Human thinking is much more conservative and lazier than it is commonly thought. There are, of course, people with a lively mind, who think for themselves, who will be able to immediately, from the first acquaintance, assimilate new knowledge or a new idea, or at least become interested in them. But very many blindly, without thinking, accept everything that their era breathes at the present time – its scientific and social theories, its morals, ethics and beliefs. Their worldview is created by schools and universities, newspapers and magazines, popular lectures, radio and television. Feeling at the level of the epoch, they already know everything, they do not need anything new and will accept the new and unusual slowly and with difficulty, when it will be impossible not to see it.

We live in a very interesting and difficult time. Perhaps there has never been such a predominance of the material over the spiritual. The world does not stand still. Even the philosophers of ancient Greece knew that "everything flows, everything changes", but never in the past have these changes been so profound and so rapid.

Before our eyes, during one or two generations, life on earth takes on a new look. Something new is entering the world, not only people's lifestyles are changing, but people themselves are also changing. We see a phenomenal and rapid growth of material knowledge and material capabilities, the development and, one might say, the conquest of the material world by man. But along with this, spiritual values are being lost, and disregard for the spiritual world and withdrawal from it have developed and intensified. Material enrichment with impoverishment of the spirit. The growth of knowledge with the loss of wisdom.

In the shortest possible time, we mastered the powers of steam, electricity, and the hidden energy of the atom. We dominate not only the animal and plant world, but now also the world of microorganisms. Our medicine literally works wonders. We have begun space exploration. Our material successes are beyond imagination.

At the same time, there is a fading of spiritual life, indifference, and sometimes even hostility to everything spiritual. Faith is lost, sometimes completely lost, not only in God and the immortality of the soul, but also in everything that is above matter. The norms of behavior given by all great religions are becoming a thing of the past. New norms are recommended and adopted, lighter and more pleasant than those that people have lived for several millennia. People have more and more rights and fewer and fewer responsibilities.

Freedom is dying everywhere in the world – political, economic and personal. Freedom is necessary for a person to fulfill his highest spiritual creative needs. Creative freedom is not needed for the use of material goods. There are many people who do not value freedom and do not need it.

In countries that became totalitarian, one or another form of slavery was introduced openly, and often with the approval, even exultation of the majority of the population. In countries that have not yet completely lost their freedom, almost all newly adopted laws increase the dependence of the inhabitants of the country on its rulers.

It is easier to live without freedom. More and more people are willingly giving up their freedom in exchange for a comfortable and peaceful life. You don't need to make any decisions. Less responsibility, you can even transfer the upbringing of your own children to the hands of the state.

It is easy to live without being responsible for anything, but at the same time the most important thing is lost - life without responsibility is always unspiritual.

The moral level of many of our leaders and rulers is clearly declining. In a number of countries, people rule, whose main goal is to preserve and expand their power, and not the well-being of the population under their control. In the entire history of mankind, up to the twentieth century, there was no time when a dictator exterminated millions of the inhabitants of his own country by terror or artificially induced famine in order to consolidate his own power. The rulers of democratic countries, knowing and understanding what is happening, are mainly concerned with profitable deals with any regime. This order of things has become a habit and no one is surprised anymore.

Wars have become bloodier and more ruthless than before. Now they are bombing cities far from the front, destroying the entire population, including women and children. The military doctrine that says that it is necessary to break the morale of the enemy by destroying his civilian population was born in the XX century.

The appearance of the person himself is changing, the relationships between people and the people themselves are changing. Deep connections and understanding between men and women, between parents and children are lost.

The basis of a decent human life has always been the family. In our time, the family is rapidly collapsing. Frequent change of so-called "partners". Contraceptives from the age of 14. Abortion is perceived by society as something natural. A young married couple is in no hurry to have children: first you need to provide yourself with complete comfort, and children are a burden, new responsibilities, rather a difficulty than happiness and joy.

More and more men and women are gaining a rich experience of sexual intercourse, having never experienced the feeling of true love. You need to be able to get pleasure without binding yourself to any obligations. We stop respecting ourselves and others, even people close to us.