Nene, a wake-up call
A young life cut short
Raped, crushed, dumped
Countless others
Statistics that conveniently pass from sight
From an unconscious man’s fetish
Springs a glimmer of hope
The flame brightens
A nation awakes
“No more!”
“Enough!”
Emotion stirs, anger, grief
Who is to blame?
The government, society, inequality?
Sadness too, quiet introspection
We have failed ourselves
Failed our women
The roots run deep
Early childhood neglect
Countless damaged, fragile souls
“Sins of the fathers” pass down generations
No quick fixes here
Patient, caring, urgent work
What greater priority than this?
From locker room banter
To boardroom jabs
“Harmless” fun
“Boys will be boys”, you see
It’s too hard. Too deep. All is lost
Just one of those damaged men
More problem than solution
No way out of this mess
But no. If I am honest, I can lift myself
Appeal to the highest, the finest within
It is there. It is what I truly am
And if I can, all men can
Men, arise! This is your change to make
From cowardly locker room boys
Sniggering our insecurities
To a brotherhood of dignified, protective strength
Full grown men, honourable, in touch, in tune
“Be the change”
Now is the time
A woman out on a dark street
A street lined with a thousand men
Shining from each
“I will protect you”
“I will protect you”
Astronomical simulation of the most massive galaxy cluster. Credit: Illustris Collaboration
When I was a teenager, home computers were just starting to emerge. The father of a school friend who lived nearby had purchased an early Apple computer with the game Wizardry installed. I recall hours of complete immersion in the game, exploring the tunnels, slowly building the various skills of my team, developing new spells and engaging in conflicts with tricky creatures discovered in the tunnels.
I was hooked, more so than I have been on any subsequent computer game, yet the game was extremely rudimentary by today’s standards. No fancy graphics, a screen mostly full of text with just a few lines indicating a 3-D perspective, cautiously moving one step at a time, excited as to when the next foes would be encountered. There was no actual view of the combat, just a screen that allowed inputs as to which skills to use in combat and to see the results. A floppy disk was used to store the game’s state.
Complete immersion. I did not need more from the computer. The mind filled in the rest.
These days of course, the technology has improved dramatically. Full 3-D simulation, immersive goggles, surround sound, etc. The kids are still hooked and many adults too. As our technology develops further, one can envisage more and more lifelike virtual reality simulations, feeding other senses more realistically (smell, touch). It is not incomprehensible that it may become hard to distinguish between a realistic simulation of the world and the world itself in the not too distant future.
A few of the new immersive games automatically generate virtual universes so vast that you can become a new type of explorer, the first human eyes (and perhaps also the last!) to see certain parts of the computer creations. The programmers put the virtual building blocks in place, set up the virtual rules of physics etc. and powerful computers generate the rest. Along with exploring you can record what you find and share with other gamers. A virtual explorer you can be; a modern day Christopher Columbus, or Vasco da Gama or David Livingstone, all from the comfort of your armchair.
There is a real concern that children today spend too much time indoors within virtual worlds rather than playing outside with friends using more rudimentary props coupled with perhaps a healthier sense of imagination. The quality of the experience between computer game playing and outdoor play is quite different yet both do involve some level of imagination. Playing outside, building a tree house, one remains still connected to the wider world. In your computer game, it is just you and the friends that may be part of the game at separate terminals, each player taking on an imaginary character. In such play, one can become disconnected from the normal reality of the world and we have an uneasy feeling that too much time in virtually constructed worlds is not completely healthy. We are less connected to “reality” there. If the children of this generation are too absorbed in virtual worlds or social media rather than being out in nature which we inherently feel is healthier and more real, what kind of generation will follow them?
Interestingly, a good book will also elicit a world of the imagination, and we have less objection to that. Once again, a different quality of experience and different way in which the mind is used. There is much still to be explored in healthy use of the mind, our most powerful tool.
As we seem determined to create more sophisticated virtual worlds, it might be good to take a step back and look more deeply what is real and what is not, what may be more useful and what less useful. Perhaps this will shed some light on the world and also on ourselves.
At this time, most people don’t have too much trouble distinguishing between computer generated worlds and what we call the “real world” which is usually regarded as some sort of objective shared world in which we all live. In addition, it is widely regarded as very important for humans better to understand the “real world”. We derive deep meaning, satisfaction and delight in teasing out the fine laws of nature and putting them to good use (including to create better tools for constructing better virtual worlds!). Our discovery space is not limited to the senses, but includes the complex relationships between humans and interplay of mind, heart and intent. In a sense, all humans are explorers.
Science includes studies of such subjects as astronomy, physics, chemistry and biology (and much else besides). The scientific method is designed to probe the characteristics of the “real world” in an objective manner and tease out these fine laws. Often we express the fine laws as mathematical statements leading some to suggest that mathematics is the ultimate reality, but not all the fine laws governing how the universe works are mathematical in nature. As an example, laws of cause and effect appear to operate in all realms, even in the emotional realm. Emotional bullying leads to emotional scarring, for example.
Scientists, too, make use of computers and sophisticated simulations in their work; an astrophysicist might develop complex simulations of the evolving universe as an aid to understanding since solving all the equations analytically for large systems is simply not possible in many cases. However, as we have mentioned, scientists are primarily concerned with understanding the “real world”. If a serious scientists were to announce that they would be devoting their life to exploration and study of one of the new computer generated virtual worlds used in gaming for example, we would question the value of that in advancing human knowledge and look at them a little strangely! We innately recognise that virtual worlds are largely for entertainment value, somehow artificial and not so worthy of our serious consideration. The recent work on visualising the hidden layers of deep neural nets in the field of machine learning is primarily aimed at better understanding the complex working of these useful algorithms in order to improve them rather than an idea that they might themselves be some kind of deeper reality requiring investigation.
