The guy that started Outward Bound had his own thoughts on when things went bad. His seven forces of decline that effect the modern world were the decay of:
- fitness
- care
- skill
- initiative
- self-discipline
- imagination
- compassion
He felt like we were shielded from the true forces of life and the lessons contained therein. Engagement with nature was no longer considered civilized and the combination of all this put us on a path to “spiritual death”. This was some good stuff taken from an article in Wooden Boat Magazine.