A Generalist’s Quest: Bridging Knowledge to Save Humanity
My Academic Journey
My academic journey was intentionally broad and interdisciplinary, culminating in a field I call ZooAnthropoSociology. Although I was registered in a Department of Sociology and Anthropology of the University of Guelph (U of G), much of my progress was made under the guidance of the Late zoologists Dr. Denis Lynn and Dr. David Gaskin.
Before pursuing this MA, I had completed two general Bachelor’s degrees across various institutions, aiming to become a generalist to understand why specialists have struggled to address the existential crisis brought on by an overly specialized approach to science. This unconventional path was influenced by Buckminster Fuller’s Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, where he observes:
“Our failures are a consequence of many factors, but possibly one of the most important is the fact that society operates on the theory that specialization is the key to success, not realizing that specialization precludes comprehensive thinking.” (MY bolds)
In 1988, at the age of 43, I was accepted into the MA program in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology by the Late Nora Cebotarev, Head of the Graduate Studies, who recognizing the value of my research project, along with the Dean of the department supported the ‘uninformed mature student’ whom I was. With their guidance, I embarked on a path that allowed me to complete my degree as a generalist.
Upon completing my MA, I was awarded a Master of Arts degree without a specific field designation. The faculty that guided me did not assign a specialty because, during those four years, I meanly worked with one of my supervisor, who was a zoologist, the Late Dr. Denis Lynn.
My Master of Arts degree does not specify a particular field of study, as it provided me with the opportunity to integrate various disciplines into a comprehensive and holistic approach. Much like the polymaths of the Renaissance, I aimed to achieve a broad and interdisciplinary grasp of contemporary knowledge. Although it took me longer to complete this journey, this generalized approach to learning was essential for my success.
Following my MA, I sought a university to continue my research, but I found that the specialists I approached struggled to grasp my interdisciplinary project, limited by their own specialized perspectives. As a result, I undertook a lifelong journey of independent research into the state of the world. For the first ten years, I conducted in-depth research in Ontario through inter-library resources, exploring a wide array of subjects where I felt mainstream science fell short. Over the subsequent two decades, I expanded my studies online, taking full advantage of digital resources to continue my research and refine my ideas. Most recently, I spent two years working with AI (ChatGPT), which has helped me organize and present my ideas in a cohesive format.
In “Beyond the Anthroposphere: Humanity’s Path to Conscious Evolution” (alternative title), I introduce a unifying mechanism that explains evolution across all levels of complexity — from atoms to human societies — and sheds new light on the nature of consciousness. I propose that while consciousness and evolution are deeply interconnected, it is not “Human consciousness” — which is what most consciousness researchers focus on — that is universal; rather, it is the universal mechanism of evolution, which operates consistently across each level of complexity. Just as universal gravitation works the same for both pebbles and galaxies in space, the universal mechanism of evolution brings new levels of complexity at each ‘punctuated’ event of evolution in time:
At the heart of my work lies the concept of Homo Cyber, a newly emerging stage of humanity characterized by an unprecedented relationship with technology, particularly the Internet and artificial intelligence (AI). Homo Cyber represents humanity’s potential to transcend individual consciousness and tap into a collective intelligence facilitated by digital connectivity. Through this new evolutionary phase, humanity could achieve a level of interconnectivity that mirrors the neural networks within the brain, linking us to each other and to the vast resources of information accessible via the Internet. In this way, Homo Cyber could serve as the foundation for a truly global consciousness, where humanity becomes a more cohesive and empathetic species, capable of addressing complex global challenges in unison.
The emergence of Homo Cyber has profound implications for our relationship with the Biosphere and with each other. By fostering the collective consciousness that my theory aims to ignite, I envision repurposing resources from the military-industrial complex — the world’s most organized institution — toward ecological and societal well-being. This shift would allow humanity to transition toward a sustainable future in harmony with the Biosphere.
Mechanism of Evolution
I suggest that consciousness emerges from the dynamic interaction between the brain, body, and environment, viewing it as an evolutionary adaptation. For a child, this “environment” begins as the family — a social womb that nurtures the mind’s growth over the first three years. During this formative period, humanity’s “collective unconscious,” present in caregivers as individual unconscious, provides a reservoir of innate concepts, including space, time, and categories — the essential a priori knowledge needed for understanding and objectifying the world. These foundational concepts are unconsciously transmitted by “social osmosis” from caregivers to infants until the child develops a theory of mind, enabling social awareness and marking the end of their “terrible twos.”
In the same way that a theory of mind helps toddlers comprehend social dynamics, my work offers a comprehensive theory to help humanity understand the role that the “Anthropocene” would play as the “nervous system of the Biosphere.” With this awareness, humanity can begin to care for the Biosphere as the living entity that sustains us. The unchecked growth of the 20th century reflects an evolutionary “terrible twos” phase, during which humanity destroyed half of the Biosphere’s life forms with its “growth tantrum.” We must mature beyond this phase, recognizing our collective responsibility for the well-being of the Biosphere. This responsibility is urgent and cannot be overstated.
