Review of Quantum Shift in the Global Brain: How the New Scientific Reality Can Change Us and Our World by Ervin Laszlo

Abstract

Laszlo (2008) provides us with the definitions of the terminologies “global brain” and “quantum shift in the global brain” at the start of his book “Quantum Shift in the Global Brain: How the New Scientific Reality can Change us and Our World” and in so doing removes any ambiguity around his message to human beings around the world right from the onset. He posits “the global brain is the quasi-neutral energy – and information processing network created by six and a half billion humans on the planet, interacting in many ways, private as well as public, and on many levels, local as well as global.” With this definition he explains to us that “everything we do as humans affects everything” which assertion is in agreement with Gregg Braden’s “Devine Matrix” (Braden, 2007). Laszlo goes on to refer to “a quantum shift in the global brain as a sudden and fundamental transformation in the relations of a significant segment of the six and half billion humans to each other and to nature – a macroshift in society – and likewise a sudden and fundamental shift in science leading to a “reality revolution” in society as well as in science” and refers to Macroshifts as the period of bifurcation in the midst of an important revolution in the world (Laszlo, 2008). In trying to relate to this “reality revolution” the current COVID-19 global pandemic quickly comes to mind as an example of “a quantum shift in the global brain.” This is because it is a “sudden disease” that is creating a fundamental transformation in human interpersonal (right from the home setting with the “stay home, stay safe” slogan), global relations and science. It is a global crisis unlike any other in the last 75 year history of the United Nations existence not only affecting societies at their core (ILO, 2020), but also bringing about new behavioral patterns aimed at combating this disease. Laszlo (2008) explains the new reality of the 21st century characterized by an unsustainable and unstable world which is also “shifting”. There is rapid and previously unseen change of everything that is, humans, nature and the universe (bifurcation) which became more evident in the year 2007 with various “surprises” being experienced in Mother Nature’s routine. The examples he provides include: No snow and ice in Russia during the New Year Red Square celebrations; New Yorkers in Central Park wearing shirtsleeves in January; An unfrozen lake the size of Lake Michigan occupying the center of Greenland; the combination of Lake Superior and Lake Erie and the sight of Mt. Kilimanjaro top with hardly any of its legendary snow heralding that it’s no longer business as usual (Laszlo, 2008). According to him, change in nature and society is no longer a mere theory nor is it an option but a reality and an imperative for human survival. Using star evolution through either exploding as a supernova and spewing forth the matter that become the stuff of the next generation or collapsing into a black hole, he explains that all living species threatened with extinction. However, it is their adaptability through mutating into more viable species that can ensure their longevity else they become extinct as the dinosaurs (Laszlo, 2008) (Brusatte, et al., 20Laszlo provides an intriguing and eye opening experience in “Quantum Shift in the Global Brain” providing clarity and expounding on the works of scientific scholars, quantum gurus to provide this masterpiece that explains the “macroshift” in which we live. He explains how we got into this conundrum (crises across the world), what we can do to evolve and why we need to quickly do so, lest we face extinction or ultimate breakdown. He also explains the changing realities in the universe and the science realm that are unlike to those taught in school and in so doing empowers us to be flexible, innovate, be creative, reinvent ourselves and lastly, by using a tried and tested club of Budapest (a global think-tank), practically explains how planned concerted efforts can save the human race and biosphere.14).