Ideas and Their Effect on Cultural Evolution

by Brad Fenwick

Hello, this is an essay I wrote recently on a topic I would like to share with the people on this newsgroup. It concerns real issues that all the people of the world are currently dealing with. A sort of rough user manual for thinkers, writers, and all interested people living in our fast changing 90's and beyond. It is rather long so may not be for the modern day soundbyte, channel flicker to read through quickly. Please save it, read it when time permits, and feel free to E-mail me with any comments. My ideas are free for you to diseminate (as you will soon see that is the point) even if you do forget to credit me with them, for all ideas are borrowed anyway...

Put on your philosophers goggles and take a deep cyber-breath...

The things I am about to say have been developing in my mind over the past many months. Let me explain, first, what the background for writing this paper is. As a philosopher I am beginning to see my role in society. I have always found it sad that many of the great thinkers of our day and age are hidden away in Universities, occasionally writing papers on some debated issue. But what of the role of a philosopher who wants to explain his or her ideas to everyone, not just other esteemed philosophers. In fact my experience with University philosophy has shown me just to what degree many thinkers have risen to levels of thinking that is only understandable or compatible with the whole of philosophy, not to the average everyday people of this world. When a science, in this case the science of morals and ethics, is incomprehensible to people as a whole what then is it accomplishing? Certainly I could argue that it affects the odd seeker of knowledge in such a way as to stimulate them to attempt a translation. Here's the dilemma of our modern world in the 1990's. Those who have the knowledge are hoarding it to themselves. Oh do not get me wrong many write books and papers, but the main problem is with who seeks out that knowledge. Generally only the elite and educated will know enough to seek out works of great thinkers. But it is clear to me that those who would benefit the most from wisdom, knowledge, and education, are those who do not have it. If no-one tells you "Hey, there's a good book you should read on that subject you are expressing an interest (or ignorance) in" then you may just continue on the path of least resistance and conformity. It is that issue that is, what I think, the most important thing of our time. But you may argue that that is what schools are for. I will later argue that North American schools are based on some basic incorrect assumptions about learning, diversity of individuals, and what knowledge is truly useful in todays world. We do not need more teachers, and professors, we need more meta- teachers, or teachers of teachers. The education system and the main stream media system need to evolve with the culture, for the culture is most certainly evolving much faster. With that background on my motivation for this paper I will attempt to bring together the pieces of the puzzle in the attempt to clarify what I observe as important issues of our most immediate present and future.

As most people are aware of now we have entered the age of change and rapid evolution of culture. This is facilitated by a few things. The modern day computer has allowed information to be utilized in ways that were unheard of only a few decades ago. The age we live in now has seen the growth of interconnection between computers, known as networks. This is analogous to humans networking with each other. By getting in touch with other professionals in various fields people have been integrating their knowledge, in part, with respect to the others around them. This facilitates more rapid learning and also reduces re-invention of the proverbial wheel. With computer networks professionals and knowledge seekers alike are gaining access not just to people in their local communities, but world wide. If I want information on any conceivable topic in this day I simply log on to the internet (an international network consisting of multiple nodes distributed world wide and linked via satellite, fiber-optics, and telephone cable) and utilize an information searching tool to retrieve what I need. This is still relatively painful in that the interface to the internet, namely Unix, is a command line interface requiring memorization of multiple archaic commands and non-intuitive parameters. This is changing in the mainstream to deal with this aspect of usability. My point is that with the world linked in such a way old conceptions of reality are quickly being replaced with the knowledge of centuries of wisdom. Great wisdom has been around for thousands of years but was never accessible to just anyone, until now. Now information is being translated and placed into archives for people to access and utilize. This is more than just text files. There is scanned images, video clips, sound, voice and music, and applications for many tasks people take part in. Another side-affect of more communication, and access to information is cultural evolution. Ideas and thoughts change the way people think, replacing ideas and thoughts that prove to be only a step on the ladder of higher knowledge. As more people become literate about the world conditions they hopefully articulate this knowledge to others. The ideas flow from one mind to the next exponentially and cause paradigm shifts at all turns and tangents. The ideas and knowledge swirl around little hot spots of intellectual activity, such as Universities, social gatherings, businesses, scientific research sites, think-tanks, conventions, music and literature festivals, etc. It is this evolution of ideas and knowledge that is my main focus in this paper, and how it can be intelligently guided to reach positive ends.

