INTEGRATION+REPORT+2

Nicky Robinson 8802 INTEGRATION REPORT 2

**INTRODUCTION** A review of 8802 - The Emergence of 21st Century Humanity, is really a review of the history of ‘everything’ - that is to say, the history of our universe, our planet and the evolution of humankind, from our cellular beginnings, through to today in the year 2012. The unit did not however, stop there, taking us beyond present day, to consider the future of our existence.

**ENGAGING A RANGE OF DISCIPLINES** This complete overview through time and across a range of integrated science and humanities disciplines - from physics to cosmology, biology, anthropology, chemistry, sociology, psychology and philosophy - has afforded me the opportunity to better understand the how and why of things: //Why// we evolved into the beings we are today. //How// we developed as a species. //How// our evolution has impacted other species. //How// the evolution of our intelligence has benefited and perhaps, impeded our survival. //Why//, in the 21st century, we are now being forced to address some of the man-made problems we set up - challenges to our very survival. And //how// we might resolve them. For if we are to address these challenges, we might perhaps be more successful if we first consider our past: What worked, what did not; how we can build on our successes and how we can avoid making the same mistakes which we are realising today, have cost us dearly. A comprehensive understanding of the course of planetary and human development will enable IHS students to make informed, practical moves, which contribute meaningfully to human futures. In other words, greater knowledge offers the potential to help shape a greater future.

**TECH SUPPORT** A second important facet of my 8802 learning, has been the development of my technical skills in the research and preparation of weekly assignments, forum interactions and the end of semester project. Some of this learning I admit, has been quite difficult. I have been forced to address my own unwillingness to enter the 21st century and embrace all that technology offers Anthropocene man. Such a challenge has certainly taught me persistence, but it has also validated my capacity for resourcefulness, as I pursue possible solutions until I find what works.

From advancing my wiki, to exploring timeline software or building voice recordings into my Powerpoint presentation and compressing the file size, I have called on tutors, fellow students and quite a number of people around me - including tech savvy customers at the cafe where I work, for help. “How do I prevent Powerpoint from resizing my text... by the way, do you take sugar in your latte?” No doubt this too, was an intended part of the process. For my understanding to grow, for the principles of Integrated Human Studies to work most effectively, I must integrate: Intermingle, expand, involve myself with the realities and wisdoms of others, both from the student body and wider society. After all, no one person can change the world - but a few? I am constantly reminded of Margaret Mead’s observation, “//Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”//

**INTERACTION WITH OTHERS** A third key are of development through this unit has been the importance of interaction and collaboration with other students in developing understandings. Here, I found different cultures, professions, perspectives, generations all infused my learning with ideas I could not have considered in isolation. I welcomed this and encouraged it from others. As a mature aged student, I perhaps have an advantage in appreciating the value of wisdom through shared experiences. I did my best to encourage interaction from others.

In 8801 I was new to postgrad study, excited and, though not particularly confident initially, highly enthused. I expected my reality would be universal. Of course, that was naive, however, it did increase my sensitivity to the fact there were other students for whom English - or the act of writing - was not comfortable. In 8802, I became more aware that while technology, science and academia were not fields in which I had great experience or comfort, the skill of articulate expression through writing was one of my key strengths. I sought therefore, to share this strength and encourage as much as possible, other students to express themselves without intimidation or reserve. This endeavour had mixed results and I will go into that more fully in my Collaboration report. Suffice to day, it was an interesting process in a unit where one of my key learnings was a growing awareness that understanding the bigger picture - that is, the wholeness of things - must include input from all participants in the exercise, be that the exercise of developing a survival strategy for humanity in the 21st century, or the exercise of getting into communication with fellow students in a course, each of whom has a unique and equally valid perspective and therefore, is essential to the whole.

**WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS - AN INTEGRATED PERSPECTIVE.** //Given that my first Integration Report covering weeks 1 to 5 was successful only in its summary of content, rather than offering any insight into my overall comprehension of the information, or the relationships between and purpose of each week, I will briefly revisit the first half of the semester, then continue on to week 10, in order to present a complete report.//

We entered the unit 8802 with an introduction to Big History - a remarkable presentation from David Christian because he managed to articulate the entire history of the universe in under 20 minutes. Apart from the overwhelming sense of smallness this gave human existence, my earliest awareness was that, as with 8801, this unit would integrate a number of social and natural sciences - immediately I was exposed to a mix of sciences along with core issues of a scientific //and// philosophical nature, such as questioning the concept of time. Did it exist before we perceived it? Does the sun’s motion across the sky, the changing patterns of weather really represent time - or is this just a wrapping we have given physical events, in order to compartmentalise and comprehend them better? From the most expansive overview of universal history possible, to exploration of some core understandings about life, it was immediately clear this unit would be asking the big questions. Subsequent weeks bore this theory out.

