A question often spins in the mind—not always as a clear question, sometimes as a feeling, an experience, or a sense. Are we becoming overburdened? Here, "we" refers to human society—both collectively and individually.
The Burden of Civilisation
It is 2025. Human civilisation is thousands of years old, if we consider only the current era, and far older if we include earlier ages—Stone, Bronze, and beyond. Standing here today, we carry a great weight, both as a society and as individuals. This burden has been growing gradually over many years, not suddenly.
We have countless scholars, thinkers, and streams of thought, and an endless number of religions, communities, and philosophies.
Books remain the most dependable vessels of human knowledge. Millions have been written. Even selecting only the "best" would still leave thousands. Reading all of them would take a lifetime, and even then you would barely scratch the surface.
It is not just books. Music, cinema, visual arts—all accumulate into a vast repository of human expression.
Over 2,000 years of civilisation, this is natural. We inherit knowledge, science, art, and literature from the past. Isaac Newton famously said, "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Indeed, civilisation has advanced far. Printing, electricity, computers, the Internet, and now artificial intelligence lift humanity to new heights. We stand on the shoulders of giants.
Yet there is another side. All this knowledge, these paths, these philosophies—they carry weight. This enormous burden exhausts us, both collectively and individually.
Two Things That Haven't Happened
Let us move to a different context. Two things, briefly, have not happened.
Life Hasn't Become Easier
Despite technological progress, life has not grown simpler. In fact, it is more complicated. Everything needed for a good life costs money: education, healthcare, housing, travel, entertainment. A child requires immense resources from birth through education. Even then, additional expenses and challenges follow. Civilisation's age has not made life easier; survival is expensive and often out of reach—a failure of civilisation.
Our Minds Are Not Free of Darkness
Seeking Relief from the Burden
Advocates for simple, unpretentious living have long emphasised its importance. Leo Tolstoy, for instance, taught that true freedom lies not in external progress but in inner simplicity and moral clarity. He abandoned luxury, lived like a peasant, and said— "The less I want, the more peace I gain."
This influenced Mahatma Gandhi, who spoke of a moral society through truth and non-violence. For him, a simple life meant limiting needs, renouncing ego, and surviving by one's own labour. Civilisation is meaningful only when it teaches self-restraint, not indulgence.
Henry David Thoreau, in his work Walden, spoke of a non-greedy, self-reliant life in close proximity to nature.
In today's world, where every person is immersed in a flood of information, material goods, technology, and demands, this simple, unadorned life may once again become not just a philosophical view but a form of resistance.
Here, you can observe two kinds of problems:
- Choosing frugality makes it hard to keep pace with society. Even basic needs—healthcare, education, housing—cost a lot.
- Helping friends or supporting others becomes difficult if you cannot manage yourself.
Historically, many great figures led by example, but such examples have become rare. They will return; they must. The balloon of indulgence inflates steadily, and one day it will burst.
This page was last updated on: 7 October 2025
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