THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY PROJECT

Edward Ehrlich
OGL 340: The Future of Humanity: Dialogue in the Workplace
Dr. Michael Pryzdia
10/9/19

Total Word Count: 2102 words

 PART ONE: SEVEN QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION

1) How do you avoid the paradox of solving a problem that was caused by the thought of a
previous solution?

2) Couldn’t Bohm’s & Krishnamurti’s worldview be construed as an assumption similar that

thereof religion or any other type of manmade thought?

3) Can the requirements of a dialogue, specifically all participants viewing each other as
colleagues, be possible in the military or government organizations?

4) If a pill that gave unlimited mental acuity existed, could an individual brain ever measure
up to or gain the insight that a properly facilitated dialogue can lead to?

5) In “The Future of Humanity”, Jiddu Krishnamurti mentions that “Love has no relation to
thought”. If love is separate from thought, where does it come from?

6) Athletes have fine tuned their physical proprioception through practice, can one fine
tune their mental proprioception through conditioning?

7) Can there be incoherence in nature that is not man made?

 PART TWO: EXPLANATIONS

1. One huge takeaway is that Bohm seems to allude that the root of all the world’s
problems begins with a thought. Each thought becomes a solution to a problem that
began from a previous thought process that was a reaction to a previous problem.
Bohm says in his interview with Louwrien Wijers, “Thought thinks pollution is a
problem “out there” and must solve it. Now that doesn’t make sense because
simultaneously thought is creating all of the activities which make the problem in the
first place and then creates another set of activities to try to overcome it.” (On
Creativity, 142). With this said, I couldn’t help but think of the Beer Game that we read
about in the first week’s readings. Every decision that was made in every level of the
supply chain had an unbeknownst consequence up and down the supply chain;
ultimately culminating in disaster. Most people fail to understand that we are part of
the problem because we fall into the learning disability that Senge calls “I am my
position” (Senge 18); a problem in a system/hierarchy when we fail to see that we are
responsible for much more than just our job function. Bohm states it is a mistake to
believe “It’s they who are thinking all that, and I am thinking right.” (On Dialogue, 58)

Overall, I think the lesson here is to remember that unless we begin to engineer our
thought-out solutions as a system, we’ll never truly relieve ourselves of this paradox of
thought. Time and time again we see well intended solutions create catastrophic
results in the environment, business, politics, and personal jurisdictions. Until we see
the error in our fragmented way of thinking and come together in dialogue to result in
a holistic and systemic solution, we are doomed to repeat the unfortunate cycle of
failure that plagues our incoherent world.

2. As I traversed through the course content this semester, it was inspiring. Dr. Bohm
and Jiddu Krishnamurti are legendary thinkers and have brought to the surface an
alternate way forward for the path of humanity through their teachings on dialogue
and systems thinking. However, I began to have an inner commentary with myself that
Dr. Bohm and Krishnamurti are two intelligent people who propose yet another
solution for the world’s problems. Many have come before them spouting their
knowledge and teachings as truth and citing “this is the way it needs to be”. Jesus,
Buddha, Muhammed, and even more recently Joseph Smith have claimed to know and
tell the truth. There can only be one absolute truth, so what is it? Now, of course, I
have my own thoughts and beliefs, but this course has taught me to suspend them for
a moment to see the common denominator in all of these worldviews to assist to find
and sort out the truth. My interpretation of what I see from Dr. Bohm and
Krishnamurti is that through their own worldviews, they see that none of the
aforementioned religious prophets have rid the world of problems. They assert that all
 they have really accomplished is adding more fragmentation into this world by
declaring that “this is how it has got to be”. They cite the wars over religion which
continue to this very day.

Dr. Bohm’s implicate order theory and Krishnamurti’s awakening of consciousness in

my opinion can be construed by some as a religion. What is stopping someone from
taking their teachings and becoming yet another person in history telling us, “this is
how it has got to be”? After all, could it be said that Krishnamurti and Dr. Bohm
introduced even more thought into the stream of thought in this world? Those that
buy in and those that do not become a fragmentation.

