The General Concept of Civilisation

Let us not resort to lengthy introductory reasoning and instead begin straight away with the statement of a rather obvious and already overused fact: all is not well with humanity.

What is so special about this thought? Show me something with which all is well. The unhappiness of anything is the normal state of this anything. Otherwise it would be ideal — and the ideal, as is also well known, does not exist. That is true, but… There is being unwell, and then there is BEING UNWELL. People are not the most foolish or irresponsible of beings. And humanity has existed for a very long time. Even if we disregard what the Teaching says about these timescales and limit ourselves to the current data of official science, we are still speaking of tens of thousands of years. That is, to put it mildly, an impressively long history. And what have we achieved as its fruits today? Yes — airplanes, orbital stations, computers, advanced medicines, skyscrapers, developed arts, and a few other useful things. But what lies beneath this grandeur? A brutal struggle for survival, as in ancient times; people who are fundamentally little different from primitive savages, always ready to strike their neighbour on the head with a club; in great part, or even in the majority, selfish, often cruel, sometimes filthy, periodically unwilling to actively use their brains — and in this last aspect, even more benighted than their distant ancestors. And as the pinnacle of the great club — nuclear weapons, along with various other means capable of levelling cities and wiping out all of humanity in an instant. Developing for tens of thousands of years only to carefully preserve the savage within and invent effective methods of total self-destruction… That is not merely being unwell. That is a clear deviation in development, a pathology in all its hideousness. And a pathology of all humanity as a whole. At some point, something definitely went wrong. Or it did not go as it should have when it needed to.

The scale of what is happening suggests that the problems do not belong to any specific era, country, or nation, but rather to our entire civilisation. It seems to be developing incorrectly, moving in the wrong direction.

Here we must pause briefly and clarify what exactly we shall mean by ‘civilisation’ henceforth. It is a familiar word, yet, strangely enough, it has no single widely accepted definition. Some speak of civilisation simply as the level of societal development reached in antiquity when cities began to emerge; others speak of European civilisation, Asian civilisation, and so on; while some even refer to the civilisations of particular peoples or religions as a collection of their characteristic traits and achievements. What interests us is the global definition of civilisation as it applies to an intelligent race — in our case, humanity. Providing such a definition, especially a concise one, is quite difficult. But let us try: civilisation is an intelligent race within the context of the totality of its scientific, technical, social, cultural, ethical, political, economic, and other achievements. In our case, it is humanity at its current level of development, with all its accomplishments forming the environment in which it exists. Put as briefly and simply as possible, human civilisation is us and everything we have achieved and created. Let us settle on these formulations, for they are, in principle, sufficient for understanding the essence of the discussion.

Now, the question: what does the assertion “Something is wrong with civilisation” mean? It means that it has major problems with development. That is, instead of purposefully and successfully advancing, turning one achievement into the foundation for another, and consequently becoming ever more enlightened, humane, stable, strong, and prosperous, it hinders its own development, acts to its own detriment (and to that of any neighbours, if such exist), undermines and destroys itself, and fails to progress successfully towards its goal. What goal? Ah, that is the stumbling block.

What is the goal of human civilisation? It has none. Surprised? And yet, it is so. Wait before protesting. Tell me yourself what its meaning is. Some will say: to create conditions in which people can live, enjoy themselves, and be happy — by which they mean material prosperity, pleasures, comfort, and security. I would call such an approach primitive. That is the happiness of a rodent in a warm burrow, where there is a mate for breeding, a toy, and a food supply. If humanity exists for this, then there was no need for it to evolve beyond the level of small mammals in the age of the dinosaurs’ extinction. Everything necessary for such a life already existed then. A more advanced viewpoint will claim that the meaning of our civilisation lies in understanding the world and exploring new horizons. In understanding — yes. But that is not an end in itself. We eat in order to live, not live in order to eat. Understanding is needed for something, to achieve certain goals. What goals? For the aforementioned exploration of new horizons? But how, then, is humanity different from an ant colony, which does nothing but expand its territory and build new anthills? That perspective, though more advanced, astonishingly reduces us not merely to rodents, but to insects. A third perspective combines the first two: we can be inquisitive and enlightened while simultaneously enjoying life in newly explored spaces. Well, well… An ever-expanding population of hedonistic ants, exploring their planet and then space, travelling across the wonders of their scientific and technological prowess in search of new places to settle and consume… What an appealing picture! Almost sickeningly appealing.

