That is something I always say with respect to the current evolution of human societies, which has been carried out for approximately 200 or 300 years, and that is that we are taking a path away from nature, that we it becomes strongly dependent on artificial devices and the State.
Before, people were close to the strategic places where they hunted, sowed or harvested food, always staying close to the precious water, that's why almost all the capitals of the world are close to the coast.
But now it is not like that, what makes many areas, regions and even countries depend on the correct functioning of the system, this creates us needs that we did not have before, many more. In Venezuela, in the current crisis that occurs in the country, people who are in the interior of the country, have had problems feeding themselves, because food is scarce and they are in regions where they naturally do not have the capacity to extract enough food for their population.
What I want to say, without detracting from the subject, is that societies that are structured on a base so far from nature, make the people who live in them become extremely dependent on these societies to pass the time, creating artificial needs in many people because they are out of their natural state.
I agree with what your saying. This problem of moving away from nature has brought innovation in various spheres of civilization though at what costs? Like you say, the main result has been an over dependence on systems including the State and even general technology in order to sustain proper living conditions.
I personally cannot agree with this. Can you define what is the maximium distance from this "nature" were human is still able too keep their "natural state"? Isn't ant queen isolated from nature? Do you think that crow does not see it's own nest as artificial? And what is "artificial need"? Should we live like animals, only feeding our selfs?
There's a balance of course. But if you look at much of civilization, especially recently since the industrial revolution, humanity has given itself solely to the pursuit of material wealth and hyper -productivity at the expense of what was more traditional values like morality, manners, intellect, and beauty.
I don't buy to traditions, but that hyper productivity is part of this labor worshipping, that Hannah Arendt talks about in a Human Condition. I don't realy understand this "balance" part, as I personally believe in never ending process that needs to be embraced. I see all this talking about balance as a idea that we somehow have to "sacrifice" something from our own good to serve some kind of greater good. I believe that we can all benefit by "embracing the process". I would also dare to make a claim that this balance talking is in it self some form of number-cruncing. Some kind of attempt to find some kind of "perfect, and absolute values".
There is no greater good really, only what you think will benefit yourself-egoism if you will. What do you mean by "embracing the process". Which process?
It's relative to the individual, values can't be deduced into some statistical framework. GDP, growth, utilization of capital, employment, and anything else related to utilization of goods and services on the other hand, have all been used as a measure of absolute values even if people don't say it has. Many things in society are based on how things fit into this statistical-economical framework which is done by planners trying to "perfect humanity".
I believe into this idea were we live in universal "infinite" process. The process is subject, not object. Have you happened to read "The Theory Of Mind As a Pure Act"? I have been reading that, and it should reveal little bit more what I am talking about (alltough I have noticed that there are possible errors). This process can be proven by the fact that everything eventually crumbles, only absolute is process it self. It should also be pointed out that we move in the space who knows where, spinning on this planet that is rotating around it self and circulating sun. We can see plants grow and die, evolve in the process. I believe that this process is absolute good, that is everything and everywere. However we cannot realy know it, as mind is incabable of containing it self, since everytime we think of something, it is pulled from universal process and turned into an object.
Interesting stuff, another thing will have to look into.
When you talk about about this infinite process it sounds a lot to me like just plainly talking about the "nature of things", the absolute relation of things to one another, that can't be defined in precise terms. Though like you say, perhaps it's something that we cant know for sure. I then wonder the consequences of such understanding.
I recommend reading "The Theory Of Mind As A Pure Act" by Gentile Giovanni. What draw me to this was need to understand italian-fascism. I wrote a blog post some time ago about how this fascism failed to embrace process, that it was suppose to embrace. Even Gentile Giovanni believed in fascism, and has been revealed to been a ghost writer of small part of "Doctrine Of Fascism".
It's exactly like @superfluousman said, it's about the balance, this does not mean that we should reject the technology or the advances, these have existed the whole story, it means that we should start using them in a responsible way in which we can benefit from them without basing our existence in these artificial devices, be it the State or technology.