Shifting the Trajectory — 04: Best Case (1) A Quantum Leap in Human Consciousness
First published July 17, 2022, title revised November 5, 2022
The future is bound to surprise us, but we don’t have to be dumbfounded. Kenneth Boulding.
I would not have started writing this article if I did not see a real possibility that the human population overshoot curve can be flattened to avoid a catastrophic system collapse with a great dying of perhaps 95% of the people on the planet — reducing 8 billion to 400 million. The most positive future I am able to envision is a quantum leap in human consciousness within the next couple of years that results in a rapid, voluntary decline in human population until it is in balance with Earth’s carrying capacity. In my previous article I predicted that the curve would peak at 9 billion in 2050. In the figure below, population peaks at 8 billion, and rapidly declines to Earth’s carrying capacity for humans, with loss of carrying capacity caused by human activity being restored by the time the population reaches the original carrying capacity.
As a scientist I recognize that quantum mechanics may not be the best way to describe a shift in human consciousness, but to speak of a quantum leap has a nice poetic ring to it. I invite you now to join me in a thought experiment based on the premise that a sudden shift in human consciousness takes place in the near future.
How Might We Experience Such a Sudden Collective Consciousness Shift as Individuals?
We all, every person on the planet would wake up knowing, without a doubt, what actions to take each day in order to create a good life for ourselves, those we know, everyone else, and all life on the planet. This is the way the cells in healthy multicellular organisms function, and species in healthy ecosystems generally function. Michael Lindfield describes individuals with such an awareness as Gaians. Elsewhere I’ve shared my own experience with Being/Becoming Gaian.
What Might Happen Then?
— Deaths from homicides and wars would drop to zero.
—The $2 trillion spent annually on military expenditures would become available for feeding those in immediate risk of starvation and suffering from malnutrition.
— The 27.7 million military personnel in the world would become available for responding to climate-related emergencies such as flooding and fires.
— Within a few years at least 30 percent of our oceans, lands, rivers, lakes, and wetlands would be protected
— The $400+ trillion owned by the 30% of adults who own 97% of global wealth ($418.3 trillion x 0.97 = $405.8 trillion) would be made available for replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, reforestation of the Amazon, Africa and elsewhere, ecosystem restoration, shifts to regenerative agricultural practices.
I could go on and on. What would you add to the list?
How Might Our Population be Quickly Reduced?
— Each year after the consciousness shift 50 million women of child-bearing age would know that the larger common good would be served by their having a child, while all other women of child-bearing age would forego having children in that year. In this way, annual global births would drop from 140 million to 50 million.
— Each year after the consciousness shift 100 million men and women would know that it is a good year for them to voluntarily die a good death.
— In the next 20 years global population would drop from 8 billion to 7 billion.
Can We as Individuals and Groups Help a Quantum Leap in Consciousness Come About?
There may be thresholds or tipping points that trigger a collective shift in human consciousness. If we think of the Noosphere as a field of human consciousness that increases in density around the Earth as the population increases perhaps there is a population at which a shift is triggered. If so, it would be nice if 8 billion was the threshold.
Alternatively, perhaps there is a percentage threshold of individuals who recognize themselves as conscious or mostly conscious Gaians (see earlier link) that once reached allows everyone to become conscious Gaians. I suspect that if there is, we won’t know what the threshold percentage is until after the fact. Nevertheless, to the extent that we seek to become Gaian, and work with others with the same goal, we contribute to the potential for a sudden positive collective shift in human consciousness.
See also continuation of this article: StT — 05: Best Case (2) A Safe and Just Space for Humanity and all Life on Earth
You can find an index of all articles in this series at the end of StT — 01: Introduction
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