Where could we be?

Alasdair Macdonald made a point in saying that civilizations' self-destruction is what leads to the change and evolution of the earth. This is an interesting point, as it is saying our flaws as a race are what have shaped our modern-day society, but where would we be without these flaws? If the world had never had wars or global warming what would the world look like now? Would we be further ahead technologically as the time spent fighting each other or destroying the planet could have been used to create a better world, or would we be further behind as a civilization as we have had nothing to learn from?

I personally believe that without our flaws we definitely be less developed as a civilization, especially from a design point of view. A lot of the world problems in the modern-day give designers opportunities to create and innovate. Without global warming especially, the role for designers would be much less essential. Therefore I would agree in saying that to an extent these global disasters and problems are what allow us to develop and improve our society.