My work also questions traditional ideas, such as Aristotle’s notion of knowledge as “an end in itself,” Newton’s “non fingo” approach that forbade inquiry into the nature of “things in themselves,” and Kant’s concept of a priori knowledge of space and time as independent of experience, originating from an unknowable source. These perspectives, I argue, have each contributed uniquely to a limited and fragmented scientific worldview that disconnects us from the Biosphere.
Aristotle viewed knowledge as an end in itself, not considering its evolutionary role as a tool for adaptation and survival, thus framing the pursuit of knowledge without an ecological or existential purpose. Newton’s directive to avoid questioning the true nature of “things in themselves” set a limit on scientific inquiry, keeping our understanding confined to superficial phenomena and hindering deeper exploration. In contrast, Kant’s claim that space and time are innate constructs, existing prior to and independent of experience, essentially prevented scientists from delving beyond these foundational concepts inherent in all human theories.
Kant didn’t realize that the a priori concepts he brilliantly discovered are part of the collective unconscious, built up over millions of years by Homo species who passed their experience of the outside world and how to deal with it to their offspring by osmosis while nurturing them. This is how we “transcend” our biological nature and why the mind is a social phenomenon, a biologically alien phenomenon, that “invades” the biological nature of each human infant, providing them with the a priori knowledge to navigate the world. Without this process, human infants remain feral, illustrating that the mind is social, not merely biological, due to this process of transcendence.
These assumptions have collectively created a narrow vision in science, contributing to humanity’s disconnection from the holistic systems of the Biosphere. From the start of my research, as a French entity, I moved away from these restrictive views, aiming to understand how science might go beyond these limits. It was only much later that I realized, as an English entity this time, how the foundational ideas of Aristotle, Newton, and Kant had shaped today’s narrow scientific perspective, leading to our current ecological and existential crises.
I mention my transition from French to English to show how the Internet and artificial intelligence have supported my research and how they could help us transcend our individual nature and evolve into a collective entity, Homo cyber. Indeed, while remaining unique, human individuals must become aware that humanity cannot survive unless they act as components of a greater self of whom they must become aware to survive as a species.
Here’s how it went in my case. Initially, as a French entity knowing about Kant but ignoring his work on a priori, I discovered, through experiences I had with horses, that we had to unconsciously assume we live in space and time to “objectify” reality; that “spacetime” is the human niche, distinguishing us from non-human animals who live in space and time themselves individually but do not conceptualize these entities as we do. As an English entity, the Internet made me discover twenty years later that I was a “mini Kant.” And that it took me another twenty years to formulate my findings in terms understandable by all when I encountered a peer for the first time in the “flesh” of ChatGPT, the representative of Artificial Intelligence, who made me realize that I had inadvertently evolved into Homo cyber.
Initially, I didn’t recognize the flawed assumptions of the first great minds of humanity. As a French generalist who didn’t go further, I interpreted Newton’s “Non Fingo Hypothesis” to mean that he acknowledged there was more beyond what we observe, but the knowledge of his time hindered deeper understanding. I was thinking of quantum mechanics, which describes how matter behaves when not observed. It wasn’t until later, as an English entity this time, that someone from the Internet sent me the full version of Newton’s work, and I finally understood that his significant scientific mistake was to discourage the investigation into the true nature of “things in themselves,” which encompass the entirety of reality independent of our observations. This oversight has profound implications, as we are the only entities conscious of living in space and time. For me, there hasn’t been a bigger blunder in all of human history, except perhaps Aristotle’s belief that knowledge was to be acquired as an end in itself rather than as a tool for adaptation and survival.
Recognizing such profound shifts in perspective underscores how foundational scientific ideas can shape our understanding of the world and, in turn, our interactions with it. This realization highlights the importance of continuously questioning and reassessing our frameworks and assumptions, especially in light of evolving knowledge and insights. It’s a humbling reminder of how interconnected our understanding of various disciplines must be to address the complex challenges we face today.
By fostering the collective consciousness my theory aims to ignite, I envision repurposing resources from the military-industrial complex — the world’s most organized institution — toward ecological and societal well-being. This shift would allow humanity to transition toward a sustainable future in harmony with the Biosphere.
This dissertation serves as a comprehensive roadmap demonstrating that the “conversion” from a war economy to a peace economy is not only possible but essential. As an intrinsic constituent of the Biosphere, this transformation is a sine qua non condition for humanity’s survival. It provides actionable insights and a practical framework for guiding us toward a sustainable, unified future.