What is the antithesis of good ideas, ideals, optimism, and positive thinking? Pessimism, negativity, and ignorance! This is enemy number one in such a time as ours. Quite simply pessimism breeds more of itself, just as good ideas breed more of themselves. It is like the difference between sowing the seeds of weeds, verses sowing the seeds of grains, fruits, vegetable, and other nourishing foods. Weeds serve no purpose but to strangle out the other plants by stealing space, and nutrients, killing off or lessening the food plants. Given the premise that 'like begets like' in culture, we can see the potential for both good and bad ideas circulating and getting popularity. The main thing on the side of negative ideas is that they are easily swallowed by those who are not aware of critical thinking skills and other alternatives. As I think is obvious to most people in our time, it is the large number of poorly educated individuals that are most susceptible to believe information presented without logical basis, only emotional intimidation or acceptance to fit in. This is neither good nor bad, only what is occurring as I speak. Let us analyze objectively just what the propagation of the various types of thinking can lead to. This is facilitated by what we have come to know as main stream media, which then filters down to the people who propagate what they learn from it. (I am not attacking main stream media, for not all of it is responsible for short-sighted journalism, only certain people within it are.) Take for example what affect event-focus has on people reading their paper. You have three choices to focus on as presenters of information: Positive aspects of human nature, objective reporting of both positive and negative aspects of human nature, or negative aspects of human nature. I believe the attempt is usually the objective reporting of both, as an ideal, but what most of us receive is the last of the three. Good aspects of human nature get buried (if reported at all) within the bowels of the paper where negative acts are almost always front page. We know this, we have all read newspapers. Now let us ponder how useful that may or may not be as a information presenting tactic. What would such negative acts promote? The answer is pessimism, or the act of looking on the down side of a two sided issue as a default. Could that be healthy? Instead of setting off the day thinking about the newest developments in gene therapy, or the fact that the hubble has discovered that the Universe is in fact only around 8 to 12 billion years old, not 15-20, or that peace efforts over there are saving lives, or that so-and-so donated money to helping to end child poverty, what are the readers usually left with? Distrust in other people, a belief that society is going down the tubes, a distrust in the political process (not new by any standard though!), worry about war, worry about disease, worry about money, etc. To a degree I am exaggerating since many people will skip to the sections that they DO want to read about. But what is the message given to the average undiscerning reader? That things are more bad than good, therefor not to set there sights too high. How does media counter my claim. People wont read it if it isn't sprinkled with a little violence, political dirt, and problems with the system. This is probably quite true and unarguable, in the face of what most people do like to see. But what that tells me is not that humans have a propensity towards pessimism and negativity, but that currently it is caught in just that kind of state of mind. The papers propagate it, the people read it, the papers tell them that is what they want to read, and the people believe it, and they continue the cycle. What society, if this is true of the majority of people, is caught in is just that: A cycle. My philosophy centers around pointing out that people in fact do get caught in such cycles, and that it does not have to be that way. I aim at propagating tools to help individuals become: Self aware, autonomous, and to critically think for themselves.

What I will focus on for the rest of this paper is how to go about changing the world, an old and in some circles passe subject lost in the 60's but, as I will show, quite valid any time regardless of the circumstances. Change is not easy, it is unpredictability and it itself changes (meta-change) with time. One thing is certain that I will consistently drill home: Cultural evolution is a direct result of the kind of ideas and thinking being propagated. I am making the assumption that there is a 'way' in which all people from all cultures can understand a kind of global, or universal, philosophy that will help facilitate change for the positive (weeding the proverbial garden, and sowing the seeds of nutritional growth.) What is this Universal philosophy? That is the easiest answer to give, for it relies on simplicity itself: Knowledge seeking, and learning, with helpful guidance where required will lead the individual to understand the big picture of life here on Earth, and our place in the Universe.

