In the long history of our species, progression and
regression have always been present. Some 200,000 years ago
Homo sapiens emerged on this planet, but only made the
transition from hunter-gathers to agricultural societies
about 10,000 years ago, thereby creating a significant
evolutionary pressure. Now the perfection of the human
endeavor seems to go forward with ever quickening pace, from
forces like changing climate, increasing populations,
explosion of knowledge, and technological advances Yet today
we have better understanding, means, and processes for
improving the quality of all life on this planet!
Despite many mistakes and set-backs, we are probably
transcending to a higher state of consciousness. The 21st
Century offers many challenges and opportunities to develop
our potential as more mature, caring human beings.
It is a time of the world to be
hopeful and involved in the planning and creation of a
better future for the human family, both on and off the
Earth! Rather than just decrying humankind’s failures and
destructiveness, why not participate in the process of
unification, to put together the parts that will bring forth
a wholly new order of our species. Those planners and doers
who expect to influence history look beyond the horizon.
Those who share a vision of our future do not sit on the
periphery, bewildered by sudden human advances By
enlargement of our perspectives and taking the long view of
evolution as a work in progress, we can improve our
forecasting, as well as our actions to plan constructive
changes. People can learn to modify their behavior, to move
beyond violence and self-abuse, to care for the less
fortunate, and to cooperate in the betterment of the human
condition.
The Convergence through Change,
Choice, and Control
For those who aspire to be world
shapers, rather than earth squatters, it is necessary to
have an orbital view of planet and its activities. Like the
astronauts who took a global fix in space to photograph this
Earth's land and water masses, it is helpful to focus on
human development in terms of our place in the larger
universe. Then, it may become clear that our species is at a
major turning point in humanity’s existence! With
imagination and optimism, one's mental pictures of the human
experience and condition might be viewed from three
perspectives. First, there is the fact of continuous
change in ourselves and our world. To live is to change,
but the startling reality of the moment is that the rate of
this change is accelerating astronomically. Secondly, men
and women are in the position of constant choice,
with freedom to determine what course of action we will
take. But our ongoing decisions have a collective impact
that now go beyond Earth and its inhabitants. As we build a
spacefaring civilization, for example, will we extend a
reign of unity or disunity, progress or chaos, beyond this
home planet?. Finally, human exercise increasing
control over our lives, nature, and external
environment. But will we regulate our amazing scientific and
technological discoveries for the benefit of all
life, or will we be controlled by malevolent forces of our
own making? Will we act on the premise that we are all
interconnected and interdependent? Will we be
self-reflective creatures who take responsibility for the
world around us? Realistically, our prospects for the future
are both stimulating and terrifying. The moral imperative of
this century hinges on our choices in controlling
our own changes; that is, those alterations we actually
influence or produce. In making decisions that impact human
destiny, we are aided by recent breakthroughs in
communications that facilitate numerous convergences,
thus hastening development of our species and our world.
Global exchanges of information,
knowledge, and experiences have a positive or negative
effect on this process. However, the fundamental problem
affecting human survival and universal emergence is the
demonstration of values upon which we act for the benefit of
all planetary life. Individual welfare at this point
in time depends upon the common good and synergistic
relations. In other words, we can create a positive guidance
system that directs our course into the future. Perhaps a
brief analysis of these factors in human emergence will
provide some insight into our search for meaning and
purpose. These are the key themes that are elaborated in my
book, Toward Human Emergence.
The Process of Transformation
To live, to be, is to change
and that make us more human. Our whole universe demonstrated
dynamic and continuous movement from potentiality to
fulfillment. The reality of this is readily verified in
humans, the magnification of all creation. Evolution,
evident in all species, is itself a process of change, slow
in the past, but increasingly faster at present. But such
change is not merely relative or cyclical, it is either
spurious or purposeful. If it is meaningless, there can be
no concept as human emergence. But if an individual's life
is like a river flowing to a merger at its source, then more
alternatives present themselves. Does our purposefulness
flow inexorably toward destruction and disintegration? Or
rather, do maturing humans innately strive toward greater
consciousness, toward goodness and unity, despite both our
past history of progression and regression?
