The linearity of Western societies seems to derive from Zoroastrian process theology. Hunter-gatherer societies were likely more egalitarian and less hierarchical, and the same can be said for Eastern religions and societies. Hinduism and Daoism, for example, are more about cycles than an apocalypse at the end of time.

The problem might be, then, with what Oswald Spengler calls the “Faustian” mindset. If nature, too, is more about cycles and self-organization and dynamic systems, our linear view of history would be anti-natural and we may be setting ourselves up for disappointment or catastrophe (such as the collapse of ecosystems due to human “progress”) — or for a miracle of transhuman godhood.