Humanity as a Superorganism

The Story:

There is a specific pattern being uncovered at the leading edges of biological science that reveals the steps by which fragmented pieces of cosmic material coalesce into single cells, which evolve into unified organisms with highly differentiated and synergistic subsystems, vital to the well-being of the whole. The next natural step in the development of humanity is to become an increasingly cooperative and dynamically integrated  superorganism.

Renowned cell-biologist Bruce Lipton explains the science behind this story of great transition. Here are some highlights and from the full article. Dr. Lipton writes:

  • Today’s leading-edge science is shattering old myths and rewriting the story that will shape the future of human civilization. A paradigm-altering synthesis of science and society reveals the planet is in the midst of an incredible evolutionary event … the emergence of a new species, a superorganism… Humanity.
  • A human being, though perceived as a single entity, is in fact, an advanced community of 50 trillion specialized amoeba-like cells. Over the last 200,000 years, evolution has endowed human beings with more awareness and intelligence. When the human nervous system reached its full potential, evolution again came to a stop point.
  • To further enhance evolution and human survival, people began to assemble in to simple communities. In its earliest form, individuals in these organizations all participated in the same hunter-gatherer activities. As human communities enlarged, it was no longer efficient for each individual to do the same job. This led to “differentiation” in which humans acquired specialized jobs and skills to support the life of the community.
  • Human communities began to assemble into tribes, city-states and eventually into nations, multi-“cellular” organizations that encouraged the expansion of human intelligence and awareness.
  • It is becoming apparent that civilization is being pushed into entering the next phase of evolution, a stage in which human beings are the equivalent of “cells” assembling into a new unity, expressed as Humanity. By definition, Humanity is a multicellular superorganism comprised of seven billion human “cells.”
  • Knowledge is derived from observing patterns. The history of evolution reveals a repetitive pattern of organisms evolving into communities of organisms, which then evolve into the creation of the next higher level of organisms (see illustration).
  • When these universal patterns are used to assess the state of human civilization, they reveal the evolution of our human species is on the path toward a hopeful and positive future.

from Bruce Lipton, used with permission

Videos

Being a Cell of Humanity & Letting Go of the Illusion of Separation

Dr. Bruce Lipton describes how the wisdom of the human body is relevant to our social body. We can see ourselves as a living cell in the planetary human body and let go of the illusion of separation.

Celebrating Crisis

Dr. Elisabet Sahtouris is an evolutionary biologist and she speaks about crisis as an essential evolutionary driver to higher levels of creativity and consciousness.

The Evolution of the Butterfly

In “The Evolution of the Butterfly,” Dr. Bruce Lipton narrates the process of a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly. In the caterpillar, every cell has a job and is part of the economy of the organism… until that economy grinds to a halt. If humanity is in “late-stage caterpillar,” what might come next?

Books