It is a similar situation with other types of worlds of our imagination e.g. day-dream or dreaming sleep. Although some may study these in order to uncover symbolism or the workings of what we think of as the “subconscious”, most would not give much value to their contents or ascribe “reality” to them. They are often regarded as “just dreams” and largely subjective in nature. Sometimes, however, people experience more vivid dreams in which meaning for the individual may be more powerfully conveyed. In such cases, it is often not the particular arrangement of objects in the dream which is important, but the meaning itself shown through the arrangement. In fact, in normal waking life, patterns of meaning often show themselves to us using apparent coincidences of events or people. Once again, it not so important as to the particular arrangements of objects, but what they are showing us. All of this raises intriguing questions about reality, meaning and deeper purpose.
Interestingly, if one’s dreams carried on each night where they had left off, it would be very hard to distinguish between the dreaming state and the waking state, between the “real world” and imagination. Luckily for us they don’t, else we may have to change our views of what is real! We consider people that have this kind of trouble of distinguishing between the real and imagined as suffering from a kind of mental disorder.
Technology developments are starting to add yet more layers to the world. As we connect more of our computing and sensing machinery to the body, we will be viewing the world through enhanced or filtered views, a combination of human and machine, all of which will further challenge our ideas of what is real or what is not. However, this not really new. The same could be said for putting on a pair of sunglasses. Is the view with the glasses off closer to reality than the view with the glasses on?
All of this raises the question, what it is that makes the “real world” real?
In one view, what you experience is reality, for you. Certainly the act of experiencing is real, but the reality of the contents of what is experienced can legitimately be questioned. Is what I see the reality? For example, some people may suffer from severe delusions and it is well known that all of us look at the world through some subjective filtering, a milder form of delusion (if we acknowledged this more widely, a lot of conflict could be avoided). Even our moods affect how we see the world. However, is there a shared “objective reality”, the one that the scientists are attempting to explore? This is quite a deep question given that, for you, everything is ultimately filtered through your subjective experience, even the group of scientists coming along to you and telling you that they have all agreed that the world looks and behaves in a particular way!
In addition, assuming that subjective filters were not a problem, even the notion of “objective reality” breaks down for some parts of quantum physics where it is not possible to completely separate out the observer from the experiment. However, for practical purposes, most “normal people” would agree that there is some kind of “objective reality” to the universe and that its laws are common to all.
A little confused by now about the nature of the “real world” and when this writer is actually going to tie it down? Don’t worry, this is normal 🙂 Your concerns are valid. Please continue.
This commonly agreed “objective reality” is a little hard to tie down, but has certain characteristics: it is shared (although we all put our layers on top of it and view it from particular points of view); it seems to be coherent in some sense (controlled by long lasting fine laws even if we don’t know what they all are); we play a small part in it but don’t control it fully (e.g. the universe!); it is fully immersive in that we may experience it fully with heart, mind and all the senses (taking a walk in nature is a richer, more grounded experience than a game simulation using visual and sound simulation); it is all encompassing (nothing is excluded, even game playing in one’s house is permitted as part of a bigger picture). Assuming there was no knowledge of a bigger picture (there was no knowledge of something outside of the simulation), a very well constructed virtual world would have the same characteristics as this “real world”. A vivid and coherent dream in which the dreamer does not know that they are dreaming can seem very real to us. Some have taken this thought further. How do we know our “real world” is not some kind of sophisticated simulation (Matrix-like) created by something very advanced or a dream in itself? If so, what is outside of that? Who is the dreamer?
Interestingly, in some of the deeper mystical / spiritual traditions, the world is indeed regarded as being a magnificent and transient show – a grand illusion; maya; with reality lying behind this. Having travelled far down this road, wise men and women from any traditions over the centuries point us inwards towards this deeper reality, behind the world of appearances. This understanding has appeared independently so many times that it would seem worthy of serious consideration. So, is this world and its objects which we normally think of as “real” the ultimate or is it possible to get a sense of an underlying reality behind the world of appearances?
As we have seen, it is actually hard to really get to grips with whether the world is “real” or not and what this might mean. Surprisingly, however, the question of whether there is an ultimate reality at all is easier to approach.
Hopefully things start to get easier from this point 🙂 Hopefully…
Once you strip away all the levels of perception, what lies at the base of the pyramid, underlying it all? No matter how much illusion and appearance, reason tells us that there has to be something real behind it, else there would be nothing at all. There would be no experience, no universe, no witnessing of it. One thing is certain, there seems to be something happening here as there is an experience of it, even if we don’t know for sure what it is! There is not complete nothingness. For example, no matter how possibly nonsensical and confusing all these words are, the very fact of words appearing here with some level of comprehension by you, the reader, means that there is an ultimate reality underlying the universe. This moment is proof of that. One cannot have appearance in nothing. Even a dream appears to something.
As we have seen, if you consider it carefully, there is very little about the “real world” about which you can be absolutely certain. One thing, however, is without doubt; it is that you exist. Quite what “you” exist as and quite what the appearance of the world actually is, is more doubtful and may require careful investigation, but you certainly do exist. Whew!
In fact, deeper consideration will lead you to the inescapable conclusion that it is you that provides the stamp of reality to the universe! This can be a surprising realization. If you consider it, the most real thing about the universe is this moment “here” and “now” i.e. the present moment. What is past is a dimming memory and what is future is still a thought which may or may not happen, yet this moment is real. What is more, it is you that defines “here” and “now” i.e. the present moment and you are deeply linked. “Here” is where you are and “now” is when you are. You are always here and now. You are always in the present moment since you define the present moment. Quite what you are is less certain, but whatever it is is pretty amazing since it is providing the stamp of reality to the whole universe! Perhaps consider that quietly for a moment….
Even if someone “else” comes to you to tell you what everyone else has agreed about the universe, you first give that person the stamp of reality before you receive their message. So you lend reality to the whole universe. This can be a bit mind boggling when first encountered and is not the common view of things.
