FINAL NOTES
KAI GOERLICH
ENVISIONING A DIGITAL AND CONSCIOUS LIFE Shamanism and digitalisation seem to be two distant poles in the development of mankind. They differ in their timing, origin and orientation. Shamanic traditions are rooted in a distant time, probably 40.000 years in the past, digitalisation began in the 1970´s. While shamanic traditions originate from small communities, digitalisation globally connects people and things. Shamanic work aims at balancing body, mind and soul whereas digitalisation seeks to expand human capabilities. As different as shamanism and digitalisation are we should not overlook the fact that both are inventions of the human mind and both have, or can have, a great benefit on our lives. We should make full use of this potential as our societies will have to fundamentally change and adapt in the upcoming decades. In the so-called Anthropocene, the age of mankind, we have been leaving a mark on the earth, unfortunately not a particularly good one. We are facing rapid species extinction, climate change, increasing inequality and dwindling resources. It looks as though we have completely overdrawn our credit with “Mother Earth”. Additionally, there are challenges brought about by digitalisation and artificial intelligence. Thus we will have to quickly develop new approaches and test how our economical, social and political systems might look like in the future. One possible way would be a synthesis of spirituality and modernity, of shamanism and digitalisation in order to create a new, shared consciousness that will enable a rapid and favourable transition. A NEW EARTH An update on the Gaia-hypothesis provides an interesting approach to this. The classical Gaia-hypothesis1, which was put forward in the 1970’s by the scientists James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis2 postulates that the earth is a self-regulating system. This hypothesis still strikes a chord with those who advocate nature and sustainability, whereas the idea of self-regulation continues to cause scientific contradiction. In their Gaia 2.0 update the scientists Timothy Lenton and Bruno
1
Lenton, Timothy M., Latour, Bruno (2018): Gaia 2.0. Science, Vol. 361, Issue 6407, pp. 1066-1068.
2
Lovelock, James E. (1972): Gaia as seen through the atmosphere. Atmospheric Environment, Vol. 6, Issue 8. pp. 579–580; Lovelock, James E., Margulis, Lynn (1974): Atmospheric homeostasis by and for the biosphere: the Gaia hypothesis. Tellus. Vol. 26, Issue 1–2, pp. 2–10; Lovelock, James E. (1979): Gaia: A new look at life on Earth. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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