Humanity 3000 Seminar No
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humanity 3000 seminar No. 1 proceedings blaine, washington, usa april 11-14, 1999 The Foundation Board of Trustees Walter Kistler Bob Citron Trustee and President Trustee and Executive Director Sesh Velamoor Milt Woods Trustee and Deputy Director Trustee The Foundation Board of Advisors Dr. George Bugliarello Dr. Brian Fagan New York Polytechnic University University of California, Santa Barbara Dr. William H. Calvin Barbara Marx Hubbard University of Washington Foundation for Conscious Evolution Dr. Eric Chaisson Dr. Donald Johanson Tufts University Institute of Human Origins Joseph Coates Dr. Michio Kaku Coates and Jarratt, Inc. City University of New York Dr. Christian de Duve Graham Molitor Institute of Cellular Pathology Public Policy Forecasting, Inc. Dr. Ricardo Diez-Hochleitner Dr. Robert Muller Club of Rome University for Peace Dr. Edward O. Wilson Harvard University 123 105th Avenue SE Bellevue, WA, USA 98004 Tel: (425) 451-1333 Fax: (425) 451-1238 Email: [email protected] Website: www.futurefoundation.org ISBN 0-9677252-0-8 © 1999 Foundation For the Future Any part of this publication may be reproduced without permission from the publisher. The comments and deliberations of all participants are deemed very important to the Foundation For the Future. While every attempt has been made to preserve the accuracy of dialogue in the seminar sessions, it is impossible to guarantee that no errors or omissions were made in the course of transcribing and editing the live-session tape recordings. Though the Foundation does not accept responsibility for positions taken by participants or for the content of dialogue sessions, it does accept responsibility for any inadvertent omissions, misunderstood words, typographical errors, or other mistakes that occurred in the process of transcribing spoken words to print. A copy of this publication is available from the Foundation For the Future for $10 U.S. ($20 U.S. for international) to cover postage and handling. Fall 1999 Dear Readers: Welcome to the world of the future. I am quite excited to present to you the first major publication of the Foundation For the Future. This book, the Proceedings of Seminar No. 1 of our Humanity 3000 program, documents scholarly discussions about the critical factors that might have the most impact on the long-term survivability of humanity. The Foundation was established to sponsor research into those critical factors. In April 1999, we brought together twenty-three prominent scholars from around the world in the first of a series of annual seminars and bi-decade symposia. This book is a comprehensive record of the April seminar. It is the first of a succession of publications focusing on scholarly research and dialogue concerning the long-term future of humanity. I hope you will enjoy reading these discussions about the major problems and opportunities for our species in the centuries unfolding before us. Sincerely, Walter P. Kistler President and Benefactor Acknowledgements The Foundation For the Future wishes to acknowl- Carol Tanner, Executive Assistant; Tom Price, Execu- edge the following persons for making the Humanity tive Assistant; Cathy Allen, Executive Assistant; Jeff 3000 Seminar No. 1 such a success: Holdsworth, Art Director; and Jean Gilbertson, PR and Publications Manager. In addition, Karen Arm- The Humanity 3000 Organizing Committee, for stead, Program Consultant, and Glen Hiemstra, their incredible foresight and guidance in planning Consultant, contributed significantly to the success and organizing the Humanity 3000 Program. These of the seminar. members include Clement Bezold, Joseph Coates, Brian Fagan, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Sohail Inayat- Columbia Resource Group, especially Melissa Kween ullah, Charles Johnston, Graham Molitor, Siro Polo and Leah Hill, for their outstanding organization and Padolecchia, and Allen Tough. execution of the seminar schedule. The participants in Humanity 3000 Seminar No. 1, Gordon Swanson and Wayne Kaseguma, for out- whose wide-ranging knowledge and experience standing artwork design. formed the backbone of the seminar and whose con- Richard Dowling and David Rapka, the film crew, for tributions will be valuable well into the future. These capturing the entire seminar on videotape, providing participants include Walter Truett Anderson, William a permanent verbatim archive of all of the seminar H. Calvin, George Cowan, James Dator, Terrence sessions. Deacon, Steven J. Dick, Howard F. Didsbury, Clive Gamble, Ashok Gangadean, Jerome C. Glenn, Fran- Bill Wright, for extensive photographic coverage. cis Heylighen, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Seymour Itz- The graphic recorders: Michelle Boos, Christine koff, William W. Kellogg, Yersu