Why does it always seem to take "human sacrifice" for mankind to move forward?

[Smith_3]

Just think about it. It took 9/11, nearly a million dead Iraqis, over 4000 dead american soldiers, for America to wake up towards the consequences of bad foreign policy.

It took the complete destruction of german infrastructure and millions dead, for Germany and the world to come aware of the consequences of fascism.

It takes a train accident to raise people's awareness of safety issues. It probably took several people dieing in car crashes for the invention of seat belts, speed limits etc.

I bet it has always been like that. For the first humans to realize which berries they could eat and which ones not, it probably took lots of people dead from eating the wrong ones.

I guess we humans are doomed to learn the hard way.

[Hydra]

1. I posit that we didn't learn from any of it

All those people dying hasn't changed our course in America.

WWII didn't prevent Fascism from rising in America.

Minor tragedies fade from our minds even more quickly- Monks in Burma, anyone?

We humans simply want what we want, and we want it NOW. I think that's the root of the problem of why we don't learn from our mistakes so well.

[jpertello]

2. An interesting book

I am reading, "The Devil and Miss Prym" by Paolo Coelho examines that very question. One character in the book, a priest, suggests that God sends disasters and evidence of pure Evil to inspire people to see Good when it is presented to them. It asks the basic question "Are people inherently bad?"

[The2ndWheel]

3. Our solutions always create the next problem

We wouldn't have to worry about seat belts and speed limits if the car hadn't been invented.

What exactly would we be moving forward to? A time when actions have no consequences?