Holotopia summary

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H O L O T O P I A:    AN   A C T I O N A B L E    S T R A T E G Y



A challenge

"The future will either be an inspired product of a great cultural revival, or there will be no future."

This diagnosis of our civilization's condition was made in 1980 by Aurerelio Peccei, The Club of Rome's founding president, based on a decade of this international think tank's research into the future prospects of mankind.

That "our civilization is on a collision course with nature" was at that point a scientifically established fact. The Club of Rome researchers also saw that the deeper cause of our civilization's condition was the misbalanced way in which it's been evolving—where the science and the technology prospered, while the culture and the human quality decayed.

On the morning of March 14, 1984, the day he passed away, Peccei dictated to his secretary from a hospital bed (as part of "Agenda for the End of the Century"):

"Human development is the most important goal."

Peccei.jpg
Aurelio Peccei

A vision

The holotopia is a realizable vision of a future that offers more than what Peccei called for—more than a way to "change course" by beginning "a great cultural revival".

This vision is made concrete in terms of five insights, which show that a comprehensive improvement of our condition is possible—analogous to the comprehensive wave of change that was germinating four centuries ago, when Galilei was held in house arrest:

  • In innovation (analogy with Industrial Revolution)
  • In communication (analogy with Copernican Revolution)
  • In foundation or epistemology (analogy with Enlightenment)
  • In method (analogy with Scientific Revolution)
  • In values (analogy with Renaissance)


Why this is possible

The reason why comprehensive, Renaissance-like change is now possible is that—just as the case was in Galilei's time—it is mandated for fundammental reasons. In the course of our modernization we've made a fundamental error—which has been scientifically uncovered and reported, but not yet corrected.

In 1952, in "Physics and Philosophy", Nobel Laureate Physicist Werner Heisenberg described it as follows:

"[T]he nineteenth century developed an extremely rigid frame for natural science which formed not only science but also the general outlook of great masses of people. This frame (...) was so narrow and rigid that it was difficult to find a place in it for many concepts of our language that had always belonged to its very substance, for instance, the concepts of mind, of the human soul or of life. (...) In the same way life was to be explained as a physical and chemical process, governed by natural laws, completely determined by causality. Darwin’s concept of evolution provided ample evidence for this interpretation. It was especially difficult to find in this framework room for those parts of reality that had been the object of the traditional religion and seemed now more or less only imaginary. (...). Confidence in the scientific method and in rational thinking replaced all other safeguards of the human mind."

Heisenberg's point was that the "narrow and rigid" way of looking at the world, which our general culture adopted from the 19th century science, was proven wrong a century later by science itself.

Heisenberg believed that the greatest gift of modern physics to humanity would be the cultural change that is mandated by it.


A method

When the changes in our handling of information and knowledge are made, which are demanded by the fundamental insights reached in 20th century science and philosophy, a way to ... liberation ... TBA

The knowledge federation prototype consists of about 40 more detailed prototypes, which provide all that is needed to complete the model of an academic field or paradigm—from epistemology and methods, to social processes, community and examples of application.


A strategy

The holotopia strategy is to focus our efforts on comprehensive and positive change.

The five insights show why such change may be easy—even when smaller and obviously necessary changes may be impossible.


A mission

The holotopia mission is to set in motion a comprehensive wave of change.


We implement this mission in two steps.

The first is to institutionalize knowledge federation as an academic field.

This first step corrects the historical error. It restores to our culture the faculty of vision—and in particular its capacity to create insights, and principles. The five insights—and more generally any culturally relevant insights—can then become part of our culture and education, as the Newton's laws are today.

The mission of knowledge federation is to restore the culture—by federating the heritage of all traditions, including both science and world cultural traditions. The epistemological and methodological foundation for that work is provided by federating results in 20th century science and philosophy; such as the ones that Heisenberg reported.

The academic researchers are liberated from the "narrow frame"—and empowered to focus their creative efforts in whatever ways are required for creating our future.

While the institutionalization of knowledge federation can, of course, be made in many ways and in multiple places, we have a concrete action plan how to proceed.

The second step is to develop holotopia as an academic  project. 

The vision is of course necessary, but it is not sufficient. We still need a way to create those 'headlights'; and to use them to steer toward the future we chose. That is what the second step will secure.


For more information

  • holotopia.info provides an overview of holotopia project etc.
  • holoscope.info is a blog providing the timeline and ideas for development. The blog post "White Is the New Black" is an interview where the holotopia project is explained.