I am unapologetic utopian. I have complete faith that we can collectively create an incredible world in a relatively short period of time.
The truth is – we have to.
Humanity stands on the edge of the abyss. We face huge existential threats now: from the impending collapse of the global currency system, to the risks accompanying the speed and impact of the biotech revolution and the potential near-term release of an artificial superintelligence. The impact of these three alone could make previous world wars look insignificant.
We are entering an era in which the potential for just a single human being to destroy us all is growing exponentially. By the end of this decade, it will be possible for a child to create a killer disease in their bedroom. And that brings with it extraordinary challenges.
There is no control system in the world that can deal with the impact of the threats ahead of us. If we are to survive and thrive as a human race, there needs to be a revolution of a different kind.
Much of my time is spent on working on re-imagining government. However, much of what will truly change the world is beyond that. We need to collectively re-wire our minds to live another way. No government can currently achieve that.
These days, I think about change in terms of raising consciousness. By this, I mean raising individual awareness of one’s own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings. To my mind, we cannot take on the challenges we face without a step-change in increasing global consciousness. And to deal with what lies ahead, we have to understand what lies beneath most problems we face in the world.
From my explorations in raising my own level of consciousness in recent years, I am now starting to realise that dealing with personal trauma and pain is the gateway to resolving many of the toughest challenges in the world. I mean trauma and pain in a vast range of areas: societal, parental, educational, situational. So many unintentional and intentional things happen to us every day that take us away from our original, pure selves. And to my mind, in turn, individual pain causes the majority of global problems: poverty, wealth, power, war, crime, addiction, climate change, mental illness and more.
My explorations have taken me on a journey of discovery, from the Psychedelic Renaissance, through the explosion of alternative healing modalities, to the knowledge of experts currently working at the extreme edges of neuroscience. I am a far far better human being as a result of those explorations.
I live and work in hope of humanity shifting rapidly towards a completely different type of existence. Given the risks that we face and the timescale in which they are occurring, there is no choice but to look at a radically different approach to solving all the problems in the world. For me, healing our collective hearts and minds is the key to doing that.
I think about how we can heal all pain. I think about how to leave no-one behind in that global healing process. Given the potential risks we could face from just one individual, we cannot afford to leave any one individual behind.
Luckily, my explorations lead me to believe that individual healing can be scaled globally, and that mechanism is the key to changing the world.
Marc
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… and ? Not sure I get what you were trying to say here.
Do you get it now?
Beautifully written
but just more self-indulgent angst from a bloke who should really stay home, do the school run, give most of his money away, plant some spuds ands listen to tom waits and george frideric handel – for starters. winnny is obsessed with the individual, whereas almost all meaningful change is structural and social. he has been / is a free-market capitalist and wonders why inequality and poverty and environmental degradation exists? it’s a homer simpson moment, surely?
I think this is a little too domesday for me. “The impending collapse of the global currency system” “impending” means about to happen. I very much doubt it will. The recent issues show the resolve to not allow it to. The other issues whilst potentially problematic will not surface in way the doom-mongers are currently throwing around on the web from their bedrooms in the parent’s house. Increasing collective consciousness on a global scale isn’t going to happen either. The world is fractious, always has been and will be for a long, long time to come. Humanity is a blip in the time spectrum of the universe. We’ll be here for a mere millisecond of the World’s existence. So just enjoy the ride folks!
At first I didn’t quite get it, then, I read it backwards. 🙂 Love it as always, Marc.
you the bbc bloke?
I agree.
It’s all about mindfulness 🙂
hippy bollocks. mindfulness is another product being sold world wide by all manner of shamens, quacks and bandwagon quick buck makers with a poor a level in psychology, who think everyone can be sold a bullet point one page instruction on how to make their lives perfect in 10 (soooooo) simple moves. it will focus on the individual subject and advise deep- breathing yourself out of an existence of abusive relationships, poverty and deep seated mental disorder (all of which was never the fault of the subject). mindfulness (which in it’s genuine generous buddhist form is as old as hills) can help the right subject in the right context – but mostly it fails to address the social, structural and class- based reasons for the subject’s original oppression or abuse and emotional distress. it is now largly a wrong headed, wrongly targeted way for useless, greedy mumbo jumbo providers to make easy money. a single parent bullied at work and hassled by an unscrupulous landlord does not need mindfulness – they need solidarity and advice from organised agencies.
The material world around us is created by consciousness individually and collectively.
Yes, the world can be utterly transformed by the evolution of consciousness and then action from there comes infinitely more easily and powerfully. In fact, problems can only be solved from a higher state of consciousness from which they were first created.
Therefore revolution= evolution, evolution= revolution.
give me strength!
Hey Marc from your SU classmate – well said and totally agree. As Goethe said, “If we can imagine it, we can achieve it; if we dream it we can become it.” We each need to imagine our best selves, say yes to hope and possibility and in living that compact each day we can consciously heal ourselves and support the contagion of healing all around us.
well said – now hang on to those words and get yourself on a red cross flight to Mosul (for clarification- Iraq’s second largest city and provincial capital of Ninewa province.
Fell under ISIS control in June 10, 2014) and take some saline drips with you.
Whilst Mik clearly has a few points to get off his chest, I do agree with much of what he says. “Mindfulness” is currently being promoted as a wonder treatment but ultimately doesn’t change the world. People’s actions change the world, not having a few deep breaths with your eyes closed, sat on a blanket in ill fitting yoga pants. People everywhere are cashing in on it and a lot of modern day hippies are fooling for it hook, line and sinker. Even the leftie Independent newspaper calls it to question: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/mindfulness-isnt-going-to-cure-our-mental-health-crisis-and-we-need-to-stop-pretending-like-it-could-10250011.html I repeat the point that we are just one specie out of many, we really aren’t that important, we have our time now and soon (in Universal times) we won’t. So like Mik points out, if you really care about humanity, stop doing your breathing exercises and start contributing to our least able fellow humans. All this smoke up arse “higher state of consciousness” baloney is bringing nothing to the table, and no disrespect to buddhist monks etc from where much of this derived, but what good has sitting atop a mountain and not speaking to anyone for 40 years actually done? Wake up.