"No one can deny that a world-wide network of economic and psychic affiliations is being woven at ever increasing speed which envelops and constantly penetrates more deeply within each of us. With every day that passes it becomes a little more impossible for us to act or think otherwise than collectively." -- Pierre Teilhard De Chardin, 1947

The philosopher/scientist/Jesuit priest, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, coined the term ‘cyber’ and foresaw the Internet in 1946, long before anyone else had even thought of the possibility.

He predicted that the evolving Biosphere, of which humans are a part, would produce something he called ‘Noosphere’ or a planetary consciousness.

You are living in the age when those forecasts are coming true. This is the most exciting time for humanity since the development of language. Millions of years of evolution have produced this time and you are alive to participate.

The present is a very exciting place to be. The future will be even more exciting.

Inventor/Futurist Ray Kurzweil combines Systems Theory with Cybernetics to predict that within the next few decades, AI or artificial intelligence will become a reality as the Internet and nanotechnology make it possible for a Cyber Brain to evolve. That brain will be, according to Kurzweil, half biological and half cybernetic as we learn to interface directly with the machines we are creating.

This is happening right in front of your eyes. Terabytes of information are now resident on the Internet; all of it accessible from or by your personal computer (or palmtop, even some cellular phones). You have direct and almost instant access to more information than all the humans who lived before you.

Imagine this: very soon, some complex super computer or the World Wide Web itself will start accessing that information by itself for itself without a prompt from a human. A new form of consciousness is evolving during your lifetime.

"The next major explosion is going to be when genetics and computers come together. I'm talking about an organic computer - about biological substances that can function like a semiconductor."
—Alvin Toffler

You can help to determine what form that consciousness takes because you can contribute to its education by posting and circulating information on the World Wide Web.

There are two fundamental forces that determine how you exist in the world: the first is genetics and the second is memetics.

Genetics is the major determining factor in your physical make-up; memetics is the major determining factor in your mental make-up.

We are beginning to be able to see that with our knowledge of genetics and the rapidly developing science of nanotechnology, we will be able to exert control over our own genetic makeup. Dangerous? Yes. Exciting potential? Yes. Imagine cures for various diseases and inflictions.

Also, we are beginning to understand that our knowledge of memetics and the rapidly expanding WWW will enable us to exert control over our own mental and social makeup.

Dangerous? Yes, when we allow governments and corporations to use that knowledge to program us to behave certain ways. Exciting potential? Yes, if we learn, as individuals, to exert influence by becoming conscious viral propagators of information that empowers others; and, if we use the understanding of how others use memes to influence or control our behavior to take back control of our own thoughts and beliefs.

Most people are of the opinion that reality (facts) determines how and what they think and believe. Actually, it is just the opposite; our thoughts and beliefs create our reality picture and the facts are simply arranged to support that picture.

We first choose (or, insidiously, are supplied) with our thoughts and beliefs and then everything we see and hear appears to support those thoughts and beliefs. Change your mind and strangely, the same set of facts will appear to support your new position.

This bears a marked resemblance to quantum mechanics; specifically the double slot photon experiments which demonstrate that a photon can be either a particle or a wave or both, depending on the determination of the observer.

This means that there is no true objective reality. Everything is subjective. And everything you are and do affects the whole system of which you are an integral part. You cannot stand apart from the system in which you exist and you cannot fail to impact the system of which you are a part.

You are a part of your family, your community, your culture, all humanity, the earth’s ecosystem, the cosmos. You cannot step outside of any of those systems to get an objective perspective and you cannot avoid having an affect upon those systems.

You are unique and whole unto yourself, a Holon, but you are, at all times, a Holon within a greater Holon that is also within an even greater Holon. Your consciousness (and your self-awareness) exists as a separate entity but it is contained within the collective human consciousness and the current cultural mythos.

Your potential to self-actuate is therefore constrained by the limitations of the global mass consciousness.

By learning to inject idea viruses into the collective consciousness of humanity via the World Wide Web, you cannot only impact the future evolution of humanity’s evolving mindset or cultural mythos but you can also contribute to how a new cybernetic global consciousness develops and you can expand your own ability to become more, to transform from mere creature to conscious creator.

Such is your power. Use it or lose it.

These are critical times, pivotal times. Your contribution matters. You matter. You have in your hands, figuratively speaking, the tools to transform the way the world thinks. But, as Gandhi has pointed out, “you must be the change you wish to see in the world”.

Start spreading the word; let others know just how powerful they are and how much potential each of us has to contribute to the prosperity and well being of all life that inhabits this planet, this GAIA home that we inhabit. Become a conscious meme propagator; change your mind, then change the mind of the world.

The world you perceive is a reflection of the world you have conceived and believed. The future world you will perceive tomorrow will be a reflection of the world you conceive and believe today.

Align yourself with like-minded individuals around the globe by using your Internet connectivity. Use your affinities to approach the infinities of your/our potential.