Have people in the First World lost the ability to comprehend the general Human Condition?

Question

like from living for so long in organized societies , being used to technology for generations etc are they getting out of touch with basic human instincts and phenomena that are characteristic of more natural spontaneous societies ?
Does that affect their ability as societies to make sound judgement on general humanity issues ?

Answer 1

People in general are not capable of understanding the human condition... People in the "first world," actually have a slightly better chance because of the wealth of information available, but that doesn't mean they will interpret it correctly, especially since they have an obsession with materialism that seems to make them irrationally concerned with "justice" and "humanitarianism," to compensate for the guilt of their indulgences...

No human is capable of understanding the human condition, because we are circumstantially incapable of understanding ourselves (the human brain, if compared to a map, would have to include itself and the copy of the universe it contains, the individual universes contained in the minds of others, and the copies contained of their copies of their universes until it became a massive black hole... That's why people seem to dig the universe by God thing... Much less complex.)

The simple condition of humanity is that we are a form of life, and therefore in competition for available resources. Somehow we think that making sure everyone survives and gets a fair chance at life and wealth is the right thing to do... While we worship movie stars and throw money at multinational corporations....

In Africa, missionaries wanted to help villiagers improve their living conditions. These villiagers wanted bicycles to help them get around for work... They were diamond gatherers... And couldn't afford a bicycle on what the company was paying them, they need bikes to tote bags of rough diamonds around. So, now you can be a good citizen by donating funds to buy African workers bicycles so they can work for pennies a day making sure that there aren't diamonds lying around bringing down the market price (the abundance of diamonds in certain areas is ludicrous, I mean they're just chunks of compressed carbon fer crissakes,) most of the stones are shipped to Antwerp to be locked away in vaults... Just so diamonds can continue to be considered "rare."

The Horror... The Horror...

Children are starving all over the world... Wont you help them eat? So they can grow up and breed hundreds of thousands of more hungry children? Doesn't it stand to reason that we are contributing to world hunger by feeding those who are already unable to grow food for themselves?

We are achieving a new level of world-wide "self awareness" but we only want to see how we can make ourselves feel better, not actually BE better. Is it our job to help the rest of the world? Sounds nice. I mean, we have such a surplus of food and resources, wouldn't it be nice to lend a hand to places that have less? Sure. But that might not be very smart, and we may not be so wealthy and abundant in food and resources for long. We should focus on our own problems, not the egocentricity of pop icons and new cars, but on what we accept as a given. Most of the world is religious, and consequntly, most of the world believes that THEY are powerless to make their own destiny, that GOD will fix everything and that the world of man will end in FIRE...

Whoa... Hold on there, partner... I'd rather try and find a philosophy that doesn't end in hot, steaming death for us all, myself and the starving children.

You want to save the world?

Stop buying magazines featuring Britney's latest brain seizure, stop buying bikes for impoverished corporate employees who are helping keep a stranglehold on the "free-market," and stop worshiping invisible fairy godfathers who want to wipe us out for being unworthy.

Start paying attention to your own family, your own community, stop paying homage to an imaginary father-figure that wants to "cleanse the world of filth," (i.e. you, me and the starving children,) and contribute to a new way of thinking that might not leave you warm and fuzzy, but might help make civilization sustainable.

Answer 2

The masses have ALWAYS been led by the few. This is nothing new. Thinking is hard work. It takes a lot of practice and demands the willingness to challenge one's own thinking. These are rare qualities - now and in the past. Socialism, Communism, Nazism and related ideas are easy concepts to sell to the unthinking masses. That was the history of the 20th century (and hundreds of millions died and billions suffered as a result). Today, Islamic fanaticism is leading a large body of unthinking masses down the same road. History truly does repeat itself. Sadly, 'modern' public education seems to be contributing to the trend you believe is present. Critical thinking is almost totally absent in public educational training (even at the college level) and the programming of children's minds to believe that 'how they feel' is the only important basis needed to justify their actions/beliefs is becoming too commonplace. Few seem to appreciate that "that is how I feel" is not a justification for taking a position but an acknowledgment of total failure to think clearly prior to taking that position. Best wishes.

Answer 3

I believe from living a sheltered life resulting from years of capitalism, folks in America (speaking very generally) have lost a connection to the natural world; consumerism consumes more than just natural resources; in America, it's a way of life. There exists also an artificial expectation of producing and being productive as if relaxing and enjoying life is taboo. I feel like I exist in a machine-world where everything's for sale and nothing of value - has value. Great question ~

Answer 4

"...more natural spontaneous societies ?"
Can you name one?
Let's see, who would we want to be better in touch with; aboriginal peoples? Is that the "natural" human condition?

Humans worked darned hard to organize societies and evolve technology. Really cool stuff like the hot shower and brain surgery. If that's out of touch, so be it. Darwin would approve.

Answer 5

The "general human condition" is going to vary from place to place. The conditions in Africa are going to be very different from those in Mongolia or Alaska.

It happens that the "general human condition" living in a technological society is going to be different than when living in a non-technological society. Different experiences and different problems.

This is quite natural.

Answer 6

I hate that first world-third world ****.

We all live on one world and just because you own an iPod doesn't make you any better.

Answer 7

they are just godless and are driven buy greed