The universe is indeed a rich place to explore and experience, to tease out the fine laws and put them to good use (I work on a global science project to build the most sensitive radio telescope arrays ever for astronomy), but “reality” will always remain a step beyond any ideas we may have about the universe. If we are interested in reality, we need to penetrate all these layers of thought and conditioning and see what is underneath them. Despite all the good work of science, some are starting to appreciate that we will never have a theory of everything since reality cannot itself be a concept. Reality must underlie even thinking. Even our most basic equations are ultimately concepts.
Layers on layers, theories built upon theories, imagined worlds built on top of imagined worlds. How to proceed? Does the universe provide us with a sense of direction to get to the bottom of this all?
Indeed it does and the direction is characteristically simple. The worlds that seem “healthier” to us provide the direction. Get outside in nature, get in touch with the senses, smell the roses. Let thoughts “about things” subside and see what is left. Don’t believe every thought that comes into your head. Spend less time in your mind and more with the stillness of being.
It remains a most remarkable thing to me that the universe does actually provide a sense of direction to everyone. It is a clear direction, pointing the way home in simplicity, yet often overlooked as the guide is quiet and we often prefer to follow noisier, more urgent voices. This inner guide is sometimes referred to as the “still voice” within; wise, patient and ready for you when you are ready to pay attention to it. The more time you spend refining the listening to- and the following of this inner wisdom, and quietly observing the results of this in the world, the more you will come to appreciate its value. Others around you will benefit too. The world could use a little more wisdom at present!
In the end, if you want to understand what is real, you cannot escape investigating your own sense of being since it is that that provides the stamp of reality to everything else. However heroic your efforts and noble your intentions in this direction, you cannot hope to approach ultimate reality if you ignore this vital aspect of yourself. The sense of being is not only the master key to a deeper understanding of ourselves, but also, in a paradoxical way, unlocks the universe for us. A deeper, more coherent and fuller connection to the “real world” results.
Exploring what you truly are means discarding what you are not. If you like thinking of yourself as very separate from everyone and everything else (perhaps superior or inferior in some way), don’t travel down the road towards reality since the sense of separateness becomes a part of what is ultimately discarded. In the truly natural (non artificial) state, mind and heart open and embrace the totality of the universe and all beings. What is real is ultimately truthful, conscious and blissful. It is also fully connected.
The sense of being, of presence, is but the taste of reality, the signpost for your return home, located at the border between the “real world” and what is beyond. With the still voice as your guide, follow the sense of being to its source and find what is truly real, whatever it turns out to be. “You will not regret it”.
Travelling to Mars and attempting to live on its surface are magnificent examples of the courageous spirit of human exploration. The difficulty of this endeavour also strongly highlights the importance of getting it right as a species here on Earth.
Apart from the considerable technical challenges in getting to Mars (it’s a long and potentially hazardous journey for a start – about 7 months) and establishing a base, there will be significant challenges in the living conditions for the first settlers. One of the shortlisted candidates for the proposed Mars One mission recently described it as “setting up camp as a subsistence farmer in a remote corner of the universe”. That puts one perspective on it! She was still keen to go.
To better understand living on Mars, various experiments are being conducted here on Earth to simulate such conditions. A recent one is described in [1] where a group of 6 scientists successfully spent 8 months living in isolation in a dome on the slopes of a dormant volcano on Hawaii. On emerging for the first time without wearing a spacesuit at the end of the experiment, one scientist commented that she “felt like a ghost” and that it was awesome to again feel the sensation of wind on her skin. There was also mention of “watermelon”, “taking a swim”, “feeling the sun” – all simple pleasures here on Earth which will not be so easily experienced in such conditions.
Although such experiments provide some preparation and efforts are made to make these realistic, the environments of such tests are significantly more benign than they will be on Mars. On Mars, the atmosphere is not breathable. The oxygen level is only at 0.1% that of Earth. It’s generally very cold. Even at the equator, the average high is below 0 deg C and average low about -80 deg C. The atmospheric pressure is very low at only about 0.5% that of earth and water in the tear ducts, eyes, lungs etc. would boil away if unprotected by a space suit. As Mars does not have a global magnetic field or significant atmosphere to protect it as does Earth, there is intense radiation from cosmic rays and solar particles to contend with [2]. Outside, you might survive running perhaps 100 metres without oxygen and a space suit. Might. Then that would be it. There is also lots of dust (irritating rather than fatal!).
Perhaps we should make things easier by terraforming Mars first before colonising it to make it more human friendly / life friendly? Elon Musk, whose SpaceX company is boldly attempting to enable Mars colonisation, once famously described Mars as a “fixer-upper of a planet”! Sound like your kind of property investment? 🙂
Terraforming may indeed be possible in future and various studies have been performed on this. However, the most optimistic estimates put that as taking 1 000 years with more likely scenarios taking 100 000 years, if it proves possible at all. So, the bottom line is that living on Mars is likely to continue to be far more challenging than living in the harshest environment here on Earth for a very long time. If it is isolation, self-sufficiency and a new social order you are after, it is easier set up shop in some remote part of Antarctica or the Sahara or the bottom of some ocean.
We will go to Mars, however (barring some catastrophe). It is in the human spirit of exploration to do so. Getting there and being there will be truly mind expanding. Think of the conditions people willingly subjected themselves to in exploring the Earth. For the early seafarers there was sea-sickness, home-sickness, scurvy, shipwrecks, storms, little hope of recovery, communication that took way longer than messages to Mars, etc. Not easy, not comfortable, but we went and eventually, we prospered.
One cannot help but feel that, although becoming a multi-planet species provides some sort of insurance against extinction due to certain causes (e.g. asteroid impact, deadly flu virus), the most likely causes of human extinction come from within the human race itself, rather than external factors. Catastrophic human-induced climate change, bio-hazards, runaway computer systems, nuclear war, for example. Some of these hazards could easily be transmitted to Mars as well. Mars is far, but it only takes about 13 mins on average to transmit a message / computer virus.
