Dr Bob's Blog

Recently two events occurred that are related in important ways; the first was a presentation of Professor Lloyd Geering’s life, work and ideas on TV 1. The second was an article by Mike Moore in the Timaru Herald expressing some concerns about constitutional change.

Professor Geering is one of this country’s great people with something like the stature of Sir Edmund Hillary in the eyes of some, and in the eyes of others, the incarnation of the devil. Professor Geering argues that Christianity in its present form is outmoded and unable to provide a relevant basis to answer issues of ultimate concern and provide the spiritual foundation for our lives. He sees some hope in the emergence of what he calls a new myth (myth used in the sense of a story that helps us make sense and meaning of life and the human condition) that values the earth and all life forms within it. A new myth such as this might be able to heal the divisions in the world and help us confront the massive challenges we face. This according to Professor Geering is the real religious issue of our time.

These are incredible claims to make in a secular society such as New Zealand, but a secular society we have become where only about 15% of the population regularly attend Church services. I think that Professor Geering is onto something here, and his hopes for the emergence of a new myth also has important implications for the political landscape in New Zealand although I am staunchly against any fusing Church and State.

Mike Moore felt that it is only a matter of time before Australia seeks to become a republic and that we in New Zealand will blindly follow suit. While in Parliament he attempted to promote a private members Bill advocating a process for dealing with constitutional reform. He fears that constitutional matters will be handled in an ad hoc way without proper consideration. One of the issues that arise is whether New Zealand becomes a republic. This was seized by the media as the central issue of the article, but Mike Moore was thinking of much broader issues.

It seems to me that Mike Moore recognises that we face many serious challenges and he worries that our constitution might not be equal to those challenges. He does not want to see the issue of constitutional change handled in an ad hoc way. In my view the issue of whether we become a republic is a trivial matter compared with the potential constitutional issues that arise in relation to those challenges.

What are some of the challenges we face and what is the relationship between Professor Geering’s and Mike Moore’s concerns? The challenges we face arise out of range of forces including technological changes associated with robotics, genetics, information technology, artificial intelligence and nanotechnology, with the challenges faced by the environment, (not just global warming), globalization and the realignment of national economies, world poverty and terrorism. These challenges during the next thirty years are going to turn our world upside down and inside out. Just because we are a small country on the fringe of the world does not mean we are immune to the forces of change.

The relationship between Professor Geering’s and Mike Moore’s concerns is that they are both pointing to a range of challenges that we might not be equipped to handle effectively unless we make some changes. For Professor Geering dealing with these challenges involves the emergence of a new myth that honours the earth and all forms of life within it. For Mike Moore it’s important to strengthen our constitution so that we don’t fall apart as a nation as we grapple with the changes that will arise. Both are two sides of the coin for dealing with the future. 

In developing the relationship between Professor Geering and Mike Moore I will rely upon the work of Ken Wilber, and the integral approach that he has developed.

Wilber points out that one of the greatest problems faced by humanity is simply that once a technology has been developed it can be used by individuals who have different agendas from those who developed the technology. He shows that the atomic bomb is the product of scientific and rational thinking, a form of awareness that evolved during the last few hundred years. Nobody at this level of awareness, or those who have a mindset of social inclusiveness would happily unleash the atomic bomb, but somebody at the egocentric/impulsive level would bomb pretty well anybody who got in their way. The events of 9/11 and many other events bear this out.

Wilber goes on the argue that, stated in general terms one of humanity’s nightmares in recent times has been that technological growth has always run ahead of the growth of wisdom, care and compassionate use of technology. This is because powerful technologies require a high level of cognitive and moral development, but can be used by individuals at any level of development, the vast majority of whom could never themselves invent the technology.

This has only become an issue in modern times. The capacity to create technological mayhem on a large scale that threatened people and the environment was limited when bows and arrows were one of the principle forms of combat. However, with the emergence of modernity and the sweeping nature of scientific capacities, humanity began producing advanced technologies where perhaps as many as 70% of the world’s population have not reached the type of thinking and acting needed to deal with these challenges in a wise and compassionate way.

Industrial and scientific capacities, now incredibly powerful, have not been met by an equal amount of growth in awareness and wisdom in the use of those technologies and in dealing with the shock waves they set off in the social fabric. Because industrial and scientific capacities ran ahead of wisdom and awareness, global catastrophes have become possible and even likely. From potential atomic holocaust to ecological devastation humanity is facing its single most important problem, lack of the wisdom, care and compassion required to handle the complex issues involved.

Today we have even more powerful technologies emerging - from quantum level energy production to artificial intelligence (robotics) to systematic genetic engineering, to nanotechnology unleashed on a global scale – and humanity is faced with what Wilber calls its most primordial nightmare; the explosive growth in industrial and scientific technologies (that could devastate our world if mistakes are made in their use and application), that have not been matched with an equivalent growth in awareness and wisdom.