Humanity and it Progress in the 21st Century | INFJ Forum

Humanity and it Progress in the 21st Century

Patrick Williams

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Aug 12, 2012
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Although no one would dispute that technology has advanced or progressed in a linear direction of ever increasing progress but what would you say for humanity in general?

In the 21st Century, has humanity, as a whole, progressed forward, stayed the same or regressed?

Are we becoming more human as we progress or less?

Have we evolved right along with our technological advancements or is modernity turning us into soulless/heartless/human-less beings who fight and clash with one another (in the big scheme of things) in an effort just to survive?

I may not be wording this right so please feel free to re-word this in a way you understand or expresses the question more accuretly and give your thoughts. Thanks.
 
I see technology as helping us to be more connected to one another on a purely informational level. However, I think that popular technology can also play a role in stripping us of individuality and dumbing down what we are able to communicate, i.e. "likes" etc.

It's as though we're gradually becoming like neurons in a cancerous brain which has no rhyme or reason to how it develops.
 
Technologically progressed - yeah... one thing that we should do away with in this section though - when somebody invents something, nobody should be able to buy the patent and lock it away in the drawer in the interests of their business. There seems to be a lot of that happening around the world, especially with alternative renewable energy sources...

Morally we are going into self-destruct mode in my opinion, theres too much greed (and all the evils that come from greed) and not enough love to go around, I hope the breaking point is near for this, so we can evolve ourselves as well, not just technologically.
 
Nothing's really changed. Just same old shit with shinier toys...
 
We could develop self-replicating, intelligent nanobots that merge with us and bring all of mankind immortality and we become gods, or those same nanobots could eat the atmosphere in a week and destroy all life on Earth. But the answer is probably somewhere in between.

Not that it matters. The world's ending on December 22nd anyway :p
 
My point of view.
People are always people. Sometimes bad, sometimes good. As idealist, I think that most of the time people can surprise us by being great, strong and brave and noble and all that. Something similar to Gandalf's thoughts on hobbits:) Who saved the day/world in Middle Earth? Some wise elegant elf? Some strong and brave and handsome man? Somebody else? No. Average hobbit.
But, the damage done with bow and arrow is less than one done with nuclear weapon and modern tehnology. Somebody said, I can't remember name, that Auswitch crimes are not caused by techology that did it, but by arrogance and ignorance.
So, progress is double sided sward. It could be blessing or curse. Choice is our own. Not just of some politican or world lider. But mine and anybody's else. Daily. Example, without internet I would not know any of you. We could not discuss all these great topics. Techology changed our lives. For better I hope. Mine is for better:) So much knowledge and wisdom from this forum...We are changing world every day:)
I could have use net for something less good. I did not. I made my choice:)
 
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We could develop self-replicating, intelligent nanobots that merge with us and bring all of mankind immortality and we become gods, or those same nanobots could eat the atmosphere in a week and destroy all life on Earth. But the answer is probably somewhere in between.

I dunno about you, but becoming a god sounds awesome. I want technology to progress even more!
 
It's really hard to comment on where humanity stands in the 21st century.

We have not evolved quick enough to keep up with the technology. I often feel as if the intellectually capable will be busy inventing and creating things, while those less so are busy reproducing. I predict a rift is forming in human evolution, with a stark contrast being drawn between the intelligent and the regular joe. I can already see this now in my day to day life.
 
I don't believe in progress, but I do think that for the most part, people are much, much kinder than they have been in the past. It's easier to say that it's all horrible and we're losing our souls and people are cruel to each other and the world is going to explode... but I think that it's pretty easy to feel positive and secure about a past that most of us never experienced.

If you think about it, it wasn't so long ago that things like torture and repression were commonplace. Public executions used to be popular, and they used to be more brutal. We've definitely come a long way since the middle ages... but then, I suppose it used to be easier to isolate yourself and have your own community that didn't necessarily have to follow the rules laid out for you by the governments... and you could explore the world as opposed to needing permission to go onto what is probably someone else's private property, or a nation's land.

