Personal Evolution

By Bikash Paul

Personal Evolution is a way of witnessing life through a continuous awareness of how we flow and interact with society and nature around us. It was birthed from the deep desire to experience youthfulness, joy, and connectedness as a way to harness energy and unleash joy as a driving force for life. The program was created for people, perhaps like you, desiring a life of flow that inhabits thoughts, feelings, behaviours and actions that align with harmony, vitality, joy and passion.

 

In this book, we outlines the ideal future. We says that the ecological, economic and relationship crises should be stopped by people living in a state of flow. The future of mankind is possible only if each individual develops and evolves. If a person can get rid of what pulls us back, and from destructive natural instincts and from the attempts of society, government and the media to impose their point of view on us. Personal Evolution is a book about the future of mankind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bikash Paul
• Release date: Sep 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215163764

Bikash Paul

Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and the only thing you have to offer. Bikash Paul from India is a content writer and digital marketer, also working with My Recharge Ayurveda for several years. I helped people solve their problems. My education qualification is MBA in marketing and an HR minor. Writing books is another profession.

Book preview

Introduction

Part I

TRAPS OF THE PAST

1. Reason and History

PERSPECTIVE OF EVOLUTION

WAN

ON THE THRESHOLD OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM

CHANCE, NECESSITY, AND SOMETHING ELSE

ARE WE SO HOPELESSLY BAD?

THE GOOD AND THE BAD

EMERGENCE OF PERSONALITY

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION IN THE CHAPTER REASON AND HISTORY

2. Who controls the mind?

ETERNAL DISSATISFACTION

CHAOS AND CONSCIOUSNESS

ELUSIVE HAPPINESS

LIMITS OF THE MIND

PLEASURE ADDICTION

STRESS, TENSION AND HORMONES

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION ON THE CHAPTER WHO CONTROLS THE MIND?

3. Veils of Maya

ILLUSION AND REALITY

WORLD OF GENES

WORLD OF CULTURE

THE WORLD OF PERSONALITY

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION ON THE CHAPTER VEILS OF MAYA

4. Predators and parasites

FORCES OF SELECTION

POWER AND OPPRESSION

EXPLOITATION OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AND POWER

HEREDITARY INEQUALITY

PARASITIC EXPLOITATION

IRRESPONSIBILITY STRATEGY

OPERATION THROUGH MIMICRY

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION IN THE CHAPTER PREDATORS AND PARASITES

5. Memes or genes?

MEME COMPETITION

MEMES AND ADDICTION

MEMES AND MEDIA

COMPETITION OF IDEAS

MEMES AND MATERIALISM

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION ON THE CHAPTER MEMES OR GENES?

Part II

THE POWER OF THE FUTURE

6. Guided evolution

SOME PRINCIPLES OF EVOLUTION

THE NATURE OF COMPLEXITY

MORALITY AND EVOLUTION

POPULATION MANAGEMENT

EUMEMICS: LIMITING THE REPRODUCTION OF MEMES

COMPLEXITY OF CONSCIOUSNESS

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION IN THE CHAPTER GUIDED EVOLUTION

7. Evolution and Flow

FLOW COMPONENTS

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF FLOW?

SIGNIFICANCE OF FLOW

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THERE IS NO FLOW

FLOW IN EVERYDAY LIFE

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION IN THE CHAPTER EVOLUTION AND FLOW

8. Transcendental Personality

WHO ARE T-PEOPLE

WHAT IS PERSONALITY

DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS ABOUT THE IDEAL PERSONALITY

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGHOUT LIFE

FLOW AND PERSONAL GROWTH

SPIRITUAL CULTIVATION AND WISDOM

CHALLENGES OF THE FUTURE

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION IN THE CHAPTER TRANSCENDENTAL PERSONALITY

9. Flow of History

FLOW AND EVOLUTION OF TECHNOLOGY

FLOW AND HISTORY

THE RIGHT SOCIETY

CREATING THE RIGHT SOCIETY

EDUCATION AS A WAY TO CREATE THE RIGHT SOCIETY

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION IN THE CHAPTER THE FLOW OF HISTORY

10. Commonwealth of the Future

CREATION OF THE COMMONWEALTH

CELLS OF THE FUTURE

FAITH IN THE FUTURE

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION ON THE CHAPTER COMMONWEALTH OF THE FUTURE?

