Arewebetteroffthanancienttimes?
Somepeoplesaythatourlivesaresomuchbetterthanthoseofancientpeople.Itseemsthatwecannotfathomthatpeoplewerehappyinancienttimes.
Actually,ancientpeoplewerehappy.Ancientpeoplewereattunedtonature—thegreenmountains,thebluewater,flyingbirds,andwhiteclouds.Theywerecarefree.Theyexperiencedakindofliberation,existinginarealminwhichoneisattunedwithheaven’splan.
Thatwasrealhappiness—deep,continuous,peaceful,andcomfortable.Suchhappinesssolidlynurturesone’sheartandbody.
Butmodernpeoplestrugglepainfully,staybusy,andneverenjoythehappinessofreachingtheothersideofthemountain.Manymodernpeoplehavelosthumanvirtue,includingprudence,diligence,tolerance,peacefulness,andcourtesy.
Modernsciencestronglyinfluencespeople.Today,peopleenjoymoderncivilizationwhilesufferingfromnewdiseases.Thebasisofmodernscienceisdirectobservation.Foundedontangibleobjectsthatwecansee,modernscienceappliesqualitativeandquantitativemethodsofexamination.
Modernsciencefurthersthedestructionandpollutionofourlivingenvironmentandhelpspoisonourbodies.Inreturn,itgivespeopleshort-termpleasure.Theinventionsofmodernscienceteachpeopletostruggleformaterialgoods,whichtheypursueforindulgingthemselves.
However,eachgenerationdoesresearchtomakelifeeasier.Todaywedependtoomuchonhi-techtodothingsforus.Mostofthehi-techgadgetsdependonenergysentfromsatellitesorbitingtheearth.IfagreatsolarstormdoeshappenaspredictedbyNASAthehi-techgadgetswillbeuseless.IncludingGPSsystemsforairandlandnavigation.
Earlygenerationsdidnotdependongadgetstodothingsforthem.Theymadetoolstobuildandrepair,inventedcuttingtoolsthatarecalledsawstocuttrees.Althoughatfirsttheywerechoppeddown.Ifanyoftheirtoolsbroke,theymadenewonesusingtheirmindsandhandsandnotdependoncomputerrungadgetstodothejobs.
Theansweristwosided.Wehavethingstodaythatcouldneverbemadewithoutcomputershelpingusalongwithroboticmachines.But,onceagaintheyarepoweredbysatellites.
Eachgenerationtriestoimprovelifeforthefuture.