What is the purpose of civilisation? Viewing the track record of our species, it’s tempting to see the ultimate fate of any culture as decay and demise. Is the future of all (temporary, organised) life simply to dissolve into (permanent, chaotic) death? Given its social, economic and ecological problems, its interminable conflicts, our civilisation might seem a sour old man awaiting the grave; but if our truest purpose is to learn, to find and be ourselves, for individuals to become enlightened, then I’d argue that we increasingly display, collectively and throughout our systems, the indiscipline and self-absorption of poorly-parented children. Indeed, if maturing children are the essential means to regenerate adult society, why is it that popular culture becomes progressively more juvenile and delinquent? Yes, for all its long history, with all its technological gadgetry, humanity remains terribly young. Thankfully, there are signs of spiritual burgeoning everywhere: those who are child-like without being childish. In fact, this childhood of civilisation could be a wondrous time. As the Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi tells us: “Children find everything in nothing; men find nothing in everything”. Perhaps, then, the balanced purpose of a civilisation is to grow up without forgetting, in gentleness and humility, how to play?
© Mario Petrucci 2012