It would seem that, in addition to these bold initiatives to extend the reach of the human race and provide some sort of physical insurance policy for the species we need in addition to undertake the more daunting inward journey to address the challenges of our conditioning and behaviour which are much more of a threat to human existence than any natural phenomenon. These are also the cause of many of our personal and collective problems.
Providing a physical insurance policy for the species is helpful at a level, but neglects the bigger issues which lie within us all. These need to be addressed more urgently, especially given the accessibility to- and the increasing reach of our powerful technology.
The inward journey is not easy to achieve as it requires the will and effort of individuals. Can we do this collectively as a species? Unlikely, but fortunately we do respond to the deeper wisdom that is within each of us when this is presented. So, if even a few make the effort, it can have a much wider positive effect. Nelson Mandela is an example of someone who undertook a significant inward journey while in prison and influenced the world.
The inward journey requires introspection: examining motives even with small things; likes and dislikes; not believing every thought that comes into one’s head; exercising and strengthening reason and compassion; putting aside time for quiet reflection; separating what one truly is from more superficial outer layers of human expression. These are all valuable. Once one decides to explore inwardly with sincere intent, help seems to appear: the right book; friend; whatever is needed. Each person can find what resonates with them and helps on their way, taking a step at a time. It can seem daunting, but is possible. There is an old story which illustrates that:
A man wanted to travel a long distance in the depth of night with only a small lantern to guide him. There was no moon visible and the darkness enveloped everything. He stood fearful at his door, unwilling to move. Then the realisation dawned that, with his small light, he could see the next step and that, after taking that step, the next step also became lit. And so, step by step, he safely completed his journey.
The inner journey can seem daunting at first as we are so used to looking outward rather than inward. However, just like the man with the lantern, we already have enough wisdom within us to take the next step and so, step by step we can proceed. The outward journey of exploring Mars is achieved in similar fashion. We take it step by step, building in capability and experience with each step. With this, we are building on centuries of scientific and technical progress, “standing on the shoulders of giants”.
When we start to make the inward journey, we start to re-open our eyes in a childlike (not childish) way to the wonder of the universe, we open more fully to the amazing ingenuity of the human species as explorers, we start to unlock the wisdom already within us and we start to get a sense of what it means to be both deeply human and also deeply connected to the universe. Is this not an inspiring future for the human race?
It starts with you. You can become an explorer too. To start, you only need yourself. You start from where you are. Go deeply inward, for the sake of all.
When our children were young, we took a family walk up in the mountains near Cape Town following a clear mountain stream. It was a walk of an hour or so up to a beautiful, leafy waterfall where one could relax and swim. It was that time of year when the stream contained numerous giant tadpoles in the little pools on the way and it was striking how our son would stop every few meters and express immense vocal delight with each new giant tadpole found; and there were a lot of them! We could not but smile and share in his delight. Young children can have that effect. As adults, one might think that after a few such finds he would have lost interest, but quite the opposite happened. Each tadpole was seen and experienced as if for the very first time in all its “amazing tadpole-ness”, a wonderful gift of nature, placed there for his personal discovery.
Most of us retain some dim childhood memories of this more magical world, a world of vibrant colour and smells, a world of interest and play. This “heightened” awareness may not have been our experience through all periods of our childhood, but most people will recall at least some periods like that. As we grow older, something covers this up and our experience of the world becomes not quite as simple, vibrant, deep, direct and delightful. We join what we call call the “real world”. Our hearts and minds close over with the passing years and we come to accept our state as “normal”. This unfortunate covering comes from both nature and nurture through the natural unfolding of hidden traits and tendencies and also through our education and the conditioning from the cultures in which we live. Patterns of conditioned thinking are formed which become the unconscious lenses through which we observe the universe, part of our world view. Some of these lenses are deceptively colourful and murky and can present some wonderful distortions of the world to us.
Even from a young age, once we have been given a word for something (e.g. “bird”) and a vague idea how that concept fits into our mental framework (with other “birds”) we soon stop looking, move on to the next thing and miss really seeing the bird. We see our idea instead. We do the same with people. We put them in a box as soon as we can and keep them there. In fact, our whole life experience can become like that. We become blind, deaf, wooden and disconnected from the world, seeing the contents of our own conditioning which we become convinced is an accurate impression of the world. How wrong we are!
The word “education” is linked to two distinct Latin words “educere” (to lead out) and also to “educare” (to train or to mould). Unfortunately for many people, the “moulding” meaning was the dominant one through their schooling. Rather than education leading out or drawing inner riches from people, education had the effect of shutting people down. “Get with the system” is the underlying message.
These mental lenses creep up on us over time and are difficult to recognise in ourselves. Sometimes, someone with very poor eyesight only gets to know this when they are tested and given corrective glasses. To them, that is simply how the world looked. Although we are hesitant to see it that way, this is a kind of collective unconsciousness overlaid with a personal aspect as well. One can think of this as being asleep during what we think of as the waking state. It is time to wake up.
Every now and again we get the sense that something is wrong. We might have some memory of the childhood aliveness or be feeling worn out and stale in our current situation and wonder where the vitality of life has all gone. Often, the solution for us is to take a holiday, to go somewhere different Fortunately for the tourist industry and ourselves, this actually works. For a little while we drop our usual mental models and set of preconceived ideas about how things are and are open to explore new sites and meet new people. The world becomes alive and fresh again and we feel rejuvenated. Can you see what is happening here? The vibrancy is more about dropping the mental models than about the actual holiday location. The universe is always vibrant underneath. Once you realize this and start living life with fewer preconceived ideas or lenses, every day can be a holiday, wherever you are! 🙂
All too quickly during our holiday or soon after returning, we either restore our previous mental models or quickly generate new ones and start seeing the world through those lenses. We are soon back to living in our conditioned heads and hearts and the magic and aliveness of a purer form of existence is gone.
