Humans do not ‘go back’ by choosing to de-industrialise or de-civilise. (De-civilising in terms of moving away from training and taming). Humans ‘go back’ by turning their backs on the development of the higher self; a self particularly differentiated from that of the other mammals.
One of the expressions of the higher self, is the human ability to notice the ‘long term’. The long-term view enabled humans to develop exceptional technologies, but the long-term view was neglected also, in choosing not to notice the full effects of technology’s harm.
To the extent there was turning away from that long-term view, humans were engaged in de-humanising themselves.
De-humanising ourselves; pretending that the long-term harmful effects of technologies are of little consequence, is going back to the time before the development of the pre-frontal cortex and the beginnings of humanness; before there was understanding that there is a difference between the short and the long term.
If there is any doubt humans neglect the long-term view, consider that humans stand on the edge of a dead planet of their own making, but discussion of an attempted cure is treated like a swear word; it is not talked about except in impolite company.
Geoff Dawe, Uki
