I just returned from the N2 Conference held November 17-19, 2023 at the International House in the University of California Berkeley campus. It was called The Future of Human Collective Consciousness.
N2 was 'an international, interdisciplinary conference fostering creative collaboration for intentionally and ethically steering the future evolution of global consciousness." It was a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the identification of the noosphere, “N2” signals the exponential pace of the evolution of the noosphere and the reality that the next century will far exceed the last in rapid and radical change to the global mind."
The N2 Conference was organized by Human Energy, a non-profit research, media, and educational organization dedicated to introducing the noosphere as a Third Story of the universe that can provide a source of meaning and hope for future generations.
The event featured thought leaders, scholars across fields, and eminent scientists, including Philip Beesley, Johan Bollen, Anne Clin, John Cressler, Terrence Deacon, Ilia Delio, Ben Goertzel, Francis Heylighten, Kevin Kelly, Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Jaron Lanier, Wolfgang Leidhold, Raphael Liogier, Louis Savary, Gregory Stock, Brian Thomas Swimme, David Sloan Wilson, and others. The program includes plenary and concurrent sessions featuring invited and selected presentations and a selected poster exhibit. Interactive formats that prioritize discussion and application are welcomed. Live streams of the Plenary speakers were recorded and available on YouTube and below. My blog post is not the official N2 Conference website and the (start times) were for my convenience of reviewing the presentations.
Day 1 streamed live on Nov 17, 2023.
Ben Kacyra - Welcoming remarks Human Energy founder and President
Sheila Hassell Hughes - Conference Co-Chair (live video Day 1 start)
Terrence Deacon - On Being a Noospheric Species (.35)
Jacob Foster - Panel from Boundaries of Humanity (1.33)
Manasvi Lingam - On Some Informational Aspects of the Noosphere and Beyond (2.11)
Robert Lawrence Kuhn - A Landscape of Consciousness in the Noosphere: Toward a Taxonomy of Explanations and Implications (3.32)
Ilia Delio - Can Science Alone Advance the Noosphere? Understanding Teilhard’s Omega Principle (4:20 video 1 and continued on video 2)
Ilia Delio (continued on Day 1 live video 2)
Keith Lemna - Polarity in the Noosphere: Reading Teilhard through Pope Francis (.51 on Day 1 live video 2)
John Haught - The Meaning of "Noosphere" in Teilhard's Cosmic Vision (1:27 live video 2)
Jaron Lanier (2:20 live video 2)
Day 2 streamed live on Nov 18, 2023:
Ben Goertzel - AGI and Collective Intelligence: Critical Synergies (.7)
Raphael Liogier - Transcendence and Modernity: Beyond the Misconception (1:23)
Johan Bollen - CollectiveEemotions: Distortions and Belief Traps (2:29)
Clément Vidal - A Human Energy White Paper (3:27)
Kevin Kelly - The Evidence for an Expanded Noosphere (4:07)
Jennifer Morgan - Shaping Noospheric Adults from Early Childhood through the Secondary Level (5:22)
Marta Lenartowicz - The Noospheric Frame of Mind (5:55)
Gregory Stock - LLMs: Noospheric Portals that may redefine the distinction between Individual and Collective Mind (6:57)
Elizabeth Lee - Connectivity and Cultural Heritage: Enabling access to humanity's rich legacy (9:42)
Day 3 streamed live on Nov 19, 2023:
Francis Heylighen - The Third Story: Self-organizing Evolution as a Source of Meaning (.start at .45)
Michael Jacob, Ilia Delio, Terrence Deacon & Francis Heylighen - Transdisciplinary Language for Noospheric Consciousness: Neuroscience, Music, Mysticism (2.02)
David Sloan Wilson - The Science of the Noosphere Master Class: An Experiment in Worldview Evolution (4.02)
Robert Wright - How Right Was Teilhard? (4.43)
Brian Thomas Swimme - Noospheric Experience (7.32)
Wolfgang Leidhold (8.01)