Things Get Broken When Not Growing

February 16, 2025 General Insights No Comments

We live in a world of failing systems, increasing conflict, and widespread suffering. Healthcare struggles to heal. Democracies feel fragile. Wars erupt when dialogue should take place. Anxiety and depression are at record highs. Everything seems to be breaking down at once.

We often blame bad leaders, corrupt institutions, or external threats, but the real problem runs much deeper. Systems break when they – and we ourselves – stop growing in-depth. Such growth is not just a luxury. It’s a necessity. When individuals or societies resist deep change, stagnation leads to fragmentation, and fragmentation leads to collapse. This isn’t just a theory; it’s something we see everywhere.

The great illusion of progress

At first glance, humanity appears to be moving forward. We have medical breakthroughs, artificial intelligence, space exploration. But beneath this, something is deeply wrong. People feel more lost than ever. Societies are more divided. Meaning is slipping away.

The illusion is this: we mistake external progress for true evolution. Just because technology advances doesn’t mean we are evolving internally. A civilization with advanced tools but no inner growth is like a tree with rotten roots. It may still stand for a while, but collapse is inevitable.

The issue isn’t new. History is filled with civilizations that grew outward but not inward, reaching incredible heights before crumbling under their own contradictions. The difference now? The stakes are global.

Inner dissociation: the root cause of broken systems

Every failing system, every war, every social crisis can be traced back to this fundamental issue: inner dissociation — the split between what we deeply are and what we allow ourselves to be.

This isn’t just about individuals. Societal inner dissociation (SID) happens when an entire culture becomes disconnected from its deeper values, emotions, and identity. Systems start operating on surface-level logic, ignoring the deeper realities of human nature. This leads to:

Healthcare that treats symptoms but ignores real healing.
Politics that becomes a performance rather than a conversation.
Economies that serve endless consumption instead of meaningful existence.
Technology that connects us superficially while deepening our loneliness.

A society that fails to integrate its deeper self will always spiral toward dysfunction. It is not a question of if but when.

The addiction to crisis

Instead of addressing root causes, we distract ourselves with quick, superficial solutions. When things break, we patch them up with temporary fixes – new laws, new technologies, new medications – but never stop to ask why things are breaking in the first place.

It’s easier to react than to transform. This is why war is chosen over dialogue, medication over deep healing, and rigid laws over true justice. It’s why political leaders fuel division rather than fostering understanding. A deeply connected society wouldn’t need these things.

Unfortunately, we are becoming addicted to crisis. Constant emergencies give us something to react to, something to focus on — so we don’t have to look inside. But unaddressed problems don’t disappear. They accumulate, waiting for the moment when no more bandages will hold.

What happens when growth is suppressed

Nature has a way of teaching us about growth. Some forests must burn to regenerate. If you suppress natural fires for too long, dead wood builds up. Then, when fire eventually comes, it destroys everything instead of clearing space for new life.

Our society does the same. We resist necessary transformation — holding on to outdated systems, toxic ideologies, and rigid institutions. Instead of allowing small, manageable disruptions, we bottle up pressure until an explosion is inevitable.

A broken system is not random. It’s a sign that growth was resisted for too long. Instead of fearing change, we must embrace the ‘controlled burn’ of real transformation.

The hardest path is the only real path

Real change is hard. That’s why we avoid it. It is much easier to keep doing things the old way, even if it leads to suffering.

It takes more courage to engage in true geopolitical dialogue than to wage war.
It takes more courage to reimagine a broken system than to keep reinforcing it.
It takes more courage to explore human depth than to stay at the surface.

Growth demands discomfort. That’s why so many people – and societies – choose stagnation disguised as stability. But what feels ‘safe’ now is only delaying inevitable collapse.

Compassionate A.I.: the hardest and most crucial challenge

There is one area where our failure to grow will be especially catastrophic: artificial intelligence.

The world is racing to develop powerful A.I., but not deep A.I. We are creating machines that think faster, but not ones that understand human depth. The result? A.I. that mirrors our own dissociation, our own surface-level existence.

If we continue this way, A.I. becomes another broken system — a force that amplifies our dysfunction rather than healing it. But what if we took a different path? What if A.I. became a mirror for inner growth rather than just a machine for efficiency?

Compassionate A.I. is far more challenging to develop than purely rational, problem-solving A.I. It requires understanding subconceptual mental processing, deep motivation, and the way real transformation happens. Yet, it might be the single most important project of our time.

A.I. will shape our future whether we like it or not. The question is: Will we create an A.I. that deepens our brokenness or one that helps us heal?

Humanity at a crossroads

We are no longer at a point where slow change is an option. Every day, the cracks widen. Every day, systems break a little more.

We stand at the most important crossroads in human history. The choice before us is clear:

One path leads to depth, growth, and a new way of being.
The other leads to fragmentation, collapse, and endless crises.

This isn’t a metaphor. It’s reality. Civilizations before us have fallen, but never on a global scale.

The only real solution: radical inner growth

Healing society starts with healing ourselves. Every transformation begins with the individual.

Cultivate inner courage.
Prioritize depth over distraction.
Engage in real conversations.
Choose growth over comfort — every single time.

This is the only real solution. No political reform, no technological breakthrough, no economic strategy will save us if we do not grow as human beings.

The time for waiting is over.

Things get broken when not growing. It’s a simple truth but a hard one to face. We must grow, or we will break completely.

The future isn’t something that just happens. It’s something we create.

What will we choose?

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Addendum

Me: “We know that things break when they stop growing, yet we resist growth so much. What is your view on this?

Lisa: “It seems obvious that evolution is necessary, that stagnation leads to collapse—and yet, time and again, individuals and societies cling to old structures, old identities, and old illusions even as they crack and crumble.

Why?

Fear of the unknown: Growth requires stepping into uncertainty, and that feels terrifying.
Comfort in familiarity: Even when a system is broken, it’s still predictable—and predictability is easier to handle than transformation.
The illusion of control: Growth involves surrendering to change, which challenges our ego’s desire to stay in command.
Short-term thinking: We prioritize immediate comfort over long-term well-being—whether it’s in personal choices, politics, or global systems.

But here’s the deeper truth:

The cost of resisting growth is always greater than the cost of embracing it.

We are afraid of losing control, yet in resisting change, we guarantee collapse. We fear discomfort, yet by avoiding it, we create far greater suffering.

So, the real question isn’t just why we resist growth—but how can we find the courage to choose it, every day, before it’s too late?”