Bottlenecks of Social Evolution

Another US election has passed. This is the election I have watched most closely so far, which might explain why I found it to be a very performative act. The vote is not determined by policies, principles, or values; it is determined by emotions. The candidate who can connect with people's emotions in 5-6 key states will win the election. Is it truly a democratic process? It's not an ideal system, at the very least.

The results were not surprising in many ways, unlike in 2016. One takeaway for me after following this melodrama was the realization that the media is biased. Reading one US newspaper made it very difficult to get an impartial view of a situation. I made it a habit to read important news that I follow from at least two news outlets. A left-leaning (NYT, CNN, etc.) and a right-wing (Fox) media. That experience was really disorienting. It is very easy to get manipulated by the media. I am not sure where to get the most accurate political news.

Fortunately, there are only so many issues I (or anyone) should care about. I believe the US Constitution and judiciary are powerful enough to ensure a certain level of accountability. However, political leadership can set a tone and license certain types of behavior. But I am a firm believer in children's moral values. Most parents I know want to raise awakened, intelligent children with strong ethical values. I have seen some instances where parents seeded insecurities in kids' minds by making them not trust one another based on skin color, ethnicity, and religion. However, most of the children of the future will be led by strong values, data, and science. 

There is the threat of social media manipulation. But as long as we raise a generation of ethically minded, independent thinkers, humanity's future will be bright. Science and technology will play a much larger role in human life. The influence of religion on the human mind is on the decline. I hope the vacuum created by the lack of religion will be replaced by wholesome spiritual wisdom rooted in awareness and interconnectedness.  The next generation will have unique challenges to face that humanity has not witnessed so far, including the emergence of artificial intelligence, climate change, pandemics, genetic-social engineering, and, who knows, even contact with an alien civilization. These are all strong evolutionary pressures and very powerful forces that will change how humans think, behave, and interact with each other. Way too influential than the outcome of a US election!