Embodied Human Consciousness, Abrupt Global Climate Change, and Freedom

An "iced neuron."

     As you will see as you explore this website, my main interest is in the historical development of embodied human consciousness, in particular the environmental and neurobehavioral factors that have contributed to the shift from the primarily perceptual consciousness common to all creatures, to the conceptual self-consciousness of human beings. Because the current climate cycle - long, cold, arid glacial phases alternating with short, warm, wet interglacial phases - has been going on during most of the period during which we human beings separated from our nearest primate forebears, I have become particularly interested in it. My studies have revealed that global climate change can occur abruptly and that the next glacial phase is probably imminent.
    From a naturalistic perspective, it is apparent that the modern mind developed out of a conservative, less differentiated variety of consciousness that provided a strong, persistent, and generally satisfying sense of meaning for its practitioners over hundreds of thousands of years. My deep concern is that, because of Nature's obliviousness to civilization and the long intervals of time between abrupt climate changes, we have no conscious system to warn us to begin our adaptations for the transition to glacial phase conditions. Because of this, together with the dependence of the modern mind on the smart scaffolding provided by civilization, the modern mind is vulnerable to regression if civilization fails to survive. We do, of course, have an instinct to insure survival of the human species. That instinct is consciousness and it has led to an unprecedented increase in human population during this interglacial period. Unfortunately, it provides no specific alarm, other than a growing and irresistible, but vague, feeling of something huge and dangerous approaching, to tell us to pay attention and begin formulating adaptive measures to deal with abrupt global climate change. In the absence of knowledgeable leadership, it will always be easier to succumb to habit and blame others for our growing sense of unease. The growing subconscious fear that increasingly permeates all of society can easily be mined for personal gain by self-seeking or ignorant politicians, intolerance will grow, and we will find our society becoming less and less suitably positioned to save our most cherished values when Nature shakes its fist and the next glacial phase begins.
    This creates a difficult and dangerous situation for human beings and for civilization, especially in those societies that value the accumulation of wealth above intellectual and emotional integrity. Under such conditions, knowledge of the climate cycle and the reality and threat of abrupt global climate change may never become integrated into the human worldview. In that case, the earth's climate cycle may constrain embodied human consciousness to operate in only two modes. First, a participatory (ancestral) mode, which involves a minimum of individuation and which dominates during glacial phases when conditions are severe; and, second, an alienated mode, which involves development of a strong ego-(self)consciousness and which flourishes during interglacial phases.
    Although the global warming that is occurring here near the end of this interglacial period - with its accompanying sea level rise and stronger storms - is a real and very major problem, the glacial period that is likely to follow - with its long duration and cold temperatures, its aridity and marked reduction in livable and arable land - is the real civilization-buster. If we lose civilization and the supports it provides for the modern mind, we shall very possibly lose our modern variety of consciousness, together with the notion (and practice!) of individual freedom that accompanies it. The lure of meaning that enmeshment in participatory consciousness provides must not be underestimated! Just think about how hard it was - and how fortunate we were - to have broken the chains that bound us to the consciousness that dominated during our glacial phase past. Do we really want to risk going back to that!?
    To emphasize the critical importance of planning for abrupt global climate change for the future of embodied human consciousness, I have named the site "Iced Neuron." It represents my attempt to think anew about the human condition without abandoning Hope or slipping into a "solipsism of the present moment." It is meant to be educational - at both a cognitive and an emotional level - and to promote sustainable living. Please take what you like and leave the rest...

"If you do not expect it, you will not find the unexpected, for it is hard to find and difficult."
(Heraclitus, quoted in Loren Eiseley, The Unexpected Universe, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1964)

"Don't just do something, stand there."
(Gautama the Buddha)