What does it mean when we say that the evolution of consciousness is the growth towards complexity?
Short Answer; Evolution is the expansion of the context of reality and that reality is felt, eventually to be personal.
Every context is wholly—Whole, Holy and Holey, as in Holons parts that are complete unto themselves yet part of something bigger. Every context is a feedback system, a self perpetuating reality or as you know by now what I call an Enchantment.
Each context has an inherent unified pattern that always remains slightly beyond our absolute understanding; because it is never static it is dynamic and keeps flowing and folding back through each and everyone one of us.
The Exhilaration of the City
The city is a complex organism that creates a greater cohesion of people and a chance for more complex sophisticated self expression. Each of us has a role in our society and the greater the scale of the society the more diverse the range of niches that become available.
The city is both alienating and yet expands the opportunity to share a sense of belonging with more people.
As the scale of community grows larger so does the polarity and intricacy of feeling. The spectrum of emotions diversifies as the environment we are part of, grows larger. If we love the city we enjoy the whole vibe which includes its sleaze, pollution, grime, decadence, noise, delicious odours, the glistening glass of the Babylonian towers, the stink, the rot and of course the kaleidoscope of characters—with their humanity, friendliness, beauty and idiosyncratic behaviour.
What is this Love of the City?
It is not just the coffee shops or the luxury goods displayed in the shop windows, its not just the magnificent soaring architecture that awes us with its supremacy, it’s the whole shebang that dwarves us, overwhelms us and takes us beyond ourselves. To
love the city is to be in awe of it.
To become more complex as an individual is to own more aspects of the self that were previously unconscious and wholly belonging to those other people. To become more complex means enjoying and making space for the worldly appetites which can be seen as pollutants, but ideally we recognize the need to be appropriate. Although we allow our selves to watch TV series that glamourize all that seems abhorrent we live with a complex hierarchy of priorities. To own ones carnal and materialistic needs and yet focus more energy on that which is benevolent or ‘giving’ is to live with the consciousness of appropriateness. To become more complex is the recognition of yet further uniqueness within you whilst feeling more interconnected to the whole society, a stretching of the continuum of self
Autonomous self ----------isolation--------to-------belonging----------self as a product of society
The whole thing is really an expanding ourobus like this
Intimacy----life is personal-----autonomy----isolation----to---belonging-------self as a product of society-------relatable-----relating-----intimacy
A larger context ultimately becomes intimate and something we can relate to on a personal level.
The repetition of the same pleasures tends to create a reality tunnel and enjoyment disappears.
We do tend to learn, slowly, that we can get lost down any reality tunnel if we have no restraint, often it’s easier to suppress an aspect of self. The challenge of enjoyably living in or visiting the city is to feel it all, to some degree, yet be able to manage and control our desires.
The underworld is no longer hidden in the same way it was, the light of the internet and television is bringing it to the surface making for an altogether more complex society. True complexity is being conscious of this chaotic maelstrom and seeing that yes indeed it is all part of a self organizing whole, a messy, lurching evolving entity called humanity which in turn is part of an even greater entity called planet Earth. The Enjoyment of life is a big wide thing. Joy is openness. Staying open is challenging. Too much comfort is not enjoyable.
We need our spices, we need all of our desires in the mix to make a good flavoursome life.
Some people love the city and yet just don’t do nature, extraordinary but true. The more complex individual sees the relationships, the connections between all things and how they are all an organic emergence of life. The city, the nation, the global marketplace and the
biosphere are all interconnected through the human species and through you. You are a personalized embodiment of all aspects of everything within the Earths electro magnetic field. Complexity is consciousness of a whole. What was merely complicated, accidental and random occurrences are understood or rather experienced as fitting together. The sense of the unity of the city ultimately is a feeling, although we are stimulated by the visual, olfactory and auditory the whole evocation is more than the physical, it is an immanent unity.
We are forever reaching out for intimacy whilst on a quest for a larger horizon. We are seeking to express our unique essence with more clarity, more definition, this is not merely ego inflation this is the divine imperative. The divine imperative does include celebration, ecstasy, novelty and joy. Global complexity increases the unity of all life and Earth whilst giving more permission for self expression, life becomes more novel—we keep having new experience.
