[Guest Blogger] Dr. Ralph Metzner on the Collapse of Civilization

[Ralph Metzner has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Harvard University (1962) and a B.A. from Oxford University. He has been exploring states of consciousness and transformational practices for over thirty years. Ralph is the author of several books, including The Psychedelic Experience (with Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, 1964), Maps of Consciousness (1971), Know Your Type (1978), Opening to Inner Light (1986) and Green Psychology: Transforming our Relationship to the Earth (1999). He is co-founder and president of the Green Earth Foundation. It is a great honor here at Non-Prophet to host this piece by such an important, pivotal and visionary figure as Dr. Metzner.]

“Is it possible that global civilisation might collapse within our lifetime or that of our children? Until recently, such an idea was the preserve of lunatics and cults. In the past few years, however, an increasing number of intelligent and credible people have been warning that global collapse is a genuine possibility. And many of these are sober scientists, including Lord May, David King and Jared Diamond - people not usually given to exaggeration or drama.” - Dylan Evans Wednesday December 21, 2005 Guardian

Ralph Metzner on the Collapse of Civilization

Well, it now appears that I can count myself among the “intelligent and credible people”, who have been saying that the collapse of our global civilization is a distinct possibility. The article [linked] below, from the Guardian, spells out the interlocking scenarios that have led to the collapse of previous, more localized, civilizations.  In one respect,  though,  I have already left the company of the “intelligent and credible”, since I don’t think civilizational collapse is possible — I say it is happening now.  Even as we read each other’s e-mail, and drink to the New Year.  That deadly duo of monsters — resource depletion and overpopulation  -- are killing off vast areas of biosphere. And our  leaders (the biggest gangsters), instead of focussing on searching for ways to cooperate and to mitigate the lethal consequences of the collapse, have chosen to apply their technological skills in increasingly violent military actions to support the organized predation of the multinational energy corporations, while skilfully weaving a stupefying hypnotic fog of denial into their subject populations and keeping them in mindless robotic consumerist trance.  I also have to depart from my “intelligent and credible” fellow observers in their rather sanguine assessment that the collapse of industrial civilization will just entail the return to a pre-industrial life-style. In other words, like the horse-and-buggy days of colonial America — doesn’t sound too bad. Perhaps this will be the final new social equilibrium, .. but in the meantime, what happens when civilization collapses, as Uncle Karl pointed out, is barbarism. I think we can all agree that the images emerging from the worldwide military prison gulag, and the fact that the possible ethical and legal justification of torture has become a topic of debate and discussion in politics and academics, is one sign of a civilization that is collapsing into barbarism. This barbarism is sometimes (falsely I believe) called the “law of the jungle”: kill or be killed, eat or be eaten. But that notion is not a “law of the jungle” -- it is a false choice, a rigid, fear-based survival program. There are many other, healthier and more productive ways for us to expend our energy and direct our intention, besides killing or being killed, eating or being eaten. What are these ways? We can start by “turning our swords into ploughshares”, demilitarizing society and committing ourselves to the non-violent ways of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, and Jesus of Nazareth.  We can sit down and talk:  talk about what is really needed for every one, --  all human and non-human beings,  inhabiting this planet, or this place where we happen to find ourselves; — and how we can best meet those needs.  What a fantastic challenge and beautiful opportunity for our collective creativity and ingenuity, our powers of design and imagination.  As far as I can tell, humans don’t really need that much — food, water, shelter, health, safety of course, the basics; the opportunity to raise their children in peace,  to engage in meaningful work, to practice their creativity, to pursue their spiritual and religious values — don’t they all flow from basic respect for another’s integrity? The Golden Rule is still the Golden Rule.
I have to report I feel neither gloomy nor doomy. I’ve found that letting go of denial and accepting what is happening, is tremendously liberating.
“To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose..” and this is a time of collapse,  and renewal.  
So, my friends, be of good cheer, and laugh and make music

[Read the article from the Guardian HERE:

Comments

[fan]

Gloomy words, collaps of society.
throughout the last 200 years people have been saying this, since the industrial revolution cry outs of fear over our future highlight the road the world has followed.
Supression of the worker in that period has turned for most western countries into prosperity for that same class, housing, food, holiday, and a lot of other rights for that same worker who was the subject of surpression. Like Ford said, my workers need a salary which enables them to buy their their own product, the famous T ford.
environmentalist claim (look at gaia model) that the world will warm dramtically, and that europe will turn into a inhabitable place. Evidence however shows a decrease in atlantic ocean currents , which will result in a cooling. Perhaps earth is a more rigid feedback system then both sides think. nobody looks at the complete picture.
The earth has known periods of warming and cooling, of high sea levels and low sea levels. The problem of humans is too think that the world is in a static equilibrium. the world is in a constante state of chance and we humans will adapt as we always did, this doesnt necesarily mean total collaps. Osama bin laden thought he would turn over the US economy and western civilization by setting in motion a chain of events with his 9-11 attacks. Looking back it was a terrible event, but nothing has changed.
Peak oil is another fear, the point the need of energy exceeds the delivery. But those so called evil multinationals, with only their own intrest, why would they kill the goose with the golden eggs? Would a large oilcompagny seize to excist with the message: compagny closed; no more oil available?. Being the evil big corperation it would ensure a plan to stay alive, so no wurries on that part. a rise in oil and gas prices will in the long run result in less use, more alternative ways of energy and adaption in a broad raneg of human activities.

