The Future Of Humanity Project

Caitlin Morganti
OGL 340: The Future of Humanity: Dialogue in the Workplace
Dr. Michael Pryzdia
06/24/23
Word Count: 2154

Part one: Seven questions for consideration

1). Why do we let our thoughts make assumptions about people and places?
2). In chapter 18 of The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge, he mentions “Look at it
from this perspective. Look at that. What’s important?” How do we train our
thoughts to think about a different perspective?
3). With the future of technology becoming a vital part of our humanity, will AI’s
be able to suspend and depict our assumptions before we communicate with
humans?
4). David Bohm talks about how “Thoughts pervade us” in chapter 3 of On
Dialogue, so what are the differences between thoughts and assumptions, or are
they the same?
5). Both Bohm and Senge mention that we need to control our thoughts and be
present with them, but why do so many people revert back to getting lost in our
thoughts. Is there a “permanent” way to control our thoughts?
6). A lot of this course connects back to the theme of the “Matrix” and after
reading Thought as a System would you consider that our thoughts create the
system and society we live in?
7). Does dialogue always lead to a discussion?

Part two : Explanations

1). We have learned throughout this course about thoughts and assumptions from
Bohm’s On Dialogue book and Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline. I asked this
question because I feel we became more aware of our thoughts and assumptions
and how we can suspend our assumptions. I do feel like both Peter Senge and
David Bohm could go in more depth of why we let our thoughts make assumptions
about people. If David Bohm explains in what ways we can suspend our
assumptions, would we be able to do the same with our thoughts and make
assumptions about others and what the difference there is between them. We have
learned throughout this course how thoughts can control our emotions and our
society. In a lot of ways human thoughts have impacted our society negatively so
why do we let our thoughts make assumptions about people. I feel there could be
more mention of ego and how our emotions get in the way of our thoughts and
assumptions.
2). In chapter 18 of Peter Senge’s, The Fifth Discipline he explains how important
it is to see the earth from the outside as an astronaut. They get to see the earth from
a totally different point of a view and all the problems we have on earth are
invisible from space. We are such a small part of our world that us humans let us
consume our thoughts and emotions. Within this chapter and even what we have
learned from David Bohm’s books Thought as a System and On Dialogue we learn
about our thoughts and assumptions about ourselves. We also learned how to train
ourselves to stop negative thoughts and suspend our assumptions about someone or
something. So, my question here is how can we train ourselves to think about a
different perspective in these moments. Because we have learned to redirect our
thoughts and acknowledge why we are thinking them, how can we think about
different perspectives in these moments. I think in a lot of situations we need to
direct our thoughts to a different perspective and think about how the current
situation could be from a different lens. I feel a lot of times humans tend to stay
within their thoughts and comfort zones and don’t evaluate another outcome from
our perspective in moments. If we want to follow what David Bohm is hoping for
the future of humanity we need to be more aware of our thoughts and by that
thinking about another perspective as well. Humans need to think more like
astronauts like Peter Senge mentions in The Fifth Discipline that we see the earth
as this huge place and humans become so consumed with their problems we fail to
see the earth as such a small space compared to the world. David Bohm mentions
this in On Dialogue and how human thoughts have affected the system we live in.
What I hope for the future of humanity is that humans can become more aware of
their thoughts but also put themselves in a different perspective.
3). In a previous course I took was Organizational Leadership 340 about humans
and artificial intelligence, this course gave us a glimpse of what our futures will
look like with how technology is moving. During this course we talked and
explored a lot about the future of humanity but not much about technology.
Technology will be a huge part of our future and the future of humans. This could
potentially change a lot from what we learned about our thoughts and suspending
our assumptions. My thought with artificial intelligence becoming more prevalent
in our future is that this technology could have the ability to depict our thoughts
and potentially help us suspend our assumptions before we communicate with
others. Of course, humans need to work on suspending their assumptions since as
we learned using the left hand column exercise we all have these assumptions we
should be careful sharing. In this exercise we put down what assumptions were on
one side and on the other what we ended up sharing. So, my thought is with this
new technology and interest in artificial intelligence, could this new technology
help us depict our thoughts and assumptions. Right now chat gpt is a huge tool that
students are using throughout the world. So, at this point artificial intelligence is
already depicting our thoughts and assumptions. Chat GPT is a good example of
just sharing a thought and then the computer generates a response. This in a sense
could help humans be more cautious with their communication and dialogue within
the workplace, because an AI could review this, but it can also take away the effort
from humans taking accountability for their thoughts and actions. I think this is
important for us to recognize now, while during the times that Bohm and Senge
wrote their novels AI was not created or as popular as it is now. The future of our
humanity will see a lot of changes in technology and how we use them for good or
bad.

