Page 70 - WhoAreWe...

On Patience, and Why the Scale of Time and History is
So Important

We hear all the time of complaints and ideas and opinions
that would indicate that people want to affect great social
change right now and in their lifetimes. We also hear
opinions formed on the basis of just a person's lifetime
experience, ignoring human history and the revelations that
can be gleaned from it.

Many people are not optimistic about the human condition
and will tell you that the human race is declining into
something horrific. These people are ignoring human
history. The simple truth is, that if you read and study
human history you will see that in the past 250,000 years or
so, we have made incredible, exponential advances in our
quest to become more responsible, compassionate,
conscientious people and treat each other better and with
more respect, love, and grace.

Are we anywhere near the finish line? Absolutely not...and
we never will be. There will always be opportunities for
improvement. It is just silly to think that we are not making
progress and anyone who is making broad generalizations
about the human race based on just what has happened in
their own, relatively inconsequential ~80 year lifetime, is
just plain mistaken.

The truth is that if you understand that we humans have
only been around for the extremely short time of 250,000
years, while the universe has been around for some 13.8
billion years. and the earth some 4.5 billion years, that it is
just silly to try to seek any broader truths without taking
into consideration just how long the past has really been,
well, the past.

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