Is Crisis the Only Solution? (a quasi-philosophical rant)

Do we, human beings, only make widescale, unified efforts for change in the wake of crises? Insofar as many of the pressing scientific issues facing humanity are concerned, I believe that this is the case. What areas of science are in need of a paradigm shift now? In the next decade? In the next century? And whatever these issues may be, will a crisis in each scenario have to be reached before drastic measures will be taken? Any answers that I might offer to any of these questions would be pure speculation.
It seems to me that humans, particularly in this day in age, live a life of instant gratification. Have we always been this way? Is it in our nature? Regardless of the answers to these questions, humans do need to be gratified instantaneously in our time. In my opinion, this nature of humans has huge implications for the future of our species, be it in a hundred years or a hundred thousand years.
I'll leave it to you to draw your own conclusions.
Thank you very much.
That's all for now