Introduction

Why do some people adore their work, enjoy interacting with their family, and enjoy spending hours in solitary reflection, while others hate their jobs, miss their homes, and the prospect of being alone terrifies them? What needs to be done to ensure that everyday activities are as enjoyable as skiing and that the choral performance of Hallelujah is perceived as part of a truly sacred action? And is it possible? Studies conducted by me and other scientists have shown that yes is possible.

Taking on Potok, I wanted to present to a wide audience some of the results of many years of systematic research. The success of the book exceeded all expectations. But it turned out that not all the issues that urgently require our attention were considered there. The evolution of the personality that you can hold in your hands is designed to fill this gap.

How do people come up with new things? How do they ask questions that have never occurred to anyone before? To find out, I decided to observe people of art as they work. I took pictures and took notes about how the painting was created and then asked the artists what they were thinking while working. So I was hoping to understand something important about the creative process.

My research on creativity progressed successfully, but in the course of these observations, I discovered something more significant. I was struck by the complete involvement of artists in the drawing process. Trying to express the images that arose in their minds, they entered an almost hypnotic trance. When the picture began to take shape and become interesting, they could not tear themselves away from it: forgetting about hunger, their other affairs, time, and fatigue, they continued to create. But this state of enchantment lasted only until the painting was completed: as soon as it stopped changing and the creation process could be considered complete, the artist forgot about it and turned his gaze to a blank canvas.

It was clear that the artist was captured not by the anticipation of the appearance of beautiful work, but by the process of drawing. At first, this seemed strange, since most psychological theories teach what motivates us either by the need to eliminate an unpleasant sensation, such as hunger or fear, or by the expectation of future benefits such as money, position, and fame. The idea that a person is able to work all day long just to work seemed incredible. But if we put aside the reasoning and look around, we will see that in life such behavior is not at all uncommon. Not only do artists invest time and effort in activities that are pleasant in themselves but hardly bring any other benefits. In fact, each person devotes a lot of time to things, the interest in which can be explained only by the fact that he is pleased with his occupation as such. Children play a lot. Adults also love games, such as poker and chess, play sports, set up gardens, learn to play music, read novels, throw parties, walk in the woods and do thousands of other things just because they like it.

Of course, there is always the possibility that such an occupation will bring a person wealth and fame. The artist will successfully sell his painting. The guitarist will learn to play in such a way that he will be asked to record a disc. We justify playing sports by the need to take care of our health and attending parties - the opportunity to make new acquaintances for business or sex. Yes, external goals are the eternal background of our affairs, but they do not force us to devote time to these activities. The main reason for playing the guitar is pleasure. It's the same with talking at a party. Not everyone likes to play the guitar or go to visit, but those who do enjoy it. In short, some things are just nice to do.

So far, this conclusion is quite useless. But we have a reasonable question - why is it pleasant to deal with them? And in the search for an answer to it, it becomes clear that, contrary to our expectations, a variety of pleasant activities have common characteristics. If you ask a tennis player how he feels when he plays properly, he will answer almost in the same way as a chess player when asked about a successful game. The same will be said by a person immersed in drawing or performing a complex musical piece. A good play or an interesting book seems to evoke the same state of mind. I call it flow because it was the word that some of our respondents used to describe their feelings when their activities gave them the most pleasure: it's like you go with the flow, and everything goes smoothly, without effort.

In a strange way, the flow usually occurs not during rest or entertainment, but when we are actively involved in a difficult business that causes us to strain our mental and physical abilities to the limit. This condition can cause any activity. When we solve a serious problem at work, glide along the crest of a huge wave, or teach our child the alphabet, our entire being is immersed in a harmonious flow of energy, and boredom and the hardships of everyday life are forgotten.

It turns out that this rare state of consciousness occurs when we, faced with a complex problem, maximize our capabilities. The first symptom of flow is that all attention is focused on a well-defined task. We are focused, passionate, and immersed. We know what to do and immediately get feedback showing us how good we are at the moment. After each service, the tennis player immediately finds out whether the ball has got to where it is needed; touching the key, the pianist understands whether the right note sounded. Even boring work, if you bring its tasks in line with the abilities of a person and clarify the goals, can captivate and please.

