UNDERSTAND THE HUMAN MIND:

 UNDERSTAND THE HUMAN MIND:

The Human Journey is the journey of the human mind, how it developed, the world it made and the problems it solved, why and how it solved them; and how those solutions affected its evolution and subsequent decisions.

Modern discoveries have shown that qualities that we thought were the unique provenance of our human brain belong to other species as well. Rats will sacrifice food to help other rats, even strangers. Bonobos show altruism and empathy, and a sense of fairness is seen in many animals.

Religion was thought to be the birthplace of morality but morality is now understood to be an innate characteristic in us and other animals. Virtues popularly expounded as providing a ticket to heaven’ are now understood as evolutionary tools through which a necessary ‘selflessness’ is cultivated – a selflessness that enables a more comprehensive understanding to stabilize the brain. Our spiritual leaders and prophets, although often misunderstood, all spoke of this. Now our neurobiologists and evolutionary psychologists do as well.

The human brain is flexible. It has enabled us to adapt, survive, and even flourish all over the world. We are the only animals that can do this. But this flexibility has a downside: we are easily manipulated and influenced by the group or culture in which we find ourselves. We are wired to be social animals, to connect beyond our immediate circle, but we too often limit ourselves to thinking in terms of “Us and Them.”

We face a world that is far different from our ancestor’s world. But we are equipped to understand and solve the problems of today, many of which are man-made if we first understand who we are, and how the past has made us. We must know what is unchanging about human nature, and recognize what we can and must consciously change to participate in our evolution.

Our human journey began more than 300,000 years ago and understanding it will lead us to the next step. One that is uniquely human.