Peter E. Pflaum - Golden Globe -

The Synergy Network

Wiredbrain Pflaump@wiredbrain.com

Also in # 10:

Being Human:

Each human and humanity must find unity with the natural world in our own unique way.

The future of the species depends on the choices we make.

The awareness of new physical and mental possibilities increasing the freedom of choice both in our use of our biology and our self-awareness maybe the reason for our being the way we are and how we got where we are. Unanswered questions, such as what is important to us as individuals and a society and what criteria should be used to make decisions are no longer abstract philosophical wanderings of a leisure class but critical to all of us.

What we can learn from the biological and cultural history of the species opens a foundation for a few powerful central ideas. Technology and science progress by the use of theories that make sense of complex events. Social science as failed the species in suggesting more and more small ideas.

The career needs of specialist has given us less and less social insight into the really important questions. In fact, social science has wished the important questions away. With a human value system all becomes noise, the tinkling of drums and the sound of idiots clashing at night.

The event, in evolutionary history was the ability of humans to use culture to transform the environment. First with simple tools and hominidae social organization. (Pack behavior of Baboons and Chimps). Homo sapiens have developed complex brains that process language (ideas) and communicate them with symbols. This ability made us half angles and half beasts.

The success of social organization (technology) bypassed biological and environmental limits. All life expands if it is possible and is only limited by other life and physics. (food supply, climate, competition in its niche) Human organizational ability made possible by image producing brains and language has recently created a world dependent on thought and the communications of ideas.

The uniquely human factors are critical to understanding how to survive in this man created environment. Understanding human nature has never been more important and more difficult.

The species has created a condition where it is dependent on itself for its survival. It has created a collective Frankenstein. Human judgement has never been more important if we are to manage the new complex systems. Science alone can't help much in managing the technology it creates.

The future of the species has for thousands of years been dependent on the choices made by each generation. Those choices were in context of a natural world. Some choices worked better than others in this context. Evolution continued with culture (technology) only slowly taking over from biology. Social systems were able to slowly transform the limits of the environment.

The first hominidae stood upright.

They left the trees and went into the savanna.

They used tools, fire, and communications to survive and spread. For hundreds of thousand of years "hunters - gathers" lived in close relationship with nature. Homo sapiens developed complex specialized brains for the processing of images and words in separated but connected parts of the brain.

The right brain left brain specialization (yin-yang) gave power to communications and ideas through symbols. Human were limited as all life was by limits on resources and competitions of other species.

The population spread widely but thinly. Physical limits keep a balance.

The image producing brain could conceive of new ways of using the resources available and learn and teach others. This started a technological explosion about 10,000 years ago. We can learn about our biological character from the genes that carry history. Genics build on the old in complex layers. Each new is layered over the old. Domestic animals, canals, wagons, weapons, grow and become com In the last few centuries the technological explosion has increased in speed. We are now as a species dependent on thought and communications to make choices that will allow continue survival.

The success of social organization, technology has bypassed biological and environmental limits. Cities and energy are dependent on complex social, political, economic systems that require choice.

The growing awareness of possibilities, the technological freedom to choice rests on environmental and biological systems not designed by nature but ourselves.

The survival of the species depends on the collective efforts of the species to understand and deal with a world of its own making. We have created a world we must control and limit. We must redefine a unity with the natural world in a new and unique way.

The basic unanswered questions of social and personal life - what is important and what criteria can be used to make choices are more important that ever. Moral and philosophical - cosmic question are all around us Being human is progressively more difficult. As long as we are we might as well try to make a go of it.