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Frail and Feeble Mind: Challenges to Emerging Global Consciousness

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Frail and Feeble Mind: Challenges to Emerging Global Consciousness ARTICLE .5 Frail and Feeble Mind: Challenges to Emerging Global Consciousness Christopher B. Jones World Futures Studies Federation USA Abstract This paper addresses the possible emergence of global consciousness. It explores some of the history and origins of global brain, global mind, and global consciousness concepts. It uses an integral, Wilberian analysis to detail the forces converging toward global consciousness and those forces resistant to it. The essay also sug- gests that global mind and brain concepts are overlapping and related structures that are somehow tied not only to human consciousness (a la Wilber), but also to the emergence of planetary consciousness. The paper con- cludes with a call for an integral, Gaian perspective that incorporates co-evolutionary principles and a balance between inner and outer growth. My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals [herself] in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind. Albert Einstein. Introduction among others. This paper attempts to put them in some framework of understanding. This paper addresses some of the issues surround- There are converging forces working towards the ing the discussion of emerging global consciousness. possibility of a global consciousness, driving forces in Given the amount of confusion and uncertainty about conflict with it, and some neutral but contingent global shared meanings, there is a range of metaphors that forces of change as well that may determine whether it attempts to embrace or capture the meanings of such a will evolve. For example, the dramatic growth of the global system. There are a number of different dimen- Internet appears to bring closer the possibility of a glob- sions to the discussion, and it would be useful to review al brain. On the other hand, the development of artifi- the literature and give a brief assessment of some of the cial (machine) intelligence might subvert the human role challenges posed to this potential system. The small in leading such a system. And there are different schools constellation of concepts related to global conscious- of thought related to global consciousness: some tech- ness includes: global brain, global mind, and global soul, nological, some metaphysical, and some oriented to Journal of Futures Studies, May 2006, 10(4): 5 - 14 Journal of Futures Studies evolutionary biology. This paper will explore In contrast, the organic stream, or global the atomizing and unifying forces arrayed mind, has its roots in the work of Teilhard de across a spectrum of global consciousness Chardin (the noosphere) and is inspired by the components: brain, mind, soul, and psyche. work on the collective unconscious by Carl Approaches to explore the issue in this paper Jung. This stream is diverse, including evolution- will include the perspectives of Ken Wilber, inte- ary biology, environmental consciousness, spiri- gral futures (Slaughter 2004), and deep narra- tuality, the Gaia hypothesis, global soul, and tive analysis (Inayatullah 2004). ecology of mind. Some central themes include the ideas of an evolutionary, cooperative princi- ple (Stewart 2000; Wright 200); symbiotic, plan- History of the Emerging Global etary consciousness and group selection in evo- Consciousness lution (Bloom 2000); and, non-local forces in evolution (a morphogenetic Planetary Mind Some writers and researchers believe that Field) (Wyller 1996). Arguably even more popu- the origins of the concept of the global brain lar have been New Age and spiritual treatments extend back into prehistory (Devereux et al. that might more accurately describe the func- 1989), but the earliest modern associations are tions (mind) of such a superorganism as much with Herbert Spencer (society as an organism) as the structure (brain) (Russell 1983, 1995; and H. G. Wells (world brain). Global conscious- Harman 1988; Elgin 1993). ness, more broadly, was the concern of Pierre Of course, given such an inherently inter- Teilhard de Chardin (1959) and more recently disciplinary field, many theorists don't fall neatly Peter Russell (1983, 1995). While there is occa- into categories and some futurists have tried to sional overlap, two major schools of thought imagine the merger of the mystical and the emerge in theories about an emerging global technological (Glenn 1989). Similarly, propo- brain, a "transhumanist" and an "organic" one. nents of James Lovelock's (1988) Gaia The transhumanist version of the story Hypothesis appear to lean both ways, some- includes systems theory and cybernetics, global times rejecting the anthropocentrism of global networks, complex adaptive systems, artificial brain