Deep concentration, supported by a clear balance of tasks and skills, allows you not to worry about inappropriate things at the moment. We forget about ourselves and dissolve into activity. If a climber becomes concerned about work or personal life when hanging in the void above the abyss, he will simply fall. The singer will give a rooster, and the chess player will lose the game.

When we use the right skills, we have a feeling that we are in control of our actions. But because we're too busy and can't think about ourselves, it doesn't matter if we control them or not, whether we win or lose. Often we experience a sense of transcendence as if the boundaries of our personality have been pushed. The sailor feels oneness with the ship, the wind, and the sea; the singer embraces the mystical experience of world harmony. Time disappears and the clock flies like moments.

This state of consciousness, which is closest to happiness, is due to reasons that can be divided into two groups. The first is external factors. Some activities are more likely than others to induce a flow because:

1) they have specific goals and clear rules;

2) they allow us to bring our abilities into line with the existing tasks;

3) they clearly indicate how well we are progressing;

4) they eliminate distractions and allow you to focus.

Games, artistic activities, and religious rituals are great examples of flowing activities. But one very important conclusion emerges from our research: any activity can induce an optimal flow state if it contains the above conditions. Doctors describe surgery as a kind of exciting sport, like sailing or skiing; programmers often can't tear themselves away from their computer monitors. In fact, people are more likely to experience a state of flow at work than having fun or just relaxing.

The second group of reasons is internal factors. Some people have a literally uncanny ability to discover opportunities corresponding to their skills. They set themselves real goals even when it would seem, that there is absolutely nothing to do with them. They perfectly see feedback when others do not notice it. It is easy for them to concentrate and they are not distracted. They are not afraid of losing their identity and therefore simply forget about themselves. People who have learned to control consciousness to this extent have a flow personality. They don't have to pay to get into the stream; they are happy even at the conveyor belt or in solitary confinement.

In Potok, I talked about people who found happiness and filled their lives with meaning by creating a flow in work and relationships. Some of them were homeless wanderers, while others had terrible misfortunes that happened - loss of vision, and paralysis. Nevertheless, they managed to transform these seemingly hopeless situations into a joyful, serene existence. However, as I've noted, a few experiences of flow are unlikely to make you happy. In this case, the whole undoubtedly exceeds the sum of its parts. The artist enjoys every minute spent in front of the easel for decades but then falls into despair and depression. A professional tennis player who is happy with his career can be disappointed and bitter. To transform your whole life into a single state of flow, you need to find faith in a system of meanings that gives purpose to your existence.

In the past, the basis for faith was religious ideas. How the world came to be, why suffering is inevitable, what awaits us after death – answering these questions, trying to order chaos and explain the accidents of life, people invented beautiful stories. The myths of all religions are designed to solve these problems, and therefore they often make a logical conclusion about the existence of a god or a whole pantheon of gods who determine our destiny. On the basis of these stories, each religion creates life rules, often logical and wise, that bring harmony to human life. The meanings constructed with the help of religion have played a fundamental, perhaps unique, role in the evolutionary history of mankind. If our ancestors had not invented a meaningful anthropomorphic cosmos, we would have been creatures of a very different nature.

However, now, on the threshold of the third millennium from the birth of a man called the son of God, these stories are no longer believed. The literal meaning of sacred texts, ancient rituals, and rules prohibiting divorce and abortion is less and less consistent with our knowledge of the world. Few people now believe that the Earth is flat or located at the center of the universe. Even if a huge number of people still believe that a few millennia ago the Earth did not exist, and man, as we know him now, was created from a piece of clay, with each new generation these beliefs – at least in their literal sense – are becoming more and more anachronistic.

In any culture, the transmission of traditional beliefs is a dangerous occupation. By rejecting literal meaning, it is easy to lose the wisdom associated with it, which has been developed over the centuries. As soon as mankind questioned the chronology and causal relationships in the Bible, the same fate befell the prohibitions proclaimed by it - on greed, cruelty, debauchery, and selfishness.

