Connecting and Communicating

The earlier centuries of Stage Three in the evolution of desires provided the basis for expansion of land and ideas. The Age of Discovery, the Scientific Revolution, Humanism, the Reformation, and the Enlightenment movement were all parts of a profound change that opened people’s minds and expanded their worldviews. These movements and ideologies enabled people to explore beyond their childhood rearing and reflect on life and its meaning. The Romantic period in classical music, the Sturm und Drang (storm and stress) literary movement, and the Impressionist style of painting underscored the emphasis on personal experiences and emotions in art, and in fact, presented a trend that would only strengthen in the 20th century. This trend, which eventually produced the narcissism epidemic that Twenge and Campbell refer to (see the Introduction and Chapter 5), was a forerunner of Stage Four in the evolution of desires.

But the existence of such noble ideas as equal opportunities, human rights, and freedom of speech was not enough to set off a new era. To do that, there had to be means to communicate these ideas. The 18th and especially the 19th centuries facilitated precisely that—mass communication and mass transportation.

The steam engine, first invented in the 17th century, was improved dramatically in the subsequent two centuries, and became a primary provider of motive power (engine) for industry and transportation. Toward the end of the 18th century, steam engines began to be used in boats. In the next century, these engines had so improved that they became the primary source of motive power in boats and ships.

On land, the steam locomotive changed the face of 19th century transportation. The first attempts to develop a steam engine locomotive date back to the second half of the 18th century. However, it was only upon the advent of George and Robert Stephenson’s 1829 multi-tube boiler, Rocket, that a commercially viable steam locomotive was built. In fact, the Rocket locomotive was so successful that improved versions of it were in commercial use deep into the 20th century, and even the beginning of the 21st (Image no. 8). And although it has become a rare sight, steam engines are still in use today in locomotives. Thus, with such an efficient means of transit, commuting became easy and migration of people far more frequent.

Image no. 8: Brand new steam locomotive 60163 Tornado,
manufactured in England, 2008.

Private transportation, too, was developing around the same time. Various forms of “horseless carriages,” as automobiles were called, have existed since the end of the 18th century. But until the last quarter of the 19th century, they were treated as bizarre, and often a nuisance. In 1865, the Locomotive Act in Britain restricted the speed of horseless vehicles to 4 mph in open country and 2 mph in towns. Furthermore, the Act required three drivers for each vehicle—two to travel in the vehicle and one to walk ahead waving a red flag.

But in 1876, Nikolaus August Otto invented a successful four-stroke engine, known as the “Otto cycle,” and that same year the first successful two-stroke engine was invented by Scottish engineer, Sir Dugald Clerk. Ten years later, the first vehicles using internal combustion engines were developed at roughly the same time by two engineers working in separate parts of Germany—Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz. They simultaneously formulated highly successful and practically powered vehicles that worked much like the cars we use today. This was the start of The Age of Motor Cars.

Early in the 20th century, the final terrestrial frontier was conquered—the sky. According to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, “On December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright Flyer [Orville] became the first powered, heavier-than-air machine to achieve controlled, sustained flight with a pilot aboard.” [128] From then on, even the sky was not off limits for humanity.

In the time frame between the writing of The Tree of Life and the beginning of the 20th century, our desire to govern and to profit led us to develop such capabilities in science, technology, communication, and transportation that by the start of the 20th century, all major land masses were known, connected, and regularly trading with one another. Thus, the world had effectively become a single entity, a global village. And while this may not have been evident to ordinary citizens at the time, the 20th century, with its joys and sorrows, would thoroughly demonstrate our connectedness and interdependence.

As we said at the beginning of this chapter, preceding every new stage in the evolution of desires appears the appropriate precursor. In the case of Stage Four, its precursor was not just a Kabbalist who could explain matters better than any of his predecessors, but almost an entire century served as a forerunner of a new era. The 20th century not only foretold, but even facilitated the advent of the new desire. For this reason, the 20th century merits an entire chapter of coverage.

[128] The Wright Brothers, the Invention of the Aerial Age, “Inventing a Flying Machine,” http://www.nasm.si.edu/wrightbrothers/fly/1903/triumph.cfm