A client and I were talking the other day about fear and the conditioned mind, and how there’s this common sense narrative (that I trot out all the time) about the conditioned, fear-based mind being a hangover from the cave-dwelling days.
Back then it made sense to live in fear, because physical survival depended on it (and physical survival is the ace card: the organism’s prime directive).
When food was scarce, predators freely roamed the earth and the neighbouring tribe wanted to boil your head, there were many ways a human’s life could end, so fear evolved.
😨
These days, wars and ethnic cleansing aside, life’s much more predictable, and death comes to us almost exclusively via non-communicable, non-violent causes, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes etc. (You can click on the small image below to get to a larger version online, if you’re curious.)
(So yeah – eat your veg and quit smoking!)
Anyway, given this fairly obvious evolution of our species’ physicality, my client’s question was an understandable one, about why our psychology is so slow to catch up:
“Why haven’t we evolved beyond this need to fear for our physical safety?”
🤔
Evolution vs. Revolution
I suppose firstly, evolution takes a very, very long time indeed, and generally speaking such changes don’t happen in such a “short” period of time.
But then I remembered a fascinating part of Jamie Smart’s book, Results, where he talks about the nature of revolution, which is fast change.
To massively over-simplify, big societal shifts come along to solve an existing problem, inadvertently creating new problems in the process. And so it continues.
So, for example:
The Agricultural Revolution
- Stabilised food supply and allowed large groups to settle together, and…
- Started us down the path of inequality and introduced communicable disease.
The Industrial Revolution
- Increased standards of living and production of goods for the growing population, and…
- Began pollution of the atmosphere and facilitated warfare on an industrial scale.
The Information Revolution
- Improved communication and access to information for all, and…
- Ironically bred disconnection, overwhelm, attention poverty, and chronic mental stress.
These sorts of behavioural changes happen much quicker (Germ Theory, for instance, took hold in a mere 50 years, completely changing the course of our species in that time), and I suppose where I’m going with this, is…
What’s to say that you—here on this email list—aren’t part of the next step in human evolution?
Right now?
🤔
The Thought Revolution
Look at the world’s ills: as far as I can tell, they ALL stem from the outside-in misunderstanding (i.e. the mistaken belief that our felt experience of life could come from anywhere other than Thought taking form, moment to moment).
All of your weird behaviours, unwanted habits and occasionally thoughtless actions stem from this one, simple misunderstanding.
All of my weird behaviours, unwanted habits and occasionally thoughtless actions stem from this one, simple misunderstanding.
🤷🏻♂️
And everyone else’s, the world over. Leaders, politicians, decision-makers – we’re ALL walking around in this innocent misunderstanding… and seeing the consequences play out.
But things are changing.
We are changing. And there’s nothing standing in the way of us seeing through this trick of the mind, and reaping the rewards.
There’s a piece I wrote, a few years ago, that concluded:
“I am hopeful for the future and you should be, too. Humanity’s long slumber is coming to an end and we are waking up to our true nature…”
So, what if it is indeed darkest before the dawn?
And what’s to say we’re not on the cusp of a huge shift? That our collective misery and the ‘tsunami’ of mental health problems aren’t the very impetus we need, to wake up?
🤔
Sure, we don’t know what ‘problems’ will arise as a result of such a Thought Revolution, but let’s go one step at a time, eh?
Let’s wake up first.
I’m glad you’re here with me on this journey.
💟
Giles