"There
are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your
philosophy." - Hamlet (1.5.166-7), Hamlet to Horatio
As we
rapidly approach the Winter Solstice of 2012, the “End of the World" doom
and gloom scenario is reaching a fevered pitch.
I personally do not ascribe any true prediction of the "end
times" or any other such non-sense.
I do however believe that there is some scientific reasoning behind why
people "think" that something of major significance may occur by this
time, or some time shortly after.
Although, it will most likely take a shape that no one person could
possibly imagine. The most interesting
scenario that takes us through the "rabbit hole" and makes me
personally wonder if the quote by Hamlet is truer than ever.
What
is the Noosphere anyway?
The Noosphere
is a theoretical premise brought forth by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ. Chardin was a Jesuit Priest whom was also
classically trained as a Paleontologist.
The Noosphere was possibly his way to rectify the seeming gap between
religion and science. The idea was
simple, Chardin needed a way to conceptualize the "evolution" of man,
but his focus was directed towards a more esoteric version of
"evolution". Wherein, man's
evolution is typically more focused on mental evolution rather than
physical. Therein lies the premise of
the Noosphere.
Noosphere: The sphere of human
consciousness and mental activity especially in regard to its influence on the
biosphere and in relation to evolution. (1)
Within
this concept lies the logical question.
What is the nature of human consciousness? Is the relativism of the individual still
important when we speak generally of the Noosphere? Or is this a "version" of relative
collectivism. To many, the idea that we
are connected and responsible in some way for every other living organism is,
in fact, an alien concept. Many of them
have been cast into their current worldview by the shaping effects of
propaganda, popular mythology, and lesser amounts of critical thinking. This, in fact, has led to the popular
misconceptions that breed the "idiot" effect. In reality, all humans and their relative
positions, psychologies and worldviews are simply an effect of their society
and power structures. But the idea of
the Noosphere attempts to destroy that form of rationale.
In
historical context, the Noosphere is seemingly prevalent. It is there whether we wish to believe it or
not. Our thoughts on the matter do in
fact turn out to be irrelevant.
Historical record shows that the Noosphere is an all-encompassing fact
that has shaped human society, and has led us to question our relative history
in many ways. The first piece of
evidence lies the seemingly large "coincidence" that many of the
ancient cultures were aware of some form of "advanced" engineering
techniques. Here, the pyramidal
structures of South-America, North-America, Egypt, Europe, and even the
Asian-Pacific regions are hard to ignore (2).
Another interesting piece of this is that most of these pyramids were built in
the same "time-period" and in a world completely
"disconnected" according to historians. This actually causes two things to become
relevant questions.
1. Were we really unaware of each other (no
contact at all)?
2. Did the "Collective Consciousness"
cause the seemingly similar constructions to occur?
The
only other possibility is that there were "other" builders, which is
more a flight of fancy than a reality.
The second major piece of evidence comes in the form of Astronomy. These culture were seen as
"primitive" sun worshipers, when in reality their understanding of
astrophysical cycles and the ebb and flow of time were in many ways more
advanced than our own today. Again, the
premise that they understood these cycles and their periodicity to a certain
degree of precision is strange. And the
same two questions again appear in front of us with the same level of
confusion.
Context
as it relates not only to history but the present day is also there. The Internet.
This is seen by most of society, but there are multiple projects that
are dealing with the idea that the Internet is in fact a manifestation of this
Noosphere, and the data is surprising to say the least. Check out the Global Consciousness Project to
learn a bit more.
One
major aspect of the Noosphere that really intrigues me personally are the
causal effects of the Noosphere on the "individual". The historical evidence points invariably
that societies all have the "collective consciousness" that seems to
be geared towards societal evolution.
But, as we all know, the rule of causation, that for any effect on
society, there will also be an effect on the individual. So, how does this "effect" actually
arise individually? I have personally
had some "ideas" and "theories" on what the effects of this
are to the individual, and to be truthful I have no "evidence" to
prove or dis-prove, but I can still speculate.
1. Déjà vu - from French, literally
"already seen", is the phenomenon of having the strong sensation that
an event or experience currently being experienced had been experienced in the
past.
