Is the Evolution of Human Thought the Key to Progress?

Almost no one is in favor of slavery anymore.  Yet a mere 170 years ago there were millions of people in the United States who felt that somehow slavery was a morally acceptable institution.  They justified it through passages in the bible and through various forms of supposedly logical reasoning.  There may still be instances of slavery  in the world today but there is no longer any serious attempt at justification.

Less than one hundred years ago, a majority of people in this country believed that a woman’s place is in the home and that she should not be allowed to vote and should only have a vocation if she is unable to find a husband.  There may still be people who believe that today, but generally one can say that this is no longer an acceptable point of view in society at large.

There is a general ‘consciousness’ in human society that evolves.  It is different from biological evolution in that it may go through pendulum-like cycles of advance and regress, but there can be little doubt that our global consciousness has changed dramatically over the centuries.

Examples of this are the two major shifts mentioned above.  But there are others:  

• The idea of conquest of another society or people is no longer generally accepted.  War still occurs, but for other reasons – ethnic, religious, economic – i.e. for failures of diplomacy rather than outright desire for conquest.

• War itself is now seen as a ‘necessary evil’ rather than a noble calling.  We still venerate war heroes and seem fascinated by war, but the idea of war and battle being a crucible that all men should pass through is no longer embraced by most of the world’s people.
• The idea that some races are innately superior to others has also fallen into disfavor.  There is certainly still racism, sexism and ethnic prejudice and stereotyping, but most people accept, at least in a theoretical sense, that every race and ethnic group should be treated equally.
• Torture is no longer seen as an acceptable form of punishment or interrogation.  There is sadly still plenty of torturing done, but society in general no longer tolerates it.

Societal norms change.  Some may change and then revert back in a reaction to either too rapid or too dramatic a result.  An example of this is sexual practices.  There have been numerous periods of more liberal sexual mores followed by a return to conservative practices.  However, the general trend, or change in consciousness, has been a gradual recognition of the complexity of our sexual nature and an acceptance of more open sexual relations, including the use of birth control, the widespread acceptance of pre-marital sex, depictions of sexual relations in film, TV, books, etc. and the overall willingness of people to openly discuss sexual matters.

The evolution of consciousness can in some cases be accelerated in today’s world where there is instant global dissemination of information and ideas.  The rapid de-criminalization and acceptance of homosexual relationships, including the legalization of marriage in many countries, is an example of this phenomenon.  This has taken place over a period of 50-60 years.

As we look forward to the future and ponder how human society can confront the many ills that still plague it, it seems clear that the path forward is through a global shift in consciousness.  We have learned through painful episodes that humans rebel when forced to do something and that the reaction can sometimes wipe away any progress.  Laws alone cannot change society.

The civil rights movement is a good example.  In the end, it was not Brown vs. Board of Education or the Civil Rights Act that brought in the new era for African Americans, though certainly they helped solidify the gains.  After all, there were laws on the books after the Civil War that should have in theory accomplished much the same thing. It was a tectonic shift in attitudes throughout our post-WWII society that allowed these new behaviors to take root and slowly become part of our societal organism.  And that consciousness is still evolving.

The biggest impediment to progress is and always has been self-interest.  It is only when self-interest can somehow be associated with societal consciousness that advancement is possible.  But how does this occur?  Theories of change such as the tipping point, the hundredth monkey and Gaia have all postulated a kind of organic relationship in society where a critical mass of thinking can rapidly spread more or less uniformly across the entire population.

An example is recycling.  It is inconvenient for people to do the extra effort required for recycling, and they will rationalize their refusal to do so. But if recycling is taken up by enough people to become a societal norm (as it is already in some European countries), then people will feel motivated to embrace it as if it is in their own self-interest, which of course it is in the long run.

Someday it will no longer be acceptable to let people in the world starve or die from preventable diseases.  It will no longer be acceptable to have some members of society go bankrupt paying for chemotherapy.  Someday it will be accepted that we must curtail our use of carbon-based energy to save the planet and it will feel good to accept some limitations on income and material possessions as a part of a world sharing of resources.

These are very idealistic goals for the evolution of consciousness, but human beings have undergone some pretty amazing shifts in thinking over the past two hundred years, so why not hope for the best?