No matter what the theory about the origin of life on the earth, life anyhow originated. Once it originated the movement of life began which has always been in the forward direction. There may be exceptions but this is the rule, the rule of forward movement of life. It is never designed to be in the reverse direction.
In this movement man started with a primitive mode of life. From a hunter and gatherer he moved to the higher stages of established life. He progressed from the uncontrolled conditions of nature to a stage where some control was achieved and then moved on to gain more control on those conditions. He worked to change the brutish conditions of the earth into the ones which are more favorable to the human existence, and the existence of all the species which are of benefit to man. Thereby, the over dependence on the forces of nature was reduced to some degree in the earlier times and in the current ages that has been reduced to appreciably.
There is no doubt that some of the progressive and powerful civilizations of the past ceased to exist but even in those civilization the movement was forward and never backward. Before ceasing to exist they had achieved a great deal of success and had progressed a lot in many fields of life. Some of the feats they had achieved are even comparable with the present level of development in those areas.
The well established town planning of the Indus valley civilization and its trade, the pyramids of Egypt and other advancements of other civilizations of the ages gone by are the irrefutable proof about the level of advancement they had made. Considering the stage in the human history when they existed, these achievements can simply be described as phenomenal.
That was about the progress made in the physical aspects of life, that is, those fields which can be easily observed. There are many other aspects of life which need greater effort to be observed and some of them require not only the involvement of all the human senses but also the possession of great knowledge and skill by the observer. Then only can a prognosis about the level of development in those aspects be made and otherwise not. Introspect
One of these aspects is the mental aspect, the level of development in brain, mind and thought processes. In this aspect, and others like this, also the movement has always been progressive, in the forward direction. From the advancement in the operational, structural and functional aspects of the human nervous system to the efficacy in the application of thought processes, the direction has always remained that of progress in all of them. And yes, as already said, there may be exceptions to this rule but this is the rule.
The thought processes yielded first simple ideas and moved on to set free the more complex ones. From ordinary ways of thinking to unravel the mysteries of life man has progressed to the sophisticated ways of thought process utilizing the scientific methods in achieving the desired ends. These changes have taken place while dealing with the simple daily activities of life and while dealing with the greatest problems of life.
The outcome of these changes is right in front of our eyes. It is the changes in the mental power and thought processes that led man to achieve what would have been perceived at some stage of history as impossible. These forward changes have helped and are always going to help in the sustenance and continuance of the human race on the earth.
Coming to the contemporary world, the twenty first century is the age of terrific and sophisticated technological advancement. Man has reached to a stage which would have been impossible even to be imagined. He has at his disposal such technologies which can be used to take him to the farthest places in the word within very less time and has enabled him even to travel to the other places in the nearby solar system. Who know what the next stage would be, may be today’s impossibility may turn into reality!
In this century there are vast treasures of knowledge available at the finger tips of people. Just a click and all the mysteries of life are thrown open on a bright screen. And with another click everything of necessity or luxury can be delivered to a man even in the remotest corners of the world in an unprecedentedly short time. Nature and natural barriers seems to have been tamed by man in this age.
This means that the forward movement of human race has made life so easily that everything which was impossible is not only possible today but just too easily possible. Though a great deal still needs to be done and always needs to be done but the already made progress cannot be left unrecognized, who could afford to leave it unrecognized!
Most of the past & existent ideas have been tried and tested and the emergent ones are also being tested in the same way. The method used to test them is none other than the scientific method. The ideas which are proven wrong are discarded after confirmation of their being wrong and the ones which are found to be correct are queued for further verification and once nothing remains to be verified, they are adopted as valid but only as long as the conditions and circumstances keep them valid.
By these standards it is expected that the modern man should face least problems on the issue of conflict of ideas, if two ideas are conflicting both should be subjected to investigation and analysis by using the scientific method and the idea which proves more valid needs to be adopted and the faulty one given up. There should be no shame or grudge in doing so but unfortunately this is not the case. There are people, and perhaps majority of them, who follow whatever they like to follow as per their prejudice or national and religious affiliations.
They seem to have moved not a whisker from the origin of the man on the earth. Their brain size and faculties of the brain might have been increased but their faulty use, or no use, of them has rendered that progress meaningless and futile. These people carry the same ideas and follow the same ideologies which their ancestors of the bygone epochs used to follow. They have closed their minds even without opening them; they are blind to other side of the story and the real side of the story.
They have not accepted the truth that is there with ample of proof. They are not ready to view the world as it physically exists. Their version is the only credulous version of all the stories and all others for them are not credible to the least bit. One who follows their version is the righteous and the one who does not do so is simply committing the worst act of blasphemy.
Majority of such people, it seems, exist in the subcontinent, especially in India and Pakistan. If it can’t be said that these people have not move forward from the time human race originated here but it can be easily said that they have not moved forward at least from the dates India and Pakistan gained independence. They are still there and there is hardly any hope that they will move in concurrence with the time.
When for a country national interest and national security is paramount but for these people of India and Pakistan mutual rivalry is above everything else. When economic wellbeing and welfare of the ruled is the first priority of a democratic government but for them the decimation and destruction of other country and people of the country is the only priority. And when greater threats to the existence of human race need to be discussed and taken care of but people in India are engaged in cow, caste and community! Amidst all this the real issues concerning the people of these countries and the people of the world at large are of least consideration, if they are of any consideration.
This clearly is in contrast with the rule, the rule of forward movement of human race. The mental and physical aspects of life of these two countries and their people, it seems, have stuck in a marshy land from which coming out has become the most challenging task, the more they try the more stuck they get. The lack of will on part of the people to come out has made it even more challenging.
To conclude this, it can said that howsoever challenging it may seem and howsoever challenging it is, these countries and their people have to come out. They have to prove that they are at the apex of the human progress and not at its bottom. There is no other option but to use the minds and mental processes in the right way, and in the right direction. There is no other option but to open the closed minds to see the reality of the world, to listen to the other side of the story so as to reach a conclusion which takes every one along.
Nothing is more precious than life and forward movement of life ensures to safeguard life. By closing our minds and by becoming averse to change we are creating enough of hurdles in our own life and enough of enemies for our own existence. Time is ripe to introspect.
Author can be mailed at fayaz.greatstep@gmail.com