I like to use the Big Picture analogy to put things into perspective. By pointing out that we humans most certainly evolved from simple organic chemicals, which themselves evolved from the Universe which came into being at a determinant time, and since the advent of the large brain, we have evolved our cultures. That there are over 1022 stars in our known Universe. That some astronomers, namely Steven Hawking, propose that our Universe is just a bead on a string of many Universes would raise the number of stars to much larger proportions. That stars are good places for life to arise on a suitable planet (because of photosynthetic energy conversion to balance the energy used by life.) And I propose that there could be as many as 1014 planets bearing sentient (as in technology using, such as tool building) life in our galaxy, this is assuming around 1000 planets per galaxy with sentient life, and upwards around one million planets with at least cellular life within a galaxy. This may seem very large to people not even comfortable with imagining that there could even be one other alien culture out there, but note that given any one sun the odds of it having intelligent life are still .00000001 of 1% (or one in every 108 stars.) My figure of 1014 is very modest when compared to Carl Sagan's assumption of one million sentient baring planets per galaxy, making the number 1017 throughout the Universe. Even if you really want to be modest and say that there is only one sentient baring planet per galaxy (roughly 100 billion stars in each of the roughly 10 billion galaxies) you will still have 1010 such planets throughout the Universe. That is a large number of cultures that have existed, do exist, or will yet exist. I point this out to make an important observation that has relevance to our situation here on Earth. What we are experiencing now is very likely not new, nor that unique to our planet. Any planet that started to utilize their evolving technologies will eventually get to a stage where they are automating tasks with mechanics, machines, and eventually computers. At least there is no reason to assume that we are somehow unique in stumbling upon mechanical knowledge when we know it has been around for thousands of years going back at least as far the Egyptians. I claim that the probability for getting technologically sophisticated increases with time given the diversity of life. In fact sentient life (large brained, tool users) is just a probability given that life exists. It took 3.5 billions years to evolve us humans out of the chaos of the cooling planet amidst a 2nd or 3rd generation star creating sufficient metals to make life possible here. One thing is quite certain: The probability for life elsewhere in the Universe is greater than zero, based on our own existence as proof. Given that one can not argue flatly that it is impossible there is other life out there that may also be sentient. As an aside, most will agree that it is extremely unlikely we have been visited by any sentient life forms from beyond, although many claim to have proof, or claim that someone is withholding proof, but a skeptic patiently waits for such proof without discounting the possibility nor promoting it. My point is merely to show that what we are going through as a planet is a phase, or stage in the potentiality of our evolution. Many people are threatened by technology because it is so new. As I have said change is not uniform unless properly guided. What would bridge the gap between what we are currently going through as a race and where we've been is to bring everybody up to speed with what IS actually happening today. This is not to be mistaken for imposing such technology, and ideas on cultures, that is a sure path to resistance and mistrust in motives. What is required is that the information be accessible to all. This brings me to my discussion on the education system and how it will change and evolve in light of the knowledge we are gaining as a race.