3. I have been an employee of the government for twenty-five years. I spent six years in
the Navy, and nineteen years and counting as an Air Force civilian contractor. I have
spent countless hours in meetings with enlisted and commissioned officers who, to
quote Harry S. Truman, “the buck stops” with. When a commander enters a meeting
room, all rise to attention until he or she states “as you were”. As I read through
Bohm’s On Dialogue and Senge’s The Fifth Discipline, I quickly realized how difficult it
would be to organize and or facilitate a dialogue in my hierarchal organization. The
military by definition depends on rank and structure in order to ensure subordinates
follows commands of those above them. So just how can the dialogue requirement of
“willingness to consider each other as colleagues” (Senge, 128) develop? More often
than not, I see Senge’s learning disability of the “Myth of the Management Team” take
place where “maintaining the appearance of a cohesive team…seeking to squelch
disagreement, people with serious reservations avoid stating them publicly.” (Senge,
24) In the past, this type of scenario has ended in disaster. The 1986 Challenger Space
Shuttle disaster occurred in part because shuttle engineers, knowing there was a
problem with their O-rings, yielded to demands of launching in sub-par weather due
to hierarchal political pressures. (“Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster”).

So, can a dialogue occur within the hierarchal organizational structure of the
military? It is my opinion that it cannot based on today’s military requirements of
subordination. Until the structure could be relaxed, individuals will never feel
comfortable in a dialogue with their superiors, and vice versa. I cannot see the military
ever relaxing their standards to a point where every individual in the chain of
command lowers themselves to be seen as colleagues and equals with everyone else.

4. Jiddu Krishnamurti’s explanation of how thought continually fails to be implemented

as a system made me begin thinking of the 2011 Bradley Cooper movie “Limitless”. In
the movie, a fictional drug is manufactured that temporarily gives the user unlimited
mental capacity. It enables the user to gain knowledge virtually overnight and
complete insurmountable tasks rapidly. It was noted that the user of the drug had a
four digit IQ! Dr. Bohm asserts that “our attention tends to be limited by the tacit
thoughts as to what has value, what’s worth being attended to.” (On Dialogue 107)
With this said, in the fictional movie, there is only one individual that possesses this
 limitless capacity. However, thought can only be attended one thought at a time. The
focus can only be on one issue. If there was an all knowing individual that possessed
this power, he or she would never measure up to what could be accomplished through
a group of people that are skilled at the suspension of their thoughts. Furthermore,
this individual would only be tackling matters of the brain, not of the mind.
Krishnamurti states that “Thought prevents us from operating in a broader area. It
runs on its own, from its own program, like a computer; thus, it is limited.” (Future of
Humanity 47) On the other hand, a properly facilitated dialogue can free the mind
from the brain and therefore free it from thought. This will result in reaching a higher
goal of coherence than creating solutions to problems that were brought on by
yesterday’s solutions. Coherence can only occur when the mind is free from the
corrupted incoherent brain.

5. I found it very hard to grasp the concept of what Krishnamurti was conveying at first,
that “Love has no relationship to thought “(Future of Humanity 58). He asserts that
love as we most commonly know it, attractive love, is just a mere thought that
fragments our worldview. If one ponders on it, it could be said that love is a choice or
a preference. I say that love or the “idea” of love is not innate within us. What is
innate is the kind of love as we know it, or desire, is a feeling we get due to the
chemistry in our brains preparing two individuals to mate; this is essential for our
survival as a species. There is little difference between that process and that already
found in nature.

