How to call It?

During the past 50 years it is obvious to everyone that the character of terrestrial evolution has altered. One might summarize four simultaneous unfoldings or developments to define its outer character: The explosive proliferation of the human species; The reign of techniques or technological applications of new scientific discoveries and the access of a growing majority of human beings to a mode of material consumption become synonymous with well-being; The evermore direct and constant communication of all parts of the earth between them; The ruin and degradation of the entire terrestrial eco-system. But inwardly; or where the development of the human person is concerned, how to qualify it? One may to begin with distinguish between two parallel and opposites processes: The first is that of a living synthesis, of a blossoming and universalization with the release from the yokes of the past and the meeting of the self in an infinite diversity of experiences and expressions. The second is that of an apparently formidable progress in the comprehension of the organic, physical and material world, brought to serve a general improvement of living conditions and yet resulting in an uncontrolled amplification of exploitative practices meant to ensure immediate profits at the detriment of the natural terrestrial equilibrium.

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