What if the Technium is the precursor to a collective consciousness layer? What if we are entering the age of consciousness? Imagine what could happen when billions of intelligent devices are wired into a unified global network called the Internet of Things? The internet has more hyperlinks than the 100 trillion synapses connecting nerves of a brain.
One World?
That is the central premise in “One World?: The Digital Revolution and the Rise of Global Consciousness”, and it is a lovely antidote to the current doom and gloom. Beneath the surface of current disasters, long-term forces drive progressive change that surpasses short-term problems.
Beyond knowledge
Collective intelligence, or global consciousness, is a global mindset that sees the world as a fragile, complex, interdependent system. From the material to the ethereal. The next logical step in our social evolution. Global Consciousness would form an enlightened self-interest based on the growing reality that all life is connected by a fragile web of ecological systems, a global economy, and an explosion of thought. Moving from the knowledge age to beyond knowledge. By definition, everything beyond knowledge is consciousness. Imagine a great web of consciousness enveloping the Earth.
GAIA 4.0
The digital revolution has made that possible. The globe is already united ecologically, economically, technologically, intellectually, and now, consciously. The digital revolution is coalescing into a global brain that unites the world into a single but highly diverse organism, a nervous system for the planet with its own powers and rules. This pivotal shift in evolution endows humans with unprecedented knowledge, intelligence, and, hopefully, wisdom. GAIA 4.0.
Noosphere
A planetary layer of digital connections knits eight billion people into a living overlay of thought. The author calls it the noosphere. The noosphere is here today, and it promises to transform our lives, our work, social institutions, the global order, and our very minds and souls.
Survival
It is a matter of survival. Global threats require global solutions, forcing nations and corporations to collaborate for their mutual survival. The global mega crisis is the motivation for global consciousness. As the pain of inaction reaches intolerable levels, the crisis of global maturity serves as a unifying force that relentlessly knits disparate parties into a coherent whole.
A shift
It appears the world is heading toward some type of historic shift in global consciousness. A collective epiphany, a new mindset, a code of global ethics, or a spiritual transformation. The instinct for the goodness of spirituality seems to be the goal toward which civilisation is maturing. Nikola Tesla said in 1926, “When wireless is applied, the whole Earth will be converted into a huge brain able to communicate with one another instantly . . . as though we were face to face.”
The problems
Climate change, environmental degradation, hyper-consumption, pandemics, inequality, water scarcity, financial instability, cyber-insecurity, weapons of mass destruction, social media, AI, distrust in politics, etc. It is a long list.
Combining the human spirit with collective agency
Now imagine combining the human spirit with collective agency. Scientific analysis of 600 million social media messages revealed the main things people want are “love, time, and good relationships.” That’s why people are guiding their lives more skillfully through meditation, nature, psychotropic drugs, and other interventions for mastering that inner world. MIT geneticist Eric Lander said, after working with the Dalai Lama, we should regard Buddhism as a “refined technology.”
The power of enterprise
Imagine the power of enterprise unleashed. Purpose-driven. Self-organising. Self-managed. Applying restorative economics. The book uses examples from Siemens, Johnson & Johnson, Motorola, Cypress Semiconductor, Merck, Clark Equipment, Alcoa, Xerox, Matsushita, Semco, and the Green Bay Packers. My favourite examples in that context are Haier and Patagonia.
The indicators and enablers are there:
- The gig economy of self-employed people (from Uber drivers to artists) now amounts to roughly $1 trillion per year and employs 57 million people in the US – 36% of the labour force.
- Blockchain technology has enabled the creation of decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) that allow individuals to form spontaneous business ventures.
- A recent survey found that 87% of young Americans said corporations should do more than just make money, and a majority now favour socialism.
- Several business leaders announced the end of shareholder primacy and the beginning of a new era in which business is intended to serve all stakeholders: customers, employees, suppliers, communities, as well as shareholders.
It is simple. This century’s businesses won’t thrive unless society and the Earth also thrive. The future is social, collaborative, and democratic enterprises.
Public enterprise
Imagine an entrepreneurial government. Transparency, accountability, and choice can make government lean and dynamic. Introducing market mechanisms and technology to create a dynamic breed of public enterprise. Imagien publicly funded, collaborative elections. Imagine green taxes. That is where the book started to lose me. I have little hope that our politicians are willing and capable of changing the system.
From teaching to learning
Imagine a different education system. Self-managed faculties and virtual education with the teacher as a coach. With a focus on active learning, critical thinking, understanding, communication, creative problem-solving, leadership, and action. Learning new skills and fields, and preparing for unprecedented change in the decades ahead.
From religion to spirit
The wide variety of spiritual practices could become the most powerful technology of consciousness, leading to a spiritual revolution. Modern people today continue to hold beliefs in the supernatural, although they are becoming what is now called “spiritual but not religious.”
- Overall, 90% believe in God or a higher power.
- Spirituality is replacing religion. About 75% of young people in the US now say they are spiritual but not religious.
- McKinsey studied 41,000 people in 26 countries and found that a strong majority considered spiritual health “somewhat” or “extremely” important.
- Gallup polls find that 70 to 90% of Americans have had paranormal or peak experiences – feeling the presence of a deceased loved one, spiritual ecstasy, forebodings of a coming disaster, and so on.
- A survey of physicians found that 55% have witnessed “medical miracles.”
- Almost 500 million people meditate around the world
Beyond religion
All the world’s major religions emphasise love, compassion, patience, tolerance, and forgiveness, and promote inner values. The people who cultivate gratitude, altruism, empathy, compassion, forgiveness, and love are rewarded with greater happiness and health. The author believes the time has come to find a way of thinking about spirituality and ethics beyond religion. Global consciousness may be the natural order of evolution. It requires that we bring our spiritual lives under control, much as we tamed nature with farming, created material abundance, organised global institutions, and harnessed the power of knowledge. History always moves toward the good.
The end
The book ends with altering consciousness, psychedelics, the power of nature, sex, DNA, and five rules:
- Treat the earth and all life forms as sacred. Economists estimate the benefits we receive from the natural world amount to trillions of dollars annually.
- Govern the world as a unified whole.
- Instill democracy and free enterprise throughout institutions.
- Embrace diversity as an asset.
- Celebrate the global community.
The book reminds me of “The exponential age“, but with a spiritual angle. It resonates with me:
I find the notion that the internet is nothing less than the planetary overlay of intelligence and higher consciousness comforting. If you are looking for a date, the year is 2033. Let’s hope AI does not kill us first……
