I say “No” to stagnation. I don’t believe progress, technological or otherwise, inevitably leads to conflict. To embrace stagnation for fear of conflict is to give up on human nature.
I am an American, but my German mother used to quote Goethe as having said “Das Streben ist das Leben.” When Iooked for the quote I found “Der Mensch soll immer streben zum Besseren.” I haven’t studied Goethe, but I think the notion that to strive – to never stop learning – is what it means to be human is certainly a central theme of Goethe’s Faust.
We should never stop striving to understand ourselves or stop working to improve the human condition. Taking a step back from the vigor with which we develop technology and industry may be an important step in coming to a better understanding of our part in the cosmos. But we should never stop striving to better ourselves and humanity, if not through technology, then through philosophy, art, and other forms of learning.
Sigrid Fry-Revere
Lovettsville, VA