Being asleep and missing out on the aliveness of life is sad in itself, but even more of a problem is that we impose this unconscious conditioning on other people. Wars, greed, minor conflict, misunderstanding and isolation are some of the results. Clearly this has been going on for a long time. Some of the conflicts span many generations. This is simply patterns of thinking replicating themselves and clashing with other patterns of thinking.The question of who is “right” is not relevant in such circumstances. Continued fighting only further entrenches the patterns and no proper resolution is possible that way. The only winner is the conditioning itself which remains alive and well, imprinted on the hearts of people. The cunning trick of the conditioning is that it forces people to focus on the outer circumstances of the conflict rather than directing the attention to the root of the problem which is the conditioning itself. It is easier to point fingers than to start examining one’s own heart.
It is not being suggested here that what our society, knowledge and culture brings us is bad. Certainly not. Human knowledge contains much that is good and useful and a society governed by what is true, just and reasonable is something to work towards. A celebration and respect of our cultural differences is indeed possible rather than conflict. People do generally recognise a universal or fundamental truth at some deep level and so, with some direction, each can find their own path towards this discovery.
What can be done about the unuseful aspects of the conditioned state in which we find ourselves? Fortunately, there is a way out. It requires that we shine the light of awareness onto some of the inner structures of our mind and see things as they are rather than how they appear. This requires an crucial change in focus from outward to inward.
An accurate and practical model of the mind is very helpful in order to assist with this inner examination. How odd it is that we emerge from years of education with almost no knowledge of the structure and operation of the mind itself – the very entity (if you can call it that) which we spend all those years educating! A major oversight of the education system.
We focus here on a model of the mind with its origins in the Vedic tradition from the Indian region many thousands of years ago and which is still alive today. It is the same tradition from which the Sanskrit language arose. Interestingly, some of these ancient sages seemed to have a much more refined knowledge of the realm of mind and heart than we do today. The Sanskrit language is rich with subtleties of meaning. We sometimes carry an idea that man has become much more intelligent in recent times (an idea largely brought on by our technology advances), but this is not necessarily the case.
In this model of mind, there are four components. We use italics hereafter for these words when implying these meanings since we may carry other interpretations of these words in English:
discursive mind – that part of mind which is responsible for presenting sense impressions (this also chatters away when not being used properly)
intelligence (or reason) – that part of mind which is able to discriminate, which instantly knows right from wrong etc. In a deeper sense, intelligence is able to distinguish between that which is transient and that which is eternal.
heart – the seat of the emotions or the emotional centre, without which nothing moves. This is said to be the place where tendencies or conditioning are stored.
ego – the sense of “I” which tends to get attached to all kinds of things in the world (which causes a lot of the trouble)
The big problem for most people is that they are allowing discursive mind to run amuck instead of using it for its proper function which is to receive sense impressions. When discursive mind is not connected to the senses, we no longer receive accurate impressions from the world and instead indulge in circular thinking, day dreaming, worrying about future or regretting the past etc.
So, in this situation we may think we have a clear view of things and the free will to make good decisions, but mostly it is discursive mind running around, driven by patterns of conditioned behaviour and the world we see is heavily conditioned by our own unconscious subjective patterns of looking. Discursive mind tries to take decisions for itself rather than accurately passing on the sense impressions to intelligence which is the part of the mind qualified to make such judgement calls. Intelligence, now starved of proper input, becomes weak and discursive mind rules the show. Reason goes by the wayside and society degenerates. Clearly not good. With some exceptions, this is generally the state of humans today, so quite “normal” in some sense.
Once you understand this part of the model, the solution is simple. Connect to your senses. Remarkably, we even have strong clues littered around in the English language which we seem to have overlooked: “that is nonsense”; “that is not sensible”; “come to your senses”; “you are not making sense”; etc. It turns out that when we connect to our senses in a full and direct way, discursive mind is properly engaged with that and so is unable at the same time also to be engaged in circling and useless thoughts. This is a key insight in how to reduce the level of unhelpful thinking.
You might object to this and say that it is our ability to think abstractly that makes the human what it is. This is in some sense true when the power of thought is used properly, but most often our thinking serves no useful purpose. We completely overthink so many things and are caught up in worries, fears, imaginings, misconceptions, prejudices, internal criticism, etc. All rather insane behaviour which leads to a lot of problems, if you think about it :).
Rather than theorise further on this, let us be practical in our approach and see for ourselves what is helpful. Let us actually try it out. This as a scientific approach: perform the repeatable experiment and observe the results yourself.
Connecting to the senses is very simple in theory, but takes some practice before this becomes natural. We are all used to practising something else. Here is a simple exercise along those lines which is very old and is introduced at the School of Practical Philosophy in Cape Town on the first evening of every starter course. It brings smiles each week that this continues to feature as a part of the continued homework as you progress through the school, an important practice which refines over time, so do not expect instant mastery.
So, let us try this now for a few minutes. It is not complicated. Simply connect to the five senses in turn (you may wish to close you eyes for most of it for a deeper experience):
— First make sure that you are seated upright and comfortable and the body is relaxed (the idea is to stay alert).
Now bring the attention into this present moment, putting aside thoughts of past and future, by becoming aware of the body. Really feel the sensations of the body as it sits on the chair.
Feel the feet on the ground, the weight of the body on the chair, the clothes against the limbs and the delicate play of air against the skin. Spend a little time with each sensation. Try this now.
Become aware that the body is breathing and simply notice the inflow and outflow of breath.
With each in-breath, now become aware of smell. Once again just smell things as they are. No need to label things at this time. (Allow some time)
Become aware of taste. Simply be aware of taste in different parts of the mouth in a direct way without particularly applying identification or association. (Allow some time)
With the eyes open, connect to sight. Without particularly looking around be aware of the array of colours and form, of texture, of shades of light and dark. (Allow some time)
With the eyes closed, now connect to listening. First be aware of the sounds close by, within the body, within the room or the immediate vicinity…
Now, be aware of the sounds around the house and around your neighbourhood….
