EDITORIAL
Tiago Krusse
The myth of progress states that civilization has moved, is moving, and will move in a desirable direction. Progress is inevitable... Philosophers, men of science and politicians have accepted the idea of the inevitability of progress. Montague David Eder (1932) To the minds of most people the desirable outcome of human development would be a condition of society in which all the inhabitants of the planet would enjoy a perfectly happy existence […]. It cannot be proved that the unknown destination towards which man is advancing is desirable. The movement may be Progress, or it may be in an undesirable direction and therefore not Progress […]. The Progress of humanity belongs to the same order of ideas as Providence or personal immortality. It is true or it is false, and like them it cannot be proved either true or false. Belief in it is an act of faith. J.B. Bury (1920)
Are people reflecting on themselves? The fundamentals of community life today demand from each and every one of us a deep reflection on the way we lead our lives. Throughout history humans have been proving their ability to think, and therefore to engage in a constant individual, personal development within groups of individuals. Such aim to evolve and progress has showed that humans are capable of continuously thinking on how to create new approaches and solutions to achieve an ideal way of living. We have indeed had revolutions, made progress, but what about the evolution of human behavior? Is human being as an individual really coping with the fast and continuous upgrading process of knowledge and technology? As I see it, the key point has been disregarded. The importance of behavior has been dramatically put aside over the last two decades. It can easily be perceived that knowledge and technology are in a sort of a so-called Facebook phase, new content taking place, added by the second (at the most) but everything too ephemeral, impossible to reach due to the speed of the whole process. Firstly, the question: are the intentions good? There is a colossal information and disinformation torrent, which gives out a clash of protagonists, super gods or new myths. Ultimately it seems the sole purpose is to provide a better living for the happy few. Maybe we are neglecting |4|
the fact that a community is founded on the relations established among people, individuals; and, on the other hand, that behavior is the pivotal aspect which allows us to maintain a basic harmony in and within society, also in the sense of society keeping a good balance with environment and its resources. We are ignoring a combo of elements which are fundamental to our lives, such as respect for time and space. And this “insensivity” has to do with the lack of improved behavior - or should I put it, the lack of the crucial importance of improving behavior. Why the urge to go faster than the others? Why the brutal, massive destruction of natural resources? Why the repeated and explicit unpunished molestation of landscape? Is not the planet a single giant neighborhood with its distinctive and unique elements? It is easy to find someone to blame but we insist on neglecting our own responsibility, the way we individually behave, and most sadly we let ourselves be taken and visualized merely as a tiny part of well-designed and oiled statistical graphics. I believe that it is urgent to improve ourselves (includes morality, ethics, behavior), and from there the way we connect and relate to the people around us, not forgetting the vital importance of our environment. tiago_krusse@revistadesignmagazine.com