FMBR Editorial: Sep/Oct 2015

Creating the Future

Part 1, Judy Kitt and Bill Gough

One of the reasons I have been so drawn to the work of Barbara Marx Hubbard is that she was the first person I ever heard (back in the 1980's) who was speaking of a positive future for humanity and the Earth. Up until then it seemed that, in many peoples' minds, we were headed inexorably toward an apocalypse, which would be followed by a post-apocalyptic dystopian world in which people fought for food and water, were defenseless against marauding invaders and were essentially hopeless.

Certainly, this is the world view portrayed in many popular movies and novels still today. And, it seems that for many, there doesn't seem to be much we can do about it. So, when I first heard Barbara speak, it was exciting to hear this elderly woman say that not only is humanity evolving, it had the power to choose in which direction we wanted to evolve. That is, that we could steer a course toward a positive future that works for everyone, (not just the few) and could consciously choose to evolve toward a higher vision of ourselves, personally and as a global community. Now, of course, that is a huge undertaking. But it is a worthy one--one which many have chosen to pursue, with the vision of an awakened humanity as its guiding principal.

Bill writes:

Human-beings are unique because we can create 'fiction' in our minds. Science fiction may be the most effective way to get the message out to the mass consciousness of humanity. Perhaps our multi-dimensional-self links to a glimpse of a potential future. Fiction has the power of becoming reality. As a young boy in the 1930s and 40s, I got pleasure from reading science fiction. I enjoyed the books of Jules Verne that were written in the 1800s. Verne wrote about travel to the moon, beneath the sea, around our planet, and even to the center of the earth.

I also enjoyed comic books whose characters traveled to distant planets in space ships, and used weapons like today's laser guns and atomic bombs. These and other fictions, such as Dick Tracy's wrist watch with its two-way voice communication, all became realities in my lifetime.

How is it that such fiction created by the minds of human-beings so often becomes physical reality? What is the 'magic' behind this process? We are human-beings. Our being aspect implies a connection to something more encompassing than the physical. This Mind-Being connection is one element of the inherent duality that exists in Nature. We all experience the divide between head and heart, reason and intuition, and separateness and oneness. Strengthening the Mind-Being connection can become a personal journey. It also represents a change that needs to occur in society -- such a change will permit us to consciously tap into the infinite possibilities available within the Oneness. The challenge is to create a "fiction" of a positive vision that can manifest out of the "Oneness." We have the ability to actually contribute to the creation of a future physical reality we would wish to experience. Maybe my short musings here will be helpful to get you to think about a vision of the future that you would love to experience."

We would welcome your comments and thoughts."

fmbr {AT} fmbr.org

Part 2, Judy Kitt

Above, Bill and I wrote about the possibility of using science fiction stories to present an emotionally engaging vision for a positive future for the planet, instead of the post-apocalyptic visions we see in so many motion pictures these days. Our subsequent conversations led us to observations about many recent scientific breakthroughs and how often we find that what we thought was fixed turns out not to be so. Boundary conditions that once were considered absolute are, more and more, being revealed to be less rigid than previously thought.

Take, for example, the explosion of data in the field of brain science. Remember the days when we believed that neurons could not heal when injured or that the brain stopped developing once you reached adulthood? Those days are long gone as neuroscience focuses on gaining a deeper understanding of plasticity, the brain's remarkable capacity to modify its own structure and function. And, of course, we are seeing this phenomenon in many other disciplines, in the fields of physical sciences, biomedical technology, chemistry, psychology and even economics. The rules appear to be changing, which opens up the field of possibilities. Not all of those possibilities will end up being positive, but we would like to focus on envisioning positive possibilities.

Knowing the creativity, intellect and heart of our membership and those whose interests draw them to FMBR, we would like to turn to you and ask for your vision of a positive future. What would you create if the boundaries of physical science were more pliant than you had previously thought? If you could create the future, what would you like to see? And how do you see us getting there?