Photo by Alexandre P. Junior
Join author Chet Shupe as he talks about the pitfalls of civilization and the urgent need for humanity to rediscover the wisdom of human nature.
Despite the evident advancements in society and technology, a good chunk of the human population still lives miserable and unhappy lives. Have you ever wondered why that is? Why is it that in an age of unprecedented wealth and resources, people still remain poor? Why is it that when medical solutions are at their most accessible, plenty of people still die of sickness? Why is it that when there is more than enough food to feed the world, people still die of hunger?
Why, in this time of instant communication, are people still as lonely as ever?
It’s because there is a fundamental divide inherent in human civilization. It is a contradiction that stems from the fact that civilization is antithetical to our original human nature, a nature rooted in the emotional core we call the soul.
The Pitfalls of Civilization
The basis for a natural human community is the intimacy of interdependent relationships. But modern society, with its pervasive authorities and arcane rules, has caused even family relationships, like the one between parent and child, to take on a transactional and reactive nature. Values and virtues such as altruism and selflessness have been replaced with self-interest and opportunism. This twisting of traditional perspectives further isolates individuals, and promotes egotism as the only means of survival and success.
Modern people still believe that civilization has been quite beneficial to the human species. Yet its rapid growth and expansion reveal that there are unwieldy seams in its fabric–and they are very close to tearing apart and dragging everyone down.
Everywhere, humanity is chafing under the oppressiveness of an ever-growing body of laws, while also becoming extremely vulnerable, without them. This is the intrinsically paradoxical nature of the current paradigm. Humanity is akin to an animal in a cage. Though there is a freedom of movement, inside the cage, it’s obvious that there is very little food for the soul.
The Origins of Our Misery
While the advent of civilization provided humanity with more and more opportunities, the continuation of civilization, itself, has become its primary goal, not human contentment. This might not look terrible, at first glance, because we grow up accepting our suffering as normal, even as we live “lives of quiet desperation.”
As it strives to maintain the appearance of order, civilization creates iron-clad conditions that keep people alienated from each other. There is no room, in modern society, for the intimate and trusting engagement that all human souls once took for granted. The alienation of modern society eliminates the potential for self-knowledge, as well as deeper relationships among individuals and groups. In other words, modern society long ago ceased to be beneficial for the human soul. It exists only to maintain the appearance of order, an order that seems, relentlessly, to be breaking down.
Though it largely remains hidden, the mindlessness of the overarching framework of civilization cannot be unseen, once seen, as it utterly ignores and represses the elemental wisdom that each individual is born with. Thus, we are denied access to our inner knowledge, the wisdom of our souls—evolution’s most precious gift.
Humanity’s reliance and dependence on artificially constructed hierarchies has resulted in widespread, insidious social isolation that most can’t even tell is happening. People are increasingly cheated out of experiencing life’s meaning, and the contentment that results from participating in its process.
Want to Learn More About the Origins of Our Misery?
Chet Shupe speaks authentically of the urgency for people to reconnect with their inner natures, and with humanity’s natural heritage—the freedom to be ourselves that is available only in the presence of true community. As an author and philosopher, he provides a unique perspective that reveals the incompatibility between civil and natural order.
Join him in a once-in-a-lifetime interactive space, as he engages with listeners and readers. In this class, he discusses how living a fulfilling life requires relying on our instinctive wisdom for purpose and direction, and not the contrived systems of modern society.
Using passages from his book, Rediscovering the Wisdom of Human Nature—How Civilization Destroys Happiness, as the basis for discussion, Shupe builds upon his ideas, and expands them, further. Through engaging discussions, he explains what humanity has lost, since the establishment of civilization.
Plenty of people are looking for concrete solutions, but the liberation of the human soul isn’t possible, given our present circumstances. Hence, Shupe does not endeavor to provide a framework for living a better life, within the current paradigm. Rather, Shupe seeks to reveal the true nature of the natural human way of life. He wants to share with others his view about what life would be like, if humans were to shed the pretenses of civilization, and emotionally engage with one another, through interdependent relationships, as Nature intended.
This class by Chet Shupe offers a new view that defines the natural human way of life that brings human beings inner peace, by satisfying the needs of our souls—a way of life that, to realize, requires a very new, yet ancient and soul-felt perspective on what life is about:
From the perspective of the human soul, life is not about your or my survival. It’s about the survival of life, itself. Spiritual fulfillment is Nature’s reward for serving life. All rewards for serving self are superficial, thus temporal—their source is our imaginations, not the human soul.