Advancement of Civilization

I'm back in Australia and well rested after a night in the local time zone. My Internet connection at home is slow right now, so I'll be uploading my photos and videos from the US in the next week.

Over at Pariprasnena.com, I recently commented on this question:

Civilization has never been as advanced as nowadays - This is a popular misconception and I would like to know some arguments to refute it.

Here's my comment:

I work in a technology corporation, so I'm intimately familiar with modern civilization and its paradigm.

Certain aspects of technology have never been so advanced as they are now, without doubt. But "civilization"? How do you define civilization?

I just returned from the United States, and the television was filled with ads for medications to deal with the liefstyle consequences of their "advanced civilization". Two that I remember were for inability to sleep, and for "restless leg syndrome". For restless leg syndrome I recommend eating less and passing stool regularly, rather than a medication.

Both of these ads ended with a list of side effects and consequences of taking the drugs. The current "civilization" is like the story of the lady who swallowed a fly, then swallowed a spider, then a bird, and so on. We are trapped in an unending cycle of dealing with the fall-out of our innovations.

At the same time, the basic necessity of human life, happiness, is not increasing. Objective studies show that happiness and satisfaction are decreasing. No one wants more technology or more economic development, per se. What everyone is seeking is happiness and satisfaction. The Bhagavatam compares the current civilization to a deer that leaves an oasis and travels out into a desert chasing a mirage looking for water.

We are like that. No technological innovation satisfies us. No amount of economic development satiates our need for fulfillment. As a result we expand and consume unlimitedly, destroying the ecosystem and creating huge imbalances and inequities as we do it.

People, if satisfied easily, will not endeavour so hard. They will not mine so much metal and petrochemicals from the earth, at great endeavour and expense. A really advanced civilization has no need to develop the technology that we have, and they don't have to deal with the side effects and consequences that we are dealing with.