The Meaning of Life: Conscious Evolution
June 24th, 2005 by Steve Pavlina
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In this final post in the Meaning of Life Series, I’ll attempt to present a broader view of why personal development is so important and why I believe that investing in your own growth is the best investment you can make.
Conscious Evolution
When I used the word “evolution” to describe my world view, I was not using the word in the biological sense of natural selection, breeding, and mutation. A few people seemed to get stuck on that term. I was using the broader definition of evolution: a process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage, especially a more advanced or mature stage (source = Wordnet).
This includes the evolution of thought, society, knowledge, and the capabilities of life — the evolution of the noosphere moreso than of the biosphere. The noosphere is our collective knowledge and wisdom, and today it “evolves” far faster than any biological entities. In fact, the ongoing biological evolution of human beings is so slow as to be virtually irrelevant compared to the rate at which the noosphere is evolving. Our biology has evolved little in the past 1000 years, but our technology, knowledge, and culture have evolved massively.
So when I said I wanted to serve the process of evolution, I did not mean it in the biological sense — biological evolution is too slow and has become largely irrelevant. If the biological evolution of humans does continue, it is likely to occur by choice, not as a result of ongoing breeding and mutation over eons. But what matters most right now is the evolution of the noosphere.
What About The Biosphere Though?
I agree that the planet is in bad shape environmentally. But we can’t afford to wait for biological evolution to fix these problems. If we do that, humans will almost certainly become extinct before we have the chance to evolve into something better. Some experts assert that the environment is in such bad shape that we won’t make it to the end of this century… that the destructive processes we’ve put in motion may already be irreversible, even if we we were to immediately start doing everything we could to correct them.
Ignoring these problems isn’t a viable option, but I also think that attacking these problems directly is doomed to failure. There are already people doing that now, but they seem to be making little progress. They may slow the rate of decay a bit, but they’re nowhere near reversing it. There’s too much resistance, and by the time the resistance can be effectively overcome, we’ll be way past the point of no return.
Consider something as simple as diet. The environmental consequences of the Standard American Diet are severe — to say it wastes resources and pollutes the environment is a gross understatement. The U.S. government subsidizes most of it, which hides the true costs. It takes 18 times as much land to grow the food for someone eating the SAD diet compared to someone eating a vegan-plant based diet. If someone eating the SAD diet were to eat vegan for just one day, they’d save more water than they would by not showering for a year. Your decision to eat a burger for dinner is not merely a health choice — it’s an environmental and political one as well. In fact, virtually anything you might do environmentally or politically in your lifetime is irrelevant compared to the simple decision of what to eat each day. You could devote your entire life to Greenpeace, and it will only amount to a puny fraction of what you’d accomplish by living as a resource-guzzling playboy who happens to be vegetarian.
And yet, so few people are aware of the long-range consequences of what they do because their “knowledge” is fed to them by marketers. They buy into the social context instead of thinking for themselves. People make billions off the SAD diet, and it doesn’t hurt them financially if you want to plant a few trees on the side or clean up some trash to feel good about yourself, as long as you keep downing the burgers. But try to attack the diet that makes them rich, and they’ll drown you in marketing until you submit.
I could write about this stuff all day, but it’s already been written. The average person will simply avoid it, and to the degree it does get read, it will only be resisted or ignored. People must have the wherewithal to seek it out because they really want to know what’s going on. But so few people currently have the courage and discipline to do that.
I don’t see the solution as spending more time and energy attacking such problems directly. If I attempt that, I’ll only be outmarketed by those with a massive financial stake in perpetuating the current belief system, however false it may be. I could spend my whole life attacking smoking, for instance, but in the end it won’t make much difference — I might convince a fair number of people to quit, but many more will become smokers, and many who do quit will simply adopt a substitute vice. So overall there won’t be much impact. My resistance will simply be met with stronger resistance. Force will fail.
So What’s the Solution?
