Toward Human Emergence: A Human Resource Philosophy for the Future

Chapter 4

The Changing Society

In an important sense, this world of ours is a new world,

in which the unity of knowledge, the nature of the human

communities, the order of society, the order of ideas, the

very notions of society and culture have changed and will

not return to what they have been in the past. What is new

is new, not because it has never been there before, but

because it has changed in quality. One thing that is new is

prevalence of the newness, the changing scale and the

scope of change itself. What is new is that in one genera -

tion, our knowledge of the natural world engulfs us, upsets

and complements all knowledge of the natural world

before. The techniques, among which and by which we

live, multiply and ramify, so that the whole world is bound

together by communication. To assail the changes that

have unmoored us from the past is futile, and in a deep

sense, I think it is wicked. We need to recognize the change

and learn what resources we have.

—J. R. Oppenheimer

Human evolution is not just biological, but also it is psychosocial. We

exceptional primates have evolved in consciousness within our internal

world. We discussed the phenomenon of change in relation to the

outside world of the cosmos and human development; that concept has

even more dramatic and personal meaning when applied to the reality of

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social change. With an enlarged brain and self-awareness, human

beings also acquired the ability to speak and use languages. This

permitted our species to communicate more effectively with our own

kind in a more superior way than by any previous animal. In time, this

equipped our ancestors to form groups, tribes, communities, and

societies. In this process of social evolution, humans project the

conceptions of interior thought into an exterior world. As rational

animals with expanding powers of communication, we literally create an

external environment, one that is in the process of being perfected by

increasing human intelligence, ingenuity, imagination, and innovation.

The Synergistic Society

Humans are defined as social beings. As such, we find our fulfillment

outside of ourselves, in the society of others. Like all living organisms, we

tend to collect and group together. The same pattern observable in cellular

or atomic growth and development seems to be the model by which our

society has expanded and perfected itself. What distinguishes our species

from other animals is that we are aware of our inclination toward

socialization or collectivization. We can consciously aid and increase

cooperative action within the community, or knowingly thwart it. We can

use our brains to learn to live in harmony with our fellow beings and the

rest of creation, or we can promote disharmony and destruction in

the universe. (In fact, scientific research today confirms that those among

us who are violently destructive and anti-social in behavior suffer from

a brain defect or deficiency.)

Our socializing process is essentially growth in creative sharing, so

evident in scientific investigation and the performing arts. Working

together with colleagues, we can confront and solve problems in nature

and society, while giving expression to innate capacities. But when

one completely disregards the needs of others and goes it alone, the

results are often less than desirable for the person and the group. As

the human family matures, there is an evolution in our social

conscience and concerns. One indicator is the global growth and influ -

ence of the environmental and ecological movements. Another was

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