Now, this is the case even in traditional societies–pre-“modern” societies–which have very clear, long standing rules about behavior. The goal in such societies, though, is to take on what amount to preexisting cultural “genes”, or memes, in exact and mimetic ways, such that the ultimate result creates stable orders across generations in a manner not all the different from biologically dictated orders based solely upon instincts. Cultural maladaptions–for example, individualistic tendencies–are punished just as genetic maladaptions are in the wild. Except, of course, when they survive and prove beneficial, as happened in the modern West’s invention of science, and the individualistic ontological presuppositions upon which it is based. Framed another way, we give every person the right to form their own opinions about the nature of reality and morality. This has been fruitful economically and in the generation of advanced abilities to manipulate our natural world.
We must consider, though, that if we are going to ask every individual to form their own “culture”, their own “self”, that this INEVITABLY is going to take longer than a process based solely upon replication.
Like many impatient people with tendencies towards judgementalism, I have tendency to find people trying to find themselves irritating. This includes myself. Yet, the “self actualized” person is actually more useful than the replicator, even if that person takes a much longer time to reach usefulness. This point is worth remembering.
We live in a new world, from which the old rules based upon rote imitation are largely gone. This is often called a bad thing. It is the source of social conservatism. At the same time, it is also an opportunity to grow out of childhood as a race.
To my mind, the process would be greatly facilitated by generalizing accurate knowledge about the universe, which would include the self evident fact that the 19th Century ended, and with it ping pong ball materialism. The best evidence indicates both that extrasensory perception is a reality, and that we survive physical death in spirit. These facts should be taught in schools. That they are not is a crime of no small proportion.