John Horgan, author of Rational Mysticism and The End of Science has been asking people for the better part of a decade: "do you think humans will ever stop fighting wars?"
The answers are varied of course, and the question is deeply intriguing. Suffice to say that those of both camps could make valid arguments and find evidence that supports their reasoning.
I've been wanting to identify a question of my own of similar complexity, and I think I may have found it.
It's a question inspired by Danah Boyd, someone whose thinking I've followed and found fascinating for years. Her most recent talk has been about making sense of privacy and publicity in social interactions, and the dangers of assuming that privacy is not important.
She makes a lot of very well thought and well supported points about people whose lives are directly and deeply impacted by privacy concerns. Her thoughts in this case, as in most cases of hers, are directed within the context that she enjoys a relatively privileged life and it is an unfortunate reality that many others do not. In all her thinking, she makes it clear that at her core what she is most passionate about is sharing that privilege with others, particularly by doing all that she can to counteract the injustices faced by marginalized groups.
Those who know me know that I believe that the history of humanity has moved in only one direction, which is to deliver more rights to more people. I look at marginalized groups today and think about how ridiculous it will seem in the future that we ever even tried to argue against rights for homosexual couples.
Still I can't help but wonder: do you think humans will ever strike sociocultural equality?
And I can't help but feel like that world with equal rights and advantages for all is that same conflict-less world with no wars.
(quick edit: I should note that while I don't believe the above scenarios are ultimately possible, there's certainly a part of me that believes there's value in the work that goes into trying.)
