People who weigh in on the topic of traditional wisdom often criticize negative aspects seemingly choosing not to recognize that pleas for a return to traditional values can be discriminatory. For example, many now choose to peacefully parent and would not like to return to the way most children were treated in the past. We might also like to keep our modern surgery skills and knowledge, too. There is so much to choose from and the key is to use a solid mind to discern what we keep and what changes we adopt.
When looking at history we should keep the good and the leave the bad. Or more specifically, we should assess ancient wisdom and try to understand why it became tried and true. Perhaps there is a reason anchored so long ago that we must dig to get at it. You see, humans are the same after all these years. What is different is what we are taught as children and the culture or civilization we’re born into. We live so differently right now that the reasons for certain traditional behaviors is completely lost on us. Why did certain ways of life and thinking last so long? Is there a reason? Is it perhaps, a good reason? We owe it to ourselves to find out. It may be of utmost importance. After all, we don’t want to relive hard lessons that may have already been learned. That’s like going around in circles and disrespecting the fact that our ancestors suffered to get us where we are now.
Similarly, rejecting all from the modern world is not the answer. We have continued to learn. It’s tricky, of course, to wade through so much in order to keep the good and leave the bad, but this is again, exactly what we should do. We have brains for a reason and we need to use them for a successful life. Unfortunately, we won’t do so well to copy every one of our great-grandparent’s ways nor follow what everyone is doing now. We must pick and choose among the two.
Those who take all the good, no matter where it comes from, and reject all the bad are poised to be the most wise among us. This is how we thank our many ancestors for their hard-earned lessons and it is how we provide our children the best that our current knowledge can provide. This is true progress.