The emergence of the collective mind

Abstract

In an era of transformational changes to both society and environment, institutions of all kinds are moving into a new operating and learning space, the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene is the label being given to the current era marked by the significant effects of human ideas and actions (anthropos) on the planet’s natural and social environments. This chapter goes beyond current moves to transdisciplinarity and explores the emergence of a collective mind which reframes opposites as relationships and asks introspective physical, social, ethical, creative, sympathetic and reflective questions of complex issues in times of transformational change. Each of these questions taps into a different domain of thinking with its own tests for the validity of the answers. Answering the reflective seventh question establishes that, after many generations of specialization, we can still find ways to combine diverse answers into a meaningful whole that throws light on the complex issues of the Anthropocene.