Kim,Dietrich Koelle, Valenza, and Preston Lewis. Meng-Kin Lim, Rosaleen Love, Frederik Pohl, Phillip Tobias, Allen Tough, R. Spencer Wells, and Paul J. The transcriptionist, Beth Carlson of Rain City Busi- Werbos. ness Connection, and the editor, Elizabeth Flynn. The staff of the Foundation For the Future, for their The Trustees and Executive Director of the Founda- unfailing dedication and commitment to ensure that tion for reposing their patience, trust, and confi- event planning resulted in a memorable experience dence in all of us. for all involved. This staff includes Carolyn Hobart, Program and IT Manager; Paige Heydon, Program Sesh Velamoor Donna Hines Coordinator; Veronica Spencer, Executive Assistant; Deputy Director, Programs Deputy Director, Administration i ii Acknowledgements Introduction The fundamental objective of the Foundation For the The Foundation plans to convene a major interna- Future’s Humanity 3000 program is to bring together tional Humanity 3000 Symposium every five years prominent thinkers from around the world in a multi- beginning in the year 2000 and hold a series of Hu- disciplinary framework to ponder issues that are most manity 3000 seminars every year beginning in 1999. likely to affect the long-term future of humanity. The first Humanity 3000 seminar was successfully convened in April 1999 at The Inn at Semi-Ah-Moo in Blaine, Washington, USA. iii iv Introduction The Proceedings Sections Summarized below are the contents of each Section Section VI, Suggested Major Dialogue Questions, and Appendix of the Proceedings of Humanity 3000 offers queries that prompt dialogue into the heart of Seminar No. 1. several future-related issues for the next millennium. Section I cites the three critical questions that Section VII provides the transcripts of the dialogic formed the basis of the Humanity 3000 Seminar. sessions conducted over the four days of the seminar. Section II summarizes Seminar No. 1, providing an Appendix I is the Seminar Agenda, noting key activi- abstract and details on background and purposes, as ties from the opening reception to closing remarks. well as a description of the process, selection of par- Appendix II is the transcript of an interview of par- ticipants, and key outcomes. ticipants Jerome C. Glenn and Francis Heylighen, Section III contains statements prepared by the Sem- conducted by Sesh Velamoor, Foundation For the inar No. 1 participants, commenting on the factors Future Deputy Director, Programs. they consider to be most critical to the long-term Appendix III provides biographical information on survival of humanity, where the greatest potential the twenty-three participants in Seminar No. 1. may be found in their respective fields in the next Appendix IV is a bibliography of background papers thousand years, topics to explore in Humanity 3000, by leading futurists, scientists, and global experts. and their personal visions of the thousand-year Most of these papers were prepared for the Founda- future. tion For the Future during the development of the Section IV lists topic areas suggested by participants Humanity 3000 program. for discussion subjects. The topics are grouped into Appendix V cites authors and references for further categories. reading. Section V, Suggested Factors for Discussion, includes Appendix VI lists resources, including audiotapes, excerpts from numerous authors who write on sub- videotapes, and photography, that provide an avail- jects related to the future of humanity. able record of the seminar. vii viii The Proceedings Sections List of Participants Walter Truett Anderson Seymour Itzkoff Vice President Professor Emeritus/Dept. of Sociology Meridian International Institute Smith College San Francisco, CA Northampton, MA William H. Calvin William W. Kellogg Theoretical Neurophysiologist Senior Research Associate University of Washington National Center for Atmospheric Research Seattle, WA Boulder, CO George Cowan Yersu Kim Founder Director/Division of Philosophy and Ethics Santa Fe Institute UNESCO Santa Fe, NM Paris, France James Dator Dietrich Koelle Professor/Dept. of Political Science Executive Director University of Hawaii TransCost Systems Honolulu, HI Ottobrunn, Germany Terrence Deacon Meng-Kin Lim Professor/Dept. of Biological Anthropology Associate Professor Boston University National University of Singapore Boston, MA Singapore Steven J. Dick Rosaleen Love Historian of Science Honorary Research Associate U.S. Naval Observatory Monash University Washington, DC Victoria, Australia Howard F. Didsbury Frederik Pohl Special Projects Director Professional Writer World Future Society Palatine, IL Bethesda, MD Phillip Tobias Clive Gamble Professor Emeritus/Dept. of Anatomical Sciences Professor/Dept. of Archaeology University of Witwatersrand University of Southampton Johannesburg, South