Have we Progressed?

Our society is the product of our past and the mold for our future. The large “free” markets, the expansive cities, the movies and even the way we dress are all inherently influenced if not dictated by our past decisions. Our form of capitalist market with its ever expanding products and members was created years ago by political and economic leaders of the day. What we eat today was picked yesterday, by farmers, policy makers and consumers then. Everything we have now was planned and built for by our parents. We inherently are subject to the whims of yester year. How is this proven? Lets look at some examples.

                The energy market was built up and chosen in the industrial era of the world. The idea of burning fuels for energy and production was put into place by revolutionizing business of the day of the industrialization. Yet this idea of burning to create, originated prior to this time. First it was wood for the smiths and tinkers of the romans, then it was the coal for factories. From this it jumped to burning in designated plants to generate electricity which then was transported to the factories. Coal was eventually replaced by oil and natural gas. This seems too many to be a progression from the past, yet all it is, is the use of a different fuel on a larger and larger scale. Our methods of energy production have only increased in scale and have changed in fuel. What about the windmill and dams and nuclear plants? They too are the reproduction of past technologies on a larger scale. Windmills where to grind corn and grain, while the power of flowing water was harnessed before even that. Nuclear plants are the idea of burning, combusting or exploding fuel (mind you slowly) brought to simply a new level (and a dangerous one many believe). The only real departing from the past is the development of solar panels to harness the sun. Yet as smart as that may make us look, it is easily accomplished more efficiently by simple grass. We need just look to the past to see the echoes in today. We can look into the past to see trends that helps us predict the future.

                Let us look at food next. Arguably we have come a long way from the early days of hunting and gathering to the modern super market. Yet it is simply the expansion of older ideas with the application of newer and more advanced technologies. The modern loaf of bread for example has many different ingredients in it to make it taste better, last longer and feed more. Yet the ways we look at food is still the same. We add new chemicals and ingredients to prolong the shelf life of bread. This has been a constant and ongoing process from early day bread. We would add salt, honey, oil anything we could think of to make it last longer. We would have different preparation and storage methods followed by longer and longer distribution chains. Yet still always a dependence on the loaf of bread and the original role if filled. The only difference between the food of today and history is that we put more and more complex things into our food (not necessarily a good thing) allowed by our technology. Again the original ideas hold through, only the technology has changed and built upon the years before.

                The final example is social media. Gone are the days of week to month periods waiting for letters from friends across the planet. Gone even are the days of having to depend on the daily e-mails to connect. Now we have instant communication and sending of information. Yet nothing about this is inherently new. We simply seek new technology and methods which shortens the geographic distance between us. We still rely on written communication and voice communication. We are just the beneficiaries of the building up of technology over the years. The humble telegraph was hailed to be just as ground breaking as the first wireless phone call or later the first e-mail. We need just look to the past to see where our devices and methods have come from.

                But where does this leave us? Are we to think nothing really has changed? Are we to think that the article writer is talking out his arse or is just babbling (maybe the babbling part). What you should take from this is twofold. One is a better humbler sense of your place in the world. You are only able to create or do what you do because of the achievements and creations of those before you. That you yourself are not changing the world to any degree more than those before you. Think not that your instant message tech is any better than the power of electricity that makes it possible. The second thing you should come away with is a sense of scope. What happens today is important to us inherently, but it is even more so to those who follow, just as those happens from our parents years are important to today. History shows us where we are from, where we are and the direction of where we are going.