I am currently learning about the Renaissance in history class. At first, I didn’t think I’d be all that mind blown. As a natural devil’s advocate, I tend to sympathize with the bleak. The unaccounted for. It’s fun to find the merit in the darker side of things. Historically speaking, the Middle Ages are more of my jam. But now I’m hooked.

If you’re unfamiliar with it, the Renaissance, taking place between the 14th and 17th centuries, was a rebirth of all things good and classical. Artists broke creative ground that hadn’t even been considered. Filippo Brunelleschi discovered perspective in art. Galileo realized that not everything revolves around us.

Every day seemed to bring a new innovation, long lost mysteries waiting to be rediscovered and enlightened. I’m no history fanatic– but you don’t need to be to understand that the whole thing was remarkable.

As I then looked at today’s world with fresh, mesmerized eyes, drunk off the magic of the Renaissance, I realized: something’s off.

Some people say that we too are living in some sort of “Modern Renaissance.” Today’s technological innovations are exponentially soaring. Machines slowly evolving from servants to masters. The internet was invented. All of these inventions in the last century will have a longstanding impact on our future. From that standpoint, we and Florence are much alike.

But I’m not convinced.

The Renaissance was truly defined by the pursuit of beauty and the celebration of its mystery. A time where artists had a singular motivation in their work: elevation. Every creation was an attempt at transcendence to a higher level beyond the individual.

Somewhere between then and now, something changed. Our innovations and creations are no longer driven by beauty. Our inspiration has morphed into the pursuit of technology, immediacy, solutions.

When did the pursuit of the question turn into an obsession with the answer?

Of course there’s some good that comes from our uber-efficient ways. We now have ways to communicate with the click of a button. We can end up in another continent in a matter of hours.

And of course, all you need is to go to the planetarium to realize that modern technology can expose us to whole universes of beauty. I understand that.

But I think that somewhere along this timeline, we lost the true meaning of why we innovate. Why we create. Masterpieces of the Renaissance like the David were creations that were bigger than themselves.

Efficiency is important, but we increasingly lose the pursuit of beauty that has been advancing civilizations for centuries.

Today, we are a society driven by “2.0s.” Next best things. A society built on being “better” than our neighbor.

We live in an age that solves mysteries instead of celebrating them.

Maybe the biggest difference between the inventions then and now is the reason behind them. Why did Michelangelo create the David?

I think he did it to get to a higher level of truth.

The David, along with other inventions and art of the Renaissance, were attempts. Attempts to get to this undiscovered astral plane of truth and beauty.

In the Renaissance, an artist’s work transcended his being. His work represented something bigger than itself.

As I look at today’s inventions, I can’t help but think that the reason has been skewed.

It seems as if we are going down a path of some sort of individualism. Modern inventions are emphasizing ourselves. Everything is personalized to what I want. What I like.

But I think that there is something to be learned from our ancestors. I fear that in 100 years, we’ll look back at our individualized innovations and realize we haven’t really advanced at all… At least not like we once did.

I guess we’ll never know. Until then, I’ll be basking in the mystery.