From the tail end of a longish posting, you find this gem that makes the reading that much more worth it all: (the BOLD is mine for emphasis)
All this competition for rank in the hierarchy has brought about some unquestionably wonderful things, and I'm not suggesting that all this competition stop, or that we forego advancements and innovation in science and technology. I'm suggesting that we might be well served if we understood more about ourselves, the limits to what competition for rank in the hierarchy can achieve, and to think about what effort we might make toward achieving those things we all seem to say we want in the world, which all our technology and all our competition have failed to give us.
I think it's possible we may be in the relatively early stages of the process of doing this. I have little doubt that some of that effort itself will be turned into a type of competition for authority, though we might be able to factor that into our efforts this time around, to some extent. I have serious reservations about how successful we might be. China and India are now coming on strong in their competition for rank in the hierarchy, and they won't be deterred from their efforts by thoughts of introspection and reflection. Technology will continue to shrink the world and expand our capacity for both good and ill.
Most days, I kind of think it's pointless to think about people creating a "better world." I suspect it's mostly enough to worry about trying to create one better person, the only person I'm truly responsible for, and that's me. We're not here to change "the world." The world is here so that we may learn how we might change ourselves. Maybe that's the point.
Read Dave!
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