This is my best effort to give justice to these ideas. Pondering those who have gone before us, what they wrote, what they did, I wondered how they were able to do so, given the extant knowledge of their times. A clue came to me when a suggestion appeared on my YouTube screen today, The Twelve Most Difficult Books ever written.
At one point in my lifetime, I visited Cambridge University in England. There, I often heard the phrase; it was here that so and so read whatever. As if education came solely from reading. Then there was reference to how Abraham Lincoln acquired his knowledge by reading in sun, fire, and candle light. The signers of the Declaration of Independence, of the colonies from England, all came from diverse places and backgrounds but shared one thing. They were well-read in the books of that time.
There is a similar thread that passes through our history, our brains are trained to think in a certain way. It seems that this happens through being exposed to formative thinking via books and teachers.
Our schooling system, from infanthood through PhD is built on the same structure. We are exposed to successful thinking through reading and the influence of others who are steeped in the knowledge we seek. In the university system, the gradation of degrees prepares the student for participation. Those who have the desire, and demonstrate the ability, are brought along to the summit by those who have already achieved it.
Our mind, however, is different from our brain. It chooses that about which we think. Analogous to hardware and software in our computers. It is that choice that decides what we accomplish, both individually and as a group.
This is the structure of our Western civilization. It is different from that of other civilizations such as Islam, Hindu, Buddhism, Judaism et al. While these seem to be religions, they go deeper in that they prescribe a way of thinking, another way of saying a civilization. This is the struggle we are facing now. Which will dominate?
The human population of the world is expanding, and some civilizations are not capable of meeting the perceived needs of the people. The people, therefore, look for other civilizations that appear able to do so. Then they move towards them. Unfortunately, when they don't change their way of thinking, and attempt to impose it on the locations and existing population to where they move, major problems can occur.
This, in a nutshell, is where we are today. The philosophies of some extant civilizations have morphed to allow material and spiritual needs to be satisfied, others have not. One in particular is Islam, who has adhered to beliefs that are not compatible with the current human experience. Thus, we have the situation that exists in the middle east, unrest. Some move and don't assimilate, which is problematic.
In the future, as we continue to run out of habitable space, the situation will only get worse, unless and until the philosophies merge, reconstructing into a workable situation. If the past is prolog, there is hardly a chance of that happening. Another alternative is annihilation of the weaker until there is only one. A third is continued co-existence which will only last as long as there is enough room, so this is not a long-term possibility.