Now also include more distant sounds. The sounds of the city or town.
Now expand the listening right out to the very furthest sound…. and even to the silence beyond. Note how sounds arise from the silence, are sustained for a while, and then fall back into silence.
Now become aware of your own sense of presence which underlies all this. Awareness aware of itself.
Simply rest in the peace of yourself for a few moments.
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In starting to recognise and come out of patterns of conditioned behaviour, it is helpful to practice this simple exercise a couple of times a day. Depending on the state of the mind at the time, this will be more difficult or easier, but the idea is not to overly judge the experience. Be earnest, see it clearly, but let it be what it is. It is often easier to practise in the morning and evening (early morning and early evening) when the world is a little quieter, but one can practise this at any time (even in a bank queue!). With a little earnest application, a new dimension to your existence may start to open up. See what you find. Each person needs to discover this for him/herself, in their direct experience, in their own time.
This simple practice is a first step (albeit a powerful one) in allowing some of the patterns of conditioned behaviour to be put aside for a moment and, through that process, to start noticing how they are governing your life and what their effects are. It is the first step in uncovering what you truly are beneath all those largely unconscious layers. We are all governed by these patterns to greater or lesser degrees so in some sense they are entirely “natural” to the human condition, but your true natural state lies like a beautiful jewel awaiting your discovery beneath these.
Over time, an outcome of such a practice is that a little “space” starts being created between “you” (the observer) and the conditioned patterns. What you truly are is not a conditioned pattern and so, once some of the identification with the patterns loosens, you now have a real choice in a particular situation: proceed with what the conditioned thinking is telling you or take a different approach, governed by reason and a deeper sense of truth. No longer believing every thought that “comes into your head”, you are able to start strengthening intelligence, that faculty of mind which is able to discriminate between truth and not truth, between useful and less useful.
Allowing some stillness and increased awareness to arise is just the start, but it is a good start. There is of course much more to discover as you go deeper. It is an inward journey of refinement, taken step by step where the faculties of mind and heart gradually revert to their naturally aligned and truthful states as you proceed. Although there may be difficulties on the journey as the conditioned patterns come to the surface to be acknowledged and released, what you are in truth beneath all that conditioning is well worth the effort of discovery. This inward journey is the most rewarding journey you can take.
To close, some words from a modern day wise man of India, Shri Shantananda Saraswati, who was well versed in the Vedic tradition from which our model of mind originated. These words appear in the book Good Company:
If you begin to be what you are, you will realise everything, but to begin to be what you are, you must come out of what you are not. You are not those thoughts which are turning, turning in your mind; you are not those changing feelings; you are not the different decisions you make and the different wills you have; you are not that separate ego. Well then, what are you? You will find when you have come out of what you are not, that the ripple on the water is whispering to you ‘I am That’, the birds in the trees are singing to you ‘I am That’, the moon and stars are shining beacons to you ‘I am That’. You are everything in the world and everything in the world is reflected in you, and at the same time you are That – everything.
New technology in stormy times. Opportunities for a new dawn?
According to the World Health Organization mortality statistics for 2012, “communicable, maternal, neonatal and nutritional conditions collectively were responsible for 23% of global deaths” [1]. This means that approximately 35,000 people died each day in ways that are largely considered preventable.
In contrast, there were 290 newcomers to the Forbes Billionaires list for 2015 [2]. That’s a new one every 1.25 days which is about the time it would take for approximately 44,000 preventable deaths to occur (assuming a continuation of the 2012 death rates).
Without particularly picking on the billionaires, does anyone see a problem?
Picture a world in which the following were provided for all its citizens: adequate shelter; adequate healthy nutrition; adequate basic health care; opportunities for education and just reward for effort. Is the transition to such a world possible and is this the world we want? These are important questions we need to consider. Given our rapid technology advances, this is not an idle speculation. Such a future is within reach in the coming decades. In fact, it has been in reach for a long time, but the global will or necessity has been lacking. Our exponential technology advances coupled with increasingly apparent failures in the current economic systems are the new factors which force us to reconsider our current approaches. We are heading down a very dangerous path currently.
There have been ideologies and systems in the past that have explored ideas of sharing with mixed success. In modern times, the concept of the “welfare state” that combines democracy, welfare and capitalism is a promising approach that is well established, but only in a few countries [3]. We have increasingly come to realise, however, that it is not sufficient to have welfare states. What is needed is something along the lines of a “welfare world” perhaps using many of the principles of global economic sharing as eloquently described in [4].
The world is actually one system, a fully connected place: our knowledge is shared via the internet; environmental concerns are global concerns; mass movements of refugees or incidents of xenophobia cross national borders; terrorism and trade are global issues; our financial systems are globally connected and influenced. We cannot hope to create a safe and comfortable isolated welfare state and live out our time in peace, prosperity and happiness since isolation is not the reality of our times. We need to wake up to this fact.
The current world economic system is not that of the “welfare world”. If anything, capitalism seems to be dominant system and unfortunately, it is often the rampant, hard capitalism that shows itself. Is this system really the best global system for us now and will it serve us well into the future? Are the factors that led to the current dominant economic system going to be unchanged in the coming decades? This would not seem to be the case.
It is very clear that our current global economic system has some major deficiencies: extreme wealth is concentrated in small parts of the world population and the wealth gap appears to be growing; there is an overabundance and wastage of food in some segments of the world population and a severe undersupply in others; there is more than enough food to go around, yet many people are starving; some have access to the best technology, the best education opportunities, the best healthcare whilst others have little or no access to these at all. One does not have to be a genius to recognise that the trend of growing global inequality is not sustainable. As a species, we are not in a healthy and happy situation.