The best solution I can think of is to work on human awareness itself, to help more people see the benefits and navigate the obstacles in pursuing their own conscious growth. I don’t think this requires a change in our biology but rather a shift in the noosphere. I think we already have the biological capabilities necessary to fix the problems of this planet if they’re fixable at all, but we currently lack the awareness, discipline, and courage as a species to step up and take personal responsibility for doing what is right. Most people would rather live an illusion than spend time thinking about the best possible contribution they could make with their lives. But I think I can help change that. A good number of people seem to be reaching similar conclusions.
I figure that over the course of my lifetime, the absolute best thing I can do is to implant and strengthen the seed of conscious personal growth into the noosphere, in cooperation with other people who have similar missions.
Human beings have so much untapped capacity it’s ridiculous. If we can edge up the realization of this capacity and raise the average level of awareness of human beings, then more people will “wake up” and start living with greater consciousness and courage. They’ll begin to drop destructive habits and adopt more positive ones. They’ll start to define a meaningful purpose for their lives, and along the way they’ll encourage others to do the same. They’ll stop living in fear of their own shadow and obsessing over trivialities. And these “upgraded” human beings, living more consciously and courageously, will have a far better chance of solving the greatest problems of humanity and of successfully managing the greatest risks that threaten us.
My mission then is to encourage and assist people in pursuing their conscious growth, to help them find a path away from a life of quiet desperation and towards a life of courage, purpose, and responsibility. I have not been able to think of any better contribution I could make with my life than this.
For me this mission is deeply intertwined with the pursuit of my own personal growth. By working on myself, I increase my capacity to help others. And by helping others to become more conscious and conscientious, I build an environment that reinforces my own growth and which helps to insulate me from the forces that threaten to suck me back down into low-awareness living.
Right now I’m manifesting this mission in the form of articles, blog entries, and an upcoming book. Over the next decade I expect to extend it across a variety of different media: articles, books, audio programs, speeches, seminars, etc. Beyond that I envision putting together a formal organization of some kind to help people grow more consciously and to upgrade their courage, discipline, and awareness, and also to serve as an outlet for people who wish to team up with others who have similar missions.
One challenge is figuring out how to live within the current noosphere while working to change it. You have to rely on the current economic system to provide for your basic needs. My solution thus far has been to systematize and automate my income as much as possible, so I have the freedom to pursue higher level projects without having to invest too much time and energy in making a living. I have a few other ideas that should improve that situation even more.
I don’t really see the solving of social/global problems as the primary end though. I think that’s mainly a side effect of the pursuit of growth, not the purpose of growth itself. I see the pursuit of greater courage, consciousness, and conscience as an end in itself. However, such pursuits will solve many problems along the way, and often this is easier than attacking such problems directly. For example, you can attack problems like being overweight, being addicted to smoking, and having unsatisfying relationships and make very little progress across the board. But if you work on developing your courage, awareness, and self-discipline, these problems will solve themselves — in fact, they’ll become almost trivially easy.
Investing in your own growth is the best investment you can make. Don’t think for a minute that it’s a selfish pursuit. Quite the contrary — it is in fact the best thing you can do to help others. If you feel you are not contributing much with your life right now, don’t beat yourself up about it or deny what you could become if you were only strong enough. Instead, turn inward and work on yourself until you become the kind of person on the inside who automatically expresses good as a manifestation of who you are.
Conquer your fear, and the rest is easy.
This post is part six of a six-part series on the meaning of life:
Part 1: Intro
Part 2: How Shall We Live?
Part 3: Discover Your Purpose
Part 4: From Purpose to Action
Part 5: Transitioning
Part 6: Conscious Evolution
June 24th, 2005 at 6:39 pm
A great article.
I look forward to your next one.
June 24th, 2005 at 11:47 pm
Hey Steve,
Do you have any links to back you up on the vegan diet claims? I’d like to go into it a bit more in order to see the problems, pro-contra, etc.
June 25th, 2005 at 2:23 am
The entire meaning of life series was great, as was your last series on self-discipline. I have been reading your articles and blog posts since you started this website last year and I have to say you have helped me tremendously. I can’t say my personal change has been quick, but I am making the conscious and continuous pursuit of personal growth on a day-to-day basis, and I am really seeing amazing changes in all aspects of my life…. and these changes are happening more and more quickly. I am more focused on my goals than ever before; when I exercise, I now give it all I have and have seen amazing results in that area; my relationship with my wife is growing stronger that ever before…I could go on and on. One area you covered that has reached me deeply and that I can’t thank you enough for is recognizing that so many of my former actions have been based on fear - such as a fear of making new friends and holding on to old ones that reinforce old habits. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks and that you are truly changing peoples lives with your writings.