People who completely rejected the traditional view of the world felt free and were delighted with a new world without rules and restrictions – but not for long. It soon became clear that absolute freedom was not only impossible but undesirable. Without rules based on previous experience, it is easy to make serious mistakes; without an understanding of the ultimate goal, it is difficult to maintain courage when the inevitable tragedies of life occur. But where to find faith for the third millennium?

At the end of The Stream, I suggested that by better understanding our evolutionary past, we could begin to form a viable system of meanings, that is, a faith capable of ordering our lives and giving it a purpose. Knowing ourselves is the greatest achievement of our species. And in order to understand ourselves – what we are made of, what drives us, what we dream about – it is necessary to understand our evolutionary past. Only on this basis will we be able to build a stable, meaningful future. To develop this idea, I wrote a book that you are now holding in your hands.

Chapter 1 Reason and History" introduces the reader to the evolutionary perspective and argues that we can understand the work of our mind only by realizing its origin, and its gradual formation in the course of the history of our species. In this chapter, we will reflect on the system of relationships that bind us to each other and to our natural environment, and we will also talk about how self-reflective consciousness was born, which to a certain extent freed us from the power of genetic and cultural determinism.

Chapter 2, Who Controls the Mind? deals with some of the undesirable consequences of personality evolution. We have freed ourselves from external control, but we are often overwhelmed by a feeling of deep dissatisfaction, an unclear longing for what is beyond our reach. And this is the legacy of human emancipation. We don't yet know how to get our personality to achieve what we want or what is useful to us. When it comes to controlling our minds, we are like a novice driver behind the wheel of a race car.

The theme of Chapter 3, Veils of Maya, are sources of illusion that prevent us from discerning reality. Among them: are distortions of reality caused by genetic programs that once contributed to survival, but came into conflict with the current reality; distortions born of our culture, and those that have appeared as a result of the emergence of the personality as an independent entity that tries to command our mind. Without understanding how these forces affect our thinking and actions, we are unlikely to be able to gain power over our own consciousness.

However, our lives are directed not only from the inside – by the instructions that our genes give us, the cultural program embedded in us, and our personality. Evolution is the result of the competition of organisms for the energy necessary for survival. These forces of selection are still nearby – we continue to be exploited by oppressors standing above us and parasites invisible to us. The ideas and products of technological progress compete with us and among themselves for limited material resources and for our attention, this most meager resource of our mind. How to deal with these external threats is discussed in Chapter 4, Predators and Parasites, and Chapter 5, Memes or Genes?.

Chapter 6, Directed Evolution, examines how applicable the principles of evolution are to the development of culture and consciousness, and argues that the meaning of the past lies in the gradual complexity of material structures and information. This feature of the evolutionary process can become a significant, guiding force for our activities, and our hope for the future.

Chapter 7, Evolution and Flow, explains why the flow experience makes consciousness more complex. We affirm that for the sake of a decent future, we need to learn to enjoy activities that harmonize our personality, society as a whole, and our environment.

Chapter 8, The Transcendental Personality, tells the story of people walking the path of personality complexity. These people enjoy what they do, what they learn, and how they refine their skills. They are so committed to their meaningful goals that the fear of death is almost unfamiliar to them.

Chapter 9, The Flow of History, argues that flow not only contributes to the evolution of the individual but also gives impetus and guides the most important changes in technology and culture. Automobiles and computers, scientific knowledge, and religious beliefs arose more from a joyful desire to discover new possibilities and order consciousness than out of necessity or for profit. Based on this idea, I propose my concept of the right society, where the complexity and experience of flow are cultivated.

The last, tenth chapter, The Commonwealth of the Future, offers some practical advice on bringing the ideas of personal evolution to life. If it is true that at this stage of history, increasing inner complexity is the best we can strive for, and if it is true that without it we risk simply destroying the planet, and with it our evolving consciousness, then how do we unlock our inner potential? When the personality comprehends and accepts its role in evolution, life acquires a transcendental meaning. And then, whatever becomes of us as individuals, we merge with the force we call the universe.