and mind in favor of broader cybernetic, intelligence, human-machine convergence, cog- ecological perspectives (Devereux et al. 1989; nitive science, and other technological and Sahtouris 1989). There has been a flurry of inter- mechanical features (Turchin 1977; de Rosnay est in the consciousness and "mind" of microor- 1979; Heylighen & Bollen 1996; Heylighen ganisms. Bacteria, for example, are far more 2004). There has been considerable hype about adaptive and intelligent than we have given this aspect of the global brain including debates them credit (Bloom 2000). in New Scientist (Brooks 2000), ample coverage Roger Jones provides one filter to think by WIRED, and a major web presence about the emergence of what he calls the (Heylighen et al. 2005). A strong undercurrent in Global SuperBrain (1996) one axis being this area is the notion of a quantum jump in "SuperOrganism or Artefact" that parallels the complexity and cognitive systems – a coming distinction above, and a second axis that higher level of evolution brought about through addresses the causal dynamic: "Engineer, Evolve a cybernetic phase-shift – a "Metasystem transi- or Emerge?" He argues that we need to be tion" (Turchin 1977). The notion of a cybernetic proactive in engineering it to conform to phase shift is one clear area of overlap with the human purposes. organic theorists. This area of exploration has been associated with the concept global brain. 6 Frail and Feeble Mind Forces of Convergence (Hope) ity in nested systems. The growth of these dysentropic systems seems to balance the ten- The evolutionary direction for people and dency towards disorder and decay. planet take an uncertain trajectory in the con- To untangle the forces of convergence, the text of a universe that – according to cosmology Wilberian four-quadrant perspective is useful – is both expanding and accelerating. The over- (Wilber 2000: 70) as is his notion of types of all trend for the evolution of life on the planet consciousness (Wilber 2000b). has been toward greater diversity and complex- Ken Wilber's Four Quadrants 7 Journal of Futures Studies While Wilber's integral worldview is a mind. wide-ranging Theory of Everything, including an Upper right quadrant (Exterior-individual). assortment of matrices with quadrants, waves, The emergence of the global mind can be seen streams, states, and types (see Slaughter 2004: in Wilber's behavioral quadrant. A good exam- 157), this analysis will focus on a four-quadrant ple is how the Internet has augmented collec- perspective (above). Regarding an understand- tive behavior. Recent examples of the amplifica- ing of human consciousness, Wilber states tion of collective human intelligence include "both mind and brain need to be included in a bird census observation and data collection nonreductionistic way in any genuinely integral (Garreau 2001) and social experiments in dis- theory of consciousness" (Wilber 2000). tributed computing, such as the SETI@Home Similarly, it could be argued that global con- project at the University of California, Berkeley. sciousness needs that same sort of integral Other distributed computing projects intend to: understanding, with another set of layers that model protein folding, protein aggrega- take into account the planetary system and all tion, and related diseases forms of planetary life. Thus, the potentials and develop an advanced climate prediction pitfalls leading to global consciousness can be model seen in a critical integral framework. discover new drugs to fight the AIDS The four-quadrant model has as its axes: virus the inner world and outer world compared with evaluate drug candidates against the individual and collective realms (Wilber anthrax, smallpox, Ebola, SARS, and 2001: 70). Slaughter has argued that futures other infectious diseases research, particularly in the USA, has been "shal- crack the RC5 encryption algorithm and low" with a methodological bias towards the find optimal golumb rulers lower-right quadrant (Slaughter 2005) and simi- establish a secure grid-computing solu- larly the debate about the emergence of a glob- tion for cancer research and smallpox al brain appears to share this emphasis. We drug development, and start from this quadrant. discover Mersenne prime numbers Lower right quadrant (Exterior-collective). (Savetz 2004). The forces of convergence are most visibly evi- Environmental awareness and resulting dent in this quadrant. Globalization, in general, behavior are signs of hope and movement is most obvious–technological innovation and towards a healthier world. Broad trends in development especially: telecommunications human behavior can be seen in the growth of systems, mass media, transportation infrastruc- organic food production and consumption, ture and shipping, and technology diffusion and energy conservation
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