Evolution and the Human Givens

The organising ideas summed up in the phrase ‘human givens’ represent the best hope for humanity.

They offer a path that, if enough people travelled it, could in a few decades, civilize us. This would require that we educate our children in tune with the way nature intended, that we bring more effective treatment to bare on the psychologically damaged and disturbed, that we stabilise stressed communities, curb the greed that is eating up the planet’s resources and defuse fanatical ideologies by developing more humane forms of government.

This inspiring conversation between two eminent practical thinkers is guaranteed to give any open-minded person pause for thought. Topics covered include:

• The physical and emotional needs that nature programmed us with (and that we ignore at our peril)
• The guidance systems that help us get these needs met
• The power of expectation and the terrible consequences when the brain cannot distinguish between real and imagined ones
• How the application of HG ideas could lower the dangerously high emotional temperature of society
• Evolution at a personal level – increasing the complexity of knowledge
• Why meeting emotional needs is essential for creating the spare capacity necessary for developing consciousness and our ‘spiritual’ life.