Every civilisation dies the same stupid way. The final age always feels like that. They die from problem-solving. There are no elites; there are only parasites that believe they have the right to feed upon our blood, sweat, tears and lives. The starting point of everything should be knowledge. Only true knowledge can foster harmony.

Civilisation evolved through thousands of years as epicentres in several parts of the world and has now become a global civilisation. The main pursuits have been for better survival, social development, peaceful living, increased longevity, and individual development. Current civilisation in many ways has come in conflict with the biological objective of survival of the human species. There is value in economic growth and productivity, control and conquering of nature with devastating consequences. The crisis of modern society is that of civilisation, that paradoxically is drawing in material abundance and digital hyper-connectivity. The paradox of abundance and the triggering factors of this decline lie in the convergence of three post-industrial structural phenomena:

  • Institutional erosion.

  • The triumph of hyper-individualism.

  • And the end of grand metanarratives (an overarching storyline and ideology that claims to explain all of history, society, and human experience through a single universal truth).

The crisis of modern civilisation is a deep gap between fast material growth and loss of spiritual values, which often causes mass psychological stress and collective delusions. Modern life focuses only on money, machines and profit, instead of wisdom. People left behind ancient moral roots and traditional truths. Delusions and social breakdown of modern society: collective stress, mass delusions, and hysteria. Civilisation has a major impact on mental health and brain development. Humanity needs to pursue pro-mental health policies at the global societal level to prevent the expanding of the mentally unwell population. Living in digital comfort without clear life goals leaves people feeling hollow and lost. The crisis of modern civilisation involves an existential and cognitive breakdown, where material abundance and hyperconnectivity coexist with widespread alienation, cognitive superficiality, and collective delusion. The core dimensions of the crisis:

  • Existential emptiness: Modern society faces a profound loss of purpose (telos) and meaning, driven by hyper-individualism and the collapse of traditional shared narratives.

  • Excessive digital engagement, shortened attention spans, replacing deep critical thought with superficial reactions, and anti-intellectualism – cognitive decay.

  • Unchecked technological growth and material consumerism foster a delusory belief that continuous economic and scientific expansion can substitute for spiritual and ecological balance – the delirium of progress.

  • And political power increasingly manipulates language to produce consent, divide populations, and distort shared consensus on reality.

The decline we are witnessing is not economic or political but existential and spiritual, a profound loss of purpose, of meaningful connection, and of the capacity for deep attention and the emptiness that settles at the centre of a life designed for instant gratification. The failure of institutions to address global crisis with integrity has generated radical scepticism. No social cohesion, without shared moral or factual authority, truth becomes automatised. The result is a society of automatised individuals who, despite being physically close, operate in bubbles of self-interest. Life is stripped of its epic context, reduced to a series of transactions and entertainments. Deep knowledge is replaced by superficial information and genuine human connection by digital validation.

Attention is necessary for deep connection, complex thinking, empathy, and resilience. True decadence manifests itself within each person and is driven by the attention crisis. The modern economy, and particularly the digital economy, is based on the extraction of human attention and depleted resources. Society becomes emotionally flat, unable to deal with nuances or frustrations. People no longer seek a meaning in building a family, a career, or a community but in accumulating 'likes', followers, and curating a perfect online identity. This validation is superficial and creates a cycle of anxiety and social depression in which personal worth is measured by algorithmic reaction. Social media and apps are designed to exploit human existential and cognitive vulnerabilities. Social media is not fostering civil debate but amplifying division, dismantling society's capacity for democratic compromise and consensus.

The infrastructure of distraction: messaging, apps, short content (like TikTok), and games function like a dopamine machine. The consequence is a population with a chronic attention deficit and an aversion to sustained effort, which is incompatible with building a resilient society. Today many societies suffer from problems such as injustice, corruption, economic inequality, misuse of authority, and political repression. The real crisis of humanity is the absence of moral balance. The real challenge for modern civilisation is how to create a society where morality, justice, knowledge and political accountability coexist together.

Religion was the first great order of human society, long before modern states. Religion provided humanity with law, morality, identity, and social discipline. Religion acted as an umbrella for the weak and vulnerable. Religion reminded rulers that power was not absolute and that there existed a higher moral authority above kings and empires. The church frequently acted as a moral authority capable of challenging arbitrary rule and reminding rulers that power itself required ethical limitations, struggles and conflicts over justice, legitimacy, and moral limits upon authority. Modern systems increasingly prioritise efficiency, profit, military superiority, technological expansion, and economic competition, while ethical restraints continue to weaken.

Humanity today possesses immense material power, nuclear weapons, surveillance systems, chemical and biological weapons, unregulated artificial intelligence, and environmental destruction. And all is a product of scientific achievement combined with human greed and political ambition. Wars, exploitation, poverty, environmental destruction and authoritarian systems are often produced by political interests, state policies, geopolitical rivalries and economic greed. Science gave humanity power, but not wisdom. Power exceeded wisdom and capability moved beyond conscience. The modern world is not progressing; it is in a state of decline, characterised by increasing material density and spiritual ignorance. Humanity is in confusion and disorder. This is the period of difficulty, where the lowest aspects of existence dominate and obscure the higher truths.

