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PDF versionThe new stage of psychic evolution
by Diarmuid O'Murchu on Apr. 29, 2011
Many years ago, The Jesuit scholar Teilhard de Chardin claimed that the biological (physical) evolution of our species had probably reached its climax; in biological terms, we could not evolve much further.
Consequently, he suggested that we are rapidly approaching a new evolutionary threshold, in which mind and spirit, rather than biology, will provide the context for evolutionary emergence. This new stage he named as psychic evolution.
The exponential growth of information, evidenced throughout the closing decades of the 20th century, supports this claim. Processing information provides the primary work-outlet in the world of our time. And the communication of information continues to rise with greater speed, accuracy, and efficiency.
Central to this explosion is the computer with its technology now doubling every five years. Computational skills which might take the human brain several hours, can be achieved by modern computers in a matter of seconds. In fact, computer technology measures its speed not in hours, minutes or even seconds, but in terms of the nanosecond -- which literally means one-billionth of a second.
The notion that the intelligence created through computerized technology might catch up with, and even outpace, human intelligence, has been the subject of intense study in recent decades. Will machines develop a type of brain that might be more advanced and sophisticated than the human brain?
There is no clear consensus on this matter. Obviously, proponents from the world of technology tend to warm to the prospects that lie ahead, while those of a philosophical or religious persuasion opt for the view that the human brain will probably co-evolve with this new breakthrough, and is likely to remain superior to it.
A much more promising, albeit perilous development is that of intelligent machines and their interactive role in the human intelligence of the future. This is the topic explored by the inventor and futurist, Ray Kurzweil in his mammoth work, The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology. More details on his web pages: www.Singularity.com ; www.KurzweilAI.net
Kurzweil reviews not just how machines might develop brains (Artificial Intelligence), but far more importantly how the intelligence of machines can be used to evoke unprecedented potentials in the human brain.
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The future, he suggests, may not be about replacing the human brain, but aiding breakthroughs which evolution itself desires for humanity. In this process nanobots will be crucial. These are microchips that are invisible to the human eye, potentially capable of carrying massive quantities of information. They can be inserted into many different organisms; much like a pace-maker can be inserted to help regulate the human heart.
Kurzweil’s particular interest is the development of procedures whereby such nanobots can be inserted into the neurons of the human brain, thus modifying significantly the way humans act, think and generally behave. He claims that the strategy to do so is already well advanced and prognosticates that it will be an approved procedure by the year 2045 CE.
At that stage -- mid way through the present century -- intelligent machines will be smarter than the conventional wisdom Homo Sapiens has known for over 100,000 years. We will be into a new exciting and dangerous world!
To date, scholars have described this new creature as the post-human, a concept Kurzweil does not find helpful. To me the term makes poor evolutionary sense, using dualistic overtones which are dangerously simplistic. As indicated above, Kurzweil wagers that the breakthrough will enhance rather than diminish human potential -- largely depending on the quality of awareness with which we appropriate this new development.
I wish to suggest that what Kurzweil is describing -- without necessarily agreeing with all the details -- is the Teilhardian notion of psychic evolution coming to fuller fruition, perhaps even reaching a high point of maturation.
In 1957, the biologist Julian Huxley coined the terms transhuman to describe this new development; the word has taken on other meanings since then. Information, knowledge and wisdom become the core ingredients of this new evolutionary stage.
The “intelligent machines” -- contrary to the widespread fear of undermining human intelligence -- are evoking new potentials and horizons of understanding which could bring forth in a more explicit way the richer giftedness identified by other disciplines (e.g., transpersonal psychology) over the past fifty years.
Kurzweil devotes the concluding chapters of his book to the prospect that this new technology could end up in the wrong hands and reap untold havoc for humanity as well as for several other organisms inhabiting Planet Earth. The breakthrough could easily become a nightmare.
Many of us are only too well aware of the destructive desires of those who release worms, viruses and other lethal mechanisms into the communication networks; this is small stuff compared to deliberately infecting the workings of the human brain.
Kurzweil argues that it is up to governments to put ethical and protective measures in place, and concedes that, thus far, in information technology governments have failed dismally.
In our globalised world, corporations often outwit nation states (individually and collectively) thus leaving ordinary citizens at the mercy of dangerous and destructive forces. Kurzweil believes that governments will rise to this challenge; while I share his optimism on several matters outlined in his recent book, this is one I cannot support.
For over 30 years, I have publicly supported Teilhard’s suggestion that our species is on the brink of a new evolutionary breakthrough, which in evolutionary terms is likely to take decades rather than single years. Consistently, I have regarded the information explosion as a major component of this breakthrough. I see two processes that now need to coalesce to see the whole thing through:
First, a technological dimension of the type Kurzweil describes which will not make us automatons, but creatures imbued with new wisdom thanks to the contribution which intelligent machines can make to our evolutionary unfolding.
