To
consider where we are going, we must consider where we came from. Humans are
naturally gregarious. We are sociable and we enjoy living in groups. That is to
say we are similar to a pack of wolves in that we care for each other and look
out for one another. This was the staple of our original dominance over other
animals. Individually we fell short physically compared to other animals, but
together we flourished.
Consider
our origins compared to now. We have grown well beyond a pack of humans
struggling for survival. Our group dynamics have changed dramatically. Human
beings no longer function as a pack of wolves – we are more closely related to
a colony of ants. The level of over-organization in our world today demands us
to function on a level which is counter-productive to our own biology.
Civilization itself is “the process of primitive packs transformed into an
analogue...of the social insect’s organic communities” (Huxley). We have been
trained to live inside this colony and in the process we have been torn away
from our natural direction. Sure, for a while everything seemed great. After
all, human beings are ruling the world now. However, with great power comes
great responsibility, not only for us and our future generations, but for every
living organism on the planet.
Our
cities and provinces and countries function as organizational tools. Within
them, we are made to function like automata. City life is anonymous and
abstract. Our relations with each other have deteriorated as a result. We see
each other as either the “embodiments of economic functions” or “irresponsible
seekers of entertainment” (Huxley). Our feelings of loneliness and inadequacy
are on the rise and our overall search for meaning is becoming unbearable. The
fact is meaning is decreasing under these circumstances. It is no secret that
the amount of cases of depression and mood disorders are increasing. Even very
serious disorders such as schizophrenia are on the rise and such cases are more
likely to arise in large cities. Our highly organized lives are only furthered
by our advancing technologies. Humans have now been forced into a process of
de-individualization in order to better fit into our new social roles. We are
no longer the pack of individuals working together to survive – now we are
merely part this unnatural whole where our individual significance is
immaterial or worse – unnecessary. All our work of creativity and freedom has
led us to the point where it is now being stifled for the betterment of...what
exactly? It is obviously not for individual pleasure because we are more
depressed now than we have ever been. Why are we forging on in this direction
without asking where we are going? Has society as a whole reached some special
level of existence? If anything, we have reached a point in time where our
over-organization has taken precedence over everything else. Being on time for
work overshadows stopping to help an old woman in need of help on the street;
supplying myself with consumer goods trumps sacrificing in order to preserve
the environment; having ripe fruit from some exotic country eclipses the need
to feed a starving country somewhere on the other side of the world.
This
overpowering will to order is encompassing everything we know. It can be found
in politics, science, and art alike. We have strived for intellectual, material
and political progress all at the expense of mental health. Humans are not made
to be automata. Such a notion runs in contradiction to our mental health. This
kind of uniformity we are being subjected to is incompatible with mental
health. This kind of uniformity is incompatible with our notions of freedom. We
are all being imprisoned by the powerful elite who control the governments and
the means of production and the mass media of communication. We are told what
to like and dislike. We are told what to value and not value. We have sat back
and let ourselves be manipulated into thinking that the direction we are
heading in is indeed towards some beneficial end. This giant organizational
machine has simply steamrolled right over us and left us floundering it its
wake. Where should we turn to in this time of need? Our very own social ethics,
which are supposed to exist for this very reason, cannot even relate to this
organization. The notion itself is absurd. “An organization cannot be good in
and of itself; it can be good only to the extent that it promotes the good of
the individuals who are the parts of the collective whole” (Huxley). The ‘ideal
person’ has now become one who values their job over everything else. I ask
you, where is the humanity in that?
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