Life is creative, this is divine, so
if life becomes too fucking boring for too long then the holy thing to do is rebel and emote. A little trickster energy goes a long way, creativity is work with passion, enjoyment and some humour, as a friend of mine used to say “don’t let the bastards grind you down”
Big Up, Live Large in the Immediacy of Your Life
An interconnected global population of 10 billion offers a vast array of functions as compared to a village of 100 people.
Have you Noticed Your Feelings are Becoming More Complex?
The more connected the world becomes the more it creates a pain of feeling as if we are missing out on experience, yet this wound is the door to becoming more of who we are. The range of feelings to each of us now available is vast; this complexity of emotion can be overwhelming. To feel what arises without getting stuck on that feeling is to increase your energy flow.
The world’s energy system is not yet flowing, money is not flowing as it could, creativity is not yet flowing as it will be, and there is a block in the flow, temporarily. Ultimately if we were flowing through our feelings, this range of emotion would be our wealth for it connects us to the multiple frequencies of life. Metaphorically and literally the more frequencies, the more colours, the more sounds, tones and melodies we can access the greater the abundance we express.
The disconnection pain forces us to seek more, it makes us hungry for more life, and this is good if we are in the flow, for this is the evolutionary imperative that yields new expression, complexity. Complexity gives birth to new intersections between different expressions. Music is becoming more complex as Jazz, Funk, Classical, Hip Hop, Rock and Club can be brought together in any piece of music. I do think music like all art is actually very important on a practical level. Music is vibrational, it gives us direct access to multiple frequencies and is an easy way to access energy.
The walls between all expressions are being transgressed—punk-ability. Recently the move towards complexity has slowed down as the back lash of old school morality, engineered fear and conservatism are attempting to block the flow. This backlash is sort of understandable as the emotional foundation of our life is eroding and our sense identity is dissolving relatively quickly, but we have no choice to move towards complexity, towards a greater cohesion as the survival of the whole planet is becoming an issue. Can we handle more life can we open to more enjoyment, can we let go of our protective fear and sense of limited identity to make life more of an art form? Actually I would ask can we afford not to?
Every cell has a function in a system. The larger the system the more important it is that each cell has the opportunity to function, otherwise the system itself suffers, energy becomes blocked in the whole system.
Our individual function evolves with the evolution of the system in history; from food and shelter provision, to performing the role as a worker in an ordered lawful society, to being part of the competitive market that creates technological innovations and a greater range of physical comforts and pleasures. Now we need more permission and opportunity to express ourselves beyond the dictates of money and material concerns, paradoxically so as to create more wealth and more material innovation. At present the internet is the main arena where we have permission for a fuller expression.
In the last 150 years we have seen the world’s population grow from 1 billion to 7 billion.
As I am often banging on about I would say that we are not overpopulated, Earth is growing more complex and a new global system is trying to emerge. The economic market system does not offer enough diversity to cover all the organic expressive functions that are emerging within individuals. There is an emphasis shift needed towards greater creativity and reverence for individuality, this requires an enormous leap of faith and a new understanding of human nature. The keyword is towards, we do also need to respect the dangers of unfettered individualism, but the fear of some elements of human nature is inhibiting the brilliance of human beings, I believe we stand at an evolutionary gate post where a shift of perception in this area is required.
Instead of emphasizing human flaws a new system will, I believe, emphasize human quality. The evolutionary models of human development show that as we evolve we grow towards, changing emphasis towards, more creativity and we move from a mechanistic work ethic, ie “look busy, Jesus is coming ”, towards a more leisure based time rich space where we are relaxed enough in our work to allow the organic emergence of creativity to arise as we move into the flow. All great innovation and radical solutions to problems emerge from a relaxed state after effort, during the intervals.
It is well known from various studies that if you teach children and focus on their flaws and affirm their imperfections their self worth suffers and they under-perform, whereas if you teach children with a focus on praising their efforts, their self worth increases and you get better results. What is true for children is, in general terms, true for adults in this regard. Human qualities need to be affirmed rather than reinforcing human flaws. Some guilt is appropriate, however only if it is subsumed under a system of affirmation and reward.
