From Book1
FOR EVERYONE: Rational-Ethical Living | The Three Exponential Changes:
The
third exponential change, remember, is one that I am postulating is just beginning to occur (or, more accurately, accelerate). Thus, I am maintaining that this change will be hard to recognize at first. This is because in order to recognize this exponential change, one has to have at least some picture (imagination) of how things will be
after the escalation occurs. Since this change will make us dramatically different from the way we are now, and we have never so far been that way, we obviously will have difficulty imagining such a state of affairs. The most immediate reaction of the reader upon hearing such a prediction might well be "how silly," or "how far out," or "how idealistic." But just think about how difficult it would have been for us, five hundred thousand years ago, to imagine creating "Gone With the Wind" or the poems by T. S. Elliott, or even the verbal poetry of Homer. And then think of how difficult it would have been for someone in medieval times to imagine cell phones, space shuttles, and the Internet. ("Travel 60 mph? Ha! You'd scare all the horses!")
But I believe it is indeed possible to imagine what this change will be like, given enough thought. We will be able to imagine it, but it will be hard to take it seriously as something that can actually happen. We will say, "But that's not possible, because we humans are just not like that!" In so saying, however, we are simply demonstrating that we are not yet there, that we have not yet accomplished the change. So I am preparing the reader to use his or her imagination, and to ask the question, "Is there really any reason why this can never happen?" And if it is indeed possible, what is required to bring it about?
There is one other mistake the reader could make in reading on, namely, the mistake of thinking that he or she has an idea of what the change being talked about would really entail, simply upon reading a brief description of it. If the reader does this, he or she will be left with the impression that, yes, the author has an interesting idea, and probably some of us, especially the reader, have already undergone the change. I can only hope the reader will keep reading so as to get a much clearer idea of the nature and
enormity of this change that I am predicting, and of the
enormous good that it can provide for us (or, more especially, our progeny).
I am maintaining that a proper understanding of what I am trying to convey will produce in the reader a drastically different outlook upon the current scene and a drastically different view of the possible future. And I am maintaining that this awareness will bring about a drastic change in how the reader comes to live his or her life and to relate to those close to him or her. Such a drastic change cannot be easy or immediate.
The third exponential change is the emergence and ascendance to primacy of "rational ethics," thus replacing the ethics that comes to us naturally, by virtue of our basic animal nature. When this has occurred to a major extent, that is, when the escalation really has occurred to about the greatest extent possible, members of our species will be so different from how we are now that they will be able metaphorically to name themselves "
Homo rationalis." They will look back on how we are now and view our current selves as almost like a different species, perhaps much the way we think about Neanderthals, or even chimpanzees.
I am referring to a change in how we will be
globally, as a species, not individually or in small groups.
So
my tasks now are
to convey to the reader answers to the following questions:
- What do I mean by "rational ethics"?
- How is it different from the ethics that has come to us naturally?
- What will "Homo rationalis" be like?
- Why is this change in our species not only good but possible?
- What is the evidence that the change has already begun to escalate significantly?
- How can the reader do his or her part in fostering this change?
- Why can doing so have an enormously beneficial effect on the lives of the reader and those close to him or her?
In order to carry out the above tasks, I have to give consideration to the order in which the ideas are presented. As I have already stated, I am making an extreme effort to construct this book in a manner that will be convincing by virtue of being self-evident (rather than being dependent upon accepting ideas that only those in specialized fields can feel confident about). I have concluded that the
following sequence of presentations is optimal:
- Basic Concepts: Determinants of Behavior
- Basic Concepts: Ethics
- Rational-Ethical Anger Prevention
- Rational-Ethical Child Rearing
- Rational-Ethical Belief Management
- Rational-Ethical Government
- Rational-Ethical Religion
- What the Reader Should Do
Before embarking on the above, however, I wish to convey something more generally about what this book is addressing.
The reader has undoubtedly experienced a certain response to many of the distressing and sometimes tragic events that have occurred in his or her life, or that he or she has learned about from others or through the media. The reaction would be something like, "This didn't
have to happen, so why
did it?" What this reaction is in response to is the
decision of some individual or group to engage in some
behavior or action that has led to much
suffering and misery. The decision didn't
have to be made that way, but it
was. In retrospect, there is the feeling that it could have been predicted that this decision would primarily be a bad one.
Now, it can be said that all of these decisions
shouldn't have been made. As will be clarified in this book, the area of thought about what
should or
should not be done can be referred to as
ethics. So we can say that there is something that is not optimal about the structure or functioning of our ethics, if indeed a better kind of ethics is possible, that is, a kind of ethics that really
works. The thesis of this book is that we are
just beginning to identify a better kind of ethics than that which comes naturally to us, and that
we are beginning to implement a change to that better kind of ethics. Since the better kind of ethics does not come naturally, there is no way of deliberately changing to it without identifying it and understanding it in such a way that each of us can
replace the natural ethical tendency within us with the new kind of ethics. This will take not only
understanding but also
effort. In order to change efficiently a tendency within oneself, one has to
become aware of the tendency and actively
practice replacing it with the new tendency. This is essentially
exercise, that
strengthens the new tendency as it repetitively is made to replace the old.
The reader should remember that this change that I am referring to is
just beginning to escalate, so that it will not be easy initially to see the process occurring. The reader should also remember that, if I am correct, it will be
hard to imagine what life will be like when the escalation has become almost complete. However, it is indeed possible to imagine this in some sense. For instance, remember the reaction described above to the distressing and sometimes tragic events that didn't seem to have to occur? Well, now imagine that
all of those events had indeed
not occurred, and that there was now no longer any significant tendency for them to occur. Imagine how different the world would be. Imagine also what the important things in life would be for us.
If the reader is asked to imagine such a world, he or she will very likely say, "Well, such a world cannot exist, because we humans are just not built that way." But the reader should remember that this reaction is no different than the reaction would have been five hundred years ago to a description of how our world is today. What we "knew" at that time to be "impossible" is for some of us now commonplace. Again, I am asking the reader to use his or her imagination, while asking the question as to whether there really is an obvious reason why such a change is indeed impossible.
Do I think that this third exponential change is inevitable or guaranteed? No, I do not. If it occurs, it will be through the
coordinated effort of increasingly large numbers of individuals, such as the reader,
knowledgeable about what to do to foster it and
convinced that the effort to do so is worthwhile. In other words, although the change has begun and is already escalating, for the change to go toward completion will require
deliberate effort based upon
accurate understanding and agreement.
It is indeed possible that this understanding will never be sufficiently achieved. We may fail for other reasons, also. For instance, we may have a devastating war or act of terrorism that throws our species back millennia. Or we may be rendered extinct by an asteroid from space or a virus from the ocean. But there are
two reasons for putting forth the effort. The first is that putting forth the effort at least
makes it more possible, and the second is that putting forth the effort
will have very positive immediate effects for the individual and those close to him or her.
I hope in this book to convince the reader of these assertions. In so doing, I hope to do my part in fostering the change, and thereby to express my gratitude for all that my species has done for me.
. And what is interesting is that you are actually "trying" to explain it to others. Eek! I don't know Bill 