Unfortunately, contemporary scientific thought cannot provide a clear answer to the question of the meaning and purpose of human civilisation. Both scientists and laypeople ultimately reduce it to survival at the very least and the pursuit of a good life at best. We set our highest goal as survival and achieving a comfortable, carefree existence. This, too, is the essence of various social and political concepts. One could say that this has been humanity’s core idea throughout history. It has migrated from primitive times into more civilised eras and remains in our own. Today, as in the past, people strive to survive and live well.

Is that wrong? No, it is right. But it is insufficient. Survival and prosperity are means, not ends. Yet they are perceived precisely as ends, as the highest values. People fight for them throughout history. However, they cannot boast great success in achieving their desires. They are constantly impoverished, suffering, and perishing — most often at each other’s hands. Because these limited goals are further narrowed by self-interest, each seeking them only for themselves. At most, for their own people or country. As a result, the pursuit of survival and prosperity turns into mutual slaughter, oppression, and suffering. After all, you have to survive and build a good life for yourself at the expense of others. And the struggle for such ultimate goals is marked by extreme brutality. This has always been so, and it continues today. The current level of scientific and technological advancement offers nothing new. Survival and consumption. Understanding — but only to determine where and how else to settle and what to consume. And beyond, in space, the same model is proposed. Simply because nothing better has been conceived. Develop to populate new territories. There, develop to expand further. There, eat, reproduce, and spread again. Why? Just because. For the sake of the process itself.

You may ask: “But what about the spiritual goals proposed by religions?” I will ask in return: how many religions do you know that offer a person goals more global than their personal spiritual perfection, personal enlightenment, personal salvation, and the like? At most — exerting influence on those nearby so that they too believe, are saved, etc. Religious ideas are usually tied to higher powers that determine the fate of the world. Basically people are offered the same thing: survival, only now in the mystical sense of saving the soul or something similar, and well-being — either during life, if the higher powers allow it, or after death, if one is deemed worthy. This hardly qualifies as a backbone that binds and directs civilisation. To serve as such a backbone and to shape the goal of civilisation, religions are too petty and amorphous. They fail to maintain unity and cohesion even within themselves. Perhaps religion is suitable for a person as an individual, but not for humanity as a civilisation.

So, what do we have in the end? Humanity advancing technically (and even that, until recently, with great difficulty), but psychologically stuck at the stage of primitive struggle for survival, and because of this, actually complicating survival — both for individuals and for itself as a whole. It has approached a dangerous threshold where the gap between technological achievements and the level of psychology is already fraught with global suicide — as if in mockery of the universal recognition of life, or rather survival, as the highest value. It has no clear understanding of the purpose of its own civilisation, and therefore either looks to the future with confusion and fear or projects onto it primitive cave-like notions. All this precisely means that something is wrong with our civilisation, that it has serious problems. It seems lost, wandering within itself, while also suffering quite severely — both physically and spiritually.

Disagree? Then look into history, carefully observe our present, and reflect on the prevailing ideas about the future. Just try to approach it impartially, striving to see what actually is, rather than what you would like to see. Perhaps then your opinion will change.

So, what can the Teaching propose in this regard? To begin with, it can offer a general concept of civilisation. For now, very briefly, in a few key points

Point one — the very definition of what human civilisation as an intelligent race is, what should be understood by this term. I have already provided it above, in the most concise form.

Point two — the necessity of a goal that justifies the very existence of civilisation. What exists now — simply to live and expand — as such a goal seems unconvincing. Because it is a process, not a result. It is like laying a road that will always continue, but the road itself leads nowhere. Survival for humanity is a means, not a goal. If life has no goal, it loses its meaning. This includes the life of an entire civilisation. And this cannot end in anything good. What could this goal be? If it does not lie within the realm of material culture, the life of the material body, and achievements of a material nature, whether technological developments or the accumulation of wealth, then it must be a deeper goal, one that goes beyond the material world.

