Poisons to Human Consciousness

Last night, I got to thinking about the greater human condition and how we, as a society, form a sort of collective consciousness. If you don't believe that, then I challenge you to watch as people all head for one exit in a crowded concert hall if someone yells, "FIRE!" Some might say it's self-preservation in each individual's case. While that thought does have some merit, consider that all the people are moving toward one select exit vs. taking multiple exits out of the same area.

At one very basic level, we are part of a larger community, a larger being. Christianity talks about it in terms of the church being the bride of Christ. The level of consciousness I'm talking about exists for all...not just people who have heard and accepted the Christian faith and messege. Emerson's Oversoul might be a better way of conceptualizing it. However, thanks to the technology we have created and have very little control over (i.e. nuclear power, an ever expanding media base, corporations, etc.), the collective consciousness is at a stage of sensory overload. Being a cognitive psychology grad student, I envision the collective consciousness as a neural network in which each person is a participant neuron in a greater brain...a greater consciousness.

Given this knowledge about the brain structures and the thoughts about a greater human brain formed by our collective consciousness, the next step is to ask how different global situations would affect the greater human brain. As long as there are two human beings (or, arguably, one human being with multiple personalities), there will always be some sort of conflict over any number of issues. Conflict is ok in that sense because it keeps the system working. Creating a dialogue out of that conflict should be the greater human brain's goal so that our decision makers are able to weigh the outcomes of either side of the conflict and come to a decision about how the greater human experience should proceed.

Problems start to arise when conflict turns to war. If the analogy holds true, then the killing in war...and killing in any context...is damage to the greater human brain. Apathy and ignorance are just as damaging. After all, if you're not informed, then how can you participate in the greater discourse of how to resolve human conflict? Well...I have to hand it to folks like FOX News, Clear Channel, and Time-Warner for trying to get people to participate in the greater discourse without giving them all the information they need to make a truly informed decision. These Judas Iscariots have done their job in selling out their responsiblity to report all the news in exchange for favor with a transitory administration.

For the greater human good, the following MUST happen:

1. All views (even unpopular ones) must be represented equally.
2. War cannot be used as an easy solution to conflict resolution.
3. Critical Thinking must be infinitely more important to the education process than teaching to a state-administered test.

I'm still developing this thought. More to come later.