Have human beings reached their full potential?

Koba St

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Majority of the worlds humans are still living in slums and surviving on 1 dollar a day and you're talking about reaching our potential? :francis:

If this is our full potential then we really have failed as a species.
 

mbewane

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I never said nuclear technology was better than other forms of energy production. I agree that we have much more ground to cover with nuclear especially the recycling of the waste produced by the technology.

I put tech stuff just to pop the conversation.

There are many roadblocks to living peacefully when equity is not distributed evenly throughout a society.

Many people today that speak various languages throughout the world as has been the case for thousands of years and view the world from a macro point of view. Increasing the amount of people who use their minds that way is the hard part.

One idea that still puzzles me is money. Money or currency has been used for thousands of years to get people to do things or not do things. I wonder if there will ever come a day when people collaborate on a massive scale towards bettering the life of their neighbors without monetary compensation. My favorite song about this is Peter Tosh's "The day the dollar dies".

I do feel we have reached our potential. We are able to use our minds in any fashion we choose. That doesn't mean we won't be berated, judged or ridiculed before we are praised. I guess we have to take the risk and sacrifice to explore our potential. You are absolutely right about government. It is such a hard thing for humans to get right and will continue to be a struggle.

No offense meant by my answer, it's because I've been reading a book (Afrotopia) that states that wht we believe is "progress" is mainly a Western concept born in the 15-16th century that evolved into nowadays capitalism and that has been imposed to the rest of the world as the only wya forward (TINA : There Is No Alternative). But it doens't make sense because Western-style capitalism, political organizations, etc...are the END RESULT of centuries of trials and errors and are based on local specificities. That's why even how democracy works is different in France, the US or Belgium, just as capitalism is. So it makes no sense to export the end result of hundred of years to other areas of the world, who have their own internal dynamics that would probably lead them to different models, and call that "progress".

For example the author of that book explains that in various african societies economy was but a means for a bigger objective, social cohesion. So it wasn't about maximizing indivual richness (western capitalism) but about making sure the society as a whole worked. Economy was a tool, not the objective, as opposed to what we see now. And the same can be said for some technological advances, who were believed to be the answer to all the issues in society (especially post WW2), and we all see that is not the case. Not saying it's useless, but balance (as in all things) is needed.

That's why I think we're far from having reached our potential, because I believe that the western system has bettered our lives on a material standpoint but has missed the point regarding social interactions and living together and well-being for all. No need to explain that, we see it every day. I think (maybe I'm naive) that other ways are possible. Just think of the GDP indicator, that is STILL used despite it being an flawed way to measure wealth, and is in no way a way to measure actual well-being.

And there were precisely societies who worked more on trading one thing for another as opposed to doing it for a monetary compensation, and to project one in the future, instead of debt it was basically trust between who was giving the "grant" and who was receiving it. So obviously, trust (that can be obtained by social interactions) was a huge aspect in those societies, because one could be banned or ostracized if he didn't give back what he was supposed to. There's a small form of grant in some african countries (tontine) that still work like that to this day : everybody chips in once a month and whoever needs money can take some and put it back following month. No banks involved, no contracts, no fees, no nothing. Just trust. Obviously whoever doesn't respect the system might "win" short term, but will lose those social interactions and lose respect in the community. And we're back to that point : what is more important, money (western capitalism) or social interactions and being part of a whole?
 

KOohbt

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We have no limit. But we also aren't guaranteed existence as a species.
 

Bless't

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No. Most humans are still controlled and identify with the content of their thoughts. We have not risen to a higher state beyond our egos and most have not even had a glimpse of their true authentic self.
Building skyscrapers and weapons of war do not signify an advanced ciivilization. How we interact with each other and the planet determines our advancement. When we rise to a higher state of consciousness the technology we create will reflect that as well.
:blessed:

Good thread.
 

unit321

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Becoming?:heh:
Been like that for centuries. If mass media was around then you would see they did some wild shyt back then. Some of the stuff we condemn now was accepted back then
That doesn't mean it was right because it wasn't condemned.
 

Mowgli

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We've had pyramids, skyscrapers, hyper rail, birth control, nuclear technology, the wheel & cannabis shatter.

As a species have we gone as far as we can go?
Not until black people are at the highest levels of society in abundance innovating freely
 

lotteryplaya

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No, we are held back by religion and politics. If you knew stem cells would save billions of lives religious fanatics would still spend enough lobby money to stop it. If you knew solar cars and electric cars should replace all combustion engines to end air pollution it wouldn't matter because billionaire oil guys pay politicians through lobbyists. This is minor compared to what humanity should have accomplished by now.
 

THOT CATALOG

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Majority of people have too low IQ + majority too selfish + Ignorance is bliss.
 
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