4). When I was reading about David Bohm’s System as a Thought and Chapter 3
of On Dialogue as well Chapter 6 of On Dialogue I started to think about the
differences between thoughts and assumptions and what the differences are
between them. We were asked the question what is the difference between
discussion and dialogue, so I wanted to understand more about the difference
between thoughts and assumptions. Thoughts are these ideas and feelings that we
have, assumptions are something we have accepted to be true but we do not have
the proof. I do think there are differences between these two but I feel they both
affect one another. I think our thoughts affect our assumptions just as our thoughts
are influenced by our culture and the society we live in. As Bohm mentions in
Chapter 3, “most of our thought in its general form is not individual. It originates
in the whole culture and it pervades us” ( Bohm, 2004). I think assumptions are
very similar as well, we assume these ideas that are said to us through news outlets
and the people around us so we begin to make assumptions all around us based on
other individuals assumptions. This is constantly creating a cycle within our world,
just as thought continues to cycle until we pause and acknowledge our thoughts. I
do think assumptions and thoughts are two different things but I believe
assumptions stem from thoughts just as everything else does in this world. I think it
is just as important to acknowledge our assumptions as it is to acknowledge our
thoughts. I feel making assumptions can be more dangerous within a workplace
setting. This course is about dialogue in the workplace so if we are making these
constant assumptions within the workplace it can lead to a lot of issues and conflict
between one another. As thoughts, there is more accountability tied to them and
more ways to explore your thoughts.

5). If we let our thoughts control us the world can become a very dangerous world
to be a part of. Bohm mentions how much collective thought has impacted the
world we live in and how it has divided humans. Bohm also shares in his book On
Dialogue that our thoughts have started wars, created boundaries between one
another, technology has changed the way humans interact with one another and
how we receive information. Bohm explains that thought has caused a lot of
destruction and that we as a society need to practice fragmentation with our
thoughts. I don’t think there will ever be a way to permanently control our
thoughts, but I think there will be tools in the future to help us break down our
thoughts. As I mentioned earlier with artificial intelligence, I think that could have
the potential to use technology for good and help humans break down their
interactions and allow people to be more present with their thoughts. Bohm
mentions a lot of how technology has caused destruction with our world, but more
so the thoughts that humans have to create technology that has the potential to
harm society. Examples that Bohm lists are nuclear bombs and advanced
technology used to fight wars. These all have the potential to harm society, but if
there was technology smart enough to depict negative thoughts and harm amongst
others it could have the potential to control and stop bad thoughts. As we know
thoughts can lead to destruction so if humans were able to use a tool that broke
down their thoughts and scenarios we could have more successful conversations
and dialogue with one another. Bohm and Senge both share how important it is that
we are present and careful with our thoughts because they affect the people around
us. It is really important that in a workplace individuals are careful about sharing
and expressing their thoughts.
6). Watching the video about the oracle in the matrix made me think a lot about the
society we live in and the system individuals have created. I think this was a great
example of David Bohm’s ideas and Peter Senge’s. Bohm talked a lot about how
collective thought is destructive and has impacted our society in a lot of ways.
Humans have built this society and that everyone just follows the system from the
day it's been created and in place. In the oracle scene the oracle asks the main
character the reason why he decided to come and allows him to think about his
thoughts and his decisions. Bohm asks his readers, why we think the way we do
and why we go along with these parts of our system. Instead of just following rules
that were created from other individuals and enforced by society, the question is
why. Bohm wants his readers to practice fragmentation and understand the reason
why. This question can really impact our society and the cultures we are a part of.
An example would be working for a company and there is no wheelchair access for
someone with a disability. A new potential employee comes in for an interview but
there is no wheelchair access for them. These are scenarios that make individuals
think why and challenge the system that was created. These are thoughts and ideas
that can elevate a workplace and create a more uniform and inclusive work
environment. When I think about the future of humanity and dialogue in the
workplace I want to be a part of a culture that questions and asks the reasons why
and how we can challenge the system that was created. The future of humanity has
a lot of opportunity for growth but that can only happen when we ask the questions
why and understand how much our thoughts impact our society.

7). In chapter 1 of On Dialogue David Bohm talks a lot about the differences between
dialogue and discussion and how they are different and what makes them different. I
think a lot of dialogue that people have with one another turns into a discussion because a
certain thought or assumption is shared and the other individual involved counters that.
This will then lead to discussion. Bohm mentions how discussion will end up having
even if the intent was just dialogue. We see this a lot in our world where leaders will be
going back and forth wanting to win a discussion or debate because they think their
thoughts and ideas are right. I think for the future of our humanity we need to be more
transparent and honest with one another when we are having conversations. It may sound
silly but asking the question are we having a discussion or are we having a dialogue
between us. David Bohm wants individuals to ask the question why and ask why are we
having these thoughts and why do we think this way? I think it is important for
individuals to recognize the types of conversations they have first and realize what is
their point for having this discussion or dialogue. If they are wanting to have a discussion
with you because an individual wants to share their point of view and or resolve an issue.
For the future of our humanity we need to be more aware of the conversations we are
having with individuals and are they meaningful conversations? I think it's important to
recognize these differences between dialogue and discussion, because before reading
David Bohm’s On Dialogue I never thought about what dialogue means and its purpose.
If we want to make change in our society and evoke clear communication with one
another it's important we as a society acknowledge the differences and are honest with
one another about the conversations we have. I believe asking the question why will
bring us more awareness just as David Bohm was inspiring individuals to think more
about these questions we don’t ask often.

To be honest this course was one of the most difficult courses I have taken at ASU so far, so I do
feel I struggled a lot with the material within this course as I have always had a weakness within
critical thinking. But I do think this helped me get more practice with critical thinking and it
pushed me out of my comfort zone. I tried my best to meet all the requirements for this project,
but I truly struggled with this course.

Citations

Bohm, David. On Dialogue. Routledge, 2004.

Bohm, David. Thought as a System. Routledge, 1994.

Senge, Peter. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of a Learning Organization.
Doubleday, 2006