I think the biggest social difference between the past and the present is that expectations were much much lower in the past-- both in terms of what people were entitled to, what their life was supposed to 'mean', what they were 'allowed' to do, etc... and in terms of how governments and nations should act, and their responsibilities to their citizens. Life in general was 'nasty brutish and short'... and even as recent as 100 years ago, it would be safe to say that the majority of people didn't receive much of an education... unless it was a religious one.

It would have been easier to commit crimes without being caught. There were also fewer services in place to help the disabled... they were pretty much just locked away and treated like a dirty secret or a science experiment. Most cultures were completely ignorant of each other, racism was a given, and societies institutionalized oppression and prejudice.

No, I'm pretty sure that this is the most civilized that we've ever been... there are idiots everywhere of course, but widespread access to education and information is definitely a good thing. Even though it's annoying that people seem to enjoy paying attention to their iPhones and such more than real people, I think that things will probably keep on getting better.

Of course, there will always be jerks, but despite our flaws, I do think that most people today are better than they used to be.
 
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I think as we progress technologically, our powers to shape the world around us will grow. The atomic bomb was the first big one, and it's currently the only one we have, but I think as time goes on each generation will see us holding the keys to our own destiny in our hands. Now, whether or not we use that to destroy ourselves or not I think is largely up in the air, but the Cold War was just the beginning.
 
Nothing's really changed. Just same old shit with shinier toys...

I think Horatio summed it up pretty much for me. :D

Technology is a tool. Like anything else - it's humanity's use of it that determines the alleged benefits or lack of.

I do think the internet is playing a particularly important function now in the evolution of our consciousness. It is functioning as a virtual collective.

So has humanity benefited from technology? To me it looks like we're still cycling through the same patterns we have been going through for the last few thousand years.
 
Things have changed way more than we realize. My grandmother died at age thirty of a now rare cause, leaving five kids to be raised by a farmer with a few head of cattle, an ass cart and an ass.

Today we wonder how we will provide a living for ourselves as we ponder living into our eighties.

I think that what was lost to us as humans (the deep religiosity of the time before the scientific revolution) is still within our grasp. We do not have to choose one or the other, only reconcile the two.
 
We only progress through technology. Technology is the only thing we have that takes us away from our savage nature. It wasn't culture or good will that ended slavery or gave women rights, it was technology that made it pointless to cling to keeping them as such. All great moral achievements come on the backs of technological advancements. Technology is the best part of our nature, because without it, we are wicked, savage beasts.
 
I do believe that we have 'progressed' whatever that means. I think there is more 'humanity' and equality. More knowledge. More opprortunies. Less classism. Less aristocracy. Better techonology. The sad thing is that these things arent available to everyone. Mainly just to those that live in the minority world. But more of us are aware and care- and thats what matters. we can change something until we understand whats happening first. Its very saddening to know that the majority of women in the world still do not have equality and homosexuality is still seen as unacceptable, even in parts of the minority world. But all these problems are fixable. we just have to try. The people have always had the power, we just dont realise.

For some reason it is really easy for me to imagine how hard life was throughout history. Maybe thats only because i love history and have an overactive imagination. But it seems clear to me that things have been improving. We have been evolving.

The only cultures i can think of that would have absoloutely been better off 500-1000 years ago are the Indigenous peoples of Australia, Native Americans of North America, Nomadic and hunter gatherer tribes, possibly China, and some island cultures.
Equality and social mobility seem to be key for a progressive, functional and 'good' society. Individual freedoms and liberties. Ofcourse many of us still keep slaves, but many more of us are aware that this wrong and the problem is fixable.

I dont know if many people (other than the arsitocracy) 1000 years ago had the luxury to contemplate the direction of their life and how they could live meaningfully. For most, it was simply a matter of survival. This is still the case in many parts of the majority world but it is within our power to change this. Very soon

I think tecnology is very important- especaily in the creation and spreading of information- communication. Technology needs to be open source to continue progressing and being an asset. Which i think it will become. An open source society where we collaborate rather than compete. Evolved. The most important factors remain our attitude towards each other, how we treat each other, lessening our ignorance by learning more, and taking personal responsibilty for our bodies and our effect on others an the environment. Education (scientific), tolerance, the role and perception of women and social mobility are fundamental to a progressive society. We can create any kind of society that we want. We just have to get off our arses and do it.
 
