Conscious

CHAPTER 1The Wild, Wireless World

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.

—Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin's visit to the Galapagos Islands in 1835 changed biology and natural science forever. Yet almost two centuries later, the true impact of Darwin's work has yet to be fully realized. Whether we recognize it or not, change is the only reliable constant of modern life. Change is the rule. Adaptation is survival. Being conscious is how you thrive.

Let us introduce you to the chameleon, an animal that can teach us how to adapt and survive in a disruptive and accelerating world. But first we need to rethink the chameleon and start viewing it for what it is: A powerful icon of change and a world champion of adaptation.

Evolutionary forces created an incredible paradox in the chameleon. They are one of the slowest and also one of the fastest animals in nature. In spite of their sluggish-looking exterior, chameleons possess the world's fastest tongue. While commonly standing on a tree branch moving just a few centimeters an hour, a chameleon's tongue springs upon its prey with astonishing swiftness. If a chameleon's tongue were a race car, it would travel from zero to 60 mph in 1/100th of a second. This speed and intensity exists almost nowhere else in the terrestrial world.

Chameleons also developed fully independent eyes, giving them a 360-degree arc of visibility around their bodies. Able ...