Thursday’s class session left me
with quite a bit to ponder. A lot of which had to deal with the direction of
human progression piece. It was brought to the fore that Hegel was an idealist
believing that the progression of human history will reach an end in which all
humans will know a pure form of rationality and freedom. The follow up was
whether or not we are headed in that direction. My response: Nope.
I think that ultimately rational
human minds have a desire to attain a utopia in which trivial things fail to
clutter mental space and equity in every aspect of life are enjoyed by all.
Call me a pessimist, but as long as society has a superiority complex topped
with a sense of entitlement, there will never be equity among people. Someone
brought up the role of technology and how it creates more troubles for the
mind. Our rapidly evolving technological advances are indeed solving old
problems while creating an entirely new set of problems to concern ourselves
with; it is a positive reflection of the ever evolving mental capacity of the
mind but it has its side effects. Perhaps with the example of technology what
we are hinting at but failing to recognize completely is that increased
rationality brings increased sophistication. The ability to be rational exists
independently of the characteristics of a good heart. People are still victims
of physical slavery (e.g. persons in sex/drug trafficking, child soldiers,to some extent the
working class), but exponentially more hazardous is mental slavery. Those
invisible systems that we (through the process of oversimplification) equate to cultural structures confine people to a
specific mindset. A little is given in hopes that it is perceived to be a lot
yet the marginalizing system still remains where the problem continues to have
the potential to manifest in different forms. The only progression that I foresee happening is that
we continue to get better at hiding the truth. With time we will continue to get better at this game and
develop better systems to hide in plain sight. Are we really moving in the
right direction? Or is our progress a mechanism in the continuously evolving machinery
that conceals the truth? What's valid in adopting Hegel's view of the future?
I completely agree with all the points that were made. We can all hope that we will eventually evolve into people who will not make a classification for human beings, but that will not happen. The KKK is still very active in Alabama to this day, so how can we even say that we are making a progress? I do acknowledge Katie's point about how the music industry has been trying to give a voice, but even Damian's father, Bob Marley, the most peaceful and harmonious artist in musical history, couldn't make hate end. We can try, but there are always going to be people who will believe that they are superior; if it's not race, it will be another thing.
ReplyDeleteWhile some progress has been made toward the goal of eliminating social constraints, there is still much work to be done, and, honestly, I do not think there will ever be a point where we will say human beings are not classified based upon societal factors. It has been so ingrained into our minds that we unconsciously notice the difference amongst us and others, whether it is race, gender (of course), or even the type of clothes someone wears. People are always trying to make distinctions, so I do not see how we could ever reach that "utopia" in which everyone sees the human race as an equal population. That is practically impossible. Yes, people can try to make the change, but I'm just not convinced the goal will be met.
ReplyDeleteI am slightly confused at the difference between rational human minds' desires and society's desires as mentioned in your thought-provoking post. Is society not made up of mostly rational human minds? If so, are you saying that at the same time humans now desire a utopia of fairness and justice but also have a superiority complex and are entitled? If that is the case, I can see how your pessimistic view has been shaped - that looks like a cyclical mess of personality traits. Also, I would like to pose that in the case of technological advances oversimplifying things and creating a culture that is less truth-giving (a notion that I agree with, especially in the case of popular music), that truth is not being hidden; rather, it is simply being stated so bluntly that we feel no need to delve into it - which ultimately results in less truth. Just a thought.
ReplyDelete