The symptoms of this age are the relentless pursuit of material gain, the fragmentation of knowledge, the breakdown of traditional institutions, and the pervasive sense of meaninglessness. Traditional Eastern societies have historically maintained a connection to spiritual principles, knowledge and intellectual intuition. West has increasingly turned towards materialism and the external world and focused solely on the physical realm. This opposition leads to mutual misunderstanding and conflict. We could say that Easterners pose no threat to anyone and do not seek to invade others, as they are focused on defending themselves against Western invasions and oppression. West largely embraced the idea of a 'civilising mission', while remaining oblivious to the material barbarism surrounding them and their inability to appreciate diverse cultures. For modern individual existence must be seen and touched; anything beyond this is regarded as unknowable.

Modern material science concerns itself solely with that which can be measured, counted, and weighed. The advancement of industry and machinery in the pursuit of scientific knowledge aims to dominate matter. Matter is fundamentally characterised by multiplicity and division (which are deeply connected concepts), hence it serves as a source for struggles and conflicts. The notion of egalitarian superiority viewed solely from a material perspective becomes a justification for imposing western values on the entire globe, often through brute force. We live in a world that is incredibly divided. In the world which so often epitomises division and unrest, wars and gun violence, as the gap between the rich and the poor widens, and concentrated efforts aimed to remove or restrict the rights of many, fuelled by arrogant, aggressive, incompetent and narcissistic leaders, who know neither restraint nor decency. Globally, over fifty arm conflicts are underway, and continuing to cause catastrophic losses of life, culture, and the worst destruction continues by everyday bombardments.

Democracy is declining around the world as autocracy and authoritarianism gain support, with 'strongmen' who are redefining notions of despotism in the age of social media and artificial intelligence. Today’s world is one in a state of crisis: what is purpose if one is not in a state of harmony and communion with the world? And what good are values if they do not support balance and reciprocity in one’s relationships? An existential crisis is the absence of connection with nature, with other people, and with other life in peace.

The separation of Homo sapiens from nature is a trauma, and it arises from our relentless and insatiable thirst for more. To understand why a specific civilisation became highly military-orientated, instead of pursuing peace, historians generally look at a combination of environmental, social and political pressures. And it’s highly likely they faced one or more core drivers, such as geography and resource scarcity. A history of brutal invasions traumatised society, shifting its cultural mindset toward permanent military readiness. Economies are plunder-based; some civilisations structure their entire economy around expansion. The ruling class relies on capturing wealth, land, and enslaved labour from conquered territories to maintain power and fund the state.

Cultural and ideological beliefs: Many militaristic societies tie social status, masculinity, or religious duty directly to warfare. Deeper in the history, the most culturally and technologically advanced civilisations were always warlike. It seems it’s in human nature to be aggressive. There will always be individuals, leaders and groups of people that will destroy peace, just to benefit themselves. But there are more honourable things the world should focus industry around that are less detrimental to people’s safety. Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution (according to the philosophy of Tesla and Edison). While military production might see a boom, the non-military economy often stagnates or shrinks, leading to long-term economic setbacks. War destroys lives, families, economies, and futures. Peaceful eras show significant progress, and rapid scientific advancement and the rise of the internet are highly conducive to technological and cultural development.

Advanced civilisation requires large-scale cooperation. Beyond conflict, the development and maintenance of advanced civilisation fundamentally depend on the ability of people to cooperate on a grand scale, managing resources, labour and social structures. Many foundational aspects of civilisation, such as managing food, water, land, labour, trade, religion, record keeping, defence, law, and authority, are driven by the need for organised survival, which can involve cooperation…and unfortunately conflict. And history is not just about kings, wars, monuments, and dates…it’s about systems.

A lot of what we call 'civilisation' was really organisation around survival. Cooperation has the potential to replace conflict as a primary driver of civilisation's advancement, particularly of addressing complex global challenges, but ingrained human tendencies toward self-interest present significant hurdles. While conflict can spur innovation, it often diverts resources and creates instability, destruction and deaths, whereas cooperation facilitates shared progress and sustainable development (which Chinese President Xi Jinping always points out in his speech). Cooperation is a foundation for advanced civilisation. And trust is absolutely essential for large-scale cooperation.

The ability of individuals and groups to trust each other is fundamental for building complex, cooperative societies and achieving advanced goals. Humanity could and should replace a conflict with cooperation, so humanity could finally move forward. A complete shift from conflict-driven progress to cooperation-driven progress is a realistic long-term goal for humanity. World peace and slower technological advancement would be much better than what we have now.