June 25th, 2005 at 6:29 am
I´m speechless.
Now that I see your mission explicitly expressed I can´t feel but a deep sense of respect towards you. It seems like a castle in the sky, an impossible endeavour, yet I know it is possible. I´ve seen how some of my friends have entered this path, and I myself did about 18 months ago. I have to say many articles you have written have tremendously impacted my way way of thinking.
A couple of months ago I experienced a shift in my awereness, the kind of inside change that makes you look at everything different. The fact that you write so crearly about this kind of phenomenoms helps me greatly in understanding what I´m going through, it gives me perspective bc more often than not your words resonate within me.
Hey Steve, you are making an impact on people around the world. You did on me. And I´d like to believe I am know positively influencing my own environement. It´s a ripple effect.
Press on.
June 25th, 2005 at 9:20 am
Teleologic Evolution:
http://www.teleologic.org/
June 25th, 2005 at 8:30 pm
Steve,
I wonder if you could expound a bit on your transition to veganism. I’m interested in becoming a vegetarian (you’ll pry eggs and cheese from my cold, dead hands). The only problem I’ve had is finding quick and tasty ways to prepare vegetables. There is a gene mutation that causes some people to lack taste for certain vegetables and I think I have it. I honestly could barely tell the difference between broccoli and a carrot if they were minced and my eyes were closed. Maybe that’s why I like strong tasting veggies like spinach. Anyway, if you could detail your transition to veganism and the alternative ingredients and other things you found to make the transition it would be a great resource for those looking to make a similar transition. I’m concerned about being able to easily get all of my essential amino acids from my diet and I’m not a fan of over-consuming soy-based products to accomplish this.
June 26th, 2005 at 3:50 am
The Meaning of Life
Steve Pavlina has done a great job again. Last week, he wrote a series of six articles on the meaning of life. What is your purpose of life? How should you act on your life? It is very important to find those answers for yourself - to find your purpo…
June 26th, 2005 at 6:11 am
@Joel: For me the transition was as simple as reading books about various diets and then doing 30-day trials of each. I went vegetarian in 1993 after a 30-day trial and then vegan in 1997 after another 30-day trial. Health info is so corrupted by marketing now that I rely on personal experience more than anything else.
In the meantime you can find dozens of other short stories on why people go vegan.
As for veggies being tasteless, are you buying organic produce or mainstream swill? Fruit and veggies from mainstream stores are tasteless to me — carrots are the worst. Try organic produce from a store like Whole Foods or Wild Oats if there’s one near you, or get them from a local farmer’s market. There’s a huge difference in flavor and quality.
June 26th, 2005 at 9:05 am
Hey Steve,
Great article. I especially like your idea about setting up an organization dedicated to personal development.
A word of caution about veganism: it isn’t the healthiest diet for everyone. There are certain genetic tendencies that make some people better suited to plant-based (carbohydrate) diets versus meat-based (protein and fat) diets. The concept is known as Metabolic Typing and it has been around for quite some time. I suggest everyone take this Free Metabolic Typing Test before they consider starting a vegan or vegetarian diet.
Of course regardless of your metabolic type, a vegan diet may be better for the environment than a meat-based diet. However, I believe that if you eat according to your metabolic type, the huge improvement in your energy, consciousness and health will allow you to help the environment much more so than the impact of your eating habits.
If you’d like to learn more information about metabolic typing, including specific food recommendations, I highly recommend Paul Chek’s How to Eat Move and Be Healthy, which I believe is one of the best true health books you can read today. There is also more free information on Dr. Mercola’s site.
