Innovation as Survival

I do not believe it is a distortion or exaggeration to suggest that innovation is the primary survival skill of the human species.  It is man’s mind that enables him to survive, and innovation is the manner by which we are able to survive in a broader range of climates than any other species.   Consider the brilliant success of humanity over the past few centuries, and recognize that it has nothing to do with any physical adaptation.

As a species, we have overcome most of the threats to our survival and perpetuation.  In fact, most of the threats we face in the present age are things of our own creation: overpopulation, warfare, pollution and the depletion of resources, and the like.   It is the dark side of our own inventions that has threatened our existence:  steel and gunpowder have made warfare a more serious threat, industrialization chemicals do great harm to the environment, agricultural science depletes the land, television stupefies the mind.   The very things created to help humanity have the greatest potential to harm us, even to render the world unfit for habitation.

And our success has itself become a liability.   In our boredom, we find ways to destroy ourselves, through our cultural stagnation, the religious and political ideologies that put us against one another.  The Mayans, Romans, Russians, and British all built great civilizations that crumbled in the decadence and ennui of people who had nothing better to do than destroy themselves.  

And the America of today has become so spoiled and decadent that it is has become negligent.  Americans enjoy wealthy lives, but produce little in terms of physical goods – they are dependent on manufacturing operations overseas and, increasingly, import even engineers and technical workers.   Should the American dollar collapse, these ties will be severed and the nation will lack the facilities and competence to produce for its own consumption.

If one accepts that creativity is necessary for human survival, it then follows that our well being hinges on the ability to generate and implement new creative ideas.  It was at one time the academic and commercial institutions that fueled success – but these institutions have become destructive of their own ends.  The academy has failed because it no longer serves to encourage new ideas, but to preserve traditional ways of thinking against new ideas.   The commercial sector has always been focused on profit rather than progress, and when progress threatens profit, then progress must be halted by any means necessary.  As a result, the best products are not always made, and patents are abused to protect the commercial viability of less efficient or effective products by ensuring that discoveries that would make them better are not delivered to the market.  

There is also the problem of consumer demand for cheap and convenient solutions that provide immediate satisfaction, without a broader concern.  The electric automobile is a solution to one of the greatest causes of pollution that is advancing environmental deterioration – but it costs too much and is inconvenient to charge, so consumers continue using petroleum-powered machinery.   Convenience food that is laden with additives and preservatives known to be harmful is still purchased in great quantities because people would rather not take the time and effort to cook.

And both the manufacturer and consumer are prone to remaining set in their habits until some crisis compels them to change.   Given that today’s technology is capable of creating crises on a major scale, the damage may be too great to correct once it has become severe enough to motivate change.

So what can be expected is not for western culture to reverse its course, but to continue until it has destroyed itself, and the cycle will begin again as one of the developing nations – perhaps Brazil or India – rises to become the new superpower for a time, until it too becomes weakened by its own decadence and falls to be replaced by yet another.   It seems to follow in the cycle of history.