The Tension Between Building New and Conserving Old

The tension between building new things and conserving old things is important. This tension exists between the desire to solve problems (liberal concept) and the desire to prevent new dysfunctions (conservative concept). Humans have the unique ability to switch niches and adapt to novelty through culture and consciousness. Consciousness allows us to transmit and process abstractions to create something greater. We are supposed to gather, update ancestral wisdom, and build a cultural package that works. This is what human beings do when ancestral wisdom fails, which is where we are now.