As I look at the research findings of the international think tanks, the leading sociologists and psychologists that inform the world leaders I am seeing a consistent message of lack regarding resources, a need to reduce population and inhibit human liberty, they do not seem to have much sense of fun or imagination. It seems that the individuals at the very top of the economic system are stuck in a reality tunnel. The most valuable resource we have is human beings and their ingenuity as a collective organic system.
The greatest resource we have is human creativity and its problem solving ability. Dr Clare Graves found that a group of people whose thinking and being had evolved to the level of express self for the pleasure of self and the sake of existence without harming others or expressing self not at the expense of others (Yellow Pluto Enchantment) could solve far more problems and far quicker than all other groups put together.
To this we should add that a diverse group of people comprised of a novices and experts far outperforms a group merely comprised of experts. Diversity of perception is the wealth of the multi-faceted human species. The wisdom of the complex crowd outweighs a crowd of elites. Although we still need
excellence and expertise we increasingly need diversity of perception and experiences to not only solve the world’s problems but to make life more enjoyable. Increasingly we need the contributions of more people; we need more and different ideas to go into the social dialectic. Not all expressions are equal but more are becoming valid. The old Neo-Darwinian thinking that you see inherent within the financial elites, I mean those that hang out together continuously behind closed doors and are motivated to meet and discuss global issues; tell us that they consider themselves to be the winners and therefore the best DNA carriers for the gene pool of our species. The subtext being that the economic game is the best measure of human quality.
The relatively heavy controls and legislation presently operating in the USA, UK and Europe is temporarily dumbing down the new generation of freethinkers of our society. I mean, that at present the privileged and emerging paradigm of consciously creative individuals 5-10 or maybe 15 percent of the world’s population are having to focus on economics and the competitive market rather than solving the world’s problems.
Increasing the Fun and Joy Quotient
According to developmental models such as The Enchantments of Life the sort of society seeking to emerge from the evolutionary impulse would be, actually will be, more enjoyable, less violent; less compulsively addicted to short term pleasures. Stress levels would be drastically reduced as people would, will, change their biological signature from anxiety/adrenalin swings towards a flow state of activity.
If permission was given, when permission is given to solve the world’s energy problems, food shortages, resource shortages, pollution etc without the idea that everything has to make money in the short term, then we would increase wealth universally. The Quality of life and basic needs of all people in the world would dramatically increase.
Permission is needed to solve the problems of the world for the sake of the world not for the sake of the economic system. The solution to tough problems includes effort but ultimately comes down to enjoyment moving out of struggle into joy. If it’s not working try something new.
The way forward is through each of us working and living from, and developing, our own unique strengths, and the things we would love to do for the sake of doing them.
Human Nature is Complex not Simply Immoral
We all want to feel worthwhile, we all quite naturally have something to give, that natural gift that you have is the wealth of the world. The journey of developing the self naturally moves towards doing something that benefits others, not from self sacrifice but from the imperative of self interest.
Doing what you enjoy doing, naturally evolves, if you are an open individual to be something that is a gift for the rest of us. Life can not help but move towards the light of the sun, cannot help but move towards growth and growth involves the transformation of form and context. Every so often we as individuals or we as a society come to a wall; this is the point where the context we have been living in is decaying. The decay is the release of energy that provides the fuel for the new emerging reality; in that situation our challenge is to keep flowing. Wherever something is dying energy is being provided for something newly emerging.
To be in the flow is to surrender to where the energy is already moving. At the point of crisis where things are not working, we can’t go forward, it mostly means going back, reconnecting to past energies and experiences and or becoming empty, taking a holiday, doing something lateral and seemingly without purpose to relax and release the contextual cognitive cage.
Evolution is a word that is associated with upwards, forwards, linear mastery and control, but life evolves in all directions this is the expansion into greater intricacy, what was intellectually complicated is experienced as a feeling which is a simplicity. What we feel is simply what we feel.
When the going gets too dull and heavy when it gets blocked the strong thing to do is let go, keep flowing, follow the feeling.
Chill out...
The immanent spirit of life is affluent; to be affluent is to be in the flow and to be influencing the world around you.
Recognize your novelty by being open to new experience
The great wealth of Planet Earth is your unique expression, your complexity, and your energy flowing.
