Writing Prompt: Is Human Progress Smashing Paradise?
Perhaps you are looking forward to a day when there is no progress
In every civilization, there is a period of bliss, when there are no wars and life is simple. The minute there is progress, life gets complicated and paradise is smashed. This has happened for several ancient civilizations since the dawn of time, from the Egyptian to the Mesopotamian, the Greek, the Incas, the Aztecs, the Chinese, and the Indus Valley. When things begin to change, human life has to move with the changes or they disappear from the face of the Earth, like the lost civilization of Atlantis.
It seems that whenever there is human progress, a part of paradise, that calm and predictable life is smashed and transformed beyond recognition. Would you say that human progress is smashing and has smashed innumerable moments of paradise humanity has enjoyed? I think that progress and advancement have indeed crashed and smashed paradise for human civilization over the years, from the invention of the wheel to industrialization, to the creation of machines, biotechnology, space exploration, and now the development of artificially intelligent computer systems, nanotechnology and other forms of scientific endeavor.
Perhaps you are looking forward to the day when all progress in science and technology comes to an end. Life will go back to being simpler, when it will be normal to live and work on a farm, doing ordinary things, like cultivating your land, growing crops to feed your family and selling farm animals and trading in the marketplace. There will not be any motorized cars, powered by fuel, no rockets being launched into space, no artificial intelligence writing reports, creating AI art, no genetically engineered crops and animals, no new medical systems powered by nanotechnology to cure diseases, no internet on your phone, no GPS tracking and no working in an office, with a hundred others, no flights around the world, connecting people, cultures and making the world one global village. Is this what you would like to happen and will this be paradise for you, the day when progress stops?
Would you say that progress is inevitable and nothing can stop it? So, whether we like progress and all it brings with it, we cannot stop it, and trying to stop moving forward in life, is futile. However, even today, a person can live a simple life, by living in the country, staying on a farm, and living an autonomous existence, as many have done. It is a lifestyle that many are choosing, all across the world. Would you make such a choice and adopt a simple, self-sustainable lifestyle for your lifetime?
Simple lifestyle yes. A choice. Glass bottles, reduce plastic. Start somewhere.