Point three — the actual goal. According to the Teaching, sentient beings (i.e., intelligent beings in the conventional understanding of this word) carry within them particles of the Spirit — that which can be called the soul of the Creator, the soul of the Universe — and they must perfect them. Perfect them through the knowledge of the world, gaining an understanding of the difference between the natural and the unnatural, the right and the wrong, good and evil, and making a moral choice between them. Thus, the main tasks of a person are to understand how the world is arranged, to understand their place in it, to learn how to make the right moral choice, and to take actions that make the world better, not worse. This leads to the perfection of the Spirit, which in the future will give the Universe-Creator the opportunity to move to a new level of development. This is the purpose of each person individually as an intelligent being, and this is the purpose of humanity as a whole, as a collection of such intelligent beings acting together. Accordingly, the goal of civilisation is to provide a person with the conditions to fulfil their purpose. That is, to create conditions and opportunities for knowledge, moral and ethical development, and practical activity for the benefit of people, the world, and the Universe. And from here it follows that an even more far-reaching goal of human civilisation is to contribute to the evolution of the Universe, to the development of the Creator.

Point four — some important considerations arising from the above. First, it is essential to fundamentally change the approach to the further development and spread of humanity. Currently, the approach is based on the principle of “Develop to settle”, whereas the correct principle would be “Settle to develop”. The difference here is enormous. The goal of scientific and technical development should not be the exploration of new spaces merely to later peacefully engage in consumption on them, but to develop and explore new spaces in order to find new opportunities for further development, primarily intellectual and moral. Secondly — and this directly follows from the first — the main goal should not be a peaceful and comfortable life, but development. In fact, it is poorly compatible with peace and comfort. Rather the opposite: it implies a restless life, a striving for knowledge, constant forward movement, trials in difficult situations, overcoming obstacles, complex moral choices, work, and active creative activity. A developing person is not someone who builds a quiet and comfortable life for themselves, trying to avoid disturbances and not taking responsibility for anything. They are a researcher, eager for knowledge, a fighter, undaunted by difficulties and dangers, a worker, not afraid of complex tasks and creative challenges. Thirdly, it must be understood that life is given for the purpose of perfection, and thus for fulfilling one’s purpose. That is, life is a tool, and therefore survival, while very important, is not an end in itself. Knowledge can be fraught with risks and dangers, and the right moral choice sometimes involves suffering, even self-sacrifice. All of this is normal for a person living as a true human being, not as an aggressive predator, a quiet rodent, a parasite, or a vegetable. The most important thing is intellectual and moral development and the perfection of the Spirit; survival, in comparison, is a secondary, subordinated goal. Especially if we consider that each person lives not just once, but many times, and the final result of their development is formed from the results of all their lived lives.

So, let’s briefly summarise. A person and humanity have a goal — to contribute to the improvement of the world and the development of the Universe-Creator through their own intellectual and moral perfection and useful activity. For this, peace, comfort, and the life of a greedy consumer are not needed, but knowledge, seeking, sharp moral choices, and active work. Civilisation should provide a person with opportunities for all of the above. This is its function, and it must develop in this direction. All its collective achievements should work towards this.

This is the general concept of civilisation from the perspective of the Teaching. Knowledge and moral development as priorities. Providing people with the opportunities to embody these priorities in life. Peace, understood as rest, comfort, entertainment — good, but not when more important, priority things are sacrificed for it. The pursuit of well-being gained at the expense of others, and hostility on this basis, is unacceptable. A person should strive for what is truly important, to fulfil their purpose, and help others in this. People should act together in such a way that humanity as a whole develops intellectually and morally, and ultimately fulfills its purpose as a rational species. They need to build their civilisation in such a way that it, in turn, creates conditions for their development and fulfilment of their purpose. That is, more simply, so that they can become better themselves and make the world better.

When the Teaching becomes the worldview of all humanity — that is, in our space, in the space of the Teaching — the approach to the meaning and functions of civilisation will be precisely this. It will correct the sad and dangerous deviations in its development that we observe today, help defeat egoism and hostility, and eliminate the danger of global suicide. If one does not fear pathos, one could say that this will lead humanity onto the right path, which it has been searching for many thousands of years.

How can we get there? How to organise everything? How to build society so that it works this way? What should the education of people be like, so that they can create such a civilisation? The general sketch I have given here raises these and many other questions. Well, this in itself is the most fascinating of studies. Let us undertake it and gradually move towards the answers.

© Atarkhat, 2023