This writer accept the premise of the
perfectibility of humankind. Despite the setbacks of our
violence toward one another, our wars and genocides, our
meanness and cruelty toward our neighbors, your author is
optimistic that the majority of humanity seek to improve
their relationship with their fellows and the environment.
Thinking people everywhere strive to increase their
appreciation for the sacredness of all life and
nature Should the readers agree, then we are in a position
to explore together the many faceted potentialities for our
transformation into more fully knowing, moral beings. The
challenge, of course, is then to consider one's personal
contribution to fulfillment of such noble goals,
individually and collectively.
The Visualization of Self
In a sense, humans are
encapsulation of the beginning to the end of time.
Throughout our life spans, we constantly probe for the
answer as to "who am I?" Further, we always project
ourselves beyond time itself, as well as place. Generally,
we have assumed that each person had a beginning, and that
physical being would end, or be fulfilled. Our speculations
on this reality have been expressed in many ways as humans
attempt to understand, or relate to our span of existence
here on Earth. Philosophers and theologians reason about our
existential being - physical birth, growth, and death, as
well as about our spiritual destiny. In fact, scientists and
medical researchers are now discovering ways to extend that
physical life. We are also aware of ourselves as social
beings, members of a human family. Gradually, we are
comprehending more completely our interdependence on each
other and all creature life. Furthermore, as spiritual
beings, we are predisposed to contemplate our personal and
collective meaning, even beyond this physcial existence.
Daily we witness the profound
conversion of mineral, vegetative, animal and spiritual
elements within us, and among other life forms that surround
us. Most of us, realize that we are not only influenced by
our changing physical, social, and moral environment, but we
ourselves can be agent of change in these processes. Humans
not only adapt to our environment or circumstances, we may
alter it and ourselves! The staggering difference about this
New Millennia in which we live, is that the rate and means
of change have vastly and dramatically increased.
Accelerating changes today and tomorrow not only affect how
we live, but our very view of ourselves, our species, and
the cosmos! A dramatic example of this occurred when we
landed humans on the Moon decades ago. Until then, we
thought we were earthbound. After we successfully placed
twelve astronauts on the lunar surface, we realized we were
no longer confined terrestially, that we could go to other
planets in our universe. All this is causing humans to
change their image of our species – maybe our real home is
up or out there?.
The Decision Challenges
Humans are not mere victims of fate or
programming; to a degree, we can influence and enrich our
living experience! . In an epoch of nuclear power, high
technology, cybernetics, and bio-chemical advances, the
opportunities to plot and navigate human evolution have
never been greater. The choices that humans
make will largely determine the degree of control man
exercises over changes, and in turn, the beneficial effects
of them. Men and women can decide to further
our alienation within technological society, to waste our
genius on trivialities, to use increased leisure for self
destruction or substance abuse, to leave our great gifts
unused. Yes, we can even succumb to violent anger and
brutality toward our fellow beings and creature life. Or,
we can build a bridge from present anguish over the abyss
that seems to loom ahead, to accomplish our highest ideals.
It is up to us to decide! We can use
our freedom to develop further our intellectual, cultural,
and spiritual potential. We can choose to channel the new
powers unleashed into the improvement of the human
condition. We can choose to alter our priorities, to disarm
and abolish war, to eliminate hate and prejudice, to combat
poverty with plenty for everybody, to prevent slavery and
injustice anywhere. We can choose to humanize urban areas
and social institutions. We can take steps to further his
own emergence that range from the intelligent, universal use
of mass media to the expansion of quality universal
education. We can decide to pursue scientific research, such
as on stem cells, for the benefit of humanity. We can make
policies and programs to utilize the resources of outer
space to solve earthly needs and shortages. We can choose to
undertake such positive actions, or we can sit by, allowing
history to accumulate haphazardly, and science-to
run away with itself.
