Whenever
you ask this question to friends, colleagues, relatives, students and
scholars you are likely to get some interesting answers.
Among the best answers I heard so far there are some that impressed me
quite a bit. One friend once said that in his opinion the discovery of
techniques to produce fire was extremely important for humanity.
It is difficult to argue against this idea because when you think it over
you come to the conclusion that everything that uses any technology whatsoever
was made possible because early man discovered a way to master the fire.
By doing so, man was able to melt the proper minerals and produce metals
which allowed the production of tools, which in turn allowed the resources
that shaped our world.
Another friend said: -The most important discovery was the speech.
One could argue that
these are inventions, not discoveries and we could go on a heated philosophical
discussion. One side would argue that fire was a natural element and not
an invention, which is true; but it is also true that man discovered ways
to make fire from scratch.
The other side would argue that this may be true in the case of fire,
but vocal cords always existed and they were meant for communication.
How could anyone disagree? But then, how do you think our ancestors would
call the huge bunch of things we have around the modern caves we call
home today? The answer is: nothing. That’s it, since they did not
have chairs, pans, spoons, stoves, plates and cups, they also did not
have words to name them.
Since there were no words, there could be no speeches. So, it would make
sense to believe that in the early stages of human development, our ancestors
hardly spoke. Indeed they had vocal cords but their use was very limited.
The same applies to the human hands. Our ancestors used them for a lot
of purposes, but in the very early stages nobody used them for writing
for one simple reason: none could write! And even if one could write,
it would be an exercise of futility, since none could read! So, in spite
of the potential to learn, the use of writing would have to wait millennia
until the development of symbols that later became know as the alphabet.
To try to understand how long it took, let’s keep it mind that the
oldest hominid bones are over 3 million years old in the case of the famous
skeleton of Australopithecus affarensis known as Lucy.
The fire, the language, the writing and the press are some of the many important discoveries that made our world what it is today. But then, what is the most important human discovery after all?
Every person that
ever thought about his or her own terminality, most likely though how
terrible it is to be a mortal and how wonderful it would be to discover
ways of defeating death.
Even if that was possible by some miraculous deed of medicine, would you
want to stay alive forever at the age of 75 or 85 or more? Of course if
it was possible to go back to the shape of thirties that’s another
story.
Well, here lies one of the greatest boundaries of human knowledge. Am
I a body and I have a spirit? Or am I a spirit and I have a body? If I
am a spirit, am I immortal? How can I be sure? Is there real life after
life?
Can anyone think of a more important discovery waiting to be made?
Some would argue, that Religion has already revealed these truths millennia ago. But we know that religious revelations are one part of the issue and individual belief is quite another.
Beliefs can be proposed and promoted, but true faith is a long term effect and among it’s causes we find the accumulation of evidences, whether empirical, rational or both.
If we are immortal
spiritual beings living one material experience, one natural question
would be: -Is this the first time everyone had to come to Earth?
If the answer is yes, then the huge differences among people would make
God seem unfair. On the other hand, if the differences among people are
the result of a combination of fair natural laws like free will, immortality,
cause and effect, it would make reincarnation the most coherent answer.
There it is then; the most important discovery humanity can make. The individual belief that we really are immortal beings and do return to Earth from time to time. Not a return to pay for debts and sins, but to learn what is there to be learned and to practice what we have learned before.
Such discovery will trigger thoughts and questions like: - If we are to come back to a new life on Earth, what will we find when we return?
One answer could be: - We will find nothing more than the results of what we have built and left behind. This alone seem to be a powerful reason for an ongoing effort to help people to wake up for the need to search for the truths of life so more people can start changing attitude and help in the process of building a better world. A world we will share for many lives do come.
Is there a more important discovery one could make?
Paulo H. Wedderhoff
Member of the Brazilian Spiritist Studies Society
www.sbee.org