Modern North American schools (and many other school systems in developed countries) have a commendable approach, but are missing the point all too often. On the one hand they wish to educate everyone by making it mandatory to be in school for a certain amount time. This exposes children to the kinds of things that are out there, and that is very good. But the main theme behind the system is based on assumptions of human intuition, diversity, and creativity that is far too narrow and dogmatically applied. They assume that all children will want to learn exactly the same things as each other. That 'being interested' in something is not a prerequisite to the proper learning of it. The system caters to the general interests of the public, rooted in practicality and direct applicability to their environment. This mentality, I am afraid to point out, is flatly mistaken. The mistaken assumption is that by forcing the students to all learn the same thing that they will be diversely educated and flexible for their future of learning to come. What I take issue with is how such a system is implemented. You can force children to learn anything, but you can never force them to find interest in things by making them do those tasks. Interest can to some degree be cultivated but not through coercion, but through simple exposure. Once again the theme of exposure not coercion is the key to development. Why is that so? You would think that left to their own devices children would just play video games, and engage in only fun (read: useless skill acquisition leading only to hedonism.) But nothing could be farther from the truth. There are private schools that have no classrooms, very few lectures (which are optional), and no schedule to speak of. The students come there and do whatever they please. They have access to books, computers, outdoor sports, and various other learning tools, and are expected to seek out whatever they are interested in. What do you think happens? Do they all just become hedonistic and lazy? Not at all, in fact studies show they fare much better than the average student in their professional lives, and have a tendency to be more vocal, active, and participatory in society as a whole. They become autonomous individuals who have learned the most important thing possible: How to learn! How to seek knowledge, and how to think for themselves. The teachers in that environment are simply there to be of assistance and guidance. What a concept, and so very old indeed. The irony of the evolution of education is that it has to adopt some of the oldest ideas know to humans in order to re-establish the new ideas in the fabric of society as we now know it. The one problem is that these schools are private, and hence only accessible to those who have the money to pay for it. But what I will claim is that this is not a problem, because all it takes it the main stream school system to begin trying the techniques being used. This will actually save money because a direct result of such open forum schools is that the students are equal with the teachers. In fact the students are the teachers for the most part, once they are adept at a subject for which they have an interest in. There is one major reason why such a system works. We have all experienced it before. When you are interested in a subject, and no one is forcing you to learn it, you naturally will find it easy to absorb. There is good reason for this genetically. We sub- consciously know what is fascinating to us and what is mundane, when we engage in something fascinating the brain does something amazing. It activates the pleasure center, and sends messages throughout saying "I like this, I want to know and do more of it." It is when the brain is rewarding you with pleasure that you are motivated to do more. The key is that the knowledge is sought out at a pace that is yours and yours alone. Some people like to be engaged in a task for long stretches, whereas others like to tackle many tasks over a long period of time. This plays the role in time. We do not all have the same attention span or interests, that is clearly known, so why assume that somehow it is wrong of us and that we should for some reason conform our internal system to one another.

The counter argument to such a loose system of self-education would be that it may not produce the demanded kinds of professions in the proper proportions, and further that too many students would only seek out the less practical, and more self-fulfilling, disciplines. That might be the case if we implemented such an educational system overnight, and still that is unknowable. But this kind of system would have to be gradually introduced and properly explained. The students would understand what to do much faster than the teachers. Would this put teachers out of work? No! It would change their work, and probably reduce the stresses on them by leaps and bounds because their students would be doing most of the work, they would simply have to be there to give things the odd push and supervise. That is what most teachers would love to do, but are afraid to challenge the currently running system because of politics. There is a word I haven't spoken of yet and which, I think, requires absolutely no explanation for it is a divider of people into positions where that is precisely what prevents co-evolution of culture. Politics is the direct example of institutionalized dogma for precisely those who want to control peoples lives. Again not all political systems are bad, they are just poorly connoted by the majority of their actions. No one will claim it is easy to run a country, given the diversity, but that excuse is by no means satisfying given the possibilities that governments could be following, instead of the seemingly constant cycle of status quo. I will note here that no one is helping the system by pessimism and negative criticism. That will only garner resistance and defence. What is needed is the collected, logical, interaction with the government by the representatives of the people. Which means the people need representatives who can be the go-betweens for them. These representatives must not be affiliated with the government or other special interest groups, but merely knowledgeable and objective people who are there to inform the government and the people alike as to what each needs and requires from each other. Governments should be nothing more than a service to the people. They are a business whose agenda is the provision of services to the people based on what their needs are. But this ideal is dwarfed by the fact that the people have given the government too much power and is not holding the government accountable for it's promises and mistakes. This issue involves another paper I wrote which defines how such accountability can be achieved. In a nutshell what is required is public-interest groups (not special interest groups) that objectively report on the governments activities (complete with their own information media), and runs polls on what the people want. The group fields ideas from the people and presents them to the government. Then the group reports on whether the government is in fact listening to the ideas and making changes, or whether they are ignoring the people. Both good and bad behavior of the government would be reported to the people without favoring any side of any issue. The group would effectively act as the interface to the people and the government. People will feel they are a part of the process because they can go in to these public-interest group buildings, write them via e-mail, phone them, etc. and actually be listened to, and their ideas will be recorded and presented to the government in the form of opinion polls. This process involves the people and stops the alienation they feel from the bureaucracy of most government institutions. The main point is that the people involved in the public- interest groups would only be selected on strong educational backgrounds with high standards for understanding the philosophical and practical issues of the day. Generally this would have a strong affect on how politicians make on their promises, for if they consistently ignore the people the people will be informed of it at all times and will know the issues and debates when the time comes to vote. Enlightened voters make the system evolve. This brings me to the kinds of philosophies people adopt, and what that leads to.