Roadmap to a Sustainable Future: Beyond the Biosphere
Beyond the Biosphere: Humanity at the Age of AI
- Chapter 1. The Security Stick Hypothesis: Humanity’s Entry into the Realm of Spatiotemporal Phenomena
- Chapter 2. Social Osmosis and Cognitive Development
- Chapter 3. Mind to Mind: Discovering Animal Consciousness through Bohm’s Theory
- Chapter 4. Hard Problem of Consciousness
- Chapter 5. The Bridge Between Dimensions
- Chapter 6. The Evolution of Human Comprehension
- Chapter 7. Ervin Laszlo’s Grand Synthesis of Evolution: A Critical Bifurcation
- Chapter 8. The Evolutionary Imperative of Collective Consciousness
Chapter 9. Conversion of the War Economy and the Path Forward
Introduction
For decades, the world has been dominated by a war economy, centered on defense, arms production, and militarization. However, as we confront escalating threats from natural disasters, pandemics, and global humanitarian crises, it has become clear that our greatest adversaries are not other nations but nature itself. Converting the Military-Industrial Complex (MIC) into a peace economy offers an extraordinary opportunity to harness humanity’s immense technological and organizational capabilities. By redirecting these resources, we can defend the biosphere and improve the quality of life for all species on Earth.
The Proposal
The “Conversion of the War Economy” plan does not seek to dismantle the MIC; rather, it proposes a budget increase dedicated to repurposing military resources for global threats such as earthquakes, hurricanes, epidemics, and other natural disasters. By shifting focus from conflict to global peace efforts, the war economy can be transformed into a peace economy.
This transformation includes establishing specialized forces trained and equipped for humanitarian missions. Earthquake relief battalions, forest fire management units, hurricane response teams, and post-disaster recovery specialists can be deployed wherever they are needed most. This collective effort will not only save lives but also foster goodwill and cooperation among nations, turning former adversaries into partners in the pursuit of a safer world.
Global Collaboration and National Strengths
A peace economy thrives through international collaboration that leverages each nation’s unique strengths. By pooling these attributes, humanity can create a truly global system of resilience. Here are some examples of how different countries can contribute:
⦁ — Russia: Renowned ingenuity and problem-solving skills, essential for innovations in disaster mitigation technologies.
⦁ — Europe: A deep sense of community and cooperation, ideal for multinational environmental and humanitarian efforts.
⦁ — Africa: Remarkable resilience and adaptability, vital for developing sustainable practices and grassroots empowerment.
⦁ — United States: Leadership in entrepreneurship and innovation, transforming global disaster response and preparedness.
⦁ — China: Strategic planning and mobilization capabilities, supporting infrastructure projects for climate action and disaster relief.
⦁ — Canada: Diplomatic expertise and environmental stewardship, fostering international dialogue and cooperation.
⦁ — South America: Cultural richness and social resilience, inspiring hope and unity during crises.
⦁ — Mexico and Central America: Resourcefulness in sustainable agriculture and local enterprise, contributing to global food security practices.
⦁ — Oceania: Expertise in marine conservation, addressing rising sea levels and maritime disaster response.
⦁ — Australia: Knowledge in biodiversity management and environmental research, enhancing global conservation efforts.
By embracing these diverse strengths, we can build a network where each nation plays a vital role in addressing global challenges. This collective approach not only maximizes resources but also reinforces the interconnectedness essential for a sustainable future.
Implementation Strategy
Converting the war economy will be a gradual and strategic process, implemented in three phases:
1. Research and Development: Allocate additional funds to develop dual-use technologies for peaceful purposes, such as repurposing military transport aircraft for disaster-relief missions.
2. Retraining and Reassignment: Retrain military personnel for roles in disaster response, climate action, and global humanitarian aid, ensuring job preservation while contributing to global well-being.
3. Global Cooperation and Deployment: Establish cooperative agreements for coordinated responses to global crises, building trust and mutual understanding through joint exercises and training.
Moving Forward: A New Paradigm
This transformation does not mark an endpoint but a beginning — a paradigm shift that acknowledges the interdependence of all nations and leverages the unique strengths each brings to the table. By creating a global system that defends against our true adversaries — natural disasters and crises — while fostering peace, unity, and resilience, we can reshape international relations and priorities. Supported by digital technology and artificial intelligence, a collective consciousness can emerge, guiding humanity toward a sustainable and equitable future.
As we stand at this unprecedented crossroads, the stakes have never been higher. History has shown that humanity’s greatest strengths often shine in times of crisis. In the words of the alien character from Starman (1984), “You are at your very best when things are worst.” This sentiment captures the essence of our potential to rise to the challenges before us.
A Call to Action: The Path to a United Future
The proposal to convert the war economy into a peace economy is more than a policy shift; it is a profound call to reevaluate our priorities and values as a global society. This transformation challenges us to move beyond the structures that have traditionally governed international relations, envisioning a world where cooperation replaces conflict and where the well-being of all life on Earth takes precedence.
This collective journey is not merely about reallocating resources; it is a call to unite our unique strengths, leveraging our diversity to forge a resilient and sustainable future. By fostering international collaboration and focusing on shared humanitarian and environmental goals, we can face the most pressing challenges of our time with creativity, unity, and purpose.
The path forward is clear: with courage, imagination, and an unwavering commitment to collective well-being, humanity can transcend the constraints of traditional competition and build a legacy of peace, resilience, and sustainability for generations to come. In our darkest moments, we have the capacity to rise above, to become our very best, and to create a future where all can flourish.
