Technology and Urbanization are Nature’s Demand for Unity

Technology and Urbanization are Nature’s Demand for Unity

The speed with which society has been evolving over the past two decades has been a topic of much debate amongst social commentators and academics alike. Where family structures and communities were the prevailing threads that held the fabrics of society together previously, the progress in technology and increasing urbanisation since the end of last century has replaced those old values and has raised important questions about the direction humanity is headed. Given we have achieved more than our predecessors, why are we scrutinising ourselves so much now?

One reason is that whilst our basic desires in food, family and home are generally fulfilled, with additional desires such as money, power, honour and knowledge easier to obtain, we have collectively been asking ourselves the most important question with increasing frequency – are we happy? Not only that, we are demanding happiness and we are progressively angry at our perceived inability to obtain this utopian vision of eternal fulfilment.

Perhaps fulfilment of the kind we envisage is not so far off beyond our reach and the reason we cannot perceive or sense this reality is merely down to lack of correct connection between us. The idea of humanity being an inter-connected system has been debated for many centuries. After all, if there are seven billion of us sharing a finite number of emotional states, it is not a leap of imagination to envision humanity as belonging to a single system. What prevents us from sensing this reality is our ego. At an individual level, we as human beings are operated completely by our egoistic desires, which wants to only receive for self-gratification. It is a universal rule that governs all of us and renders altruism a concept beyond our reach. So next time we want to accuse someone of being selfish, we should think twice, it’s in our nature.

What this means is that if every individual is selfish, operating from a position of negative, we cannot establish a proper connection between two individuals given like forces repel; this is a basic law of physics. The connections we have now are purely from an egoistic aspect with both parties seeking to gain from each other. After all, atoms are held together with a combination of positive forces in protons and negative forces in the form of electrons, but at human level, we only operate with negative attributes, meaning we are yet to develop the positive qualities required to form solid bonds between us.

One proof of this concept is the increasing urbanisation and advances in technology. For the first time in history, more of us are concentrated in urban centres than rural areas, which has brought us closer physically. In terms of technology, we have seen a similar pattern of increasing closeness. The internet’s mass distribution from the 90s onwards, directly leading to rapid expansion in mobile phone usage with close to two billion smart phones in use, now means we are more connected virtually.

Yet, we still feel so distant from each other. Depression is on the rise and large metropolitan cities are becoming places of isolation for individuals. We simply lack the desire to connect to each other at a spiritual level. However, nature is bringing us closer physically and virtually to highlight the corrupted, egoistic method of connection amongst us. Furthermore, with urbanisation and technology, nature is also providing us with the tools to try a different way of connecting. If we belong to one system and if our only obstacle is the ego, then the challenge to us is to overcome this barrier to obtain a proper method of connection based on bestowal ( i.e. loving others unconditionally). All this starts with one simple ingredient – intention. Instead of connecting to each other with the intention to fulfil our own egoistic desires, we can try to reverse this to connect with the intention to give love to others unreservedly.

The wisdom of Kabbalah teaches us how to attain this connection in the correct way, within the correct environment, and all it requires is for us to have an open mind and an open heart. The world will then start looking like a much more positive place.

Blogger: Ozkan is a passionate student of Kabbalah.