(Page Original language: English)

One of the most important questions related to the evolution of humans to the level of a true homo sapiens-sapiens is why some individuals, living in the same point in history, show the traits of the true homo sapiens-sapiens while others show the traits of the barbaric homo sapiens.

Realizing what supports one or the other is critical to understand how we can support human evolution and the arrival of true civilization.

Looking at history and how sometimes big portion of the general population move collectively to the side of the barbaric behavior can be helpful to understand the influence of the environment on individual perception and behavior. Classic –and terrible- examples are the popular support of Adolf Hitler points of view during the Nazi Germany. The massive ethnic executions which took place in Ruanda in 1994, in which near to a million of Tutsis were killed by the Hutus in about just one hundred days, show how individuals who used to be friends or neighbors, can be influenced by the social context to move to the extreme of barbaric.

At the individual level, very experiments as the famous “Milgram´s experiment” in the early sixties and more recent replications show how otherwise normal and even generous individuals are able to inflict extreme pain onto others, under the influence of an authority or to comply with the behavior that those around are accepting as “normal”, show how everyday people may turn into monsters without even realize what is going on. To say it in just a few words: people tend to do what they see the others around them doing or what they are told to do by whichever authority figure they accept.

Obviously in some particular cases human beings rebel against what they consider to be morally wrong, even if they have to go against the accepted values of the society in which they live. That is how social change takes place; somebody says NO and starts to question the system which eventually may change. The limited progress we have seen in social and human rights is full of stories which illustrate this point.

However, more often than not, individuals tend to do what they see others around them do or what they are told to do by an authority figure. Nowadays authority figures are found not only in parents and teachers for the youngest, but in political leaders, TV celebrities, religious officials, TV shows anchors, etc. for everyone regardless the age group.

If we consider that when individuals are just born, they are basically the same, with the potential to become saints of monsters, depending and on their particular development process, the key role of a healthy human environment and education becomes evident. It can go either way: those new human beings will grow to become authentic homo sapiens-sapiens, with a developed consciousnesses and driven by values or they will become barbaric types, whom -driven by their basic instincts- will do everything they can to satisfy their individual wishes regardless the damage they have to inflict onto others and onto the future generations. This shows to what extent individual and global evolution is a possibility and a responsibility that lays in our hands. Mother nature is not gong to do it by herself. We have to do it.

At a personal level the decisions we make to pursue our own development is key. At a social level, education and better social safe-guards are essential

But they will not come by themselves. We have to work for them.

So, the point that I want to make is that human beings in a society in which education and soul development is valued will be much more likely to develop their soul and to reach higher levels in the range possibilities of human consciousness, while individuals who grow in a society that values banality, violence and greed, will be more likely to stay in an under-developed barbaric state.

That explains –just to make an example- why in a country like the United States so many people think that -in the pursuit of safety- having assault rifles designed for warfare at home, is a good idea. Obviously, in this context, the greed of those who make money out of the guns industry and the campaigns they orchestrate, only nurture and supports a problem that is already installed in the American society since long time ago.

All this points out to the role of education –in the most ample sense of the word- as one of the central elements to support the progress of human evolution which at this point seems seriously compromised. The education from this wide perspective should include not only what we teach to the kids and to older students at school, but also what they get from the media, from their community and what they learn from their family.

We are easily shocked when we see teenagers engaged in gang’s violence, or becoming hit men at a very young age, but not often we relate those problems to the fact that we live in violent societies which worship violence, greed and narcissism in so many ways. In this context, so much of the problems we see are happening because individuals are replicating in so many ways, what they see going on around them and what they are being told to do by the environment.

In the midst of so much uncertainty and conflicts in our modern word, the important question is not how to build bigger guns to make sure we kill the other person (or country) before the other person (or country) kills us, but how we raise both, our own consciousness and well being, and the consciousness and well being of the other side, so that we don’t feel in the mood of wanting to fight against each other. This is what global development should be about because we either raise together or we fall together. The key is that the “together” part should include really the entire humanity and not just those of “our own group”.

And then of course the critical question is: how do we change all this?

And the answer is, again and again: one step at the time. It does not matter how long the road can be, it will be walked one step at the time and it will always start right here.

The emphasis should be in the education of the individual and of the entire society. Education that represents a real soul development. There will never be real progress without the development of the soul.

This is the key and the call is for all those who care, to do something about it and to not remain indifferent and passive before the expressions of human idiocy and barbarism.

We all have so much we can do in our own world, in our own life.

So… let´s do it.