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Lately I've actually gotten into technofeminism (or cyberfeminism, whatever). I've always been interested in transhumanism (as you all might be able to tell, I blame too much Voivod and Brainiac), and while I might be skeptical of some of its more outlandish claims (WE WILL ALL LIVE FOREVER), I still find the ideas possible but mostly they capture my imagination. Lately I've been reading some transhumanist feminist literature and articles that explore the possibility of technology deconstructing gender. A popular hypothesis is that the woman's role of being the only half of the human population capable of carrying a fetus to term and giving birth to it is the largest cause of Patriarchy throughout history and that until mankind has transcended this last, major gender difference the sexes will never be truly equal. Solution of this problem could take many forms, including artificial wombs, cloning, or even developing technology that allows men to carry pregnancies to term.

Think about it. Imagine a world where gender and sex become completely fluid and dynamic, where people can use technology to switch between male and female, or anything in between more or less at whim. Where sexual partners can decide which one can carry the pregnancy. Outlandish? Perhaps. Will that happen in this century. Almost certainly not. The fact that it might happen at all just blows my mind, though.
 
There has been technological advancement but spiritual regression; i think this is causing an imbalance on an individual and on a societal level

There is currently a polarity within humanity between the rational and the abstract but they are both important tools for us. Our modern society is embracing one to the exclusion of the other and this is leaving modern society with a feeling of emptyness. No amount of new technological gadgets can fill the void left by ignoring the spiritual side of our nature

The wedge that is being driven between these different aspects of our nature is the ego

When a person is able to manage their ego they are able to balance the different aspects of their nature allowing them to use both and thereby reach their fullest potential

Carl Jung called the process of aligning the conscious and the unconscious mind the process of 'individuation'

We are like crucibles into which lots of things are fed. If for example you are a musician and you practise your instrument a lot you will get to a point where you are no longer having to think consciously about what you are doing as the process begins to be unconscious. This is the same as we learn to drive etc

We become 'experts' at something when the thing we are practising/studying becomes unconscious...or rather when the conscious and the unconscious mind are able to work together. That is why a good musician can play their instrument with lightening speed or why a sportsperson can perform an incredibly intuitive feat which can leave the viewer in awe: because our potential lies in the unconscious mind or rather in the union of the conscious and the unconscious mind, which is then capable of incredible feats

That is all on the microcosmic individual scale but at the macrocosmic scale humanity at large is currently in a state whereby it is not engaging fully with its unconscious mind. We are being trained to look outside ourselves for answers instead of looking within and the ego is running rampant

There has been a coherent policy by elites through the ages to get people to externalise and to literalise. For example many have been encouraged to interprete religion literally which has then disempowered them by hiding from them the symbolic power of religion which in turn then deprives these people of its transformative power because these myths tell us about underlying processes within our own psyches. If we are able to engage with them on that level we are better able to evolve ourselves by making conscious what was once unconscious and then working with that to improve ourselves and our situation

I think that the aspect of human nature that is currently being suppressed will re-assert itself. This will cause a lot of tension as the ego struggles to suppress it. However if that aspect of us can re-assert itself to equality with the other aspect then we have the potential for balance and harmony

This struggle will manifest itself in greater controls and surveillance put onto the people and their activities by the coldly rational athoritarian elites in order to prevent their spiritual growth and the acheiving of their fuller potential. Counter to this will be a ressurgance of interest in spiritual matters among the people and a widening of their perceptions to accept new possibilities.

After the turmoil the societal synthesis will hopefully be one of balance and of an ego under control where individual freedoms are not suppressed by the will of the few but at the same time are weighed against the individuals responsibilities towards their community so as to achieve a harmonious balance between the needs of the individual and the needs of the wider community
 
In this age we see reason continuing to assert itself over irrationality. In my opinion this has been a positive thing for most of the people who live in this age as opposed to our stone age past where irrationality dominated.

