21st Century Crossroads: Times Are Changing Rapidly

 By Sicebise Msengana 

Last week I was asked about my opinions on modernity. Well, my answer was that I'm a traditional Xhosa man living in a post modern world. I can't say I support everything that is happening in this technological world. I'm not a huge fan of liberalism and multiculturalism.

But I'm conscious of this ever-changing environment. I believe history, with all its achievements and tragedies is moving toward a resolution. All of history -- all the madness and the chaos, all the struggle and the bloodshed, all the destruction and all the vast conflicts, all the crushing failures and marvelous triumphs of the human species -- once again we are able to learn why the cosmos is intrinsically the way it is, learn the deep reasons why the things are as we find them and not some other way. 

There are a lot of advancements taking place. It's not just Artificial Intelligence. AI is the most talked about subject at the moment because giant tech companies' profits from AI are soaring and it's controversial for some ethical reasons. There are vast technologies and scientific discoveries that are secretly taking place but not put out in the media. Also, revolutions that are changing the world economy, genetic, social, political and cultural landscape. 

Respect and thanks to our African ancestors. But I think one of the reasons why they were conquered is that they are not aware or didn't embrace changes happening at the time. Most of them were too naive and easily manipulated by their enemies. History is repeating itself once again. Black people keep missing opportunities or are unwilling to become a powerful race and compete for racial superiority. Sometimes one asks, "Where is the African race heading to?" Do black people have a future in this reality that is dominated by another people?" The world was radically evolving in the 12th and 14th centuries and Europeans were at the crossroads of civilization. White colonialists were able to use biological determinism to justify enslaving, killing, raping millions and invading native lands. It was also and still used to provide a plausible way of explaining inequalities in status, wealth and power. Arabs and Asians caught on the 20th century and became the new world landlords.

Charles Darwin was once quoted saying, "Survival of the fittest" and the world stuck with that ever since. What most people don't realize is that Darwin also said something profound. I'll rephrase it, "It's species that adapt who survive." We lived in a fast-paced world in midst of an unprecedented population explosion fueled by innovations in technology and medical science. Our struggle for survival and replication occurs within a dynamically changing social environment. Ever since humankind came into existence, we have been faced with the challenge of trying to survive and replicate amid an ever-growing number of human competitors. Our primitive ancestors were were largely at the mercy of an indifferent and often hostile universe, fearful of forces beyond their control. Every scientific, religious, social, cultural, political, ideological, philosophical and technological endeavour in the history of our species has tried to put humanity in some way central to the universe and its laws. That's why whatever we build or invent or engineer, the greatest triumphs of civilization and technology, is primarily for some degree for bringing the forces of nature under our influence as human beings. 21th century traditional men should embrace change or at least be aware of the fact that we live in a very different world from that of our ancestors. And the best of the best are those who adapt to change or mold it to their advantage.