In my
mind, this literally has the "hallmark" of being one of those
"what in the hell?" moments.
Now, from my thoughts, this is one of two things. Either this is an esoteric effect of the
"collective consciousness" attempting some experiential manifestation,
or in other words saying "hey this is something I've seen before in a
different form". Or, it could be a
more scientific reasoning, by the statement that there is "another
you" in "another place" that in effect experienced this singular
moment in time, and somehow their "frame of reference" was dumped
into your conscious mind providing that effect of "being there"
before. However, I must point out that these are only my personal thoughts on
the subject and NOT scientific fact.
But, even if either of these scenarios were anywhere close to the truth,
then the idea of the Noosphere would in fact be relevant.
2. Synchronicity (3) - 1: the quality or fact of being synchronous. 2: the coincidental occurrence of events and
especially psychic events (as similar thoughts in widely separated persons or a
mental image of an unexpected event before it happens) that seem related but
are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality —used especially in
the psychology of C. G. Jung.
This
is another of those "what in the hell?" moments. Classic examples that, in fact, are strange
from the outside perspective, as well as, the personal one. An example of synchronicity is waking up from
a dead sleep and seeing the clock at exactly 11:11. Another example might be thinking of a friend
at a given time, and then that friend calling you or showing up at the same
time. While it is reasonable to say
"Well its coincidence" it’s also reasonable to rationalize the idea
that this is a form of "collective thought".
These
things are just examples of the Noosphere and its effect on both the individual
and the collective. On many levels this
has far-reaching implications. It also
brings us back to the original point.
The 2012 phenomena. On some
level, perhaps, this date was just a coincidence from both our society and
those before us. Or, perhaps, on some
level both societies knew that there was a collective want or need to use this
date as a "shifting point" or a "change" that occurs both
on the individual level and the collective one.
Perhaps this "idea" is simply a way for us to rationalize our
position in time, space, and society.
Perhaps this date merely signifies the undertone that we are moving one
step closer to the "Omega Point".
References:
"There
are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your
philosophy." - Hamlet (1.5.166-7), Hamlet to Horatio
As we
rapidly approach the Winter Solstice of 2012, the “End of the World" doom
and gloom scenario is reaching a fevered pitch.
I personally do not ascribe any true prediction of the "end
times" or any other such non-sense.
I do however believe that there is some scientific reasoning behind why
people "think" that something of major significance may occur by this
time, or some time shortly after.
Although, it will most likely take a shape that no one person could
possibly imagine. The most interesting
scenario that takes us through the "rabbit hole" and makes me
personally wonder if the quote by Hamlet is truer than ever.
What
is the Noosphere anyway?
The Noosphere
is a theoretical premise brought forth by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ. Chardin was a Jesuit Priest whom was also
classically trained as a Paleontologist.
The Noosphere was possibly his way to rectify the seeming gap between
religion and science. The idea was
simple, Chardin needed a way to conceptualize the "evolution" of man,
but his focus was directed towards a more esoteric version of
"evolution". Wherein, man's
evolution is typically more focused on mental evolution rather than
physical. Therein lies the premise of
the Noosphere.
Noosphere: The sphere of human
consciousness and mental activity especially in regard to its influence on the
biosphere and in relation to evolution. (1)
Within
this concept lies the logical question.
What is the nature of human consciousness? Is the relativism of the individual still
important when we speak generally of the Noosphere? Or is this a "version" of relative
collectivism. To many, the idea that we
are connected and responsible in some way for every other living organism is,
in fact, an alien concept. Many of them
have been cast into their current worldview by the shaping effects of
propaganda, popular mythology, and lesser amounts of critical thinking. This, in fact, has led to the popular
misconceptions that breed the "idiot" effect. In reality, all humans and their relative
positions, psychologies and worldviews are simply an effect of their society
and power structures. But the idea of
the Noosphere attempts to destroy that form of rationale.
In
historical context, the Noosphere is seemingly prevalent. It is there whether we wish to believe it or
not. Our thoughts on the matter do in
fact turn out to be irrelevant.