I spoke of a Universal philosophy. I mentioned that it is simply exposure to knowledge and various philosophies that creates the understanding which leads people to follow morals and ethics without any coercion. This is a lofty statement and I do not expect you to take my word for it at the very least. What I am saying in fact is not new at all, I am re-iterating very old and time-tested ideas. I said that ideas go through evolution and sometimes get replaced. The ones that get replaced are usually not rooted in some basic underlying ideas. It is the ideas that have stood the test of time that prove to be the foundations of even stronger theories, but by no means insignificant on their own. Every culture has a philosophy that helps guide them to ends they seek (if not helping determine those ends as well.) As you examine various philosophies from cultures around the world what emerges is similarities. Those similarities are the basic precepts that make the most sense to follow regardless of who specifies them. It is these basic root pieces of knowledge that combine together to make a Universal philosophy. Harm others and they will either harm you back, cower in fear, defend themselves, or stop associating with you. Harming others will generally not promote good relations among you both. On the other hand if you do a good deed out of greedless intent you will generally create good relations with those others and yourself. This may in turn lead to them doing something good for you. These are Universal behavioral basic facts of human nature. There are many more. We humans learn mainly by repetition of patterns. The more ways we are presented something the more likely we are to learn it. Use this fact in conjunction with the fact that philosophies have underlying similarities in which you can learn from. This does not have to be a conscious search, it can occur over time by simply thinking about various ways of life. We all know how to recognize the difference between a good philosophy and a bad one. In fact children are the most keenly perceptive of this regardless of whether they realize it or not (and that may play a role in why it works.) How a good philosophy works is that the individual must want to engage in the act of learning and thinking for themselves. Many do not know they have this option. Many people have been conditioned to react to stimulus in predictable and dependable ways. This may have been necessary (the cold-war policy makers might agree) in times with different purposes, but cannot continue to be useful in an age such as the one we live in. When left alone people tend to work out the things they have needs for, that is why we have society. There was a need to integrate our skills and abilities into a fabric where the diverse individuals provided the various services they were specialized in to one another in a trading system. This meant people could provide a service or goods in receipt of services or goods they needed symbiotically. Society was born out of necessity, along with all of the other inventions that followed.

Why is it so important to have a good philosophy? Especially one that is freeing and mind opening not restrictive and dogmatic? This depends on the kind of life one wants to live. It seems obvious to me that if more of the worlds people could understand one another regardless of religious beliefs (which a good philosophy should respect) and political affiliation, that there be a philosophical ground whereupon they could at least avail the full potentials of objective communication. Communication is the link to all cultures from within and without. If that communication is maintained the people remain linked to each other through certain commonalities. Wars almost always abrupt over disagreements over issues such as religion, or mores. If people could see the world in a wider spectrum, appreciate the wonders of life, the Universe, and everything, there would be an awareness that you and your current foe are really part of the same thing. Education, and higher knowledge tends to loosen the grip people have on narrowly focused beliefs. People have narrowly focused beliefs because they generally are not exposed to other beliefs. War-think, racism, and bad logic arise from social conditions with respect to local environments. Think, for a moment, that the world and it's various cultures is likened to a single living entity (I'm not asking to you believe it, just consider it for analogy, although there is such a theory called Gaia, or "Living Earth") There is healthy tissue in your body functioning properly, and at times a part will not function properly due to disease, accident, or other illnesses. The Earth has examples of that as well, with healthy functioning societies, and some currently experiencing problems causing them to have temporary breakdowns in order (function.) What I am proposing as a general statement is that Ideas, philosophies, and applications thereof, are causes of the state of 'health' of the world. Where problems are causing disfunction the ideas are not so 'healthy' or good. Where the culture is more symbiotic and autonomously functioning the ideas, philosophies and applications of them, are ones that are 'healthy' or good. A normal functioning cell is so because it's DNA is not damaged, therefor it is producing the right proportions of proteins, enzymes and so on to function as it ought to. Damaged cells (damaged DNA usually) may not produce the proper proteins and therefor not function correctly. The problem known with cancer is that the DNA is damaged and it's cell growth is unstoppable. The cells just keep growing until overcrowding finally causes problems with healthy cells. This is to exemplify my analogy in a simple sense. My main point is that ideas fuel cultural evolution, stagnation, or de- evolution. Good ideas cause progression. Bad ideas cause digression. That is what leads me to the simple conclusion regarding the proper dissemination of so-called good ideas to facilitate healthy, normal growth of our species.