By Week 2, our view necessarily began to narrow and focus: One particular solar system, an individual planet; Earth. We honed in on this planet and considered how the second law of thermodynamics which David Christian introduced in week 1, might have been proven - or turned on its head with thresholds of increasing complexity - such as with the evolution of life on Earth. And this of course, lead perfectly into Week 3, as we began to explore genes and their inexhaustible imperative to survive and evolve. But then, a stumbling block: We were challenged by a thesis that humans reached a certain point in their evolution - and stopped.

Introducing potential controversy in the form of a challenge to the notion that the human brain has adequately adapted to present conditions for its ongoing survival, also introduced some animated discussion amongst the student group. Ornstein and Ehrlich offered a theory which contested the views of several of us - a conscious strategy from course planners, I suspect, with the desired effect. It did serve to challenge existing thought, to provoke some wariness from those of us with strong religious or philosophical beliefs. This became another ongoing theme throughout the semester, as values and views were introduced, contradicted, challenged and expanded. At the same time, we were being challenged to develop our critical thinking and build a journal in our wikispace, to share with other students, some insight into each other’s individual journey and to afford us the opportunity to reflect on the implications of course content: Does this challenge belief systems? Do I struggle with the views of contributing authors? What is it about the evolution of our species that suggests we are ill equipped/ well equipped to survive the century in which we now exist? What does it mean if we accept we have ceased to evolve at the rapid rate of our ancestors? And on a more personal note, how does this knowledge assist me in refining my career choices? Where do I fit in? Am I wanting to pursue a science degree? Am I a philosopher in the making? Why am I offended by some science which reduces humanity to a cellular level, yet excited by the unanswerable questions about who we really are beyond the meat and potatoes of our physical selves? What does this suggest about me and my role in the bigger picture? How will understanding the history of human evolution contribute to my career? The answer is, of course, it will contribute whatever I decide to embrace. These are building blocks of understanding. Without this network of knowledge, I have no basis from which to develop and contribute learned, evolving views.

In Weeks 4, 5 and 6, we rapidly moved forward from the billions of years of micro-evolution which set the stage. From early human activities such as art, tool making, music and spiritual curiosity, something fundamentally changed in our evolution as we peeled away from animal behaviours and evolved cultural practices. This was a fascinating time for me to learn about. I have long wondered whether there was a slow development of curiosity or a spark - a moment of spiritual cognition much like the moment of conception, where humans suddenly were able to view the body as separate to ‘them’? By exploring the development of our actions through anthropological studies and cultural observations, I gained deeper insight into the world at that time, where the growth of the brain, the introduction of better nutrition, and perhaps, some less quantifiable inputs all conspired to present another threshold, through which sentient beings emerged.

Our rate of change increased again as we moved from hunter-gathering to agriculture, to industry - and technology. It is interesting to observe my own behaviour here, as we moved through week 6 into week 7 and I was prompted to consider what being human fundamentally means. I realised I placed great value in this identity. Like so many other homo sapiens, I am excited and curious about technology - but equally, tend to feel threatened by it when suggestion of a ‘merger’ is introduced. Transhumanity is not an entirely welcome concept - yet in many ways, I have unconsciously embraced its meaning and integrated technology into my own life without hesitation.

I harked back to the section of study in 8801 which explored eugenics - and remembered with interest both the enthusiastic proponents of human perfection, and the vigorous opponents, who saw it as human farming; the propagation of ‘desirables’ at the expense of those perceived imperfect. What is the difference between the introduction of the transhuman and eugenics? We are hardly going to infuse humans with imperfect technology (at least, not intentionally). I was reminded of a troubling novel I read some years ago by Kazuo Ishiguro, titled //‘Never Let Me Go’//. As our study into transhumanity and other human engineering developed, I realised the author was trying to make a powerful statement about inhumanity, by painting a picture of a future world where certain people were purposely bred to supply organs to the more privileged of the species. Obviously I am not alone in my concerns for the dangers of reducing humanity to component parts.

By week 8, course content was beginning to once again be compacted, as our species’ rate of change increased exponentially through communication, technology and information explosions. We were asked to bullet point and summarise some of these key changes - an exercise which quickly demonstrated the volume of developments was overwhelming, the social implications profound. And here again, I identified with dual of views on such changes: Our hunger for knowledge and understanding is endless. We are multiplying technological advances exponentially - growth is not linear. It is exciting, impossible to predict accurately (a fact we quickly came to realise in Weeks 9 and 10), and like a high performance vehicle, it has the potential to develop out of control. Indeed, some of the reading in Week 9 offered scenarios which model futures that do move outside the perimeters of human control. Once again, this introduces questions of philosophy and ethics, as the Great Transition progresses: At what point might we relinquish control of our own future, and if so, will machines evolve us in a manner consistent with our highest desires, or will we merely become tools for their use 0r extermination, as suits their needs? We learned that technology certainly has provided computers with the fundamentals to process information as efficiently as the human brain. Where that goes in a sphere of exponential growth, is a matter of concern to some.

