Knowledge and the Plight of Human Civilizations
There is nothing more harmful than ignorance. The eighteenth century British poet, Alexander Pope, observed that "a little learning [knowledge] is a dangerous thing. Drink deep or taste not the Pierian Spring. There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain and the drinking largely sobers us again." While slight knowledge is dangerous, ignorance offers individuals no safety at all. One of the major reasons why development plans, policies, programs, and projects fail in the developing countries is the unwillingness of people to find out and know what works or does not. Ignorance, most often, leads people in the wrong direction and finally defrauds them of the power to embrace relevant ideas and principles required for dealing with the nagging problems prevailing in their society. The lack of knowledge therefore poses enormous problems to the growth and maturity of civilizations. Lipson (1993, p. 1) observed that:
Human civilization has evolved to the point where either collective annihilation or collective betterment has become a practical choice—a choice that no previous generation has had to face. By now, we have acquired the knowledge and possess the means to improve the quality of life substantially for far larger numbers than was possible in past ages. If we are so minded, the opportunity is ours to eliminate, once and for all the ancient evils of hunger, poverty, and ignorance, as well as many forms of disease. Beyond that, we could create a more just and more humane society than has yet been achieved, except in a few very small and relatively uncomplicated communities.
As of today, human civilizations are filled completely with geysers of complex problems that ooze out continuous streams of unrelenting fears and anxieties. The confusion this chaotic situation brings is much more intimidating and paralyzing than the fear unleashed on an individual who is caught in the vise-like claws of a rolling quicksand. People caught unawares are not only buried in their problems in the long term, but also lose the power and will to look for solutions and fight for survival. As noted correctly by Roche (1987, p. xii),
We are misled by our perspective. In seeing the heroic as too large for ourselves, we have been deceived and cheated by man-made philosophies that see human purpose as far too small. These anti-heroic philosophies, of which we have much to say, . . . have been woven of scientific errors and prideful cravings, in rebellion against God. In sum, they constitute a sweeping denial of value and purpose to human life, setting us adrift in existence without meaning or hope. They hate life. Over six centuries they have gained force, reaching a malignant ascendance in modern times, our times, that is destroying civilized life.
All over the world, people are filled with hopelessness, helplessness, hate, misery, racial discrimination, discouragement, abuse in its many forms, lack of integrity, and disloyalty. The existing foundation of the human society and its accompanying building blocks are not only faulty, but also frail and deceptive in many regards. For example, people in their various societies continue to build social, economic, and political programs on nothingness—porous human thoughts, emotions, and flickering values. The failure to discover the real root causes of human problems continues to lead all humanity on an unending goose chase in the sea of limitless mirage. Human civilizations are, therefore, in peril. To date, most plans, policies, programs, and projects aimed at solving these problems fail to take into account the critical role of the human factor in either creating or solving the problems. If people are to make beneficial and lasting progress in dealing with their fundamental social, economic, and political problems in their own society, they must evaluate thoroughly and objectively the existing and evolving human ideologies and universal principles before deciding either to accept or reject them. In the history of humanity, scholars always come out with great ideas, models, and theories aimed at providing explanations to and suggested solutions for the pertinent problems. In every country, both leaders and citizens must search relentlessly for workable solutions. The race for the discovery of answers to these problems has therefore led academicians to research into their nature and causes. However, in most cases, plans, policies, programs, and projects based on conclusions arrived at from these academic studies do not necessarily bring about permanent beneficial solutions to the existing problems. This failure calls for a detailed search for further explanations and real solutions to the problems.
In what follows, the HF concept and its relevance to nation building are presented and discussed.