Part I

TRAPS OF THE PAST

1. Reason and History

PERSPECTIVE OF EVOLUTION

Every year, we learn more about how complex our universe is. Our minds can hardly comprehend the existence of billions of galaxies, in each of which billions of stars, slowly rotating, fly in different directions to unimaginable distances. Super-accelerators reveal in each grain of matter more and more small particles that rush through mysterious orbits. In this huge force field, human life lasts on the scale of cosmic time for barely a second. But still, when it comes to humans, it is she, our short life with its rare precious moments, that means more to us than all galaxies, black holes, and exploding stars combined.

This is no coincidence. As Pascal said, human beings are fragile like reeds, but they are thinking beings; in their minds, the infinity of the universe is reflected. In recent centuries, man occupies a central place in wildlife. But only recently have we gained some insight into what happened millions of years before us, about eras when thousands of living beings replaced each other, fighting for survival in a volatile environment. And now we realize that the unique legacy we have received from them — our thinking consciousness that has led us to believe that we humans are the crown of creation — imposes on us an unprecedented responsibility. We understand that it is up to us whether we direct our vital energy to development and harmony or to miss out on the opportunities we have gained by taking the path of chaos and destruction.

In order to choose the right path to a better future, we need to understand the driving forces of evolution — after all, it is through them that we will win or lose as a species. In this book, I want to reflect on what we know about evolution and how we can apply that knowledge to everyday life. When we better understand what we are dealing with, new opportunities will open up before us and we will be able to aim at achieving the most important goals for humanity.

One of the results of thinking about evolution is the formation of a very serious approach to the past. As the Romans said, Natura non facit saltus: nature does not develop in leaps and bounds. Our current state is the result of forces that influenced our ancestors for many millennia, and the future state of humanity depends on what we choose now. However, our choice is due to a number of factors that are part of the evolutionary structure of all human beings. We are affected by genes that regulate the functions of our body, as well as instincts, because of which, for example, we get angry or experience sexual arousal, even unwittingly. We are also limited by cultural heritage, by the prevailing perception that a man should be masculine and a woman should be feminine, or a religion that demands that its adherents be intolerant of those who profess a different faith.

In seeking to change the direction of history, we cannot simply throw off the yoke of limitations of the past — that would only lead to disappointment and shattered hopes. However, by studying the forces that determine our consciousness and actions, we will be able to escape from their power and gain freedom – that is, to decide for ourselves what to think, what to feel and how to act. At the present moment of history, the individual has the opportunity to build his personality not just as a consequence of biological impulses and cultural customs, but as a result of his own conscious creativity.

Such a person is aware of this freedom without fear. She will begin to enjoy life in all its manifestations, gradually imbued with kinship with the rest of humanity, with life in general, and with the pulsating vital forces of the world. Starting to overcome narrow interests determined by past evolutionary development, a man prepares to direct evolution himself. However, this future direction of it will not be able to form only triadic-reclusive. It is, therefore, necessary to consider which social institutions can support positive evolutionary steps and how to increase the number of such institutions.

Here's a summary of the contents of this book. Beginning by exploring the forces of the past that made us who we are, she describes ways of being that help us free ourselves from the stranglehold of the past, suggests approaches to life that improve its quality, achieve joyful involvement in it, and discusses how liberation and the development of the individual and society as a whole are related. Of course, such a grandiose task can hardly be solved within the framework of this book alone. Knowledge increases from year to year, and experience improves with time. Writing about all this is essentially an evolutionary process, endless, evolving through gradual change. I hope this book will be his first stage.

Partly for this reason, at the end of each chapter, I provide questions for further reflection, leaving room after them so that you can write down your thoughts. This suggests that the book is not complete and each reader can continue it according to their own wisdom and experience. Entries in books that complete the author's thoughts are one of the oldest learned practices of any civilization. Readers' notes in the margins of the book are as much a part of the culture as the actual content of the work. The margins of the current books are small, so I chose another way, encouraging the reader to actively interact with the text. I hope so.