The Expansion of Knowledge
Such choices become more pressing for
the whole race because of the extent of control
humanity has been privileged to gain over our surroundings,
our own being, and our own destiny! The first major
indication of this ability to have power over the
circumstance of life came appeared millennia ago. As
hunters and gathers, our ancestors migrated across this
planet over millions of years. That first stage in human
development still lingers on today among aboriginal peoples
in remote forests and jungles.
But the mainstream of humanity moved
on because of an event-in-time designated as the
agricultural revolution. Since then farmers and
fishermen applied brain and brawn with newly invented tools,
for cultivation of land and sea. Over thousands of years,
jungles and deserts were transformed into gardens, farms,
and even plantations. As we learned to till the soil and
domesticate animals, humans sought to master hostile forces
of nature, as well as to preserve food and habitat, thereby
providing for future needs. Thus, we obtained time and
resources to develop family life and culture, as well
as organizational skills amidst urbanization. Along with
this socialization came increasing opportunities for
communication, cooperation, and creativity. In the process,-the
very manifestation of our nature changed – we became more
abstract thinkers, creators of beauty, searchers after
truth. In turn, we are becoming beings more capable of
expressing love and compassion for our fellow creatures.
Then another phase occurred in
fashioning civilization, a specifically human trait. That
third major turning point in human development was called
the industrial revolution. . Now with more brain, and
less brawn, our forefathers created more sophisticated
tools, named machines, thereby increasing our power to make
material things. Towns and cities were built around
factories, but often polluting the surrounding natural
world. Coupled with rapid advances in the sciences,
humanity further expanded its control over the external
environment. However, this period of industrialization
lasted only hundreds of years, from the 17th
century onward. There are still many nations in these
previous rural and industrial stages of development who have
yet to make the transition into the next developmental stage
of human culture.
About mid 20th Century, the
post-industrial phase began – it has been called by various
names: the Cybercultural Revolution, the
Information Age, the Knowledge Culture. The
catalyst was the newly invented tool, the computer. It
furthered the creation of cybernated systems and robotics.
Computers also provided the means for instant mass
communication by use of space satellites and the Internet.
This same sophisticated tool stimulates advances in
biotechnology and gene mapping. Coupled with innovations in
mass transportation, our world has literally become a
global village! And all this happened in only decades -
again an example of the accelerations of change. In the
midst of this, the environmental movement began as people
became more aware and concerned about their impact upon the
world of nature, especially in light of dramatic climate
changes and disasters.
Having somewhat "subdued the Earth",
for better or worse, our species now seeks to conquer space
travel and settlement. Will the next steps offworld lead
toward greater mastery of the universe and its mysteries?.
The means for accomplishing all this have multiplied
dramatically. Within the span of the last three centuries,
humans have added astoundingly to the
accumulated wisdom of the ages! New professional fields and
knowledge specializations rapidly contribute into ever
expanding human consciousness! Tremendous breakthroughs
continuously occur in the natural and behavioral sciences,
interacting to create new multidisciplinary learning, such
as bio-engineering, bio-chemistry, atomic physics, and
macro-economics. Simultaneously, human advancement is
evident in the other areas, such as electronics and
technology, virtual reality and simulations. Further as we
progress in outer space, vast new arenas of applied
knowledge are emerging, such as metabiology, astrophysics,
astrolaw, and even macromanagement.
The fantastic result is the swift
compilation of data and information, interacting and
compounding, producing an explosion of knowledge. History
and time are constantly being compressed; larger and more
startling intellectual innovations result.