June 26th, 2005 at 10:00 am
“Human beings have so much untapped capacity it’s ridiculous. If we can edge up the realization of this capacity and raise the average level of awareness of human beings, then more people will “wake up” and start living with greater consciousness and courage. They’ll begin to drop destructive habits and adopt more positive ones. They’ll start to define a meaningful purpose for their lives, and along the way they’ll encourage others to do the same. They’ll stop living in fear of their own shadow and obsessing over trivialities.”
Getting people to “wake up” is a very difficult thing to do; you have a lot of work cut out for you. I haven’t been successful in making much of a dent in the awareness of others. For a while I did try to do this, but I was met with so much resistance that I decided my time would be better spent working on myself than trying to pull others along. Interestingly though, some people around me have changed their lifestyles somewhat (especially their diets, but it took more than a year after I became vegan for that to happen). But there are some that I’ve had to let go of because our values have become contradictory. It was tough at first, but I feel a lot more free now.
By the way Steve, out of the articles and blog entries that you have written, the ones I like most are those that challenge me to think about how to improve myself and my life. Most (or even all) of the personal development books and audio programs I’ve read/listened to tend to tell you what you should be doing. I think there’s a lot more value in challenging people to think for themselves about what they should do. I believe one of your blog entries was titled “Trust yourself, not the experts” where you said that you can’t expect everything in those motivational books to work for you just because it worked for the author. This is why I think advice on that level is less useful than guiding the reader to think about his/her life and come up with their own solutions.
June 26th, 2005 at 9:10 pm
Thank you Steve for writing about this. You’ve attacked this problem from an angle that I’ve never seen before — reconciling the emotional aspects vs the intellectual vs social ramifcations, as well as providing a detailed breakdown of how one can go about making such a change. Typically these areas get covered to greater or lesser degrees by various self improvement texts, but I don’t think I’ve seen one attack them all simultaneously until now. Too often I’d read self improvement material providing ways of improving XYZ without providing an answer as to if XYZ is important in the first place.
On a side note, I also like how you attack the default context of the USA (being a good cog). When one rejects this idea and one has to interact with others (esp. family members) who have bought fully into this context, it can be a tad tough explaining to them your “wierd” way of thinking. BTW, have you ever read Thoreau?
And also, you are one lucky SOB to have a wife who supported you in all these transitions with no guaruantee on things like stability of future income. And to think you met a woman like this in LA!
Anyway, keep up the good work!
June 26th, 2005 at 9:13 pm
Also, how did your family react after you rejected Catholocism? Any lingering resentment or attempted (re)conversion?
June 27th, 2005 at 4:19 pm
What an awesome series - it tacked the question in unexpected ways, and really got me thinking. I’m a little sad to see it come to a close, but looking forward to your next articles as always
June 28th, 2005 at 8:19 am
Steve -
Great series! Since you are such an inveterate reader, perhaps you might share those books that have had the most impact on you, along with your comments. Thanks!
June 28th, 2005 at 10:27 am
I think it’s really brave thing trying to define the meaning of life to all these people. Are you absolutely sure that you find it? As far as I am concerned I find all the truth in the Bible. As much as you want to admit it or not, there are a lot of similar things in Bible to what you are saying in your articles. About love, helping others, honesty, etc. So I’m not sure what was the reason you totally rejected everything considering Catholicism. Still, thats your choice and everyone is trying to find their own way. And it won’t be long till we all find it out, 100 years maximum.
Besides this I also want to tell you that you helped me a lot with your articles which are full of practical ideas of improving. For example the 30 day challenge, (which i failed the first time, but after that i set a new one and i did it). Also, like Dale said, your great approach to fear and courage. “being scared to death but saddling up anyway” is the best thing i learned here, besides all this other great things to learn here. But like I said, I was a bit surprised with your articles about the meaning of life. Still, I know your only goal is to at least help people reach the level you are now on, which I guess is perfectly fine.
July 13th, 2005 at 11:47 am
It is a fine thing to establish one’s own religion in one’s heart, not to be dependent on tradition and second-hand ideals. Life will seem to you, later, not a lesser, but a greater thing.
— D. H. Lawrence (1885 - 1930)
From The Quotations Page’s “Motivational Quotes of the Day” 2005-07-13
http://www.quotationspage.com/mqotd.html