Evolving Cultural Identities in a Planetary Era

Abstract

We are often told that the biotechnology era is coming. Equally important but less clear is that the planetary era is coming too. A whole range of possibilities lie ahead of us. Our forward-looking plan should be to influence the imagination and knowledge imprinted in the mind of people to facilitate a transformation toward the next level of global cultural and cosmic evolution. We need to encourage more creativity and innovation, including in our identities, and we need a pragmatic mind set to launch the “planetary era.” Communities around the world, if they want to survive, need to make better sense of how the planetary era is possible and what are its basic characteristics. State-of-the-art in biotechnology and brain research is the major enabler of this great transformation. This article examines possible answers to a simple yet deep question: what are the main characteristics of a planetary era, how might cultural identities evolve in a planetary era, and how best can we prepare to shift human nature and minds into high gear? Different scenarios explore this question.