In the current global civilisation climate there is an insane amount of inequality that is ingrained in each of us from birth. The vast majority of people will never reach their true potential, whilst many people automatically exceed theirs. This inequality slows us down as a species. This inequality is increasing on many fronts. This inequality fuels greed, and survivorship bias.
Despite this many advances have been made. Technology and diplomacy have improved. Poverty and famine have decreased. We're a more robust species than we've ever been. The credit to this is typically given to the system, and a few key individuals who were most poised to take advantage of it.
These advances could have happened much sooner had more of humanity been given the opportunity to reach their true potential. Through genetics the vast, vast majority of us are born with a powerful brain, able bodies, and strong empathy. Through the archaic system we've created through history the vast, vast majority of us are artificially limited in reaching our potential from the very moment we're born.
Civilisation as a concept is very young, even on a universal level. On the micro level of our planet we have had something resembling civilisation for no longer than 10,000 years, and on this very day there are large pockets of humanity that are disconnected from it on a global level. That's a very short time scale when looking at evolution and the existance of humans on our tiny green and blue speck. Given the scale of the universe there is little doubt in my mind that civilisations exist elsewhere, likely at a much later stage than our own. Given the youth of the universe, and the benefits our planet has to offer in terms of water, solid gravity, minerals, and nutrition, it's unlikely that there are civilisations who have an opportunity to race ahead of us. The only advantage would be whether other similar planets formed at an earlier point in the universe. We could say there's maybe a few million years in it.
The archaic proto-civilisation we find ourselves in today still mostly follows the nature over nurture concept. There is a fight for survival. There are few universal concepts within the luckiest nations such as health and education, and even these universal concepts are not universally applied. And they basically suck. Most of us are still scrambling to meet our own needs. We all, to a degree, have tunnel vision; and not because we want to.
But these steps are hope. Despite the poor attempts to lift ourselves up collectively they are attempts. Despite mistrust of others there is a growing number of people we care about. Despite our misguided attempts at creating stability our hearts are in the right places.
Something humanity is missing right now is alignment, a common goal to strive to. As civilisation grows and expands without any one common target we become increasingly disconnected. The (rightfully) selfish attempts to get our own lot in life push us all wider apart. It's difficult to achieve global alignment with so much going on in the world today, and with the machine marching forward with none of us knowing what the end goal is or what our place is in it.
I strongly believe, unfortunately, that this stuff comes in time. It is not something that can be done today. We are on an unstoppable march forward that will produce great hardship for ourselves and lessons will need to be learned the hard way before any real change happens. None of us have the answer to what that goal is. None of us can agree because our unequal perspective of the world and personal struggles makes alignment difficult. Each of these problems need solved at a micro scale before the big chunks begin to reveal themselves. No one person born today has the forsight to know what goals we should all be working towards.
We do know there are things like the climate crisis, but how does that actually get solved? Does any one person actually have a clear answer, or are we still discovering problems and basic solutions? If we stop what we're doing and put ourselves behind this now, then what about the relatively fragile global supply chain that will leave the most vulnerable, already depressed individuals with no voice suffering further? There's no clear prioritisation and roadmap, only a utopian vision that's different for all of us.
I strongly believe that utopian vision will be found. Our solar system is going to be stable for millions of years to come. We are not going to die out in that time. We have an insanely powerful energy source at the centre of our solar system that produces more energy every second than we have consumed in the course of our civilisation to date. There is a post-scarcity utopian opportunity within humanity's roadmap and it's unfortunate that living right now means we aren't one of the majority of humans who will be born to experience it.
What we can do in the meantime is aim to leave the universe in a better state than when we entered it. This won't always happen. False beliefs and false prophets will fool us. Disaster will strike. Mistakes happen. But if we try our best to give ourselves perspective, show humility, and do what we can with our stunted lives, humanity's path will eventually present itself. The civilisations of 10,000, 100,000, and 1,000,000 years from now, will all look vastly different.
Your impact as an individual at this scale will be microscopic no matter if you're Einstein or stacking shelves at a grocery store. If Einstein hadn't discovered the theory of relativity someone else would have. But being first is important, it moves the needle forward that tiny bit quicker.
By focusing on doing right in the present, in the small ways you can, you will help us get there faster. How many Einsteins have come and gone and never been noticed outside of a small number of people due to inequality of opportunity? It's a complex system. No-one alive today has the answer. No-one who has ever existed saw the path. But it's there. Do the best you can with your artificial limits to find your small part of this path.
