“The human failing I would most like to correct is aggression. It may have had survival advantage in caveman days, […], but now it threatens to destroy us all. […] The [human] quality I would most like to magnify is EMPATHY. It brings us together in a peaceful, loving state.” (Stephen Hawking)
Again, he is simply brilliant!
We don’t need to be a genius to have an idea of the damage we are doing: we are overpopulated, living longer, producing too much trash, and destroying nature for greed, superfluous comforts and luxuries. And, in our culture, we value accomplishing self-centered goals and wants over caring for each other.
In other words: we are moving too fast and … in the wrong direction.
We are so good at adapting to survive, and we have the experience of millions of years on this skill! We can adapt by choice … or we can be forced by circumstances, which tends to be more painful and maybe even catastrophic in this particular case.
So, what if we readjusted life style, slowed down progress, and cared more for one another and for the planet?
I believe the caring more (in actions) for one another and the planet would increase exponentially our physical and psychological health as a society, maybe even almost eradicate anxiety and depression (and many other psychological dysfunctions!), not to mention all major health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes.
What if we were more present for our families and community?
What if we took the time to prepare our meals together?
What if we interacted more as a community in a friendly way, not in a rushed and competitive way?
And what if we slowed down our greed and our vanity of showing off superfluous comfort and luxuries?
What if we reduced our speed in developing our technology, companies, and society? What if we cultivated economical ways of progressing while working more in tune with nature, instead of destroying it?
We would still evolve and develop creatively, technologically and scientifically, but destroying less, reducing trash production, allowing people to have a healthier and more balanced life, and nature could balance out in a less harmful way (for us!!!).
After all, the bottom line is that we can do whatever we want, as fast as we want. The planet will survive just fine and eventually balance out again – with or without us.
And, aren’t we here to be happy?
Haven’t we realized yet, by instinct and by science, that we are happier when we are connected to each other and when we have a more balanced life?
Haven’t we realized yet that being so aggressively greedy and fast, just cause us to be more disconnected from ourselves, others, and the world? And for what? Vanity?
Well, maybe we are just modern cavemen with newer high-tech cool toys walking faster, taking selfies, while moving towards our self-destruction.
Oh, if only we could slow down and care more for one another and the planet!
Oh, wait … Actually, we can! But, will we?
