How does this fit in? Hubble showed us it isn’t a fixed universe, with Earth here for our use. A translation into ideation that can be made has us as divine beings in a living, expanding universe, in an evolutionary process that’s 13.8 billion years old. There’s an inspirational aspect to this when you hear it from Brian Swimme, a charismatic storyteller. He tunes you into feeling the privilege of human existence, how we are an interconnected family, and how our purpose is to serve Earth.
For us to become the cooperative species that will give us the best chance for survival, how about tuning people into this? Change the zeitgeist. I'd even see an ad agency doing a campaign -- get humanity to fall in love with itself, where loving people would create a loving world.
My initial thought is that stories about human interconnectedness and innate divinity are ancient, and have been paired with science (particularly quantum physics) in Western New Age and spiritual communities for the last 60 years, but they've been largely ineffective at halting inhuman forces and systems. If anything, they've been easily co-opted and sold back to us.
I connect a bit with the idea of the privilege of existence - but in a WEIRD society being an interconnected family feels very abstract. Again it's a staple of spiritual and new age communities, but it doesn't really land with me as anything more than a statement of fact. Living in London, I don't even know my neighbours. In theory yes, we are all one. But in practice we are separate, which is also a beautiful aspect of the human experience.
I think we need catharsis more than ecstasis in the West. The overview effect is a good example - a photo of earth from space was powerful enough to inspire an environmental movement because it combined a sense of insignificance with a sense of responsibility.
There's some apples and oranges here. You'd be served by tuning into Brian Swimme, physicist and mathematical cosmologist, and not a new age airy fairy. Here's a recent statement:
"The way I dealt with my confusion was by entering into a slow process of
turning from the equations of mathematical cosmology to the philosophical
meanings of the universe. The parade of thinkers ushering in what was, for
me, a different form of consciousness includes Hildegarde of Bingen, Thomas
Aquinas, Henri Bergson, Alfred North Whitehead, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin,
and Thomas Berry. The equations remained at the center of my mind, but they
were now seen to be an element of a much larger, richer, more magical universe
than what they, by themselves, had unveiled."
To sing any virtues of separation is like Elon saying that empathy is a problem. Where rugged individualism got us our industrial civilization, unless we become an empathetic family apocalypse here we come.
My point isn't about whether statements like Swimme's are accurate or useful as spiritual insights, it's about whether these spiritual insights are effective in seriously shifting systems. I think they can be useful on an individual level, but less useful on a collective level if the goal is to change the mindset of Western culture, which is central to the mission of Kainos.
Celebrating unity while denigration separation is its own form of narrow thinking. Separation implies unity, and vice versa. Difference implies sameness. Empathy can't be forced or engineered, it arises from particular conditions. My interest is in 'how do we create those conditions' and from what I've seen, very few spiritual communities have managed to do this in a way that seriously challenge the dominant paradigm, at least in the last 400 years.
Wow! Alexander, you’ve done it again. This is a potent offering. The invitation here is already shifting the ground beneath my feet. I am so grateful for the way in which you yourself are listening to whatever it is that wants to speak, inquire, and gather through you.
There is something radical in changing one's very approach to story.
Nora's question, "Who can I be when I am with you? And who can you be when you are with me?" It's now going to be at the center of an upcoming workshop I'm hosting.
Hi Alexander. I noticed that you have highlighted concerns about bioelectric manipulation, synthetic creation, and unbound emergence. I offer you a model to help identify these concerns and how to more precisely identify them.
How does this fit in? Hubble showed us it isn’t a fixed universe, with Earth here for our use. A translation into ideation that can be made has us as divine beings in a living, expanding universe, in an evolutionary process that’s 13.8 billion years old. There’s an inspirational aspect to this when you hear it from Brian Swimme, a charismatic storyteller. He tunes you into feeling the privilege of human existence, how we are an interconnected family, and how our purpose is to serve Earth.
For us to become the cooperative species that will give us the best chance for survival, how about tuning people into this? Change the zeitgeist. I'd even see an ad agency doing a campaign -- get humanity to fall in love with itself, where loving people would create a loving world.
My YouTube Swimme playlist: https://suzannetaylor.substack.com/s/brian-thomas-swimme
My initial thought is that stories about human interconnectedness and innate divinity are ancient, and have been paired with science (particularly quantum physics) in Western New Age and spiritual communities for the last 60 years, but they've been largely ineffective at halting inhuman forces and systems. If anything, they've been easily co-opted and sold back to us.
I connect a bit with the idea of the privilege of existence - but in a WEIRD society being an interconnected family feels very abstract. Again it's a staple of spiritual and new age communities, but it doesn't really land with me as anything more than a statement of fact. Living in London, I don't even know my neighbours. In theory yes, we are all one. But in practice we are separate, which is also a beautiful aspect of the human experience.
I think we need catharsis more than ecstasis in the West. The overview effect is a good example - a photo of earth from space was powerful enough to inspire an environmental movement because it combined a sense of insignificance with a sense of responsibility.
There's some apples and oranges here. You'd be served by tuning into Brian Swimme, physicist and mathematical cosmologist, and not a new age airy fairy. Here's a recent statement:
"The way I dealt with my confusion was by entering into a slow process of
turning from the equations of mathematical cosmology to the philosophical
meanings of the universe. The parade of thinkers ushering in what was, for
me, a different form of consciousness includes Hildegarde of Bingen, Thomas
Aquinas, Henri Bergson, Alfred North Whitehead, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin,
and Thomas Berry. The equations remained at the center of my mind, but they
were now seen to be an element of a much larger, richer, more magical universe
than what they, by themselves, had unveiled."
To sing any virtues of separation is like Elon saying that empathy is a problem. Where rugged individualism got us our industrial civilization, unless we become an empathetic family apocalypse here we come.
My point isn't about whether statements like Swimme's are accurate or useful as spiritual insights, it's about whether these spiritual insights are effective in seriously shifting systems. I think they can be useful on an individual level, but less useful on a collective level if the goal is to change the mindset of Western culture, which is central to the mission of Kainos.
Celebrating unity while denigration separation is its own form of narrow thinking. Separation implies unity, and vice versa. Difference implies sameness. Empathy can't be forced or engineered, it arises from particular conditions. My interest is in 'how do we create those conditions' and from what I've seen, very few spiritual communities have managed to do this in a way that seriously challenge the dominant paradigm, at least in the last 400 years.
this is the type of notification I need in my life 🔥
Wow! Alexander, you’ve done it again. This is a potent offering. The invitation here is already shifting the ground beneath my feet. I am so grateful for the way in which you yourself are listening to whatever it is that wants to speak, inquire, and gather through you.
There is something radical in changing one's very approach to story.
Nora's question, "Who can I be when I am with you? And who can you be when you are with me?" It's now going to be at the center of an upcoming workshop I'm hosting.
I can't wait to jump into Sense Making 102.
Hi Alexander. I noticed that you have highlighted concerns about bioelectric manipulation, synthetic creation, and unbound emergence. I offer you a model to help identify these concerns and how to more precisely identify them.
https://wutaiwatcher.substack.com/p/natural-christic-vs-artificial-luciferian
cool
Thank you Suzanne. Appreciate you.