CLEA is participating in the international Human Energy Project (HEP) to provide a scientific foundation for a theory of Noosphere, the sphere of thought enveloping the Earth. This builds further on our research on the related concepts of the Global Brain and the distributed intelligence of the Internet. We moreover help the HEP to develop an integrated, meaningful, science-based worldview, called "the Third Story of the Universe". This also builds further on our project "Origins of Goal-directedness", where we develop a mathematical foundation for the narrative framework developed in the HEP. The project is funded by the Kacyra Family Foundation.
N2 conference, University of California Berkeley
In November 2023, CLEA travelled to California to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the Noosphere. The conference “N2: The Noosphere at 100: The Future of Human Collective Consciousness” was initiated by Human Energy and co-organized by CLEA. This 3-day conference took place at the University of California Berkeley, and gathered an interdisciplinary group of thinkers and doers to explore how to intentionally, collectively and ethically steer the future evolution of the noosphere. You can find a coverage of the conference's highlights here, both in images, video and text.
BACKGROUND OF THE HUMAN ENERGY PROJECT
Human Energy was founded to share a new scientific and cosmic story introducing the Noosphere as a source of meaning for future generations in our globalizing world. The project addresses the challenges of unprecedented technological and social change which, together with the scientific picture of an aimless universe, have created a crisis of orientation.
The Third Story of the Universe offers a meaningful way to understand this moment in the history of our species. This new cosmic story contrasts with rigid interpretations of religions and myths (the First Story) as well as current versions of science that eliminate meaning and purpose from the universe (the Second Story). Humankind is experiencing a cosmic transition as we continue to interconnect technologically and cross-culturally. Together we are forming the Noosphere, a shared sphere of culture, technology, and thought weaving human beings into a mindful global envelope, even a new form of life as a superorganism. This process has existential and world-historical significance for all of us.
The HEP brings together scientists, scholars, engineers, artists, and storytellers working to highlight the Noosphere by telling the Third Story. We are beginning to visualize the Noosphere’s formation and history; study its potential future scenarios as humanity takes more and more control of its future course; and explore how human beings connecting across the world may realize themselves socially and individually in its development. Learn more here: https://humanenergy.io/our-mission/.
The scientific board of the HEP consists of:
- Terrence Deacon (UC Berkeley)
- Francis Heylighen (CLEA, VUB)
- Brian Swimme (California Institute for Integrative Studies)
- David Sloan Wilson (U Binghamton)
