Why do civilizations repeat the same mistakes across different centuries and cultures?

This is the question that haunted Patanjali, even if he didn't phrase it this way. And the answer isn't comforting: because human psychology doesn't change much. We're driven by the same fears, ambitions, and blind spots whether we're in ancient Rome or modern times. Greed, tribalism, the illusion that 'this time is different'—these aren't bugs in the system. They're features of how minds work when they're untrained. Patanjali's whole system was built on this observation: without deliberate practice, we're on autopilot. Civilizations are just autopilots scaled up. A society grows prosperous, becomes confident, stops questioning its assumptions, and rigidity sets in. Individuals within it stop practicing discipline—mental, moral, ethical discipline. Institutions that once served get corrupted. Nobody wakes up planning to destroy their civilization. It happens gradually, through the accumulation of small compromises and the refusal to see what's actually happening. The pattern is visible if you look. But seeing it requires intellectual humility—the willingness to admit that you and your society could fall into the same traps. That's uncomfortable. Most people choose not to look. Your edge is different: you can look. You can study how these cycles work and ask where you're caught in them—personally, professionally, culturally. That awareness is the first step toward breaking the pattern.