All things have a way of self regulation, and humans should realise that that road wont be easy always and involve change, but as in most physics laws, a new equilibrium will set in, and humans have the knwoledge to adapt at a certain price.

In the world u see the same, only problem is that communiation and technology obset that balance leading to excesses. Take Muslim religion, its at a point where christianty was around 1200. we invaded arab countries in name of religion and commited terible crimes there against humanity and called the crusades. in a way that was ou period of extremism. So we have to wait a few hundred years till they come to the same point other religions are now. A few planes in the twin towers is nothign compared to the mass killings christian knight did in the so called "holy land"
Take africa, its the same, it needs time to go along the same path we did to ensure "democracy" and sustanable borders and relative peace, its the mixture of western technology.

so there will be no doomsday and total collaps of society or environment, yes there will be change and a new balance will set in, this takes time, effort and will have consequences, but as history proves in the long run it will improve.
often quoted: the only certainty is change

[Sansabelt Savior]

"Some say the end is near..."
--Tool

It seems we are ever drawn to apocalyptic thinking, whether in the form of the Book of Revelations, or the elusive Y2K bug, or Evangelical conceptions of the endtimes--or Dr. Metzner's assertion of impending global civilization collapse. Certainly, these are violent times in which we find ourselves, and there is much in the current worldwide swing towards religious fundamentalism and nationalism that is disturbing to thinking people. But I don't see cataclysm in that swing of the pendulum, at least not yet.

For all the violence, and war, and divisiveness, and profiteering going on internationally, it seems clear to me that global civilization is more interconnected, interdependent and, as a result, stronger than ever. For all the threats that exist to developed nations from terrorist threats and the like, it seems clear to me that the developing world is very much dependent on the First World for their markets and their dollars. For all the real problems of climate change and depletion of resources, I can see no indication of decreased technological innovation.

I'm no pie-in-the-sky idealist, nor am I a believer in a bottomless pit of resources, or a planet that can absorb endless volumes of greenhouse gases without consequence. That being said, I just see no evidence for global collapse of social and economic systems. What I do see is a world with many problems of deepening social inequality, and deepening chasms of perspective, and deepening ecological problems, that possesses more than ever the tools to correct those problems, while also possessing more than ever the ability to ignore our shared problems in the distraction of modern living and mindless entertainment.

I'm just enough of an idealist to believe that enough good people will want to focus on ameliorating our (shared and global) problems, that civilization as we know it will continue to survive.

But maybe I'm wrong and, like Dr. Metzner, too many of our great minds will choose to sing along with REM: "It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine."

[Non-Prophet]

I don't know about a total collapse in my life time but things are certainly becoming much more fragile than they have ever been in the past. Large populations demand large amounts of food and fresh drinking water. Globalization is creating long thin lines of sourced components that could not easily be replaced or substituted. "Just-in-time" methodologies guarantee that there is essentially no slack in the supply system. A large scale war could destroy manufacturing facilities that could take decades to rebuild and could affect a large chunk of what we rely on today. Does anyone remember back in the early 90's when a 'resin factory' exploded in Japan causing a global shortage of computer memory?

I don't see us returning to making candles by hand for the long haul, but a huge famine killing hundreds of millions, or a catastrophe that takes decades to fully recover from seems increasingly possible to me.

[Alyce]

Only best casinos!

[sushil_yadav]

The link between Mind and Social / Environmental-Issues.

The fast-paced, consumerist lifestyle of Industrial Society is causing exponential rise in psychological problems besides destroying the environment. All issues are interlinked. Our Minds cannot be peaceful when attention-spans are down to nanoseconds, microseconds and milliseconds. Our Minds cannot be peaceful if we destroy Nature.

Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment

Subject : In a fast society slow emotions become extinct.
Subject : A thinking mind cannot feel.
Subject : Scientific/ Industrial/ Financial thinking destroys the planet.
Subject : Environment can never be saved as long as cities exist.

Emotion is what we experience during gaps in our thinking.

If there are no gaps there is no emotion.