Historical record shows that the Noosphere is an all-encompassing fact
that has shaped human society, and has led us to question our relative history
in many ways. The first piece of
evidence lies the seemingly large "coincidence" that many of the
ancient cultures were aware of some form of "advanced" engineering
techniques. Here, the pyramidal
structures of South-America, North-America, Egypt, Europe, and even the
Asian-Pacific regions are hard to ignore (2).
Another interesting piece of this is that most of these pyramids were built in
the same "time-period" and in a world completely
"disconnected" according to historians. This actually causes two things to become
relevant questions.
1. Were we really unaware of each other (no
contact at all)?
2. Did the "Collective Consciousness"
cause the seemingly similar constructions to occur?
The
only other possibility is that there were "other" builders, which is
more a flight of fancy than a reality.
The second major piece of evidence comes in the form of Astronomy. These culture were seen as
"primitive" sun worshipers, when in reality their understanding of
astrophysical cycles and the ebb and flow of time were in many ways more
advanced than our own today. Again, the
premise that they understood these cycles and their periodicity to a certain
degree of precision is strange. And the
same two questions again appear in front of us with the same level of
confusion.
Context
as it relates not only to history but the present day is also there. The Internet.
This is seen by most of society, but there are multiple projects that
are dealing with the idea that the Internet is in fact a manifestation of this
Noosphere, and the data is surprising to say the least. Check out the Global Consciousness Project to
learn a bit more.
One
major aspect of the Noosphere that really intrigues me personally are the
causal effects of the Noosphere on the "individual". The historical evidence points invariably
that societies all have the "collective consciousness" that seems to
be geared towards societal evolution.
But, as we all know, the rule of causation, that for any effect on
society, there will also be an effect on the individual. So, how does this "effect" actually
arise individually? I have personally
had some "ideas" and "theories" on what the effects of this
are to the individual, and to be truthful I have no "evidence" to
prove or dis-prove, but I can still speculate.
1. Déjà vu - from French, literally
"already seen", is the phenomenon of having the strong sensation that
an event or experience currently being experienced had been experienced in the
past.
In my
mind, this literally has the "hallmark" of being one of those
"what in the hell?" moments.
Now, from my thoughts, this is one of two things. Either this is an esoteric effect of the
"collective consciousness" attempting some experiential manifestation,
or in other words saying "hey this is something I've seen before in a
different form". Or, it could be a
more scientific reasoning, by the statement that there is "another
you" in "another place" that in effect experienced this singular
moment in time, and somehow their "frame of reference" was dumped
into your conscious mind providing that effect of "being there"
before. However, I must point out that these are only my personal thoughts on
the subject and NOT scientific fact.
But, even if either of these scenarios were anywhere close to the truth,
then the idea of the Noosphere would in fact be relevant.
2. Synchronicity (3) - 1: the quality or fact of being synchronous. 2: the coincidental occurrence of events and
especially psychic events (as similar thoughts in widely separated persons or a
mental image of an unexpected event before it happens) that seem related but
are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality —used especially in
the psychology of C. G. Jung.
This
is another of those "what in the hell?" moments. Classic examples that, in fact, are strange
from the outside perspective, as well as, the personal one. An example of synchronicity is waking up from
a dead sleep and seeing the clock at exactly 11:11. Another example might be thinking of a friend
at a given time, and then that friend calling you or showing up at the same
time. While it is reasonable to say
"Well its coincidence" it’s also reasonable to rationalize the idea
that this is a form of "collective thought".
These
things are just examples of the Noosphere and its effect on both the individual
and the collective. On many levels this
has far-reaching implications. It also
brings us back to the original point.
The 2012 phenomena. On some
level, perhaps, this date was just a coincidence from both our society and
those before us. Or, perhaps, on some
level both societies knew that there was a collective want or need to use this
date as a "shifting point" or a "change" that occurs both
on the individual level and the collective one.
Perhaps this "idea" is simply a way for us to rationalize our
position in time, space, and society.
Perhaps this date merely signifies the undertone that we are moving one
step closer to the "Omega Point".
References:
