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Everything we do, or don't do, makes history and lays the groundwork for our future evolution as a species. Humanity, more than any other living being on this planet, has been given the gift of choice. We are able to be conscious. We are not only able to choose what we do in our life, but how we think about ourselves and the world around us.

If we choose not to make ourselves aware of the world, we will stop evolving; our minds must adapt to the world we live in for us to survive as a species. As Joshua Greene describes how we are still using our rat brains, continuing on with the mentality that if we will do just what is good for the local us, or even simply the self, we will be OK, we will survive to pass on our genes to the next generation (in my understanding this is how evolutionary psychology has been able to describe how our brains evolved to think the way they do), but what we have a hard time thinking about is how what we do within ourselves and within our local community, will also be passed on to the next generations, not just here, but everywhere.(1)

Concepts on a large scale tend to be difficult for us to grasp and even I experience a sort of disconnect when I think about the magnitude of global issues. It feels more or less unreachable, but I can choose to think it is only a footstep away if I use my imagination and put myself on a plane to another country. I arrive there tomorrow, visit with the villagers to learn of their customs and language. Yet still, this little practice of imagination encompasses an interaction with a few, not billions. It is overwhelming to think of knowing billions of people. We would not have time in a lifetime to know all of them as friends, or even acquaintances, like we would those in our “village”. Can you imagine having to remember billions of names or faces? It isn't that we should stop thinking about those closest to us, in fact, that is how we can start any change, with ourselves and our local community, but if we can evolve to think of humanity as a family too, a distant family who you can write letters to and see films about, we could create not only a greater connection and understanding of those far from us, but evolve our brains to think in a way that will allow us to survive and coexist nondestructively with this planet and other animals.

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It is no doubt we are good at thinking fast: the automatic emotional response. Some of these responses can be lifesaving and protective, but others can be destructive, if we don't look forward, if we don't use the slow thinking(1). The instant gratification, quick fixes and conveniences we want to find, in my own contemplation of this habit people have formed, I have seen only that we create more work for ourselves in the end. We may be able to drive to get across town in a convenient amount of time, keep ourselves and our stuff out of the rain, but we must maintain the car, pay insurance, and have plenty of roads and parking for those vehicles, as well as account for the pollution from use and manufacturing affecting our environment and the demand we create for fuel, which currently depletes our resources since they are unsustainable. I am not saying that we should be riding horse drawn buggies and carriages to work, or am I? Perhaps Joule's law of conservation of energy applies in a way to the creations we make. The more efficiency we demand, the more demand there is on our own energy to upkeep that efficiency. It is our choice then, how much energy we choose to spend on that much desired quick fix.

Likewise, through technology, we have been able to create incredible ways to communicate, but at some sacrifice to our own interactions on a personal level. We forget how many messages are lost when we don't have visual, vocal as well as verbal communication. We have even been known to reflect our own emotions through the words of the sender. With no inflection, the message of the same written word, could have a completely different meaning.

How we speak to one another is fundamental in our cohabitation. If we make known honest our intentions and needs, which we may only allow to be known to ourselves if we seek them out, we are much more likely to understand each other on a fundamental level of existence. It is easy to yell out, “You're a murderer!” than it is to identify why the red light on the dashboard is flashing and discover that our basic human need for safety isn't being met.(4) I like to use the example of the man with the loaf of bread to feed his family, but another man, who is quite hungry does not resist the desire to steal it. The man whose loaf was stolen, despairs over the loss, over the threat of his family's security for food, but this may only come about in that fast thinking manner: anger. He is angry at the man that has stolen his loaf of bread, but if he speaks in a better manner than, “You thief! You should be punished!” and ask the man his intention, discovering, much like himself, he is hungry. Had it not been for fear of revealing the vulnerability of the hungry man, perhaps he would have simply walked up to the doorstep of the man with the bread and had expressed his need for nourishment and be welcomed into the home to share the loaf of bread.

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“The population problem has no technical solution; it requires a fundamental extension in morality.” (2)

The Dalai Lama points out that the current world has created a great deal of its own problems with conflict due to a lack of a moral guide(3). From Marshall Rosenberg's perspective, it is our language of non-violence that we have lost(4). The parallel in their message: our capability for compassion. We have learned that many of our abilities are skills, such as creativity, which used to be thought of only as a talent some had, but not others; now it is known to be a skill anyone can learn with practice. In the same way, I believe that the language of compassion is also learned, easier by some than others, depending on our experience in this world. If someone has had much experience with the cruelty of other people, it may be more difficult to even conceive of the ability of another being sincere in their compassion, because mistrust and fear has been developed in the mind. This thinking path is one of dread and apprehension, rather than acceptance and trust.

What we create within ourselves and how we interact with the world can make a great difference in changing the world. It may not immediately solve the very pressing problems the globe is facing, but our awareness of ourselves and the world around us can help us create a catalyst for bigger changes for the future. So, if we change our mind, open our hearts, and choose carefully how and what we do in our lives, our footprint can become one of positive change in the world.

The greatest answers always pose greater questions: How do we create a culture of trust that steadily practices a language of non-violence? How do we become conscious?

Work Cited

1. Greene, Joshua. “Global Ethics Forum: Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them.” Video. 2014. <http://youtu.be/8YxmuUUpuy4>

2. Hardin, Garrett. “The Tragedy of the Commons.” Science. Dec. 13, 1968. <https://www.sciencemag.org/content/162/3859/1243.full>

3. Dalai Lama. “Compassionate Ethics in Difficult Times.” Video. 2019. <http://youtu.be/jITmGqcsmRw>

4. Rosenberg, Marshall. “Vision of the Future.” Video. 2013. <http://youtu.be/CwHBD7Ihy5U>