This booklet is Part I of a book I am slowly writing, called Growing Coherent Cultures.
It looks at the possibility, the prospect, that we will learn to see ourselves simultaneously as individuals and as parts of a larger whole: the People, who in turn are part of Gaia, the Living Earth.
This would be a change of consciousness for us, and would lead to an evolutionary change in the Earth. The image is of us adding to our sense of self, a sense of being part of the planet, and especially, adding a sense of other people as parts of this larger self.
This requires from us an awareness of the communication processes which maintain our relationships with everyone we meet. It requires practical skills in communication: learning how to see from each other's perspective, how to confirm and acknowledge understanding, how to steer a relationship towards convergence when conflicts appear. The book will discuss this, and the 'Coherent Culture' that could grow out of it.
From this perspective it will discuss the terrible problems that beset the modern world: the 'wars' between people and the natural world, the military wars, how our economic system is also structured as a war, and at a more personal level, the relationship problems, and personal insecurities.
These are all behaviour patterns which regenerate from generation to generation, locked in place by fears and isolations. Understanding the processes by which these patterns are created and maintained, and with the vision of an alternative as a guide, could allow us to carefully unpick the 'wars' and grow coherent cultures.
Part I, The Five Billion Year
Story, which is contained here, sets a context to the book. Firstly, it
displays the connections between life, and between people, on a physical and
biological level.
Along the way, it shows that the explanation of the evolution of life as a war-like
competition for survival shaped by random accidents is grossly inadequate and
partial. Symbiosis, living together for mutual support, provides stability and
continuity in evolution, with competition playing a lesser, though still significant
part.
Finally, it looks at the evolution of humanity, showing that it is the social
and collaborative aspects of human culture which distinguish us from the other
apes more than anything else. It includes some examples of collaborative cultures
from the anthropological literature which may seem incredible to people whose
experience of human nature is formed by industrial cultures.
Gary Alexander
Diss and Milton Keynes, England
July, 1995