It is a fairly common refrain in many circumstances that problems can best be resolved by returning to some point in the past. Phrases like "return to fundamentals," nostalgia for "old time religion," along with similar sentiments that want to return to some sort of beginning moment are so prevalent that they hardly ever get challenged when put forward.
This needs to change.
I would assert that the first go at anything is almost always a failure. Examples include the formation of the United States. The first document, the Articles of Confederation, was a colossal wreck and had to be replaced rather quickly. The U.S. Constitution has been updated so many times (and ignored and reinterpreted many more times) that it would be rather useless today if put forward in its original form.
Religions, too, are also constantly updated. Christianity and Islam are clear examples of this, both being modifications of Hebrew religious traditions, which also changed over time quite a bit because of their unworkability (among other reasons). Mormonism fits in this category as well, with major changes having been adopted since its inception because its original doctrines became unreasonable.
Other examples of the failure of first attempts include just about any scientific hypothesis, use of new building materials, the first airplanes, creation of musical instruments, learning to draw (or create any kind of art), how to farm, sex, and more. There is probably no case of anything in the history of humanity that can be declared to be better when it was first introduced or created, either as a species or individually. We improve things with time, not the other way around. Our experiences guide us to make improvements. It's what humans do, and a lot of the time we do it pretty well. We only harm ourselves with attempts to return to some fictional past moment because something is wrongly seen as having been degraded.
The past if full of failures, as is our future. But our future is also where corrections are made and improvements implemented, so it only makes sense to put our focus there, not the past.
This needs to change.
I would assert that the first go at anything is almost always a failure. Examples include the formation of the United States. The first document, the Articles of Confederation, was a colossal wreck and had to be replaced rather quickly. The U.S. Constitution has been updated so many times (and ignored and reinterpreted many more times) that it would be rather useless today if put forward in its original form.
Religions, too, are also constantly updated. Christianity and Islam are clear examples of this, both being modifications of Hebrew religious traditions, which also changed over time quite a bit because of their unworkability (among other reasons). Mormonism fits in this category as well, with major changes having been adopted since its inception because its original doctrines became unreasonable.
Other examples of the failure of first attempts include just about any scientific hypothesis, use of new building materials, the first airplanes, creation of musical instruments, learning to draw (or create any kind of art), how to farm, sex, and more. There is probably no case of anything in the history of humanity that can be declared to be better when it was first introduced or created, either as a species or individually. We improve things with time, not the other way around. Our experiences guide us to make improvements. It's what humans do, and a lot of the time we do it pretty well. We only harm ourselves with attempts to return to some fictional past moment because something is wrongly seen as having been degraded.
The past if full of failures, as is our future. But our future is also where corrections are made and improvements implemented, so it only makes sense to put our focus there, not the past.
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