We humans have a great deal to learn as of yet. Our arrogance should not blind us to the fact that we never stop learning and that the moment you think you have stopped you have adopted a belief (or bad idea) that will literally limit you. There is much to be said on the power of beliefs and what they can cause in human minds. It is well known medically that beliefs affect physiology. The immune system is sensitive to what you think, and can be weakened by accepting a belief that one is defeated. This is to illustrate that beliefs play a major role in your life, and that many people are ruled unconditionally by them. We are in an age that requires people to be informed and responsible. All the cultures around the world realize the critical period we are in. They have all, in their own way, expressed concern for the direction of humanity from here on in. What I want to do is nip the hysteria we see in the bud by explaining things in a common sense way. Cultures are naturally worried of wars, disasters, and large scale ecological accidents. Many go so far as to believe their folk lore on various predictions on the end of the world. In fact predictions of this sort have been made multiple times over history where our world was supposed to have been destroyed by the fury of the gods, nature, or mankind. The frequency of such predictions is so often that it is easy to see that it is part of human nature to give such warnings. But unfortunately many people actually believe (each time they occur) that the end is really coming. Given the wide spectrum of people and their belief systems it is guaranteed you will find some who will believe such predictions. Most people, though, have the rational sense to realize that such predictions are merely Earthly fears manifested into hysterical belief, and pay them no heed. What I wish to point out is that not only are such predictions a mirror of psychological dispositions of a small percentage of the population generally fuelled by various communicational breakdowns, but that such hysteria once again is dangerous to propagate without dealing with the issue from both sides. Lately I have noticed TV specials that seem to glamorize Nostradamas and Armageddon beliefs without critically analyzing them from both sides. Most scholars agree that Nostradamas is not as convincing as popular media would have you believe. It is fraught with inconsistency, many wrong predictions and the ones being interpreted are so sufficiently vague that the same passage could be used to predict multitudes of evens. What is occurring is a 'filling in the blanks' mentality where people see a modern day issue that is largely concerning and then look back, ad hoc, to find scriptures and writings to prove that such an event could be forthcoming. I will not belabor the issue but suffice it to say that such glamorizing of our own destruction is again sowing the seeds of bad ideas. If we accept them as true we may, in some very sub- conscious way, actually promote them to happen. Put many strongly religious believers in a room and tell them the virgin Mary is about to appear and someone will probably see something as a sign to prove the prediction. In fact anticipation based on strong belief tends to shape the actual perception of the events to follow. Ghosts and Ufo's almost always turn out to be nothing more than natural events, un- realized fabrication when recalling memories, and natural hallucinations which occur in over 20% of the population throughout peoples lives. As well inexperienced or poorly educated people often do not understand the vast complexities of the human mind, and therefor do not recognize psychological fabrications of reality, especially in cases of mental illnesses like schizophrenia which are quite prevalent. I mention all of this to explain that the highly stressful times we live in are the result of rapid change. Rapid change causes high anxiety and stress which can lead some to react irrationally. By propagating pessimism and negative ideas we cause 'dis-ease' to strike the various affected cultures. The vaccination is information, knowledge, optimism, and putting these ideas to work.

