Overview

THE FUTURE, A MYTH TO BE BUILT

The Path to the Universal Human Nation

What does destiny have in store for us today? What future should we expect?

The crisis we are experiencing at this time, the technological acceleration, and the processes of planetarization are constantly influencing the representation of our future. This confused and fragmentary – when not obscure - vision permeates the social sphere and human perception, generating consequences of every kind, first of all a daily experience of uncertainty, fear and instability.

Nonetheless, not all future scenarios showing up today look negative, due to the unexpected opportunities offered by any crisis and to the multiple points of view that emerge when future is the investigated topic. These alternative scenarios, which are potentially “positive”, either draw inspiration from a glorious past or use progressive features of modern civilization to project visions into the future, sometimes accommodating elements from both sources.

When we talk about the future, we are talking about the way the human consciousness describes coming events. The future, therefore, is a construction of human consciousness that is a product of intentionality.

This means that the dark future envisaged in our era is not the result of a mechanical or a natural sequence of events, but rather an intentional construction of human consciousness, which acquires particular prominence in the Western world.

A representation that causes us suffering, further generating pessimism. A real vicious circle.

The future depends on us, on the evolution of human consciousness; it is intentional, therefore it gives us a chance to free ourselves from this trap, and build a vision that is consistent with the historical moment, a vision that is open, evolutionary and, ultimately, happy. It is about merging the best knowledge at our disposal with a feeling of freedom and openness to the future.

But how?

Fundamental elements exist, which mark the path of civilizations: the Myths that work at the bottom of the collective consciousness of populations, and show them a direction.

Quoting Silo: "These beliefs are not passive schemes at all, but, rather, tensions and emotional climates that, moulding themselves into images, end up becoming forces capable to give direction to both individual and collective activity".

"The Myths allow us to get closer to the comprehension of ideals, aspirations and hopes, not in the form of cold ideas, but as dynamic images that lead behaviours along a defined direction.”

"Even scientific theories can detach themselves from their own environment and ‘take wing’ without being demonstrated: but, when so, that's due to their radication into social beliefs, as well as their ability to acquire the plastic strength of an image, which serves as a major reference, and proves crucial in orienting human behaviour."

Myths come in succession, undergo transformations, get overlapped, because they change in accordance to the variations of life experience. Thus, what we are witnessing today is the crisis of myths shaped in earlier times, in other landscapes, which no longer look able to accompany the human being in his/her evolution. From this condition, a need arises to unveil and recognize the seed of a new mythology on the rise.

Will the new myths be able to create a planetary civilization in which inequalities and violence are forever overcome?

What impact could these myths have on science, technology, religions, institutions and the economic and social model of this future civilization? Will they be able to create a Universal Human Nation?

A new myth can only arise from a new conception of the human being. From this point of view, reflecting on new myths means pondering on the future we would like to experience; pondering on who we are and where we go.

The 6th International Symposium of the World Centre for Humanist Studies aims to support this commitment by the creation of an isle of meditation, view exchange, and content presentation between passionate scholars, meticulous researchers and generous activists, who contribute every day to the construction of a new semblance of future, and pursue the search for new unifying myths for the destiny of humanity.