Today people are thinking all the time and are mistaking thought (words/ language) for emotion.

When society switches-over from physical work (agriculture) to mental work (scientific/ industrial/ financial/ fast visuals/ fast words ) the speed of thinking keeps on accelerating and the gaps between thinking go on decreasing.

There comes a time when there are almost no gaps.

People become incapable of experiencing/ tolerating gaps.

Emotion ends.

Man becomes machine.

A society that speeds up mentally experiences every mental slowing-down as Depression / Anxiety.

A ( travelling )society that speeds up physically experiences every physical slowing-down as Depression / Anxiety.

A society that entertains itself daily experiences every non-entertaining moment as Depression / Anxiety.

FAST VISUALS /WORDS MAKE SLOW EMOTIONS EXTINCT.

SCIENTIFIC /INDUSTRIAL /FINANCIAL THINKING DESTROYS EMOTIONAL CIRCUITS.

A FAST (LARGE) SOCIETY CANNOT FEEL PAIN / REMORSE / EMPATHY.

A FAST (LARGE) SOCIETY WILL ALWAYS BE CRUEL TO ANIMALS/ TREES/ AIR/ WATER/ LAND AND TO ITSELF.

To read the complete article please follow either of these links :

PlanetSave

EarthNewsWire

sushil_yadav

[Ed B]

Sushil,

I'd just like to speak out for the record for the scientific camp. Not as a scientist, but a research engineer, so hopefully, close enough. I'm pretty late to the thread, but if anyone's still reading.....

I believe that it is largely thanks to academic science that we know, and are even ABLE to know about the problems that threaten "society" - meaning westernised, industrial society (always tacitly implied in such discussions). Science even gives us answers to these problems. Yeah right, so they're not the "easy" answers that people want (eg. "Either massively drop your standard of living, or go to massive Nuclear power, or a balanced combination of them").

If you look at human health and communal prosperity, it could even be argued that long-term, the only sustainable policy would be to revert to subsistence living, hunting and gathering - even agriculture has historically placed additional strain on environments and in many cases caused standards of living to drop for lower castes, to the benefit of higher placed members of the society. So renounce science if you wish, and choose subsistence living. Of course 95% of the 6.7 billion people on the planet (ie quite probably YOU) must die for this to be a realistic possibility.

The majority of humans in industrial society failed to grow up and accept the real-world challenges, or make difficult decisions. I am among that majority. I believe the time is coming when we will pay the price.

Science is only the logical, rational approach to solving problems, and building up, step by step over generations, a "rule book" describing the laws of nature as observed by various individuals. Science is simply : working together and storing knowledge so we don't each have to reinvent the wheel every time.

Failures in "science" must be seen for what they are. Science itself does not cause success or failure. Just because our scientists can envisage a Nuclear bomb, that doesn't mean we have to go to years of trouble to build one! Just because we could build a spaceship and go to Mars, is it worth the trouble? If we make vaccines for AIDS, why can't people in Africa get treated? and on, and on....

Failures in management, failures in leadership, failures of greed, corruption, incompetence, and a fundamental lack of imagination for risks outside of direct experience, are endemic to all human societies.

The past clearly tells us what will happen in the future. "How bad" things will be, is only a matter of scale.
Millions will die (as they always did), environments will be destroyed (as they always were), wars, famine and death will occur, but, somewhere, some people will survive (as they always have).

"Science" could probably give a lunatic with enough power a way to kill every last single person on the planet (killer virus anyone?), if the effort was organised and concerted enough.

But history teaches us that the reality will however be more messy. For the same reason that the human race is too disorganised to work together and really win, I believe we are too disorganised to really lose.

[Mark A. Schroll]

In this article Ralph Metzner reflects on many of the topics he and I have talked about in past conversations. I look forward to engaging with him on these important and timely issues in 2009. One of my own former attempts to address these concerns still appears in internet archives that I published in early 2000. We have much work to do.

Everyday on the news we bear witness to the signs of environmental decay, predictions of annihilation, increasing apathy, and a general loss of hope for the future in our youth; yet humankind has been ignoring these signs for at least 10,000 years. Growing increasingly numb to the cries of our Earth and its people, humankind has retreated further and further into an artificial world of fantasy maintained by consumerism and technology. Just mentioning this fact makes us feel uncomfortable, because it forces us to acknowledge our fears that our industrial-age dreams have failed to come true for the vast majority of humankind. But we cannot allow ourselves to contemplate this acknowledgment too long, because then humankind would have to face the possibility that the industrial-age will one day come to an end. Suggesting that humankind too will come to an end, unless it is able to metamorphosis and invent a new way of being. How have you come to grips with this predicament? The book "Toward A New Green Earth: The Call For An Integral Science" is my attempt to answer this question. Mark A. Schroll