The wisdom of the people of planet Earth has been around for thousands of years. Great poets, philosophers, writers, artists, musicians, leaders, teachers, and spiritually pure models have lived, affected people positively, and left an impact well beyond their mortal ends. In our time there are many new people who have those talents and whose job it is to re-connect the planet and it's people. No one of them alone can affect everyone on the Earth. It is up to all the visionaries of our past to inspire those of the present and future. Without the great minds of our race making an impact on the people the balance will lean towards stagnation, and regression. Progression does not necessarily mean being a techno-phile. It means progression in the sense of the state of organization and healthy interaction of the cultures of the world. Many of the most advanced cultures, I think, are still living in direct connection with nature and their spiritual traditions. In fact it is this such separation that led many of the developed worlds cultures to regress, not progress. Advancing technology has not enhanced the quality of life of these people, it has cut them off from living more communally. It has replaced common morals with legal binding statutes. It has made people have a false sense of superiority due to a supposed independence from their common roots. This is the plight of the modern cities, where you generally avoid eye contact with strangers, sit on busses ignoring one another, looking the other way when crimes occur. This is progress? No, it most certainly is not. People group together with others like themselves and become less interested in what other kinds of people are doing other than to criticize. This is a recipe for communication breakdown, and alienation. I am not expressing pessimism here, I am pointing out observations of what is occurring today. My intention is for what COULD be done to change all of that. So now I will sum up what my points are and what actions can be undertaken to improve the situation, and explain the crux of the whole argument by drawing you, the reader, into your role.

I have shown how ideas are the most important aspect of human creativity that have the power to create positive change. What I am explaining to you are ideas about what to do with good ideas. I am also trying to make you aware of the potentiality of letting poorly informed ideas and logic get the better of you or anyone else. If you have ever been inspired by the words of a great thinker you know that those words, or ideas, can potentially raise your state of mind up into higher realms of thought by bringing into your short term memory knowledge that empowers you. The more often you think about such good ideas the more likely your state of mind will become ordered, stable, and balanced. It is in those lucid moments of self-confidence that your perceptions of reality are more healthily shaped, leading to a more productive, honest, fulfilling lifestyle. Philosophy is the collection of ideas in forms that create models of living. Patterns among philosophies, through reading, thinking, and discussing, can show you aspects that work, and which will influence you to think more globally. Cultural evolution is about learning from philosophies and using a selection process to apply good ideas to sociological organizational strategies. Coercion of ideas destroys the creative spirit whereareas exposure to ideas unfolds it naturally. Good philosophies result from enough exposure to and helpful guidance of information. A good philosophy does not place restrictive rules and regulations on people, it teaches them to learn why those morals and ethics make sense, and that they themselves are ultimately the ones who must apply and learn them. The school system ought to reflect such an application of ideas, not suppress them in light of a system of discipline/rewards which only insults the creativity and intelligence of all young people. The need for critical thinking, questioning, and individual self-confidence, is paramount as prerequisites to discerning good philosophies from poor ones. The big picture of life on Earth with respect to the vastness of space, and time, should put into perspective that which is fragile and important about our existence. Taking a step back from your petty problems and disputes to see the great wonder of the Universe, and the beauty and diversity of the life on Earth allows you to feel how important it is to be alive. Your life is just one in many billions of humans on Earth, each who have their own way of life. You could not count the number of people alive right now in one lifetime (even spending 16 hours every day of your life counting it would still take more than the average life span of a human to do.) That is to give you an idea of just how many possibilities on the human consciousness condition there are right now. You are alive in the most fascinating and advanced time of all of human history. Think about that for a while. We are doing things today that only dreamers and so-called visionaries like da Vinci would dare imagine, and much much more. You have a simple choice of perception which will ultimately affect the world. You can subscribe to irrational hysteria solely based on other peoples hysteria which again derived from other peoples hysteria, or you can embrace an optimism for our species. Pessimism will fuel stagnation, and regression, and propagate itself so your children will be more likely to also look at life in a miserable sense. Optimism will shape a present and future of positive change and healthy cultural evolution. You thought you had no affect on the world as a whole? That your one vote would not matter? If everyone thought that way the person who did vote would decide the fate. What you say and do ultimately affects the people you know. If you propagate negative philosophies to the people around you they may do the same to the people they know. Just as a cancer will spread, so will pointless negativity and the disparity and hopelessness that follows it. Do you want to be responsible for ruining the health of your community by inadvertently affecting the people around you with negative behavior, or would you like to be credited for spreading ideas that will make the people around you think optimistically and positively? It all starts with individuals, so yes it ultimately comes down to you. If you promote kindness and honesty, and not put up with others lack of, you will experience the feeling of being a part of evolving the culture. Studies show that creative, imaginative, positive, optimistic thinking people live longer, healthier, happier lives. Let all of your actions be guided by that piece of knowledge. Couple that with a non-destructive diet, exorcise, and quiet time alone to meditate or just relax and clear the mind, and your life will improve vastly. Your state of mind is absolutely in your control. But if you have not learned how to control it, who is? Becoming self-aware, or lucid, is the first step in realizing your full potential. Become intimate with your mind and your thoughts and that knowledge will guide you towards higher states of mind. You have all been on a natural high before. That is when nothing can bring you down, when you feel most in control. That state of mind can be cultivated over time to fully integrate into your every day life. But that is for you to seek out. You must read books, seek out alternative ways of thinking than your own, talk to friends about the mysteries of life with an open mind, and study what the greatest people of history and present are saying about life, and this will change your life. I realize the readers of this will be at varied levels of understanding, for some of you these ideas are completely new and possibly even threatening to your way of thinking, for others this is clearly what is going on today in the minds of many people you know. My hope is that this was either a reminder of something that you already believe in, or a stimulation of something new and exciting. The issues of today are diversely varied and represent the worries, and joys of the people of this world. But they are not new, only what we are doing currently is new. Put all of this into perspective.

