Evolution of thought

I have a theory that i would like other people to consider, and hopefully tell me what they think about it.
I believe that there are different levels of thought, attainable only through epiphonies, and that a person cannot see things differently, or think about something from another angle without an epiphony of some degree. if you think about it like a ladder, our basest needs and thoughts are the bottom step, the next step and so on are the different levels of thought. the ladder is infinately tall. you can always revert back to the previous step, but an event has to occur that allows you to take the next step.
That is my theory in a rather large nutshell, thank you for reading it.

The famous counter arguement comes from hundreds of years B.C.E. by a guy named Plato that said in paraphrase;

Necessity is the mother of invention.

http://www.bartleby.com/59/3/necessityist.html

I still very much appreciate the "epiphonies" but need and necessity does seem to be far more critical in raising our thought levels.

There are many smart people that do have "epiphonies" and do nothing about it, but the needy are thus compelled to turn the thought into action out of necessity.

So the higher thinking is not sufficient because one must have the gumption to turn the thought into substance or invention or into an action.

High thought is not enough.

I had an epiphany the other day. Looking at a trend.
It seems very few people are capable of imagining beyond there knowledge. I have formed a theory that these individuals follow a religion unquestioningly due to their inability to discover the truth. They are told something from a book at a young age and swear by it despite solid evidence against it.
Also, I'm sure you'll find people like this. Or know of them. Anything they see on the news, any opinion that there preferred party speaks, anything they follow is impossibly correct. Without a doubt, faithful and sure.
Let me leave you with this.
'The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts'
Bertrand Russell

I agree with booky.
It's a trend through out history of the rise and fall of great powers. The inventions born of necessity and then later they get lazy because they are so comfortable.