This is not to say that progress is impossible or just illusionary, nor that we simply have to select among various forms of stupidity. There is change, and it can be for the better, if one can set a standard for judgment. The problem is that we do not set a standard for judgment. People set any number of standards which are very much conditioned by who they are. Perhaps the miracle is not that we have so much conflict and confusion in the world but that we have so little.

If we have so consistently failed in our efforts to establish a world of peace and plenty for all, it may be because we are not trying to do that. Most people are just trying to get along. They are basically out for themselves and not much interested in improving the system. Although they may be unconsciously involved in cooperative, synergistic movements to construct more complex societies, this is, at best, half of the story. For ages, people have flattered themselves with the pleasing notion that we are intelligent, God's favorites, free, etc. Recently, analysts have carried on this tradition by emphasizing the anabolic aspects of civilization, and it is true, we can and do cooperate, and the whole can be greater than the sum of the sacrificing parts.

However, there is another side to the story, and it is not as flattering as that which emphasizes our constructive nature. It is a legacy of the cynics and their intellectual descendants who viewed humanity as mean, depraved, evil and stupid. Not surprisingly, scientists have been reluctant to carry on this tradition, and those who have have not usually been well received. The shock and dismay that greeted Freud's revelations are representative of the reactions of both the public and professionals to theories about human behavior that are both sound and unsettling.

The sad fact of life is that there is a catabolic side to nature. Civilizations both rise and fall. The same schemas which promote social cohesion can and it seems invariably do corrupt learning and adaptation and thus lead to their own disintegration. The whole becomes less than the sum of its parts as it dominates to the point of preventing subgroups from carrying out their functions effectively. This is a moral rather than a cognitive failing, as people fail to do what they should, doing instead what they should not—and the term "Should" denotes a moral imperative. Unfortunately, this process of self-corruption is inherent in human culture.

stupidity.com

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