The Challenge

The Kacyra Family Foundation (KFF) is launching the Human Energy Project to study the techno/social dilemma of human action and direction and the dilemma of loss of identity in our science and technology-driven age. 

“The 21st century is entering its adolescence, a time of great excitement, confusion, and intense anxiety, an age both wildly hopeful and deeply troubled.” 

Shannon Vallor, Chair of the  Department of Philosophy, Santa Clara University, and President of the International Society of Philosophy and Technology

The Human Energy Project will seek to explore ways to help alleviate the motivational and ethical challenges facing young people today, using the theory of Complexity -Consciousness and the Noosphere pioneered by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and similar theories developed by scientists following him.

The Disconnect and The Big Questions

There is a growing disconnect between the pace of technological evolution and social progress.  Science has slowly eroded faith and certainty.  Relativity and quantum theory drive uncertainty and loss of a spiritual sense of purpose and order.  Answers to the big questions (Why am I here?, Where do I come from?, Where am I going?, What is my role?) are no longer clear.  In the past, traditional answers were based on revelation, tradition, and the teachings of the elders.  Science has undermined all this, especially the concept of fixity — the old stable society with infallible rules and clear answers is no longer credible. 

Those who follow science can find themselves spiritually bereft while those at the other end of the spectrum may seek the shelter of fundamentalism.  The human collective finds itself increasingly divergent and fragmented.

An Alternative

There is an alternative: many scientists – a growing minority – agree that evolution is not random but has a direction and a forthcoming new stage of global consciousness.  These ideas are not the mainstream but have the potential to foster a collective common purpose.

By understanding and recognizing the direction of evolution and where we are on the journey, it is believed that compelling answers to the biggest of questions can have clarity.

The Human Energy Project is humanitarian, not theological.

Complexity Consciousness

Complexity-Consciousness is based on the observed phenomenon of the tendency of matter to become more complex over time and at the same time to become more conscious.  At all times and everywhere, the matter is endeavoring to complexify upon itself, as observed in the evolutionary history of the Earth.

The Law of Complexity-Consciousness continues today in the form of the global socialization of mankind.  The closed and circular surface of the Earth contributes to the increased compression (socialization) of mankind.  As human beings continue to come into closer contact with one another, their methods of interaction continue to complexity in the form of superior organized social networks, which contributes to an overall increase in consciousness, or the Noosphere.

The Noosphere

The Noosphere is the “sphere of human thought” enveloping our planet above the biosphere and significantly younger in terms of its appearance (thousands of years vs billions of years.) Recent advances in technology have significantly advanced the connectivity of the human race both in terms of local intensity and global coverage.  While this advance in technology has intensified the connectivity between each of our brains, the Noosphere was, in reality, ‘born’ when early man started creating social networks.

Matter complexified from inanimate matter, to plant life, to animal life, to human life.  Or, from the geosphere, to the biosphere, to the Noosphere (the sphere of connected human brains, or the sphere of thought and global consciousness).  As evolution rises through the geosphere, biosphere, and Noosphere, matter continues to rise in a continual increase of both complexity and consciousness.

The importance of the Noosphere is obvious since it represents the next stage of evolution in which a new threshold is crossed, that of the unity of the human race in a global self-consciousness.

Objectives of the Human Energy Project

We wish to explore ways of bringing the “new story” of the universe, its development and the development of the Noosphere to young people, presenting them with an optimistic alternative for the future in lieu of the prevailing scientific story of random evolution and a meaningless universe … a new story that is consistent with science.  And for those who have religious faith, an alternative story that is not in contradiction with the basic foundation of their belief.

The vision is to help young people of the world answer the big questions in a positive way and understand the critical importance of channeling human energy in a positive and collective way towards the continuing development and direction of the Noosphere.

Scope

The scope of the project includes:

Recruiting a group of interested professionals and laypersons to form an advisory group to review the project objectives and guide its progress.

Partnering with educational and other institutions to do research in the social, science, and ethics areas to better understand the techno/social dilemma of human action and direction; for research and development of ethics consistent with the dimensions of a mankind becoming conscious of the vector of evolution; and scientific research in the areas of the Noosphere and global consciousness.

Developing and disseminating web-based online material (web site and social media) to explain the basis and aim of the project.

Encouraging the engagement of young people.