RE: Is our society really evolving?
Wow...powerful post...first how does one define " better" ? Thanks to major leaps in all areas of science...we live a lot longer and have more casual time for the population as a whole...not just the elite class...yet we still have elitists...they just get to have more choices in their daily lives than those of us on tighter financial budgets...
Before modernization people lived to work...most of their days were spent merely surviving and life spans could be very short....today we work to live...yet for many of us there never seems to be enough time...what I have realized is once a new thing turns from a luxury to a necessity...it no longer makes life "better"...it becomes commonplace for everyday life therefore just one more burden...the internet is the perfect example in my lifetime....even break through medicines over time may stamp out a particular virus...only to have a new one surface...technology will never make the human condition perfect...
As long as humans are human...there will be power struggles...inequities...some with more than others...and extending life spans with increasing populations doesnt sound like nivarna to me...
America is unique...we hoped for liberty and justice for all...and as you mentioned...a lack of respect for history makes it too easy to take for granted the rights one has today to mess up life the way we do...and whether you buy into the concept or not...once we began to untie the "one nation under god" concept that knotted us together...we become just like so many other commonplace civilizations where each individual becomes a nation unto themselves...having no common compass to guide us thru the storms...
It is interesting the relationship you make between work and evolution, because that is clearly the reason why there is more material wealth than in the past, but it is also important to differentiate if it is a true evolution because of human ingenuity, or a simple natural reaction to the events of nature. When the ancient Greeks lived, citizens did not usually work, slaves did it, almost everyone had one, then over time, and resources ran out, the number of citizens who had to work was more, and only the elite had rest, the end of slavery and serfdom only meant (in this specific field) that now there would be no elite living from others, so everyone should work, and now thanks to technology, we are trying to have what the Ancient Greeks had more than 2000 years ago, time of freedom without having to work. More than an evolution, it can be the reaction of humans to the challenges posed by nature, such as the scarcity of resources.
Fascinating...although while not a history expert at all...not sure if most Greek citizens didn't have to do some work? Can't imagine they all sat around philosophizing back in the day...as well...it seemed they were always in battle so imagine a lot of citizens were forced into combat roles?
In terms of future...while we may pretend that tech will allow us "not to work"...I think its just the nature of work that will change as I believe you alluded to...more mental and less physical...unless we create a society where genius and tech coupled with incarcerated labor pools produce enough resources for the rest of us to "goof off"?
In most Greek polis the work was done by serfs, while the citizens were engaged in the military and political professions, in Athens the citizens had a lot of leisure time, although they also had a military obligation, and the majority was dedicated to the politics or the professions that most appealed to him, citizens used to have several slaves, even tens of them, not having a slave was synonymous with extreme poverty.
I believe that in the future there will be jobs that don't exist today, but we live under the constant illusion that at some point we can sit down to rest and enjoy the pleasures of life, which I personally don't think will ever happen.
The dynamics and nature of the work, as well as its objectives, will change, although the work will not cease to exist.
Greetings and thanks for sharing your thoughts.