Mankind has deluded himself by assuming that he's unlike the other species of this planet.
He has assumed (based on wishful thinking), that he's a forward-thinking beast, therefore he's an advancing species naturally. But, worse than Christianity's false promise of a better humanity (thanks to a big illusion man concocted - that the god of this cosmos chose to manifest as human - to save humanity), the Socratic dream and all dominant Western Thought have deluded us into thinking advancing in science and knowledge shall also advance us "fundamentally" as a species! This is the evil of Western Thought.
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John Gray's pessimism aside, It remains to be seen whether the advent of wide-spread genetic engineering, man-machine hybridization and the advent of the AI singularity wont actually advance man as a species - I believe that if we as man wont advance, technology shall alter us - it remains to be seen whether we shall be altered for better or worse.
It's this optimism, of a technology that might help man surpass his natural limitations, that ought to drive science forward. I share in this dream, and notice that for those looking to other sources of progress, they are the victims of Gray's relentless scourge.
John Gray's philosophy probably serves to emphasize the point that - science had better be right or we'll see worse downfall for humanity than religion has spurred over the centuries.
