same individuals from their ability to self-determinism, freedom and all too often happiness.
The injustices in modern society are simply too many. Yet we humans keep finding ways to get around fixing them. Whether it's tradition, pure inertia or simply a sense of helplessness. We can see a family become homeless through no fault of their own and struggle for survival on the streets. We can walk past a beggar without a shred of guilt. We watch armed conflicts on the news with emotional detachment, even as pictures of dead and starving civilians pass by. Because those things simply happen, and we as an individual are powerless to do anything about it.
In a sense things like nationalism, greed, egoism, cognitive bias and so on are at the core of society's problems. They are problems because they are not rational and therefore unhelpful or even outright harmful. They impede progress, are the very reason behind conflict and the rejection of new ideas.
If I hold a belief it is that I believe that although humans are the very cause of most human suffering, those same humans also have the capability to prevent and end this suffering. By making a fairer society that's based on reason and intellectualism, one could create a world in which it truly does not matter what kind of environment one is born into. Instead of a dystopian society where your social station and success in life depends on your birth and matching the right requirements to qualify for preferential treatment, we could have a society in which needless suffering is eradicated.
It could be a society where any problem by an individual is seen as a problem for the entire society, with everyone pitching in to their abilities to resolve the problem. A society which works towards a common goal of making life better for everyone, instead of giving you a 'tough cookies' if your ability to self-exploit yourself for progressing in society isn't quite strong enough.
Here I think that a society as portrayed in the original Star Trek series (especially The Next Generation) hits many of the right notes, where people live to improve themselves, not because they must, but because they want to. They aren't being forced to exploit themselves through working menial and unwanted jobs, but they are motivated to seek the parts of themselves which they'd like to improve, regardless of whether it's in social studies, art, medicine, or some branch of science.
I think the most wonderful thing about that vision is that it'd finally end the role of our animal past, putting behaviour and simple hormonal needs behind us and instead finally embracing our humanity.
Maya
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