What Krishnamurti was speaking about is the love and compassion we as humans
possess for one another. Without that sort of love, we cannot empathize with one
another. This kind of love knows no imaginary boundaries that separate us through
demographics or politics. So, in essence, true love is coherent. It is focused on
achieving the ultimate goal of ridding this world of incoherent thought. If the entire
world shared this empathy, this love, then we would all share a collective thought. We
wouldn’t have any issues entering into a dialogue and think as a system. As
Krishnamurti states, “Love is not desire. It is a great thing to find out this for oneself.
And if love is not desire then what is love? Love is not mere attachment to your baby,
love is not attachment in any form; love is not jealousy, ambition, fulfilment or
becoming; love is not desire or pleasure. The fulfilment of desire, which is pleasure, is
not love. So, I have found out what love is. It is none of these things. Have I
understood these elements and am I free of them? Or I just say, ‘I understand
intellectually, I understand verbally, but help me to go deeper’? I can’t; you have to do
it yourself.” (“What Love is Not”)

6. Proprioception is of utmost importance to fully understand that thought has the

ability to participate in our thinking process. Proprioception can be improved through
the practice of suspension of thoughts. When you suspend your thoughts, it helps to
“create a mirror so that you can see the results of your thought.” (On Dialogue 29) I
believe that if one does this enough, it improves your ability to automatically
 understand your personal thought process. Earlier this semester, we were asked to
practice an active listening model called H.E.A.R. which aims to slow down our
conditioned rehearsing while listening. This improves our listening technique if we
practice it enough. This essentially is a form of suspension through proprioception. It
inhibits our pre-conditioned response mechanism and tells ourselves to wait and
process the incoming information before we respond. This can be done by anyone.
However, can someone through practice their suspension of thought enough to
master their proprioception of thought? There are obvious examples of those that
accomplished this: Bohm and Krishnamurti to name a few; but wouldn’t this world be
a better place if all of our political leaders would do this? It requires attention to
thought. Krishnamurti notes that “attention can only come into being when the self is
not.” (Future of Humanity 55) This means that one has to fully suspend their ego from
the equation and quiet their brain to reach their full potential and become “mental
athletes”.

7. Sources of incoherence surround us everywhere. From our everyday interactions, 24

-hour news channels, and iPhones, to car payments, Clayton Kershaw playoff pitching
performances, and workplace deadlines; but can sources of incoherence exist in
nature? More specifically, can there be incoherence within the implicate order of
quantum theory? Earlier this semester, we were introduced to Dr. Bohm’s implicate
order. The implicate order “can compute the probability of another observation.” (On
Creativity 128) In other words, it can predict the likelihood of an action that hasn’t
occurred yet based on its function. With that said, in the natural world does this take
place? Yes, over many millions of years, things evolve. But things that haven’t been
artificially changed my man can be predicted and thus be coherent. On the other
hand, the chaos of matter within a star cannot be quantified. There are millions of
mathematic variables within the processes occurring with very little chance to
quantitatively predict an occurrence based off of numerous possible outcomes. Many
possible outcomes can be construed as a choice and “choice means confusion.”
(Future of Humanity 50). Not that there is a thought behind the choice, I am just
likening the natural process to Krishnamurti’s view of a noisy thought process.

My opinion and belief is that there is a higher power that has controlled the universe
since its creation. Bohm’s implicate order may have touched on the near perfection of
its operation and points to proof of an unknown controller. Man has been given a
brain with the cognitive ability to think. We’ve learned this semester that thought is
leading us to our downfall. However, everything seems to have all unfolded from
whenever or wherever creation began. Krishnamurti and Dr. Bohm have given us
important tools to assist us in controlling thought, and just maybe we can prevent its
destructiveness.
Works Cited:
Bohm, David.  On Creativity. New York: Routledge, 1996, 2004.

Bohm, David.  On Dialogue. New York: Routledge, 1996, 2004.

Bohm, David.  The Future of Humanity. New York: Harper, 1986, 2014.

Krishnamurti, Jiddu. “What Love is Not.” Krishnamurti Foundation Trust. Web 7 October
2019, https://kfoundation.org/what-love-is-not/

Senge, Peter.  The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization.
New York: Doubleday, 1990, 2006.

"Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia,

The Free Encyclopedia, 8 October 2019. Web. 9 October 2019,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster#Pre-launch_conditions