Humanity needs a fundamental shift—“a very different civilisation”

I choose to quote some sentences of the BMJ opinion article
Osler’s valediction: how might physicians contribute to the effort to postpone human extinction?
This article is written to physicians, but extrapolation to other professions is left to the reader.

Historically, physicians have focused on individual patients.
The time has come to expand the scope of their philanthropia and philotechnia to humanity at large, including the health and lives of future generations whose numbers may depend on our efforts to postpone extinction. Physicians may also be at the forefront of catastrophic extinction, caring for the sick and dying as the species dwindles to oblivion.

William Osler, probably the best known physician in the English speaking world during the early 20th century, held a dim view of human nature. In medicine, however, he found “a singular beneficence,” offering “fuller hope for humanity than in any other direction.”

On 16 May 1919, shortly after the first world war claimed the life of his 21 year old son and about 20 million other people, Osler addressed the Classical Association on The Old Humanities and the New Science. He told his audience that “it has yet to be determined whether Science . . . can rule without invoking ruin.” He added that there must be “a very different civilisation or there will be no civilisation at all.”

Osler’s three existential virtues—philanthropia (love of humanity), philotechnia (love of craft), and philosophia (love of wisdom)—retain appeal, but are nuanced and problematic.
Especially difficult is “technê,” the Greek root for philotechnia and from which Thomas Browne (1605-82), another physician, coined “technology.”

Humanity needs a fundamental shift—“a very different civilisation”.
“distinctions of race, nationality, colour, and creed” no longer endanger life on earth. 
The medical profession, with its unique perspective on suffering, life, and death, and its trustworthy reputation, must take a more prominent role in achieving that shift, through advocacy, research, education, policy development, …..
With more active and vocal involvement, the medical profession could do far more to contribute to humanity’s quest for survival.