I would be a hypocrite if I said all of this and then left it up to you to figure out the implications of change in the 90's and beyond. So I will try to outline where such actions can be applied, who's involved, and what you can do. I am not oblivious to the fact that all of these things are occurring, have been occurring, and will still occur in the future. I am attempting to point out as much as I can in one paper to deal with all the aspects of the topic of the evolution of culture. So here are some points to consider:

More gatherings of today's concerned humanists and thinkers alike. This can come in the form of conferences, lectures, festivals (music, literary), on-line forums. The gathering of people creates a dynamo of idea evolution which can affect large numbers of people at once. Organize events like this in your local area and get speakers to attend. Explain to the listeners just what kind of things they should be aware of when attending such events to bring the sense of purpose to all, setting a framework for them to follow.

Teachers, professors, and philosophers you are in a most important position. You stand between clarity and conformity. You have the ability, in your training and skills, to inform the students, and associates, around you of innovations and ideas of the time. Go out of your way to give your pupils a chance to express themselves creatively and freely. Change the system. If you are not happy with the way the system is working, do something about it. Maintain status quo and you will never know the benefit of seeing students actually look forward to their lessons because they are treated like intelligent human beings. See the excitement when they here their authority figure say "Today let's talk about what you want to learn about in this class, and when we have agreed upon something, you will tell me how this class should be taught, and you will help me teach it." etc...

Young people: (our so-called X-gen, which I am proudly one of) Educate your parents. They may in many ways seem out of touch with what is happening in the real world, but only because you aren't telling them about it. If they can't stand to hear it, tell them anyway. The baby boomers lament the current state of our generation, but remind them that they were there once (remember the 60's mom and dad?) Again lack of communication will alienate, and that will lead to misunderstanding. It is up to you to open the channel and wake them up if they need to be. (recall the affect of TV and mainstream newspapers on their minds, and have compassion.) Seriously, it is always the job of the newest generation to teach the previous, just as their job was to guide and teach us.

Write: If you have ideas you want to speak, write them down and publish them somewhere. We are in an age of information, it is your privilege to take part in shaping the way people view the world. There are magazines on every conceivable topic that you could send your writings to. Fiction, and music are also mediums that you can use to get your ideas across. The internet is an amazingly new place to participate in the idea exchange. Get involved in this most incredible way to learn what everyone in the world is thinking, and also let them know what you think. The pen (or keyboard) is definitely mighty than the sword.

Think of what you can do: This part is where you write the rest of this paper, in your own way. Evolve your ideas, and propagate them. Continue the flow of good ideas and do not fall prey to pessimism. Organize events locally, while thinking globally.

I leave you with an anonymous quote I picked up recently:

"Practice random kindness & senseless acts of beauty"

Brad Fenwick.