There is now a wealth of physiological and psychological data on the mechanics of consciousness, such as our sensory selection system and linear experience of time. Scientists know how these mechanics evolved for survival and how they limit and distort our perception, contributing to the seemingly intractable problems in the modern world: misdirection of effort in medicine and education; ecological shortsightedness; propensity to brainwashing; the constant failure to understand people from different parts of the world.

In our highly secularized world, we are prone to identify these mechanics as the sum total of our human nature. But we know they are not. Modern research also points to more advanced capacities in our nature capacities often associated with the brains right hemisphere such as context formation, intuition, or whole-patterned thought. Though latent or less developed, these capacities are in evidence at the very heart of human creativity. They are reflected in our art, literature, music, scientific inspiration even in the gravity-defying moves of a skilled basketball player.

Recognizing the pitfalls in our automatic default mindset and the need to train more advanced capacities are not new themes in human history. We find them in myths and stories that recur in all times and cultures, in the core insights of the worlds great religions, in the writings of great thinkers such as Plato and Al Ghazzali.

The gift of modern science has been an expanded framework for taking charge of our own evolution for creative, focused application of new and traditional insights to education, health care, communication, resource planning, and international relations. What we do with this gift may well be the key to our continued survival.

ISHKs current project, God 4.0, provides widespread access to the information we need to advance human potential. It is our hope that the development of these ideas will help us secure a future where humanity can unite around a common higher perspective.

Further reading on conscious evolution:By Robert Ornstein:The Psychology of Consciousness,The Evolution of Consciousness,The Right Mind,New World New Mind (with Paul Ehrlich)

The Sufis by Idries ShahThinking Big: How the Evolution of Social Life Shaped the Human Mind by Robin Dunbar & Clive GambleSocial: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect by Matthew D. Lieberman

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Conscious Evolution - ISHK