The key question in the 21st century
In the 20th Century the human race ascended and descended higher and deeper than ever before. We discovered the origins of the cosmos at the quantum level and our own origins in the evolution of DNA– and we went to the Moon and killed more humans in wars than ever before. To me this raises the question, why do we not explore our own depths as far as we can reach in our knowledge and imagination, to understand who we are and why we do these things?
I think it has to do with our mindset.
Many thousands of years ago, human self-consciousness arose in the course of evolution — and we began to ask questions about our origins and future. We invented writing and libraries to capture and store our answers to such questions. Gradually we developed philosophy, science, art and religion. The scope of human knowledge and understanding grew to the point that, in the early 21st century, no one person can hope to understand everything. It seems that most people now simply live in the present and don’t reflect on the heights and depths. A very common mindset seems to be “I can’t understand everything so I may as well live as best I can in my local situation. At least I can get my head around that.” That mindset is closed to the heights and depths and, in a profound way, impoverished.
Why is it important to change this mindset to one which values exploring and reflecting on the deepest questions about the heights and depths?
I can give my answer but it’s much more important for you to think about your own situation and attitude towards the heights and depths. I attempted to answer that question in my latest book Once I Was Lost. You can read a summary at my Amazon site: Click here.