“The Times They Are A-Changin’”, so the poet sang. This is as relevant today. We are currently moving rapidly towards developing systems in automation / machine learning which will undoubtedly dramatically affect what kinds of jobs people do in future. Farming is becoming increasingly automated; distribution systems increasingly automated; factory production lines increasingly automated; financial trading increasingly automated. Indeed, there are few areas of human endeavour that are not being touched by this. Clearly, this trend towards automation is not new, but the acceleration in the development and adoption of such systems is a new factor. Such advances are inevitable and will bring certain benefits, but the accelerated changes brought about by this technology will undoubtedly be pretty disruptive to our current systems as well. This is not to forget the advances in genetic engineering which bring their own hazards. Can we adapt wisely and smoothly to these changes? It seems things could go very right or very wrong.
The danger now is that the speed of advance in some areas of human activity far exceeds that required in other areas of human activity in order to maintain the kind of wise equilibrium conducive to the overall well-being of the human species and of the world which we inhabit. For example, can our economic systems, legal systems and ethical frameworks move with the speed of our technical advances? One does not need to be a rocket scientist to feel that this is not likely to happen if we continue blindly on the current course.
Indeed, it seems technically feasible that we will be able to provide shelter, nutritious food, quality healthcare and education opportunities to all of the world’s citizens in the coming decades. The internet makes this possible, robotics makes this possible, renewable energy makes this possible, machine learning makes this possible. There are of course many other contributing factors. However, whether this basic provision to all the world’s citizens will actually happen seems to depend not on our technical / logistic ability to make it happen, but rather on our collective will. Do we, collectively, really want this, enough to actually make it happen? It can happen. It is possible, but will require a change of mind and heart.
As a side note, it is also possible that some of these advances involving complex, distributed, evolving systems or genetic modifications go very wrong in themselves and so we should be cautious in how we develop these and what safeguards and standards we put in place along the way. This caution is needed irrespective of which global economic model we adopt.
Certainly we can proceed with the current global path where riches, resources and opportunities continue to be concentrated in a relatively small number of people, but is that fearful, conflicted world the world in which we want to live? That world is driven by a false idea that there is “not enough” and the idea of “more for me and mine” whereas the reality is that there is enough to go around, if only people share. Most people will acknowledge, after some consideration, that our current global economic system is pretty broken and that some fairer distribution of resources and opportunities is needed. To aid with this, our technology is rapidly getting to the point where it is good enough to fairly easily allow this sharing to happen, if we organise ourselves properly around it.
Let’s assume, as seems likely, that our technology becomes very efficient in terms of providing what we would need for this transformation. One would have robotic farming and solar powered drones delivering food to your house; driverless, clean energy cars owned by the community and built and serviced in robotic factories, summoned by your smartphone and that move you and your children around as you need; a sophisticated and automated health scanning machine in your community or home gives you early alerts to health problems; construction of basic dwellings as a solved and mostly automated problem; everyone having access to the internet (or its evolution) and able to educate themselves at will. Some human oversight and work would be needed in maintaining these systems, but only as a part-time affair. Remember that this is a heavily machine-assisted future.
So, what would you as a human do?
You now have more time. Your basic needs are covered. You don’t have to work for basic survival. Would you seek wisdom? Seek pleasure? Write poetry? Get lost in virtual reality? Inspire people? Sit on the couch and drink beer all day? Many people may need to answer this question in their lifetimes.
In our current world where not all basic needs are met and troubles abound, there is a huge amount of human kindness in assisting others (often overlooked since we oddly often seem to prefer bad news stories). The collaborative relief efforts for the 2015 Nepal earthquake are a recent example of what humans can achieve together. In a future of robotic helpers, would we simply leave the task to them? Would we then sit in comfortable (splendid?) isolation or would we use the opportunity to interact more meaningfully and deeply with each other? Once again questions each person would need to face.
Some philosophers have said that work ennobles man. There is something to be said for that. It may be argued that the “welfare world” should aim to meet basic needs, but not be so comfortable that it encourages laziness. For many people, making a living is one of the primary drivers and so what happens when this is no longer strictly necessary? What will fill that gap?
Fortunately, the human drive for exploration, both outer and inner, would still be there. This could mean making deep scientific and philosophical advances; exploring our galaxy and what it means to be human; caring and connecting in deeper ways; producing inspiring works of the highest quality. Fortunately, there would not seem to be a limit to worthwhile pursuits and each person has a unique set of talents to contribute. This kind of work, free from drudgery, would be truly ennobling.
When everyone is housed, fed, healthy and watered, will we stop fighting each other? Will we be happy? Unfortunately, this seems unlikely. The “welfare world” will meet certain basic material needs, but will not quell all human desires. Have you ever noticed how, after wanting something for a long time, you eventually get it and there is a short period of inner peace and satisfaction? We incorrectly ascribe the satisfaction to the object, but the peace is not actually due to the object being obtained, but rather due to the dropping of desire for a moment (since you now have the object!). How soon thereafter, however, we start desiring something else and we are back to square one! Seem a little silly to you? Ultimately, no object or person will bring lasting happiness.
Happiness comes from within with the dropping of personal desire and the embracing of the universal. What that really means needs to be discovered by each person. Perhaps the “welfare world” will grant a little space to many to help to highlight these deeper issues. Ironically, it is often through adversity that we grow most rapidly as humans in the spiritual dimension and provision of basic material necessities will clearly not automatically result in universal happiness. However, perpetuating unnecessary suffering is not a palatable option to any deeply truthful human.
All considered, providing for a base level of needs for all in the “welfare world” does seem like the safest path of human evolution and also the right thing to do. Those who wish to perform inspiring and meaningful work in such a system would be encouraged to do so. Those that may wish to pursue more material things (a luxury yacht, for example) would be welcome to work to provide useful goods and services to others to enable that i.e. some kind of not-too-greedy capitalism as part of the “welfare world”. Right now in our current global system there is too much emphasis on power, privilege and position. In our financial markets, there is a lot of money moving around based on fear and greed without corresponding real value being delivered. The 2008 financial crisis comes to mind. A world inspired by depth of feeling, quality of workmanship, delight in discovery, service and sharing would indeed be something to aspire to.
