April 18, 2023, from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m, PDT or on Zoom - Congregational UCC-Ashland, as part of their Adult Education program, is presenting: Human Energy Project, a series of videos on the Noosphere, "…the sphere of thought enveloping the Earth.” Bring a lunch or snack and join the group in person in the Common Room, 717 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland OR 97520 or online: Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83753124925
Human Energy Project
"Ben K. Kacyra is co-founder and President of the Kacyra Family Foundation (KFF), which initiated the Human Energy pilot project to study the techno/social dilemma of human action until its independent spin-off in July 2021." Human Energy was founded "to share a new scientific story introducing the Noosphere and Third Story as a source of meaning for future generations in our globalizing world."
"Human Energy was founded to share a new scientific & cosmic story introducing the noosphere as a source of meaning for future generations in our globalizing world.
"Today we face the unprecedented challenges of rapid social change and new technologies which, together with the scientific picture of an aimless universe, have created a crisis of orientation."
"Human Energy was founded by scientists, scholars, artists, and storytellers to highlight the causal conditions of our challenges and provide solutions for current and future generations. We articulate these solutions through the "Third Story" worldview with a focus on the emerging noosphere."
"We are beginning to visualize the noosphere’s formation; study its potential future scenarios as humanity takes more and more control of its future course; and explore how human beings connecting across the world may realize themselves socially and individually in its development."
A 2019 KFF YouTube video reveals the early discussion among participating scholars. A 2020 KFF YouTube video captures highlights of a 2020 workshop discussion of "a hopeful vision of humanity’s future." Participants include Terrence W. Deacon, Kevin Kelly, Brian Thomas Swimme, Paul Turnbull, Francis Heylighen, Paul Verschure, David Sloan Wilson, Ellen Rigsby Michael Pirson, and Marta Lenartowicz This PowerPoint presentation by Ben Kacyra can help us understand the context of theses video.
The Noosphere
According to Wikipedia, “The noosphere is a philosophical concept developed and popularized by the Russian-Ukrainian Soviet biogeochemist Vladimir Vernadsky, and the French philosopher and Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin." As a Jesuit priest, Teilhard had a perspective of ecumenism, encouraging cooperation and union among Christian denominations and churches.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s book The Phenomenon of Man, “postulates man as situated in an evolving universe, describing the evolutionary process of matter, life, thought and mind as originating from a oneness that has an evolutionary purpose.”
Global Consciousness
The Global Consciousness Project (GCP) at Princeton University postulates that “subtle interactions link us with each other and the Earth… when a great event synchronizes the feelings of millions of people, our network of Random Number Generators (RNGs) becomes subtly structured.“
Evidence suggests an emerging noosphere or the unifying field of consciousness described by sages in all cultures.” The Institute of Noetic Sciences provides a logistical home for the GCP. Roger D. Nelson runs the Global Consciousness Project (GCP), an international collaboration studying mass consciousness. and has a 2019 book Connected: The Emergence of Global Consciousness.
DeepTime Network
Deeptime Network is a diverse community of people looking for the grand narrative of the universe as a foundational context for everything. DTN draws for four lineages: Cosmic Montessori Education, New Story, Big History, and Gaia and Systems Theory lineage. DTN is a project of The Deep Time Journey Network, a 501(c)(3) non-profit in Princeton New Jersey, founded to build a global community, offer courses, and share resources. DTN is Inspired by the work of Thomas Berry, Brian Swimme, Maria Montessori, Lynn Margulis, James Lovelock and numerous others, DTN founder is Jennifer Morgan.
Some Spiritual/Faith-Based Climate Movements
Although the Human Energy Project is humanitarian, not theological, and concepts of Omega, singularity, etc. are beyond its scope, the concepts are embraced by some spiritual communities and movements.
Creation Spirituality Communities is connecting with the Deeptime Network in their Global Kinship: Exploring the Emerging Noosphere interview with Brian Swimme. Check out their Global Kinship Matthew Fox interview of February 2, 2023.
The 2014 book From Teilhard to Omega: Creating an Unfinished Universe (Ilia Delio, editor) reviews Teilhard de Chardin's books and though from a Catholic point of view. Delio's 2020 book Re-Enchanting the Earth: Why AI Needs Religion explores axial consciousness, relational wholeness, and posthuman spirituality; this is a must-read book in my opinion. The book is well written and worthy of study; but it is dense with concepts that build upon each other and the viewpoints of numerous scholars.