In the pre-ancient world of our ancestors, humans made no distinction between what was happening inside their psyche and what was occurring outside their psyche. The ego played no more of a role in their lives other that to keep them from falling down. The spirit world was the real world. There was a lot of physical suffering, deprivation, starvation, savagery, humiliation etc.

Humanity needed to take charge of it's environment and with the dawn of the Iron Age that is what began to happen. We have come to a point where our reason has changed the environment so much that we now alter the planet's ecology and climate. Soon we will have the tools to balance our deleterious effects and raise the majority of humanity to a level of physical existence that will be largely free of deprivation, starvation, and savagery.

But to get there, we need to find a way to embrace our inner consciousness. Each of us must be devoted to our "individuation", we cannot ignore that part of us that we are unconscious of. We need to be serious about it and recognize and respect this process in other people.
 
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That is all on the microcosmic individual scale but at the macrocosmic scale humanity at large is currently in a state whereby it is not engaging fully with its unconscious mind. We are being trained to look outside ourselves for answers instead of looking within and the ego is running rampant.

No, we're actually not… we're being 'taught' to be productive members of a society that actively supports and allows introspection and meditation to occur. You seem to have this idealized vision of the past and are completely ignoring the fact that 'spirituality' and 'truth' are actually luxuries that serve no practical purpose whatsoever… and the majority traditionally understood them in the same superficial terms that the majority still understands them in-- not because they're being controlled, but because their social circles reinforce those opinions and their social circles are integral to their beings.

I'm pretty sure that you didn't arrive at your conclusions because you have access to some sort of secret underground information superhighway… all of the information/discussion you needed to form your own obviously critical, insightful opinions is there for anyone to discover.

And I would definitely argue that throughout the ages the more high-minded concepts that are now widespread and freely available were usually off-limits to all but the most elite upper classes of society, who developed their 'spirituality' at the expense of the lower classes. In fact, the entire religion of Hinduism revolves around a caste system where the spiritual leaders are entitled to the most benefits.

But this isn't even something that is exclusive to Hinduism--'spiritual' people have always depended heavily on donations from productive members of society… industry, organization and a healthy economy permit spirituality by setting up a society of 'plenty'. I guarantee that even 200 years ago, people did not have time to sit around and have discussions like the one going on in this thread… they were too busy trying to survive. You can't have masturbatory discussions like these when you need to save your energy for the ploughs, or the fields, or the blacksmith's shop…

So yeah, to reiterate-- my point is that spirituality isn't being covered up or crushed by modern society-- mostly because there are so few expectations being placed on individuals. In fact, we're living in a society that is incredibly fertile and permissive when it comes to spiritual growth.

There has been a coherent policy by elites through the ages to get people to externalise and to literalise. For example many have been encouraged to interprete religion literally which has then disempowered them by hiding from them the symbolic power of religion which in turn then deprives these people of its transformative power because these myths tell us about underlying processes within our own psyches. If we are able to engage with them on that level we are better able to evolve ourselves by making conscious what was once unconscious and then working with that to improve ourselves and our situation

This is simply not true. There is more information available about a wider variety of religions and spiritual concepts than has ever been available before. Anyone can go onto wikipedia and if they're halfway intelligent figure out that some people interpret the Bible as less than literal. No one is 'controlling' anyone's mind… university religion courses don't teach 'literal' interpretations of religions texts, and excepting some moronic church leaders, no respectable educational institution is going to teach literal interpretations of religious texts as truth. Even in my high school we had courses where debate and critical thinking were actively encouraged-- and this isn't even taking into account the kids who get onto forums like these and enter into dialogues like this one.

This struggle will manifest itself in greater controls and surveillance put onto the people and their activities by the coldly rational athoritarian elites in order to prevent their spiritual growth and the acheiving of their fuller potential. Counter to this will be a ressurgance of interest in spiritual matters among the people and a widening of their perceptions to accept new possibilities.

