Second in the series of 12 - Education Unplugged 101
"All things are possible until they are proved impossible -- and even the impossible may only be so, as of now."
-- Pearl S. Buck
THE GAME CHANGERS COMETH
Now, we are going to look at a number of "game changers" that we thought we knew all about. However, we are living in a time where every one of them are changing -- drastically. We thought we knew all about "them" (except the Internet -- it's a newbie) as they have been taught throughout the last 60 years but we are now realizing we didn't really know as much as we thought; what we have based our lives on is changing and is now asking us to change with them.
To begin to author education in the 21st century, the following cannot be ignored:
THE GAME CHANGER of ENTANGLEMENT
There are so many game changers. This one runs through all of them. As we understand its message, we change, shift our focus, and much of what we, as part of humanity spend our energy on, will shift. The power of entanglement has been measured. Though not fully understood, everything in the sciences, religion, spirituality and the arts are entangled. Four different events were measured showing the profound impact of entanglement. September 11th, Princess Diana's death and the O.J. Simpson trial registered the impact of what happens when humanity is intensely focused on certain events at the same time. These three events were triggered by tragedy and the emotions associated with tragedy. The impact on the world was powerfully felt. The power of entanglement was registered by scientist using scientific instruments. The fourth event measured was different. It was an event that united people around the world in joy, hope, and gratitude. It was the event that led to 33 miners being brought out of the ground, one by one while the world watched. Again, the scientists gauged the impact when humanity is focused as one.
The recognition of our power, as a collective, is profound and measurable. As the 21st century begins, we are beginning to realize that biology, science, health, the arts and humanities are being shaped by our thinking and our beliefs of separateness. "We are not separate," isn't just a new age mantra. Biology, science, health, arts and humanities are stepping forward and being united through these game changers to reveal something we have continued to look past as we have built higher walls and boundaries in our lives.
THE GAME CHANGER of THE INTERNET
Next week we will look at this game changer all by itself (as if that were possible). Most of you have heard about this game changer. Most of you have accessed it and its multitudes of emergent properties. It has been said that, "The future is already here, it just hasn't been uniformly distributed." The Internet races through our lives almost as naturally as the blood flowing through our veins. This "twenty something" has bounded into our lives penetrating as deeply as we will let it in. Privacy boundaries are constantly being pushed and broken. Intellectual property is in question and this twenty something is having us rewrite rules of (n)etiquette that would blow even Emily Post's (age check) mind.
THE GAME CHANGER of LONGEVITY
We are living longer and the prospects are that we will live longer yet. What will we do in education for the generations aging? What kinds of opportunities can we imagine to integrate their lifelong learning with new technologies? How can we equip them with the tools to navigate this new world, to continue to grow and flourish physically, mentally and spiritually?
An excerpt from an article in Forbes written by Giovanni Rodriguez:
" ...Whoever ignores it {longevity} will not be ready -- much less excited -- for what's coming next. But whoever invests in it, nurtures it, and helps to grow it -- the people, the organizations, and the nations behind strong second starts -- will almost certainly be rewarded. Look up, not down, for the journey is just beginning."
THE GAME CHANGER of TIME AND SPACE: THEY JUST AREN'T WHAT THEY USE TO BE:
The String Theory, M Theory The Metaverse, and beyond are starting to have us ask questions about how many dimensions there are and how many we are living in at the same time (but not at the same place in time) or not in the same time in space? Time and space are being questioned and reexamined for the "reality factor." Science is acknowledging the potential for multiple universes in the string theory. What kinds of systems can we imagine that will take into account certainties that have no boundaries?
"Change your mind, change the world" is a very profound invitation and call to each of us. It is a call to which science is now beginning to answer and acknowledge as being more than a theory. By changing our beliefs about the world, we could change the world.
THE GAME CHANGER of EPIGENETICS: WHAT? MY DNA ISN'T MY DESTINY?
At its most basic, Epigenetics is the study of changes in gene activity that do not involve alterations to the genetic code but still get passed down to at least one successive generation. Epi -- means "over or above" and reveals that life is controlled by something above the genes. Bruce Lipton wrote in his book, Spontaneous Evolution, "Epigenetics has shaken the foundations of biology and medicine to their core because it reveals that we are not victims but masters of our genes." He goes on to say,"... the conventional belief that the genome represents read-only programs that cannot be influenced by the environment has now been proven to be one of those things we thought we knew, but we were wrong."
The science itself reminds us that a cell is programmable and closely resembles a computer chip, in that each of its "programmers" are outside the mechanism. This is an interesting parallel in that it so closely represents a piece of technology that is programmable and therefore can be updated with new information as new information is revealed.
As the science of epigenetics emerges, education in the areas of environment, health, science, religion, spiritualism, economics, biology ... well you get the picture - every facet of learning will be shifting with this new science and its revealing evidence that we are in charge of our genes, our fate and our future. This introduces the potential power of new curriculum in education to support our collective thought on who's doing the programming and why.