Second, a mystical dimension, empowering us to discern and discriminate between wisdom that will enhance growth and flourishing as distinct from that which could wreck untold havoc on our species and the earth itself.
Kurzweil makes no allusion to this second dimension and this I regard as the major weakness of an otherwise timely and impressive body of ideas.
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If machines are going to be
If machines are going to be more intelligent than us by 2050, shouldn't they be at least as alive and aware as chipmunks by now? Something just doesn't seem quite plausible about this whole idea of thinking machines. One can program a computer to recognize a face using a webcam and Mathcad software. But how does one program a machine to experience the color or mood of a face. It does not make sense to me.
For me, the human brain taps into something, it doesn't just compute. Could a computer start thinking or have an awareness? Maybe, but it would be just as inexplicable to it and me as what's going on in my head right now is to me.
Arthur C. Clarke had thinking machines arriving by 2000. Now Kurzweil has it by 2045. I guess I probably won't live to see that not happen.
If we take seriously the
If we take seriously the Mindfulness of Eucharist, we don't need computer chip implants in our brains, or wherever. If we mindfully let science (reason) inform faith we can make the quantum-leap of psychic evolution.
Nothing informs faith more profoundly than deep science. The link between symbiosis and Eucharist couldn't sensibly be made except for evolving intuitional knowledge. We better get in touch with intuitions more seriously if we would reverse the present slide toward self-destruction.
What is religion? Plain and simply, religion is Eucharist, doing symbiosis "on purpose," intentionally giving self in service to other.
Planting trees, for example, is an act of religion as well as an act of maintaining Earth ecology. Doing right by nature is part and parcel of doing right with each other. Religion happens at home first before it becomes a habit of life. www.divinicom.com
“Many years ago, The Jesuit
“Many years ago, The Jesuit scholar Teilhard de Chardin claimed that the biological (physical) evolution of our species had probably reached its climax; in biological terms, we could not evolve much further.” As a philosopher/theologian, Teilhard de Chardin is entitled to hold this view. But as a scientist? Some preliminary thoughts come to mind:
Science tells us that evolution is an ongoing process, i.e. living creatures, including humans, are “works-in-progress” (admitting that along the way many species, many forms of life have become extinct). When and where this will end, if ever, science doesn’t know, nor can a scientist state that “our species had probably reached its climax, in biological terms”. This is alright to say for a theologian/philosopher, but not for a scientist.
What about all the other evolving species of living beings, many of which can be considered as biologically far advanced? Moreover, the evolution of a given species, like Homo sapiens, occurs in a context of the evolution of other species; would this be of importance to consider? After all, Homo sapiens doesn’t evolve independently of the evolution of other species with which it shares this planet.
Philosophers/theologians will have their legitimate views on this issue, while scientists will have their different, legitimate scientific views. It’s essential that the views from the different “camps” don’t get mixed up by crossing boundaries. I’m afraid that in the article of Diarmuid O’Murchu, boundaries are crossed. Nevertheless, I am of the opinion that this issue, these views of a "new stage of psychic evolution" is of extreme importance, and therefore deserves more study while respecting the boundaries of the different disciplines involved.
DARWIN/CHARDIN, a
DARWIN/CHARDIN, a Copernican/Galileoan Church-Repeat
===================================================
Today no one questions that the Earth is round and not the center of the universe. Roman Catholicism in its “infallible” judgment was incapable of digesting this truth for centuries and could not admit its error until Pope John Paul II formally and finally apologized for its sin against Galileo and humanity.
Not so with evolution. The whole reality of the Catholic Church’s new “infallibility mistake” in the matter of the Cosmic Story (still evolving) is not yet admitted. The Evolutionary Worldview is the new reality that replaces the Static-Centrist Worldview of medieval theology, and, Darwin and Chardin are the new anathematized victims of infallible error. No pope has yet had the decency or humility to come forth and “smell the roses.” No pope has ever publicly mentioned the name of Chardin, much less acknowledged his contributions to new theological thinking. The church’s sin against the Jesuit Priest/Scientist Teilhard de Chardin is still unconfessed. [See Hans Küng, “The Beginning of All Things, Science and Religion,” © 2007, Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI 49505 www.eerdmans.com ]
Had Hans Küng been elected cardinal instead of his protégé Joseph Ratzinger, the Catholic Church today might be in full admission of its error and it might embrace one of its most important scientist/ theologians and the “Theology of Evolution.” Hans Küng’s book is probably the best and most significant single book on the correlated subjects of the Evolution/ Philosophy/ Theology to date.
Like no other author he has “analyzed” and “synthesized” the fields of Cosmology/Philosophy/Theology as pertaining to evolution. He is historically versed like no one I know in the significant thinkers of all these fields that relate critically to the continued updating of modern consciousness, precisely what Vatican II called for in “Gaudium et spes,” Intro. #5, § 4. On the pantheon list of writers of the Eco-Christian Story, Hans Küng deserves to be at the top.
