Allow me to expand a bit on one of the last post’s two themes. My main point concerned the problems with adhering too tightly to belief systems, which after all come from mental activity that cannot be expected to produce infallible pictures of reality. I’ll come back to this another time, because dogmatic rigidity underlies so many problems on individual, community, and global levels. But the second point had to do with the possibility of a human psychic collective.
This sounds a bit Jungian, I’m sure. The ‘collective unconscious’ is one of the roots of my thinking on this matter. Another is the idea (often entertained in New Age discussions) that quantum entanglement connects brain activity into a global consciousness, thus providing a theoretically plausible mechanism for linkage between minds.
For the moment, let’s grant that such interchange occurs: all human minds resonate on some deep layer of reality, probably at the Planck scale, as many modern writer’s believe. If that’s the case, then even though we experience reality as individuals, and have been indoctrinated to expect that the learning of our lifetimes remains isolated and will be lost at death (unless communicated through material channels), our minds are actually intertwined.
There would then be a web of mental and emotional understanding encircling the planet. I’ve occasionally read this compared to the internet with its various hubs interconnected but acting largely autonomously. If the quantum mechanism could be proven, the analogy would be sound.
Elvin Laszlo writes of an Akashic Field that has its own fundamental consciousness, independent from but connected with all life forms. This postulated entity supposedly works (in rough outline) in the quantum mechanical way suggested above. It’s purpose, or at least its effect, is to learn through the ages so that evolution on all scales (cosmic, galactic, biologic) becomes more and more efficient with repetition, through endless time.
If this is true, then the whole point of human consciousness may well be to acquire knowledge and experience of all sorts. On the collective level, this universal human mind would by now be impressively wise, despite our individual ignorance and social insanity.
Having acquired such perspective, this mind would presumably look back on its atomic elements, and began to nudge things in a better direction. Maybe the mind is not organized enough to accomplish this. Quite possibly it doesn’t even exist. But I sometimes get a hopeful feeling that we will find a way to save ourselves in the eleventh hour. The only hope, it seems to me, is that we begin to act as the interdependent creatures we actually are. If we can’t accomplish this working in the current, isolated mode, then maybe we will transcend to a more resonant state of collectivity. A long shot, I admit. But worth dreaming about.
>> Share on Facebook>> Tweet

1
Lynn Dover at http://YourWebsite
Now, take this one step further. Consider the possibility of spiritual or psychological growth of this collective unconscious.
I believe that I can see signs of such growth in the history of Western civilization. (I only know Western history: it could easily be a world-spanning trend.) Consider: in Roman times, it was perfectly acceptable to go watch human beings being torn limb from limb. These displays were put on purely for the sake of entertainment. In the middle ages, another human’s pain was still entertainment but one needed some vague justification – accusation of a crime say. By Victorian times, executions were still public events (and enjoyed) but they only occurred after a trial. In those times, people still watched blood sports but restricted the participants to animals.
Today, one could say that we still revel in watching bloodshed through television and movies. But the difference is that we KNOW that it’s fake. We insist on it being fake. Any movie involving animal actors has a certification by the SPCA to the effect that no animals were harmed. Snuff films are not only illegal but they are viewed as a perversion.
My point isn’t that we have more humane laws: it’s that we want them. As a collective, we no longer tolerate causing pain needlessly. We no longer act quite so much out of pain and fear and a need for power. Collectively, we have grown psychologically.
One could argue that this is a cultural phenomenon. But I believe that it might be deeper than that. I wonder if each time an individual finds his way out of a destructive cycle, he contributes just a little to the growth of the species (or the universe) as a whole.
Posted at March 7, 2011 on 1:18am.
2
Will at http://willspirit.com
Lynn–
Good points. And your suggestion sounds reasonable to me: maybe there already exists evidence that the ‘collective mind’ is evolving, taking action. The strict materialist would argue that all the advances in ethics are handled purely through cultural exchange, but other more global mechanisms remain possible. Besides, there’s no reason, from the standpoint of random materialism, to expect this trend; since humane behavior has no effect on reproductive fitness (ruthless people propagate quite well), it could as easily have gone the other way. And yet everywhere the overall trend (with many exceptions) seems to be toward enlightenment and larger spheres of concern. Thanks for the comment.
–Will
Posted at March 7, 2011 on 6:43am.