Ontological Designing our Future.

march 25, 2013 San Francisco, California.

Manuel Manga

www.evolutionleader.com

This work created by Manuel Manga is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Invitation & Objectives

• To understand • The evolutionary crisis facing humanity as

an opportunity to design future paths for a just, flourishing , sustainable world.

• To design or redesign your own life path• To learn from others about ontological designing. • To apply ontological designing principles to domains of life.

Ontological Designing is a philosophy and a discipline that can be applied to different domains of concern of life.

• Some domains: • Self• Tools, artifacts• Technology• Processes• Structures• Systems• Culture

“We are designers and we are being designed”

Tony Fry

The Evolutionary Crisis:

• A complex & systemic world crisis threatens• The future of the human race• The future of life

• The world crisis shows up in • The ecological crisis, our dying planet & biosphere• Poverty, hunger, & war• The gap between rich & poor nations• Unlimited growth of institutions & nations, • The search for natural resources to fuel more growth • A crisis of meaning and ethics:

Consumerism vs. Being and Development

Opportunity for conscious human evolution

This crisis also presents us with an opportunity for • A conscious human evolution • We can be the designers of

• A new way of being human• A new civilization that is

• Loving • Ethical • Flourishing for all life.• Just• Sustainable

The Dynamics of Ecological Crisis

Steps to an Ecology of Mind Gregory Bateson 1970

Nature doesn’t care…

… if our thinking is faulty …

… if a few characters die off here & there …

… as long as there are enough to

perpetuate the species.

 “The most meaningful activity in which a human being can be engaged is one that is directly related to human evolution. This is true because human beings now play an active and critical role not only in the process of their own evolution but in the survival and evolution of all living things.

Awareness of this places upon human beings a responsibility for their participation in and contribution to the process of evolution. If humankind would accept and acknowledge this responsibility and become creatively engaged in the process of metabiological evolution consciously, as well as unconsciously, a new reality would emerge, and a new age would be born.”

On Human Evolution

Anatomy of Reality Jonas Salk 1985

Three stages of ontological designing :

•We can design a better sustainable future consciously or we can be unconsciously designed by a non sustainable future.

Stage 3: The future of humanity and

Biosphere.

•We designed agriculture, cities, religions, civilizations, the industrial age, the social conquest of the earth.

Stage 2: The last 10,000 years

•We started designing with rocks and the process started to shape our learning-brain-evolution

Stage 1:Early human evolution

Ontological Designing Principles:

We are biological, emotional, linguistic, historical-cultural beings.

Language shapes thought, emotions, relationships. Language is systemic.

We can design human reality with language.

Human beings are designed for learning.

We are not separate from nature, others, systems, universe.

It is impossible for us not to be historical subjects.

We are self-made , independent, alone and fragile.

The fate of humankind turns on a fundamental Darwinian principle adapt or die.

• Like philosophy, coming to grips with the big picture & our need for larger sense of our lives• Embraces love, emotions, trust, science, rationality, reverence, wisdom• Embraces the terrifying aspects of life, tragedy & death• Is the process of transforming the self• Is expansion of self, connecting with people, nature, & universe• Is ultimately social & global, a sense of ourselves identified with others & the world• Recombining with science & nature, rather than play them off against each other

Robert Solomon. Philosopher

Ontological Design of your Life Path:

Evolutionary Systemic Humanism : Scientific, ontological, ethical, & cultural

ScienceEvolution, Ecology,

Biology, Neuroscience

OntologyBody-brain, emotions, language,

relationships

EthicsA love ethic, a reflective

& responsible person, ontologically & scientifically

grounded

CultureA loving culture, based in science,

ontology & ethicsBeyond patriarchal to a partnership

culture

Manuel’s model for ontological designing: Evolutionary Systemic Humanism

Humanistic: Loving care for people, kindness, ethical wisdom, solidarity. larger sense of self, feeling connected to human family & nature. Live a good life & build good societies.

.

Developing an evolutionary

self–identification; an observer with

complexity ofconsciousness

Evolutionary: Understanding cosmic, biological & human evolution from scientific-empirical perspective, feeling connected to universe, earth & biosphere. Caring for future sustainability of humans & all life.Having a story of cosmic evolution & life.

Systemic: Natural & social systems connected, in relationships, each system impacts other systems, feeling interconnected & inter-dependent.Creating just &sustainable institutions & systems.

Ontological Designing for a sustainable future: systems, social practices, conversations, tools, culture.

Systems, cultures,

Tools, technologies

Conversations and

relationships

Social Practices

A bibliography of thinkers who have influenced my ontological designing thinking:

• Jonas Salk. Survival of the Wisest & Anatomy of Reality.• Julian Huxley. Evolutionary Humanism• Gregory Bateson. Mind and Nature. A Necessary Unity• Erich Fromm. The Art of Being, The Sane Society, Man for Himself, An inquiry into the psychology of ethics• Fernando Flores & Terry Winograd. Understanding Computers & Cognition. A New Foundation for design.• Humberto Maturana Romesin and Gerda Verden-Zoller. Edited by Pille Bunnell. The Origin of Humanness in the Biology of Love.• Bell Hooks. All about love-new visions• Fritjof Capra. The Hidden Connections• Donella H. Meadows. Thinking in Systems.•Anne –Marie Willis. Ontological Designing—Laying the ground.• Tony Fry. Becoming Human by Design.•John Ehrenfeld. Sustainability by Design.• Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. The Evolving Self• The Dalai Lama. Beyond Religion, Ethics for a Whole World• Rick Hanson. Buddha’s Brain. The practical neuroscience of happiness, love & wisdom• Edward O. Wilson. The Social Conquest of the Earth