Watch for Hans Küng at the AMERICAN CATHOLIC COUNCIL, June 10-12, "Reclaim the Vision of Vatican II," Cobo Convention Center, Detroit, MI
Processing information and
Processing information and transforming consciousness are two very different things. Both are proceeding these days at an accelerating rate but we should not conflate the two.
"Futurists" Spare us O
"Futurists"
Spare us O Lord. Remember "2001 Space Oddessy?
That's old hat. By ten years.
Let me tell you about 2011, Earth Oddessy.
Yesterday, I went to the DMV to get plates. Waited 2 hours. Mothers with crying babies. Then the computer broke down. Went home empty handed, cause they close at 3:30.
Did the Romans need plates for their chariots? If they did need plates, it hasnt changed since Pontius Pilate. If they didnt need plates, its got worse.
I have enjoyed Kurzweil's
I have enjoyed Kurzweil's thinking. I have been a follower of his thinking since before he discovered the four properties of music(attack, sustain, decay and release). I especially always enjoy Kurzweils futurist thinking.
He says that by 2015 +/- we will begin to develop 'true' thinking machines. The IBM/Jeopardy match-up we all saw a just a few months ago may be the beginnings of that Kurzweil prediction. He further said that by 2025+/- we will have computers that will 'protect us from ourselves AND from each other!! I wonder if those machines will protect us from greedy and hostile Republicans and the RRs(Religious Right).
As far as evolutional thinking goes some say that Indigos(Indigo children and adults)are the forerunners of that evolutional process. In my review of Indigos I can see that some of their characteristics are slightly Autistic-like, but very interesting nonetheless.
The mystical dimensions seem a bit like the comments of some seers such as Edgar Cayce. He said that we can all tap into the same visions as he did if we would just put forth serious efforts. In fact Cayce didn't understand why many more people could not do what he did. He was eight years old before he realized that everyone could not do what he did.
The Global Awareness Project at The Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton is doing some research along these lines. That brings to mind the Dead Sea Scroll which says that: all that you need is within you and all about you. The Institute for Advanced Studies is where Edward Witten of String Theory works and Albert Einstein worked. The Global Awareness Project is based on what happened when Princess Diana died. At that precise time a Random Number Generator in the basement of the library at the University of Edinburgh suddenly went none random for a split second. The computer that was "watching" it caught that event.
These are further events that remind me that we yet know so little about the fabric of time/space life events. Hopefully, the study of the Global Awareness Project, the coming Higgs boson studies at CERN, String Theory, "intelligent" computers, Indigos and human evolutional development will conflate at some nexus to peel ever more layers from the "onion" of Gods Creations!!!
Further enlightenment would illuminate more of the human condition and Gods world such that we can further enhance the lives of EVERYONE on our planet. That is unless the hugely fearful ideologues of the Republican party do not kill us off first. Truly, their ideologies blind them and make them fearful and vicious!!!
Why is this article listed
Why is this article listed under the "Eco Catholic" title? Nowhere in the article or thought is there any hint at any concern for 'eco'. However, there seems to be an awful lot of 'ego' with man, and more specifically privileged man of the post-enlightenment west being misguidedly put on a pedestal. What lives have been taken, exploited, and oppressed for a small privileged population's consciousness to continue to evolve?
Additionally I think of the saints who have set examples of holiness throughout time without the overload of information. With silence, with service, with simplicity.
Today is Divine Mercy Sunday. I'm sorry for being such a downer here, and maybe there's something I'm missing. Yet, when I profess my faith it is an embodied faith. Jesus, the Son of God, became a human being. He could not have become a human being by any other means save for incarnating in a human body. Let us not forget that unity of God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; nor the unity of the human person mind, body and soul.
Why is this article listed
Why is this article listed under the "Eco Catholic" title? Nowhere in the article or thought is there any hint at any concern for 'eco'. However, there seems to be an awful lot of 'ego' with man, and more specifically privileged man of the post-enlightenment west being misguidedly put on a pedestal. What lives have been taken, exploited, and oppressed for a small privileged population's consciousness to continue to evolve?
Additionally I think of the saints who have set examples of holiness throughout time without the overload of information. With silence, with service, with simplicity.
Today is Divine Mercy Sunday. I'm sorry for being such a downer here, and maybe there's something I'm missing. Yet, when I profess my faith it is an embodied faith. Jesus, the Son of God, became a human being. He could not have become a human being by any other means save for incarnating in a human body. Let us not forget that unity of God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; nor the unity of the human person mind, body and soul.
Hey...haven't you watched
Hey...haven't you watched Star Trek and the Borg threat????
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