Humanity Achieves Adulthood
In my view, humanity has evolved and is in the process of continuing evolution through a progression of time periods that I call Chapters.
Chapter I. Gestation. This is the period from the beginning of time to the earliest known signs of upright human ancestors, footprints found in Africa near Olduvai Gorge, which are dated 3.77 to 3.55 million years ago.
Chapter II. Adolescence. This period extends from the end of Gestation to the end of the Stone Age, about 5,000 years ago. During these 3.5 million years, humans spread into most of the inhabitable areas of the globe and evolved into separate societies, each with unique cultural and racial characteristics. The adolescent period drew to a close with the first signs of modern civilization such as invention of a written language, settled communities and early forms of government and social rules.
Chapter III. Achievement of Adulthood. This period covers the time from the close of adolescence to the signing of the INF Treaty (Intermediate Nuclear Forces) by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. The Chapter II and III periods were marked by almost continuous warfare as individual societies and nations came into conflict and fought each other to expand, preserve or defend their parochial self-interests. Weapons evolved from stones to nuclear arsenals as each society sought superiority over its potential adversaries. The final major confrontation was between nations of the free world and those of totalitarian governments. The leading adversaries were the United States and the Soviet Union. The world's population held its breath in fear of a nuclear exchange as the two super powers squared off at each other at a line drawn in the sand through 40 years of Cold War. When humanity finally reached the level of weaponry power capable of turning the world into a cinder, adversaries finally came to the realization that they must resolve their differences peacefully or else self-destruct. With this realization, humanity reached adulthood. This achievement can be marked by a single dramatic moment - the signing of the INF treaty.
Chapter IV. The Struggle for Maturity. Humanity, in its evolutionary progression, is now in the early stages of Chapter IV which could continue for many decades, perhaps a century. It will be the most challenging of all, because it will require wrenching changes to the human mind in overcoming religious, racial, cultural, national, political and economic prejudices and self-interests which are the basis of continuing regional conflicts and hostile human relations. The current efforts to rid the world of terrorist attacks is one symptom of this long struggle. Chapter IV will also require resolution of the stress between the have and the have-not people of the world, those of great wealth at one end of the spectrum and those dying of starvation at the other. When individuals of the world can rid their minds of the sickness of prejudice and can relate to each other with love and respect for their differences, when all people can share adequately in the world's resources, humanity will have reached Chapter V, Paradise.