The Freedom to Be
The principal means of control to
unfold in the 20th century was the automation of
human skills and machines. By harnessing the computer to the
automated machines, whole new systems of control and
communication came into being, called cybernetics. Thus, we
not-only extend the mind, but provide a
mechanical, electronic substitute for our brain. With
robotics the net result is that humans are less necessary in
production of material things. Since the work of the new
technology may be supervised without the necessity of human
presence, reduction in the global workforce not only occurs
with labor on the assembly line, but also at the managerial
and executive levels. Thus, the dawn of cyberculture
signifies a fundamental shift in our society from the ethic
of reduced work to that of increased leisure. Humans no
longer need to be a slave to manual labor, or to enslave
others for that purpose. Machines, computers, and robots can
now serve in this capacity. Instead the focus now shifts to
the processing of information and providing services by
knowledge workers. We have even used automated spacecraft to
explore the very ends of our universe.
In the future, a person will no longer
be measured solely by what is done on the job or through a
career, but what he or she is as a person. We are
freeing ourselves to be. To be what? Again, the element of
choice appears. We can permit ourselves to become a slave of
technology and other scientific advances, such as
demonstrated by computer nerds and Internet thieves. Or we
can use these changes to become more humane. The time
formerly devoted to production in farm, factory, or office
can be used to bring forth human potential. It is likely
that careers of thinking, research, exploration and service
will predominate in the future. Voluntary service and
recreational activities will increase.
The Direction of Destiny.
Now, as in the future, a series of
significant "linkups" or integrations take place, producing
ever greater synergy in systems. Computers and
communications technologies have become indispensable to
multiple institutions, such as farms, libraries,
laboratories, hospitals and universities. They have become a
means for improved connections and networking in varied
systems. Cybernetics, coupled with human engineering,
continues to unleash enormous knowledge and power. Thus our
control or influence increases over our surroundings, as
well as the process of life itself. With these new insights
and capabilities, we can opt to feed, clothe, and house the
world’s inhabitants, even the most deprived. We can choose
to replace body parts and extend our own lives. Soon, we may
determine the size, amount, and type of terrestrial life,
and perhaps that of other planets. We are learning in the
area of genetic engineering and in-vitro fertilization, to
enhance life on earth, and possibly to colonize the
universe.
Yet, with all this progress and
fantastic prospects, will humans improve the quality of
all life on this planet and aloft? Or, will we become
more alienated because we. cannot control our inner
disharmony and its external expressions? Will we become an
interplanetary constructive or destructive force? Hopefully,
human consciousness and conscience will control our genius,
so the dire forebodings will not be realized. Instead,
humans are challenged to positively transform and transcend
our worlds, both here and in outer space!
The Possibilities of Communication
Another marvel of human emergence is
improved processes of communication. Such
exchange is used to effect changes, to make more informed
choices, and to exercise better control over our life space.
Communication enables us to listen and learn, to be
sensitive to the interplay of forces and factors around us,
especially in nature. Human interaction is
multidimensional, not just with our own kind, but also with
the all animate and physical life, as well with the
spiritual or metaphysical. But such interchanges are
becoming both more specialized and more universal, more
simple yet more complicated!
Two related trends may be noted which
have fostered this process. First, is astonishing progress
in transportation which allows for high-speed travel by the
masses. The resulting impact caused by radar, safety
controls, and superhighways to atomic ships, jet planes, and
even spacecraft. Secondly, there is widespread human
migration and urbanization; creating a megalopolis which may
facilitate communication among and between people. But it is
modern methods and mechanisms of communication which really
are cracking barriers and bringing down walls between and
among nations, races, and cultures. Continuing advances in
space exploration and technologies produced satellite
communications that have the potential for uniting the human
family, while possibly reaching out to extraterrestrials.
Through mass media today, we
further extend ourselves and knowledge, thus contributing to
the development of a truly planetary civilization. Whether
it is educational or intercontinental television, radio or
television, movies or magazines, computers or the Internet,
wireless phones or digital software, data storage or
retrieval, we consistently perfect the means for global
communicating. Mass media and information technology open
unprecedented opportunities for human association and
sharing – almost everybody can be connected, constantly
expanding human networks beyond borders. Yet, the increasing
complexity and cost of such systems raise user cries for
greater simplicity and less expensive devices!
