Mankind...more to be proud of, or ashamed of?

[Vikes1]

From time to time I wonder about this.

No question that Mankind has accomplished some incredible things. From the moon landings, to the development of medicines that cure/alleviate pain and suffering. And countless other advancements throughout the centuries.

While at the same time...mankind has inflected horrors nearly beyond belief upon one another. The worlds war machine is well fed, while millions of children throughout the world go hungry.

What do you guys think? If you had to chose one or the other. More to be proud of...or ashamed.

[Cusefan]

Quote: Originally Posted by Vikes1

From time to time I wonder about this. No question that Mankind has accomplished some incredible things. From the moon landings, to the development of medicines that cure/alleviate pain and suffering. And countless other advancements throughout the centuries. While at the same time...mankind has inflected horrors nearly beyond belief upon one another. The worlds war machine is well fed, while millions of children throughout the world go hungry. What do you guys think? If you had to chose one or the other. More to be proud of...or ashamed.

pretty trivial thing to think about imo, i would not spend much time thinking about it.

[SPTO]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cusefan

pretty trivial thing to think about imo, i would not spend much time thinking about it.

I think you're being too harsh saying that it's trivial to think about after all philosophers and such have talked and written about these things and I don't think they're trivial minded folks.

I do agree that it's not something to lose sleep over but this isn't a black/white issue. I'll cop out and say that Mankind has achieved a lot but in the long view of the Earth's age and how long humanity has been around we're just babies. Unfortunately like babies we tend to grasp towards things that can cause us harm. We're at the cusp from being a Type 0 civilization to a Type 1 Civilization. It's this jump that's the hardest and many theoreticians believe that's why we haven't seen so many alien civilizations out there because most civilizations fail in this important transition.

So in the end we've achieved a lot but we have more probability to cause our own downfall.

[Cusefan]

Quote: Originally Posted by SPTO

I think you're being too harsh saying that it's trivial to think about after all philosophers and such have talked and written about these things and I don't think they're trivial minded folks. I do agree that it's not something to lose sleep over but this isn't a black/white issue. I'll cop out and say that Mankind has achieved a lot but in the long view of the Earth's age and how long humanity has been around we're just babies. Unfortunately like babies we tend to grasp towards things that can cause us harm. We're at the cusp from being a Type 0 civilization to a Type 1 Civilization. It's this jump that's the hardest and many theoreticians believe that's why we haven't seen so many alien civilizations out there because most civilizations fail in this important transition. So in the end we've achieved a lot but we have more probability to cause our own downfall.

Humanity as a whole is Inherently bad, and will in all likelihood be its own downfall. Take away civilization and pit 2 people against each other for a chicken drumstick, someone who has no qualms about killing and someone who would think twice about it, evil wins.

That being said, why be ashamed of it? Sure we all say that murder is bad, rape is bad, genocide is bad, but when it happens to someone we dont know we dont care enough to do anything about it. We can discuss something depressing like this till we are blue in the face but in the end it changes nothing. People are still gonna kill, rape, and slaughter other elasticities, but life as a whole will go on. And when that giant nuke or asteroid destroys earth, the only thing that will be remembered is our cruelty to each other.

[Cebby]

Why would anyone be proud or ashamed of what somebody else did?

[BurghFan]

In its current state, our so called civilization seems more likely to wipe itself off the face of the Earth than spread to the stars. There is far to much hatred and prejudice and bigotry in the world and virtually no logic or common sense. To many people with no respect for human life and no moral fibers. People need to get past all these ethnic, racial, religious, etc. differences and realize that in the end we are all human beings and need to work together if we are to survive.

[DocHolliday]

Personally, I think Humans were an evolutionary mis-step of sorts. Nature made us too smart. We will eventually take ourselves out, the Earth will refresh itself, and it will not make the same mistake again.

[SPTO]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cusefan

Humanity as a whole is Inherently bad, and will in all likelihood be its own downfall. Take away civilization and pit 2 people against each other for a chicken drumstick, someone who has no qualms about killing and someone who would think twice about it, evil wins. That being said, why be ashamed of it? Sure we all say that murder is bad, rape is bad, genocide is bad, but when it happens to someone we dont know we dont care enough to do anything about it. We can discuss something depressing like this till we are blue in the face but in the end it changes nothing. People are still gonna kill, rape, and slaughter other elasticities, but life as a whole will go on. And when that giant nuke or asteroid destroys earth, the only thing that will be remembered is our cruelty to each other.

Ok well that's where we differ, I think we're all inherently good it's just that we are too smart for our own good and try to find shortcuts to everything. There are some who are inherently evil but they were a minority who took control of the operation of society and how its run which in turn has made us regular folks more jaded and thinking along the same lines as those evil people.

I do agree that one shouldn't feel ashamed or proud but rather just marvel at what humanity has done in such a short time in the grand scale of things.