So, perhaps we stand at the crossroads. One possible path is a dangerous world of powerful technology in the hands of a few; an uneven balance of power, extreme wealth and deprivation; the continuation of our current path that more than likely leads to escalated conflict and perhaps even extinction. The path of the “welfare world”, the safer and perhaps only way forward as a species, is also possible. That path requires a collective effort in a concerted global approach with an appreciation that a person is a part of the whole. That path requires openness of heart and mind.
The five areas you have identified as playing important roles in the future of mankind are indeed important ones (evolution of the internet – humanity’s “nervous system”, sustainable energy, becoming a multi-planet species, artificial intelligence, and writable genetics). I would, however, add a couple more to the list as identified by Nick Bostrom in his scenarios for the future of technology and mankind: development of wisdom and improving human cooperation.
You have stated that it is very important to make steps to protect the human light of consciousness and it is for this reason (in addition to ensuring a more interesting future for mankind) that we should make steps towards becoming a multi-planetary species, accelerate efforts in protecting our current planet, and seek to avert technological perils (by putting effort into AI safety, for example). I would agree and the efforts you and your companies have been making in this direction to change thinking to date are laudable.
The light of consciousness available to humans is indeed a precious thing and most people recognise, if they really consider it, that this is our most valuable asset. Indeed, what greater gift can you give someone or some task than your full attention? It is in consciousness that all our human triumphs, fears, aspirations, humour, noble deeds, wisdom and learning appear. Indeed it is difficult to argue with the fact of one having no knowledge of the world without consciousness. The funny thing about the light of consciousness, our most precious asset, is that we, as a collective, still have very little idea about what it actually is. We are fascinated/captured by the objects that appear in consciousness and overlook consciousness itself.
It seems that we have not made much scientific progress with understanding consciousness since we are generally trying to study consciousness as an object. Unfortunately, as everything appears in consciousness, consciousness itself does not make a very compliant object of study! Just as the eye cannot see itself directly, so too with consciousness, and we need to find other ways to look.
Let me focus now on the development of wisdom and link back to consciousness a little later. Wisdom is clearly critical if we, as a species, are to safely navigate the challenges of our exponentially increasing technological development in the coming decades. We now recognise that our technology can bring both great potential benefits and also some considerable perils. You speak of these often. The world, however, often seems a little short on wisdom these days, so where to find it?
Wisdom, as the old saying goes, comes from within. As most people are very focused on looking outwards rather than inward, it therefore comes as little surprise that wisdom seems in short supply. People like Nelson Mandela had a long time to be quiet and reflect on things and emerged with great wisdom, able to effect an unlikely transformation and inspire the world. We can learn from examples such as his.
Indeed, every human has access to wisdom within, but some inner work is needed to strip away many of the assumptions and habitual ways of thinking that cloud out the wisdom and prevent it from emerging clearly. There is an analogy of an old-fashioned light bulb shining brightly at the core, but perhaps obscured by a lot of dust and muck which tends to dim and distort the light available for good use. All analogies have some limitations, but you will get the point.
You often talk about going back to first principles, usually in a physics context, in order to determine the truth about things. This allows one to look in a fresh way at things and question “Does it really need to be like that? Can’t we do better here?” In the same way that this works so effectively in rearranging the atoms of the universe into better car and rocket shapes, so too, do we need to apply similar reasoning to our inner world and to deeply question some of the assumptions there. Are our assumptions really true or have we just accepted something on hearsay?
To question fundamental inner assumptions requires some deep questioning and these inner investigations are usually of a more private and subjective nature in how they play out. However, the deep questions themselves are more universal. One could ask, for example, “What am I really? Am I really my body with its various sensations, the physical entity which undergoes birth and death? Am I really my mind which seems to be a collection of thoughts coming and going, largely without my control? Am I my heart with the emotions that stir things into movement? Or am I something deeper still, the silent witness of this all, here, now, as these words are read? And what is behind even the witness?” With a little practice, we can intuitively feel into these areas where the answers come through an alert silence rather than as words.
You may perhaps get a sense how these types of investigations ultimately lead one into an inner stillness, in which the direct experience of something becomes more of a pointer to truth than the entertaining of ideas about it. You may also perhaps sense how such explorations fundamentally explore consciousness itself. In addition, in a curious and remarkable way, such inner exploration also tends to reflect over time in one’s experience of the outer world. The more deeply we move within and the more the inner clutter gets cleared, the greater the clarity and compassion that seems to become available to us. This process of introspection and deep questioning seems to unlock the inner wisdom within us, wisdom that clearly we all need to unlock if we are indeed to progress as a species.
Einstein, perhaps our greatest scientist, said a beautiful and curious thing:
“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
When one questions deeply within, the “optical delusion” of separate existence also comes into question, starts to break down and a different, more connected view of the world emerges. How interesting! Surely something worthy of our deeper exploration, leading naturally into the “better human cooperation” aspect mentioned at the start.
If we fail to explore the inner world, we may perhaps share some closing thoughts with Isaac Newton, another scientific giant of his time, who discovered the physical laws (to a good approximation) by which we still launch our rockets. The following quote is attributed to him in his later years and one hopes that we may not be entertaining similar thoughts as we gaze out in our old age across the Martian landscape 🙂
“I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”
Your efforts in nudging our technological society in better directions are indeed laudable and I hope they continue. It is also clear that we need to raise our level of consciousness and wisdom in order to make lasting progress. To do this, we need to balance our outward exploration with time also for reflection and inner exploration. Fortunately, humans are equipped to do this. Whether we venture there is a question of will and necessity.
Jasper Horrell 