THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY PROJECT

Lorena Hamilton
OGL340: The Future of Humanity: Dialogue in the Workplace
Dr. Michael Pryzdia
October 8, 2021
Total Word Count: 1470
 PART ONE: SEVEN QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION

1) Are human beings capable of living and thinking without prejudices?

2) Is it possible or effective to raise a family based on a shared vision?

3) If enfoldment is implicate order and the unfolded is explicate order, what reality do we live
in?

4) Is the lack of creativity the root cause to our inability to engage in dialogue?

5) If thought actively participates in forming our thoughts and daily actions. What can we do to
break ourselves from this cycle?

6) What role can dialogue play in the future of humanity?

7) Can we be our own light?

 PART TWO: JOURNAL ENTRIES

Journal Entry: 1

Bohm, says “A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely
rearranging their prejudices.” (Bohm) I often wonder if humanity could ever evolve far enough
to truly be able to experience life without prejudice. I believe that prejudices originate out of
ignorance. I also believe that the need for people to hold on to their prejudices to make them
feel superior is very strong. A world without prejudice almost seems unlikely. Humanity has
dealt with prejudices since the beginning of time and has made very few improvements. I also
wonder if noticing differences in people is somewhat natural. What is not natural is judging and
classifying others negatively because they are different than you. I feel that the negative
aspects of prejudices are developed from our environment.
This leads me into our education and learning process. Perhaps our learning should
come from a more genuine place within our souls. Peter Senge says, “Sharing knowledge is not
about giving people something, or getting something from them. That is only valid for
information sharing. Sharing knowledge occurs when people are genuinely interested in helping
one another develop new capacities for action; it is about creating learning process. (Senge)
At the core of Senge’s quote, I think the only way we can live without prejudice is to
incorporate a learning process into our daily lives. We must do more to elevate our way of
thinking and support a higher level of understanding, active listening, and culture of sharing
meanings freely. As Bohm stated, “Suppose we were able to share meanings freely without a
compulsive urge to impose our view or confirm to those of others and without distortion and
self-deception. Would this not constitute a real revolution?” (Bohm) My answer to this is yes it
would constitute a real revolution.

Journal Entry: 2

I wondered if it is possible to begin culture change by choosing to raise your family by

following a shared vision. Much like the concept of a shared vision in a corporation is identified
in The Fifth Discipline yet different than just following family values but striving towards a vision
that continues from generation to generation. A vision that includes principles and guiding
practices towards understanding of the wholeness of community, connectedness, and
spirituality. Could this be a small step towards creating that culture change that Bohm often
describes in the text? I believe it could be. I also believe a vision could evolve and change as you
learn and grow from your experiences. This is a concept that I recently began to consider for my
family. Perhaps they could be the beginning of a trend that catches on and they realize
supports a deeper more profound sense of enlightenment that supports a happy and
meaningful life.

Journal Entry: 3

Bohm says that implicate order can be compared to a hologram. A hologram contains
some information about the object, the information is enfolded within the object. Explicate
order in contrast is compared to a photograph. Is the reality that we live in best compared to
the implicate or explicate order? My initial thought is that we can exist in both. I think it
depends on our personality, knowledge, and spirit. I think most people now a days live in a
reality closest resembling explicate order or a photograph. They only envision or see what is on
one side or in front of them. They do not consider that all things may somehow be connected
because they do not consider that just because you cannot see it does not mean it does not
exist. I think those who’s reality is more aligned with explicate order are individuals who have
respect for all things. These groups of people understand that all things are connected
somehow. They understand that their actions have a potential effect on others, on the planet,
or on their community.

Journal Entry: 4

According to Bohm, to live in a creative way requires extreme and sensitive perception
of the orders and structures of relationship to individuals, society, and nature. (Bohm) In the
book Science, Order, and Creativity, Bohm also mentions that when creativity is impeded, the
result is not simply the absence of creativity, but also a presence of destructiveness. (Bohm) I
cannot help but wonder if the current state of our world is due to the lack of creativity which
may have impeded us from understanding the order and structure of our relationship to
everything. If we are losing our natural creativity, are we losing our sensitive perception? Has
our lack of creativity spiraled us into perpetual destructiveness? I would love to better
understand how free flowing creativity could potentially open up the doors towards critical
thinking and effective dialogue. I believe open dialogue requires a certain level of creativity to
express each other effectively.

Journal Entry: 5

Bohm believes that thought directs our perceptions, our sense of meaning, and our daily
actions. (1) I would like to describe some of Bohm’s radical perspectives on how this
contributes to conflict, and the possibility of individual and collective change. First, I want to
mention a few things that control our thought according to Bohm, and those include memory,
emotional experiences both good and bad, and neurophysiological reflexes. The redefinition of
thought is the proposal that body, emotion, intellect, reflex and artifact are one unbroken field
of mutually informing thought. (Bohm)
Bohm believes that with learning, proprioception, and insight combined we have the
potential to change our thought process and elevate our general coherence. This higher level of
consciousness can be achieved individually but there is a more powerful complimentary mode
through the process of group dialogue. Through dialogue people can detect the flow of
meaning through members. Bohm suggests that collective intelligence inherent in groups could
lead to a creative art form. This art form or dialogue could significantly impact people and affect
the trajectory of civilization.

Journal Entry: 6

In my opinion dialogue could be one of the most difficult to accomplish yet important
things to significantly impact humanity. Bohm describes how listening and observation while
suspending opinions and self interest in the formation of common meaning, fellowship, and
increase harmony are the results of achieving dialogue. A key component to dialogue is to
remain open-minded and avoid a power struggle.

If humanity is able to achieve dialogue, our world would be very different. Dialogue can
reveal self-awareness about nature, culture, and the essence of relationships. Shared meaning
could hold society together. Dialogue could enable us to put aside conditioned thoughts and
biases allowing us to open ourselves up, be vulnerable, and appreciate others ideas to reach a
collective understanding. In a sense humanity is trapped by our opinions, beliefs, and
assumptions. We should begin to seek dialogue and treat it like a vision or a journey.

Journal Entry: 7

In Jiddu Krishnamurti’s brief video, A Light to Oneself, he talks about the possibility that
people out of our own accord and will, be a light to one self. The light to one self can only take
place if there is no self. There is immeasurable light that can never be put out. He believes you
can only achieve this by being fully awake. He also mentions how we are not fully awake but in
contrast we are asleep. He says we have been put to sleep by gods, theorist, philosophers,
priests, and saints. I believe this statement because I believe people can no longer think freely if
they are following someone else’s commandments or rules.

I also believe we can be our own light by finding our creativity and positively finding
challenges to keep us focused and alert. It would require a tremendous amount of discipline
and ability and effort to leave some of what we know as life behind. We would have to stop our
endless need for material things. I think the possibility of living a truly free life, as your own
light, a real one but extremely difficult one as well.