THE GAME CHANGER of NEUROPLASITICITY:
For decades, scientists thought that the adult human brain was static and unchanging. Boy, were they wrong. The science of Neuroplasticity is teaching us a lot about what the brain has been up to. Stroke victims were told that the affected areas of the brain were "dead". They were told they had lost any ability that may have been rooted in that area of the brain. We now know this is not true. Our brains are more dynamic than we could have ever imagined. They are operating at full potential, we just didn't know it until now. Science is finding we are not our brains. The brain is an activity and is influenced by all experiences. It is fluid and it is constantly being taught. As we experience new things, the brain, its cells and areas are interacting differently with each new experience. With each new experience, our brain's structure is influenced.
Imagine what an experiential education can do to stimulate the brain's connections in the world internally and externally.
THE GAME CHANGER of QUANTUM PHYSICS:
Unified Theory, Connection of Everything, an observer's influence on reality, illusion of matter, dark matter, infinite potential ... for a start. Choosing any one of these let alone all of these, we quickly realize that it's our heads that are spinning and not necessarily the universes.
Quantum Physics makes the term "game changer" an understatement about change. Much in reality ... isn't what we thought it was but ... as soon as we have clear thoughts about it, it will be.
Education could be antiquated before we get past the A, B, C's of the universe unless we take into account infinite potential as a viable potential.
THE GAME CHANGER of A NEW HUMAN SPECIES? A CHANGE IN HUMAN NATURE?
Just when you thought you could count on something ... here we up and go change!
Watching this TED talk, the question he asks at the end is undoing a lot of our comfort codes. He asks, "What are we going to do with ourselves and other life forms as we move from writing in digital code to writing in life code? He suggested this will be the biggest driver in the global economy. He thinks it will change all of our societies."
How do we include experiential education to include a new human species that we haven't been fully introduced to? What might they need - or not need? What might they bring that we need to remember about ourselves? What might that mean for global changes in every area of concern we now have as we move towards the future?
THE GAME CHANGER of GLOBAL FUSION:
The old adage about, "It's all about who you know", is shifting along with all the old boundaries. Youth is moving around the world like we have never seen before with the use of the Internet and social networks like Facebook and Twitter. New friends abound abroad as quickly as a ping and ding, a like and an invitation to connect and with a couch or spare bed to bridge those connections ... Global Fusion! The new hostels are living rooms, couches and backyards and the hosts of these new hostels are friends found online. With these new "exchange student/ friend/ Pinterest pals", is an exchange of culture, language, ideas, and innovations in very personal ways unseen 9 years ago. Going abroad becomes all aboard with a click of a share and like button.
THE GAME CHANGER of AKASHIC RECORDS - THE FIELDS OF NON-DREAMS:
If you'll access them, they will come. Oh wait, they are already here . . .
Numerous books have been written concerning the akashic records. Many references have been made to these records throughout the ages. Most came from mystics, channelers and shamans who were often dismissed. New sciences are acknowledging fields of activity. Ervin Laszlo's book, Science and the Akashic Field moved the Akashic Field into the fields of science. Joseph Chilton Pearce also wrote about The Akashic Field in his book, The Death of Religion and the Rebirth of Spirit. The Akashic Field is the higher fields or "higher worlds" as they were referred to by Rudolf Steiner and are accessed through our Universal Memory Bank or the databank of the Universe.
If there are fields we can access that contain "libraries of knowledge", how do we access these libraries and integrate this knowledge into our lives? As science acknowledges this field, education at its best cannot ignore them.
Generations of students continue to study, learn, memorize and be tested on information that is static in time and on the page and continues to affect the formation of thinking about ideas and innovation for the 21st century.
If we were living in the 20th century, within the last 100 years, the questions asked by the general public, would have been based on the current beliefs at that time. Looking back, we realize now we would be asking questions that would limit our thinking, not our ability or capacity for thought, but the current thinking. Generational thinking is still strong from the 20th century and is being accessed and factored in to current challenges and solutions in the 21st century.
It isn't necessary to abandon all ideas and thinking from century to century. At least not until we choose to release them. Each of us, throughout the world, holds the freedom to choose again and again. We have the freedom to change our thinking about each other and the world we're a part of without feeling stripped from what we previously believed. That recognition, that we each have these choices, brings each of us a deepening of understanding about humanity and our importance as a whole. The game changers introduced in this blog, invite and lead us to come together; to bring our wisdom, refinement of thoughts, compassion and deepening of understanding into the 21st century. With the introduction of what feels like a quickening in technology, time and available choices, education becomes the bridge. It offers us a place to stand and reflect before we move across its 21st century foundation. With the current game changers alone, education, offers a place to rediscover ourselves and each other. Education is poised to bridge and support the connection to the world within and with the worlds opening up to us. Education's bridge becomes an integral support, connecting us like the internet, through every facet of humanity.
21st century education must release the boundaries and beliefs maintaining the thinking that many couldn't or shouldn't be afforded education because of their inability to pay, because of age, their gender, their nationality, or their generational beliefs.
Participate in rewriting and (r)evolutionizing education.