Predictions for the future in
telecommunication amaze the average person, as we witness
continuing innovations. For instant contact anywhere with
almost anyone, there are expanding possibilities, such as in
global electronic mail, chat rooms, blogs, hand-held mobile
telephones, or video phones and conferencing. There is even
research to perfect fiber optics and mental telepathy. It
seems that any means for communication that we consciously
conceive, can in time be invented and made practical,
forcing older products, like fixed-line telephones, to
become obsolete. Wrist-watch radios, for instance, have
moved from the comic pages to reality.
In education and training,
the impact of this communication revolution is brought into
sharp focus. It goes beyond the replacement of blackboards
and textbooks by electronic classrooms, pocket video
receivers for home study, or power point software for
improved presentations. It challenges the need, scope, and
purpose of the traditonal "institutions" of learning. The
emerging knowledge culture engenders possibilities for paid
learners and scholars; multidisciplinary restructuring and
interrelating of academic curricula; developing of wholly
new areas of knowledge to be studied. This may lead to the
actual programming of education and culture. As humans
expand orbiting space stations and offworld settlements,
such as on the Moon and Mars, interplanetary communications
will become more sophisticated and common. And yet, we ask
ourselves, while the quantity of our communications have
vastly enlarged, has the quality of the exchange improved?
The Extension of Self
As human amplify their communication
abilities through technological media, we are still
confronted with what to communicate. Each of us has
difficulty communicating within our own selves, as well with
the source. of our essence – that creative .cosmic force
impelling our evolution. Many people are concerned about the
search for meaning in their interfacing lives. Although
humans surge ahead in ability to extend ourselves everywhere
and instantaneously, we are confronted with the absolute
need to turn in upon ourselves for answers as to the purpose
of our existence, and then exchange our thinking with
others. Simultaneously, we are becoming a more feeling
animal, more sensitive to life and our environment. As such
consciousness expands, we face another choice. How best to
extend ourselves to increase collective consciousness? Will
we permit media and information technology merely to drive
us into numbness and dumbness? Or will we utilize these
means for the improvement of the human condition through
cultural, intellectual, and spiritual enrichment of one
another?
The Homogenization of Society
Fortunately, at a time of essential
change in sense perception and awareness, humans are also
discovering ways for improving their relationships in groups
and organizations. With the assistance of behavioral
scientists, we may acquire greater skills in human
relations, so as to capitalize on the dynamics of group
interactions. We are learning how to change organizational
behavior and develop leadership. Painfully, we may be
attaining a measure of insight on how to better communicate
love and control hatred. As the divisions that separate
humans diminish and tension lessens, humanity appreciates
more its diversity and differences. Thanks to increased
global communications and travel, we may be creating a more
homogenized civilization. In this Information Age, there is
reason to hope that humans will expand their exchange of
constructive experience, useful knowledge, and positive
values. Extremes of individualism and collectivism may be
counteracted by increased social consciousness and concern
for one another.
As we progress in this Space Age, we
can only hope that humankind will carry such a synergistic
approach to the high frontier. Rather than repeating aloft
the mistakes of our earthly existence, we are challenged,
regardless of nationalities, to undertake a common, peaceful
exploration and resource utilization of other celestial
bodies. Humanity’s transition out of Earth’s cradle
represents a challenge for true human emergence
through the creation of a spacefaring civilization!
The Prediction for Convergence
Some believe that we will become more
fully human through a series of convergences. Actually what
initially may appear to be divergent viewpoints, may turn
out to be complimentary aspects of the same phenomena. This
perspective may become more understandable when one analyzes
in some depth concepts of space/time, matter/spirit,
individual/community rights, national/international
interests, and poverty/plenty. For example, the common roots
of the Judeo-Christian, Islamic, and humanistic traditions
may converge as people seek to confront social problems like
racism, illiteracy, and homelessness. Or, the old division
between East and West are giving way to economic and
cultural gaps based on have and have-nots –
e.g., the relative affluence of nations in the northern
hemisphere, as opposed to the less fortunate peoples living
in the southern hemisphere. Again, we are witnessing
opposing ideologies and systems, such as communism and
capitalism, forging cooperative relationships with the West
through technology and market exchanges, as in Russia,
China, and Vietnam . Human choices now may contribute in the
centuries ahead, to a synthesis of today's seemingly
contrary positions.