At the conclusion of the unit with week 10, we are asked to pull all this together and model some shorter term futures for our own country. Twenty years is not a long time when you consider Big History. But having documented the rate of change over the past few hundred years, it is time enough for humanity to make some critical decisions on a number of urgent fronts. Faced with more than a dozen significant challenges to our survival - as listed by James Martin in his treatise on the ‘make or break’ questions of the next hundred years - I was compelled to consider if Australia’s way of life is really all that ideal after all. If we continue on as we always have, enjoying the comforts we’ve grown to expect, building our wealth via the means we’ve developed since the Industrial Age, using technology as a convenience and ‘time saver’ without fully appreciating the implications of having to do less and less ourselves to survive, will we have the skills, the awareness, the capacity to maintain human wellbeing - even to survive some of the potential - if not, likely - scenarios of the coming two decades? My assignment was limited to likely scenarios as well as those I’d prefer. It did not take into account, the possible outcomes of war, of pandemic disease, of challenges to our political boundaries or way of life by unexpected forces. These are questions which also bear consideration if we are to be aware of and adequately prepared for a future speeding towards us at a seemingly increasingly rapid rate.

**WEEKLY FORUMS** The interaction afforded students through the use of weekly questions and posting of responses in thread form offered me some insight into the breadth and depth of interest in the subject of IHS, as well as greater understanding of the academic process and structure. I read threads not only for their content, but also their structure - considering the research behind responses, noting responses that were presented from a personal point of view as opposed to a research-based response which demonstrated comprehension and analysis of the subject matter. I would adjust my responses accordingly. At times however, I felt the inputs constrained or limited and at these times, chose to inject either humour or on occasion, a slightly more contentious response in an attempt to draw lively discussion. This had mixed results, but it did assist me to calibrate my own inputs and hopefully, improve their content.

**PROJECT WORK**

The project (still in production) was another opportunity to review the overall content of the unit and implement some of the key learnings, along with skills such as the ability to order events along a timeline and consider events both in isolation and through time, as a whole.

I chose to investigate patterns of human behaviour where our actions have been detrimental to our health and survival, and to observe the way we evolved over time in recognising these dangers, accepting the science which presented them as such and then acting to remove the danger. After this first step, I then cross referenced the results of this timeline study against the ongoing development of human realities through time on the issue of climate change. It has long been of great interest to me that we are being presented with a significant risk to our survival, yet are spending decades arguing the validity of science which overwhelmingly suggests we must urgently act. It reinforces Ornstein and Ehrlich’s findings on one level, yet suggests there may be a more modern phenomena contributing to the climate challenge: The influence of deliberate counter-forces, working to deny science, to confuse and divert attention from the issue, in order for their actions to persist. This project will employ the use of timelines and a number of disciplines such as psychology, anthropology and biology, to better understand what it might take for a significant change to occur on the issue of climate change, in order that our species collectively acts in the interests of our survival.

**8802’S INFLUENCE ON INTERESTS, ATTITUDES, CAREER INTENTIONS**

In terms of influencing my interests and attitudes, and what IHS offers my career intentions, I have found this second term of study has affected me on a number of levels. Personally, I notice that my natural curiosity is heightened - a case of the more I know, the more I seek to discover. This has had important benefits in terms of my confidence and ability to engage with others on a wider range of matters related to our study. As an example, I attend meditation classes, and several times when the instructor was discussing human or Earth history and asked a question of the class, I was able to offer some of the knowledge learned in IHS. It has become a bit of a source of humour that she will turn to me with a quick statistical question (eg ‘How long have human beings lived on the planet?”), and I often know the answer.

I have also been inspired to read and study beyond the perimeters of our prescribed texts. Reference material sourced for my project has been especially interesting - for example, //Silent Spring// by Rachel Carson and //Merchants of Doubt// by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M Conway. I have expanded my web contacts, adding sites such as the Millenium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, World Transformation Movement and Sustainable Population Australia to name a few. Each contributes unique and valuable insight to my learning, integrating with IHS study and adding to the whole.

As an important building block in my career development, an expanded reality on the history of our species, planet and universe has provided me with invaluable understanding about why our species is in some of the positions it is in today. Previously, I had been aware of facets of our universe’s history, but piecing them together and considering them from a number of disciplinary angles has given me a much deeper understanding of our evolution.

How this will influence my next steps in terms of career, will become apparent in the coming months, as I have reached a point, nearing the conclusion of 8802, where I am ready to make a move into environmental communications, and have begun applying for jobs. My study has opened connections and collaborations with a range of new contacts. With those deemed appropriate, I have begun networking and signalling my keenness to take a new career step. The fact I am studying has been perceived as both a demonstration of my commitment to a career in environment and evidence that I have the capacity to apply my intelligence and persist with the task at hand. The results I’ve worked for thus far also evidence some intelligence on my part. I am confident this will translate into new employment fairly soon.

**SUMMARY**

I look forward to concluding the semester with a strong commitment and contribution through my Project and final reports. By establishing a firm foundation of broad knowledge about human history I consider this unit has been an essential building block for continued learning in Semesters 3 and 4.

End of report.