JST 13 – The Thought Revolution Manifesto – Introduction

This week's article is going to be the first in a six or seven week series. Each week, I'm going to be publishing one of the chapters of a document I'm in the process of writing; a 'manifesto' for what I call "The Thought Revolution". The later chapters of the manifesto will include a vision of our future as individuals, businesses, societies and as an entire species.

The Thought Revolution

Manifesto

Introduction

"It is my personal belief, although I would be hard-pressed to prove it, that we are at that very point in time when a four–hundred-year-old age is dying and another struggling to be born; a shifting of culture, science, society, and institutions enormously greater than the world has ever experienced. Ahead, the possibility of regeneration of individuality, liberty, community, and ethics such as the world has never known and a harmony with nature, with one another, and with the divine intelligence such as the world has never dreamed."

Dee Ward Hock

Founder & original CEO of Visa

Summary

The most serious problems in society, in business and in our personal lives are the result of a fundamental misunderstanding about how our minds work. We each have the capacity to ‘see through’ this misunderstanding and 'wake up' to a more accurate understanding of life. This is the key to our solving the biggest problems that plague humanity, to living fulfilling lives, and to realising our true potential as individuals, organisations and as an entire species.

Despite an unprecedented increase in standard of living, some of humanity’s most serious problems have defied solution

The past 200 years have seen an unprecedented increase in the average life-expectancy and standard of living for human beings. The industrial and information revolutions have touched and transformed nearly every aspect of life, including fundamentals such as food production, medicine, housing, sanitation, transportation, communication and commerce. Our technological powers are enormous, and accelerating rapidly; billions of people are more tangibly connected to one another than ever before (more than 2 billion people have email accounts and over 6 billion own mobile phones). We've solved many of the most serious problems that have dogged humanity for thousands of years, and we’ve accomplished feats of dizzying complexity (including organ transplants, manned space flight, and mapping the human genome). Yet, despite these incredible advances, many other serious problems have defied solution until now, including…

• Mental illness

• Addiction and substance abuse

• Rising divorce levels and other relationship issues

• Anxiety disorders and stress-related illness

• Pollution and environmental damage

• Diminishing oil reserves and underinvestment in renewable energy

• War and terrorism

• Poverty and other forms of social inequality

• Unemployment

• Hunger, famine and water shortages

• Doping and other forms of cheating in professional sports

• Oppressive, corrupt or otherwise unfair systems of government

• Economic crises and corporate irresponsibility

• Education problems

• Crime, law and order

• Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination

Why is this, and what is the solution?

So what is the solution to these life-damaging issues? To answer this question, we need first to explore why they’ve been so persistent until now; the cause. As unlikely as it may seem, all the aforementioned issues can be traced to a single cause; a misunderstanding as deceptive and widespread as historical confusions such as the flat earth, the geo-centric universe and the theory that illness and disease were the result of “miasmas” (bad smells). As in all these historical cases, as the cause becomes clear, so will the solution. And as the solution becomes clear, we can start getting a glimpse of a possibility; what life could be like once the solution is more widely known.

The purpose and structure of this manifesto are as follows…

– To outline the single cause of this vast array of human problems

– To outline the simple solution that can alleviate every one of these problems

– To propose a vision for our collective future

– To outline specific action steps you can take to participate in shaping that future

– To show why there’s reason to be hopeful of a brighter tomorrow for you personally, and for all humanity

The Thought Revolution Manifesto contains the following sections:

– The Introduction (this section)

– Chapter 1 – The Cause: A Fundamental Misunderstanding

– Chapter 2 – The Solution: Clarity of Understanding

– Chapter 3 – The Vision: Awakened Humanity

– Chapter 4 – The Movement: The Next Steps