Adaptation and integration are primary drivers of cultural evolution. Humanity’s not a beehive or an anthill; collective evolution flows forth from the creativity, energy and effort of millions of independent thinkers. That’s why it’s so important to dance to your own tune. Learn from others but no one knows what’s best for you more than you. At least if you’re attuned to the rhythm of your soul.
“One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.” ~ Shannon L. Alder
It’s vital to understand the ideas and concepts of the giants who came before. They provide context for the lessons and learnings of your personal evolution. Integrate what you glean into your life but forge your own way of being, don’t emulate theirs. If Newton and Einstein had followed along with the status quo, instead of reaching for the stars, the world would likely be vastly different. You might not change the world with your creativity and your effort, but you never know. You can definitely change everything in your world though, and that’s the key.
“Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for.” ~ Socrates
The great philosophers, poets, musicians, mathematicians, scientists and sages all moved the needle of our collective evolution but that wasn’t what drove them. They were exploring the Great Wide World on their own terms. None of them became great or famous because they followed the herd, like cattle, sheep or some other domesticated livestock. They were great because they danced to the music in their soul.
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Dance to Your Own Tune
It is well worth your time to study as many of these exceptional minds as you can and integrate what resonates with you. But dance to your own tune. Integration drives evolution, not emulation. Emulation is static, creating a monoculture, a hive, an anthill. Diversity of thought and action among individuals creates the synergy required to drive society forward along the grand, golden spiral of cultural evolution.
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”
~ Bernard M. Baruch
Long ago in a land far, far away, there were collectivist cultures. The world was a dangerous place and folks had to run in herds, like the antelope and the buffalo if they hoped to survive. Conformity was the norm, questioning was discouraged and unconventional thinking was punished. Then along came Greece and the drive for individuality emerged. It was rare though and existed in only an elite group of intellectuals and in the end they were taken to the woodshed by the collectivists and made to pay for their crimes against humanity.
Don’t Drink the Hemlock
In 399 BCE the philosopher Socrates was charged with impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens. He was found guilty by a jury of 501 Athenians and was forced to drink poison hemlock. There’s a lot to unwind in the trial of Socrates and the politics involved but in the end, individuality was quashed by the collectivists once again. You can’t stop evolution though and individuality re-emerged in the Italian Renaissance and the Enlightenment. A popular meme of the times came from Shakespeare’s Hamlet – “To be or not to be.”
Individuality began to pick up speed and supercharged cultural evolution. Originality started to be encouraged, not punished and diversity revered instead of feared. Folks began to value the questioning nature of their children. A culture of curiosity gave impetus to the radical ideas espoused by such greats as Newton, Darwin, and Einstein.
“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.” ~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
It culminated in the founding of a new country – America. Rugged individualists from all across Europe ventured to the new land, to escape the prison-like, collectivist cultures that predominated there. It made a powerful statement about the nature of the struggle between individualism and collectivism. Brave folks, ready to face a vast, unknown wilderness for a chance at freedom and individuality.
Beware the Bear
Interestingly, here we are, a few centuries later, locked in the same struggle that’s held us captive for millennia. It’s as if the entity driving cultural evolution, decided to put on the brakes. Some days it even feels like they’ve shifted into reverse. That’s the way nature works though, a series of cycles. Financial markets also follow these cyclical rhythms. Long zig-zagged bull markets punctuated by precipitous bear markets that destroy portfolios and send investors jumping from windows.
So cheer up, we’re just going through an evolutionary correction cycle right now. In another decade or two, I expect cultural evolution to begin the longest and strongest bull market in the history of the Great Wide World. For now though, you might want to buckle up, the present bear market in cultural evolution is just getting started.
“Grown men do not need leaders.” ~ Edward Abbey