After the turmoil the societal synthesis will hopefully be one of balance and of an ego under control where individual freedoms are not suppressed by the will of the few but at the same time are weighed against the individuals responsibilities towards their community so as to achieve a harmonious balance between the needs of the individual and the needs of the wider community

The only reason that there appears to be more censorship is because there is also more free expression. They didn't need to clamp down on it before because it didn't exist, and where it did, it was never as free or as wild. You're getting indignant over the perceived loss of 'freedoms' that weren't even an issue 20 years ago… if there was some grand master plan to corrupt everyone's souls, then why did they even permit things to get as wild and free as they are?

Even without the Internet, anyone can go to the library and find books on any subject. I'm finding it extremely hard to believe that you actually think your conspiracy theories are credible.
 
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fact that 'spirituality' and 'truth' are actually luxuries that serve no practical purpose whatsoever.

do you really believe that this is true. Honestly, if you were look at your entire life experience, examine all the people you know well, can you stand by this statement?
 
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There has been technological advancement but spiritual regression; i think this is causing an imbalance on an individual and on a societal level

There is currently a polarity within humanity between the rational and the abstract but they are both important tools for us. Our modern society is embracing one to the exclusion of the other and this is leaving modern society with a feeling of emptyness. No amount of new technological gadgets can fill the void left by ignoring the spiritual side of our nature

The wedge that is being driven between these different aspects of our nature is the ego

When a person is able to manage their ego they are able to balance the different aspects of their nature allowing them to use both and thereby reach their fullest potential

Carl Jung called the process of aligning the conscious and the unconscious mind the process of 'individuation'

We are like crucibles into which lots of things are fed. If for example you are a musician and you practise your instrument a lot you will get to a point where you are no longer having to think consciously about what you are doing as the process begins to be unconscious. This is the same as we learn to drive etc

We become 'experts' at something when the thing we are practising/studying becomes unconscious...or rather when the conscious and the unconscious mind are able to work together. That is why a good musician can play their instrument with lightening speed or why a sportsperson can perform an incredibly intuitive feat which can leave the viewer in awe: because our potential lies in the unconscious mind or rather in the union of the conscious and the unconscious mind, which is then capable of incredible feats

That is all on the microcosmic individual scale but at the macrocosmic scale humanity at large is currently in a state whereby it is not engaging fully with its unconscious mind. We are being trained to look outside ourselves for answers instead of looking within and the ego is running rampant

There has been a coherent policy by elites through the ages to get people to externalise and to literalise. For example many have been encouraged to interprete religion literally which has then disempowered them by hiding from them the symbolic power of religion which in turn then deprives these people of its transformative power because these myths tell us about underlying processes within our own psyches. If we are able to engage with them on that level we are better able to evolve ourselves by making conscious what was once unconscious and then working with that to improve ourselves and our situation

I think that the aspect of human nature that is currently being suppressed will re-assert itself. This will cause a lot of tension as the ego struggles to suppress it. However if that aspect of us can re-assert itself to equality with the other aspect then we have the potential for balance and harmony

This struggle will manifest itself in greater controls and surveillance put onto the people and their activities by the coldly rational athoritarian elites in order to prevent their spiritual growth and the acheiving of their fuller potential. Counter to this will be a ressurgance of interest in spiritual matters among the people and a widening of their perceptions to accept new possibilities.

After the turmoil the societal synthesis will hopefully be one of balance and of an ego under control where individual freedoms are not suppressed by the will of the few but at the same time are weighed against the individuals responsibilities towards their community so as to achieve a harmonious balance between the needs of the individual and the needs of the wider community

I like what you had to say, thank you!

I am also of the opinion that we are taught to focus too much on the externals and that we have ignored the internal to our own determent (and this is so endemic that we do not even realize it!).

I wonder if this is why there is so much angst, depression and a sense of emptiness in our modern society where the focus, by and large, is on the externals?...

anyway, I do not have too much to contribute to this discussion because I have more questions than answers (which is why I posted the question in the first place) but I just wanted you to know I appreciated your post and do think we do minimize or ignore the inner world of our souls or psyche (whichever a person is comfortable calling it) in our modern capitalistic, industrialized cultures where money and its acquisition seems to be the measure of all things.