Another illustration comes from
contemporary chaos theory. As John Briggs observes: ·
It appears that in dynamical systems,
chaos and order are different masks the system wears: in
some circumstances, the system shows one face; in different
circumstances, it shows another. These systems can appear to
be simple, or they can appear to be complex; their
simplicity and complexity lurk inside one another.
Optimistically, humankind hopes that
making right choices contributes to a convergence of
consciousness. Ideally, as we more fully emerge in our
thinking, greater unity may occur in the human family.
Meanwhile, until that time, the major gulf separating us may
be an attitude of those with a vision of the future who
believe that we can change ourselves and our living
situation for the better, versus those with their minds in a
rut of the status quo or past conditioning, thinking they
are victims of change.
The Emerging Moral Being
Obviously, human evolutions has
developed us into more social beings. The question now, and
in decades to come, is whether we will become more moral
beings within societies dominated by technology? Will we
organize a more humane world within cyberculture? The substitution of human muscle and nervous system with
automatic controls demands even greater moral responsibility
on our part. The creation of technopolis will require
new ethics, social principles, and value judgments. This
combination of technology with megalopolis, or
expanded urbanization, may also produce a new spirit of
cooperative service among us. We can choose good - that
which promotes and improves the quality of human and other
creature life; while rejecting that which endangers and
destroys planetary life.
There are steps that must be
taken now to insure individual and collective emergence to a
state of greater human maturity. Some of this will be
considered in the chapters of this book (Toward Human
Emergence, http://www.hrdpress.com). Those who address
themselves to these issues will be the catalysts of
the future. These may become leaders in ensuring
that cybernation, bio-engineering, amd information
technologies achieve a better global socio-economic order,
one that respects nature and the environment. These
futurists are best characterized by openness and tolerance,
flexibility and adaptability, competency and sensitivity,
collaboration and connectivity. In this millennium, such
leaders of the knowledge culture may contribute to the
emergence of a human, as different from present-day people,
as 21st century inhabitants of Earth are from
primitive man! During the thousand hundred years unfolding,
our contemporaries and their successors will be making
decisive choices by introducing controls or management that
will critically impact the process of human evolution.
The Expectations of the Future
As such men and women push back the
frontiers of the future, they also explore the inner skies
of our species and potential. That is because they are
involved in the dynamic movements of our times, somewhat
cognizant of what may lie ahead. Such people will be
enriched by the exciting experience of living at this
pregnant moment in human history. For them, time-past and
time-present will pass into time-future. These men and women
with a view of tomorrow are concerned especially about the
sacredness of the living. They participate in the
preservation, as well as transformation of our planet and
ultimately, the universe. Knowing somewhat the potential of
human beings, leading-edge thinkers seek the perfection of
the human endeavor.
Such people are found among knowledge
workers today, especially among foresighted scientific
researchers and aerospace planners, educators and corporate
executives, humanitarians everywhere. By going out of
themselves on behalf of others, these determiners of the
future vitalize human aspiration and action. Their energies
are directed toward the refinement and transformation of
creation!
Everyone shares a
responsibility for the future. But this responsibility can
materialize into a constructive effort only if people
realize the full meaning of their lives, the significance of
their endeavors and of their struggles, and if they keep
faith in the high destiny of Man….
Now what characterizes man, as Man, is
precisely the presence in him of abstract ideas, of moral
ideas, of spiritual ideas, and it is only these of which he
can be proud. They are as real as his body and confer to
this body a value and an importance which it would be far
from possessing without them.
