The scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published interesting research in 2018 by American scientists from the University of Wyoming. Scientists have concluded that the cause of the death of the ancient civilizations that existed over the past 10,000 years was the processes of globalization, where the death of one civilization in a chain reaction led to the death of another. Based on an assessment of the level of interaction and synchronization of human populations, scientists have concluded that adverse changes in ecosystems and social systems can be transmitted from society to society. Research findings suggest that the process of globalization is a natural consequence of evolutionary trajectories that increase the carrying capacity of human societies.
The question of the demise of civilizations has been stirring many “scientific minds. The world-renowned historians E. Gibbon, D. Diamond, J. G. G., and J. M. G. Tainter, V.I. Gulyaev, V.I. Kuzishchin, G. Ferrero and others identify many of the prerequisites leading to the collapse of society and civilization. These include depletion of natural resources, the emergence of a source of new resources, economic and political crises, class or social conflicts, invasion of barbarian tribes, catastrophe, natural disaster. But scientists are unanimous in their opinion that a crisis in one sphere of society inevitably leads to the degradation of other spheres.
N.YA. Danilevsky in his work “Russia and Europe” connects the death of civilization with internal processes, and the main cause he calls apathy of despair in the people. According to him, it is in people, in their creative activity, energy lies the source of the development of the cultural-historical type. But as soon as this activity dries up or simply decreases, his imminent death is approaching.
The view of the English historian А. A. J. ToynbeeThe first is that the breakdown of civilization begins with the stage of fracture. The reason for the breakdown is the degradation of the elite, which is changing the values of spiritual, immutable to temporal, earthly. He called it “idolatry” and defined it as “intellectually and morally flawed deification of the part – instead of the whole, the creature – instead of the Creator and time – instead of the eternal. This is one of the delusions of the human spirit, with the consequence of turning ‘high divine works’ into ‘an abomination of desolation’. The collapse of civilizations, according to Toynbee, goes not only in social structures, but also affects the souls of people, causing negative emotions of distrust, anger, hostility, envy, evil, and a general reassessment of values.
A.J. de Gobineau In his work “Experience on the Inequality of Human Race,” he sees the main cause of the death of civilization in the “degeneration of the people,” in its degradation, in its internal crisis as a carrier of this civilization. Having reached a certain level of comfort, material goods, stability, peace of mind, i.e. of civilization, the nation ceases to reproduce. Values are being replaced, the institution of the family is disappearing. Selfish human needs are increasingly valued and encouraged. No one worries about the continuation of the species, and all the above factors eventually lead to death.
As can be seen from the examples presented, the main reason for the disappearance of civilization is the internal factor of the people, the personality. When we degenerate from a “creating” society to a “limitlessly consuming” society, satisfying our basest processes and needs, the death of civilization ensues.
To revive civilization, it is necessary to find a new model of the future, to identify a vector of further development, to find an attractive ideal of social organization. As M. Lightman and V. Khachaturian write: “The old social dominance is clearly exhausted, and the search for alternatives is already beginning to unfold in different regions of the world. Among them, from our point of view, is a project that, at first glance, is quite extravagant and not very realistic. Its essence is that humanity is about to make the transition to a new state – The “cell ” is a single organism, uniting billions of “cells”-individuals into a living, inseparable whole.
We live in an age of change, when much depends on specific people to give the world development the right current. And it must begin with a decisive reconsideration of established conceptions of man, society, and the universe. V. Vernadsky, Teilhard de Chardin, Peter Russell, and M. Moiseyev made great contributions to the foundation of the idea of integrality.
An integral perception of the world opens up the possibility of resetting world society. It connects the individual with the common, the personal with the group, the private with the whole. This is a new approach to solve all the global problems of civilization.
The old world is crumbling, and humanity silently watches its powerlessness. Many are beginning to realize that there will be no going back to the past, and are asking the question: What’s next? What should we do?
Nature herself tells us the solution. Take a closer look at how unified the universe is, how interdependent we all are. The entire universe is permeated with invisible threads that connect us at different levels and stages of existence. The world is global, integral, and man must also enter a new round of development and become integral. Humanity of the future is a single organism, a certain global connection! A bond based on the dogmas of the well-forgotten old world – love, harmony, cherishing each other.
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
Subscribe to the 22nd Century Club’s Telegram channel and stay up-to-date on current social trends and predictions about the future.
