The Cycle of Challenges

Given the results of the Industrial Revolution, how did humanity approach new challenges and obstacles, including war?

The Industrial Revolution dawned a new era of technology and perspective which mankind applied to its everyday life. One key component which enabled humanity to take such a substantial step forward was the progression in the concept and execution of mobility throughout the world. As the world progressed technologically and militarily, people simply became more mobile because there was a pressing need to do so in order to completely defend oneself and be victorious, overall. But, in warfare, the trench system proved mobility at its worst, as it became an inhumanly disgusting place. Since mobility was a key element in approaching and conquering militarily related challenges, the trench system seemed to be a full-proof and efficient plan in order to station and contain the soldiers. Trench warfare was the dominant technology which was utilized throughout World War One. Soldiers would eat, sleep, fight, go to the bathroom, live, and die in these trenches. Obviously, it became quickly overflowed with wastes and was incredibly unsanitary, as an understatement. Rainwater also destroyed the trenches, as excessive rains filled up and overflowed the trenches, drenching everything with water. The combination of water and all other wastes fostered an unavoidable disease and corruption in the trenches, ultimately making them a grave rather than a passage to fighting and therefore living (hopefully). This disease turned into something on the scale comparable to the Black Death, demolishing countless amounts of soldiers and environments. 

The sprouting of new elements to life and technology (eventually warfare) led to mobility, which is presently an enormous credit to how we know so much and plays an inconceivably large role in modern day life. But, the trench warfare disasters and diseases serve as proof to the notion that such developing technologies continue humanity on a deadly path and cycle, going from bad times to good times (as things are being further developed), leading to times which are too good, which are almost impossible to sustain, therefore eventually going back to bad times and restarting the cycle again from there. Essentially, humanity continues to come up with new methods by which it can use to benefit and improve the efficiency, quality, and condition of their lifestyle; not only is technology part of these progressions, but social class, economy, politics, etc. are all results of this cycle, striving for improvement which is realistically impossible to achieve. In other words, humanity has gotten to the point where it has outdone itself, running out of options of things to develop and investigate, therefore drawing too big of a scope for itself to attain. That is why the environment steps in to reset humanity back via methods such as disease or a natural disaster, which forces humanity to rethink, redevelop, and reinstate the ways by which we live that does not set an unattainable goal for itself, allowing it to thrive, relate, and prosper with the surrounding environment. The environment is simply a mechanism which sets humanity on the correct/towards the correct direction that will allow it to reach its full potential to best approach new challenges and obstacles at hand.