Evolution - Conscious Evolution

Conscious Evolution

Evolution is happening right now in and around us. It is influenced by all that we do and don't do, and all that we are and are not. Whether we are aware of it or not, we have a lot to do with how evolution unfolds, especially right here on Earth.

Recent offspring in life's 13.7 billion years of cosmic, planetary, biological and social evolution, we are on the leading edge of the evolutionary process. We share that emergent edge with everything else in the universe. (From an evolutionary perspective, "everything else in the universe" is actually better described by that scientifically accurate Native American phrase "all our relations.")

Evolution has given us a special kind of consciousness, one that creates -- and is thoroughly conditioned by -- our languages, cultures, stories, and built environments. This consciousness and its companion social systems and technologies have awesome power to shape the world. We are just beginning to grow into a mature way of manifesting it in the world.

Part of that maturing process is learning the dynamics through which evolution does its transformational work. Understanding those dynamics, we can apply them -- intentionally and wisely -- to transform ourselves and our social systems.

To the extent we do this, we are evolution -- or at least one significant facet of it -- becoming conscious of itself. Across many domains of society, life and spirituality, we are in the process of birthing ourselves as conscious evolution.

The unconsciousness with which we have been evolving as a civilization is taking us rapidly toward collective extinction -- following in the footsteps of the vast majority of "failed experiments" (extinct species) in Earth's history -- and taking many more with us. This century's evolutionary challenge -- to become a civilization capable of conscious evolution -- is not only what can "save" us, but also one of the most significant evolutionary leaps in human history.

All the crises of our age are manifestations of our challenge to consciously evolve. Co-intelligent conversation and democracy are fundamental to successfully transforming these crises into evolutionary breakthroughs.

Those of us who are coming to understand and welcome this challenge to become conscious evolutionary agents are discovering new sources of inspiration and meaning in it, and find ourselves working in community with truly remarkable companions.

Something is Emerging - brief notes on conscious evolution

Learning to Be Evolution - includes 8 examples of evolutionary guidance

The Evolutionary Worldview - offering a 1-page description of the Great Story of evolution, some guidances for evolutionary action, and description of how the sacred evolutionary perspective relates to other religious traditions

Becoming Evolution's Conscious Weavers

The Evolutionary Role of Conversation

The Evolutionary Role of Citizen Deliberation

Consciousness takes us beyond avoidable force, waste, and risk

What is Consciousness?

Feedback, Social Power, and the Evolution of Social Systems

Democracy and the evolution of societal intelligence

Building a Wise Democracy as Crises Emerge

Crisis and Evolutionary Leverage in Philanthropy (doc) - also applicable to other evolutionary agentry

Learning from Our Evolutionary Past Into Our Evolutionary Future

Does Compassion Need to Evolve?

The Evolution of Genes and Meaning

A Movement for the Conscious Evolution of Social Systems

Four Dimensions of Change, and One Integration