WAN

Not long ago, my wife and I were invited to a council meeting of a small community in the Rocky Mountains. The town was located at an altitude of almost three kilometers, in a fragrant valley between high mountains. In the cold, like spring water, the air felt a resinous taste. Hummingbirds fluttered under the overhangs of the roofs, and an eagle circled over the meadows. The meeting took place in the town hall building, built of logs and glass, with high, like in a cathedral, ceilings, located in the middle of a magnificent park. In the parking lot, all-wheel drive jeeps of the latest models shone. Sixty people gathered in the audience - energetic, full of energy and, it seemed, quite satisfied with life. Among them were ranchers, nurses, and teachers, as well as those who moved here from distant cities or worked in nearby ski resorts in search of peace.

At first, the meeting went like all such events: the approval of regulations, comments on current issues, and municipal decrees. But then a lanky rancher got up from his seat with the first complaint. He said that although he lives 24 km north of the town, on winter days the smoke of the community's hearths envelops the valley in such a veil that you drive along it as if on the front line. Does the council plan to take any measures to make less firewood? Then an elderly man stood up and talked about the deplorable state of the Blue River - and this, as you know, is one of the best places in the whole state where trout are caught. More precisely, it was once the best. Unfortunately, the Federal Road Department, in order to ensure traffic on the high-altitude interstate highway in winter, throws tons of sand on an icy road. The sand is washed into the river and fills the coves and pits where trout spawn. And fewer and fewer fry are hatched in the river.

It was worth mentioning the interplay highway, as a new question arose: what are the latest statistics on local robberies and burglaries? Is it true that with the construction of the road, the crime rate increased by 400%? The sheriff explained that this, they say, is the price of progress. Before the advent of the Interstate Highway, nonresident scum did not bother with such long trips along broken roads in order to climb into someone else's house. And now you can get here quickly and comfortably, which is what criminals use. But then an elderly rancher stood up and spoke, gasping for breath with excitement. Smoke, trout, and burglaries are not our biggest concerns. The real question is: What will happen to our water? No one will survive without water, he said. The value of our land is linked to our right to water. But now cities from both the east and the west are building giant underground tunnels to pump water out from under our lands, thereby drying them out. The grass in the meadows turns yellow and dries, the cattle lose weight.

The city council meeting was going on, and it was becoming increasingly clear that this place was not what I had initially imagined. Then I thought I was watching a group of independent, confident, prosperous Americans makes decisions, creators of their own future. But then I realized that this small community, proud of its detachment from the concerns of the big world, is actually closely connected with the economic, political, and demographic processes that arose very far from it and are practically beyond the control of the inhabitants of the town.

And then I finally realized what I had long imagined in general terms: there are no places on Earth where a person could plan his life without taking into account what is happening in the rest of the world.

The following two stories will help you better understand this idea. A Canadian professor, a friend of mine, and his wife began planning their retirement. They decided to move to the calmest place on earth they could find. For a whole year, they sat on almanacs and encyclopedias, studying the statistics of murders and the state of health of residents of different places, the direction of the winds (so that the wind did not blow on them from the side of possible targets of the nuclear bombing) and other data. And in the end, they found a real paradise. In early 1982, they bought a house on the island. Two months later, their home was destroyed. They chose the Falkland Islands.

In another story, it will be about a relative of one friend, an exceptionally wealthy industrialist. He, too, wanted to settle away from an overpopulated and crime-ridden Europe. This man bought an islet in the Bahamas, built a posh estate, and surrounded himself with armed guards with service dogs. At first, he enjoyed safety and comfort but soon became worried. Are there enough guards to protect him if criminals want to plunder his island after learning about the wealth? And if he increased security, wouldn't he become even weaker and more dependent on his defenders? And the golden cage soon bored him, and he fled back to the big city.

And in the time of John Donne, you could say, There is no man who is like an island in his own right, but today the truth of this statement is more than obvious. In the third millennium, the relationship between human actions and interests will become even more apparent. The actions of every person on the planet will affect everyone else. Only together will we win — or disappear. Over the millennia, however, human consciousness has evolved the ability to represent only individual experiences and advance individual interests: at best, we are willing to love and protect our immediate family.

Some have a more flexible consciousness and can perceive broader interests, understanding the sufficient arbitrariness of the division into themselves and others. However, in general, our consciousness is not prepared for future problems, no matter how urgent they may be.

What needs to be done to ensure that our minds can perceive the challenges of the foreseeable future? One possibility— and explores in this book —