Updated: Mar 15
To understand our incredible potential as human beings and what is possible for us to achieve beyond our current imagination, we can start by comparing ourselves to the perfect rock we live on, its consistency and precision.
Image credit to Louis Maniquet@Unsplash
by Zach Jones, Lighthouse Global Associate Elect
What is our potential as human beings?
This is a question that has driven humanity to seemingly incredible feats; from scientific discoveries to Olympic excellence and technological advancements… But do we really know the true extent of our potential as human beings?
When you consider the incredible advancements of mankind, the scientific discoveries like those which put man into space, or those like the germ theory which have saved countless lives, to technological advancements like the invention of the aeroplane, motorcar or telephone - these are incredible achievements driven by incredible people. And these were only possible because of the birth gifts we have that make us uniquely human, our endowments:
self-awareness (the knowledge and perception of one’s self consciously),
conscience (the ability to distinguish right from wrong),
independent will (a sense of agency and determination we can control), and
creative imagination (the ability to create in our minds that which is not directly in front of us).
What humanity struggles with is the consistent application of these birth gifts as with every new discovery that seemingly solves one problem, many more sprout in its place! For example, while cars and aeroplanes increased the speed of travel, they also became some of the biggest drivers of carbon emissions leading to global warming as reported by the IPCC. Are we really that advanced when we haven’t solved the problem of 1 in 3 people globally not having access to safe drinking water? 12 men end their lives every day in the UK as reported by the Office For National Statistics. Suicide is the fourth biggest cause of death in young people as reported by the WHO. What exactly are we focusing on if not these things? Clearly, there is a disconnect between our potential as human beings and the results we are currently producing. As it stands we are inconsistent and ultimately arrogant to not pursue application of our human endowments consistently when we are wholly dependent on an interdependent system that does not even have the gifts we have.
If you were to pick up something as seemingly unremarkable as a rock, it would be understandable to think that we have achieved way more than the rock… I mean… It’s a rock, right? Isn’t that obvious? That was my initial reaction too!
But what about a big rock? And I mean a really big rock… The Earth!
What level of precision and perfection can be observed in a rock? A rock that isn’t even sentient! Consider that the earth rotates on its axis at around 1,047mph at the equator and is travelling around the sun in its orbit at a speed of 67,000mph. And yet, we live our lives completely oblivious to this fact for most of our day. A crisp quiet winter’s morning feels completely still, and yet in reality we are hurtling through space at a speed we can’t even get our heads around. Perfect and consistent. And if it weren’t for that precision, if the earth were to stop rotating even for one fraction of a second, anything not attached to bedrock would fly sideways at a speed of 1,047mph!!
This video below also demonstrates the incredible precision that exists in the universe, from the rotation of the earth while orbiting the sun, and all of the other movement that takes place at a consistent speed with such precision that the earth arrives back in exactly the same point on New Year’s Eve ready to countdown to midnight and see in the New Year!
All that precision, from a rock, when as human beings we can’t even get trains to run on time! Could you imagine what would happen if the movement of the earth was left to human beings? If it was anything similar to my experiences on our train networks, we would count down to the New Year from 10 and then have to restart a few minutes later because there was an unexpected delay for unscheduled but essential maintenance work!
How exactly are we making progress!?
As shared by Head Mentor at Lighthouse Global, Paul S. Waugh;
“We live a life that is so far from being fine-tuned, on a rock that is absolutely perfectly fine-tuned. A rock, like somehow this rock is more important than us as humans. Like somehow this rock has got it right and we haven’t. A rock that has no brain, humans have zero control of it. Zero! Zero control over this rock. We are on the opposite end of perfection compared to the perfection and the precision and the fine-tuning of this rock”.
From just looking at the Earth, we can see that if a rock can have such a perfect level of precision, consistency and order without the incredible attributes that make us human, then what’s possible for us to achieve as human beings through developing our human endowments and make healthy decisions which lead to innovative and groundbreaking solutions!? We have potential that far exceeds this rock, and yet we squander them.
Stop where you are now.
How do you feel having read the message I’ve shared with you now? Do you feel more responsible? That you want to do something? Angry? Frustrated? Apathetic? Inspired?
Imagine if 100, or 1,000 people were reading this article right now, and all wanted to act - starting with improving themselves and developing the potential they have.
Imagine if those people got together, even 1,000 people - about as many in a small office in London…
If you want to be directly involved in resolving problems outside your home, it starts inside, with you and your life. If you want to be involved in a group designed to harness our human potential, email me here.
If you know anyone who would value this article, share it with them and tell them why. We need to act more than ever with self-awareness, conscience, free will and imagination.
For more information on what it means to develop our foundation as human beings and the consequences of not having a foundation in life, the consequences of this for children, get in touch via our website.
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