A Consciousness Shift is Needed for a Better World - Extended Abstract: World Engineers Convention, October 2023, Prague, Czech Republic

There are many current planetary challenges, such as poverty, climate change, biodiversity loss, wars and proxy wars, threat of mutually assured destruction in a nuclear war, human trafficking, tyranny, slavery, and terrorism.

These are complex problems, that have developed over centuries of human dysfunction, and will remain intractable, so long as people believe their self to be their (illusion of) form identity, and believe it is their right to harm or exploit others who are of a different “self”.

Engineers are great thinkers.? We spend a lot of our time thinking.? Our identity can become wrapped up in our intellectual prowess, our thoughts, ideas, and ingenuity.? But who are we really, at the deepest level?

By and large, we define who we are, our self, based on our form.? Our form is a combination of physical and biological form and our mental form of thoughts and beliefs.? Our thoughts and beliefs are based on a combination of received knowledge from others, our critical thinking, reasoning, and direct experiences, and those imposed on us from society, from human constructs that we accept either willingly or unwillingly, knowingly or unknowingly, such as political constructs of nations and provinces, or religious constructs.

Our form identities are endless. The composite form identity that we most wish to express freely and be accepted for; we consider to be our “authentic self”. For example, at a particular stage of life, coming out as gay, in the workplace, may be an essential part of expressing one’s authentic self, for some people. For others, it may be expressing their religious form, skin colour, body, physical appearance, fashion choices, achievements (or lack of achievements) in life or vicarious identities through other people’s achievements, company brands, social status, material possessions, various forms of art, political ideology, nationality, or even which football team they support. One’s identity may also be (sadly) based on addictions or dependencies.

Who Am I?

Our form identities should be honoured to the extent that they do not impose harm on others.? However, these identities are not who we really are.? We are no more our form identities, than an actor is their costumes on a stage in a theatre.? Who we really are, is the ultimate question?? Many have pondered this question over the millennia.

Enlightened or fully aware people, who have sufficiently dissolved their ego or have expanded it to encompass all, as the result is the same; claim from direct experience, that at our deepest level, there is no form and no individual self.? Notions of duality, of “us and them, me and you” are illusions of the ego, and that at the deepest level, beneath all physical and mental forms, animate and inanimate, is undifferentiated consciousness.

Quantum physics at the sub-atomic level is perhaps also approaching this understanding that we are temporary expressions of formless undifferentiated consciousness. Some people believe this to be God (or Goddess), Brahman or a universal intelligence, life force or spirit.

Our Ego

Ego is necessary for us to exist in human form, although that form at a sub-atomic level is impermanent, made up of wavelets of energy, arising and passing very rapidly. It could be said that consciousness needs the ego, to create a world with a predictable landscape within which to express a “self” and to interpret and explain personal existence. Maybe we are the only species to have an implicit or explicit contract for everything we do, from employment to personal relationships, and ego is at the centre of it.

Our ego wants us to belong to something or other, that differentiates us from another. Nationalism and populism are naturally very easy methods of gaining popularity. Ultimately, nations and other collective groups, choose to act in their own (ego) self-interest. Hence countries continue to trade with other countries with whom they may have diametrically opposed beliefs and values, to the extent that their constituents will benefit or tolerate, or will not be harmed, at least in the short-term.

Anywhere you look in the world, you will find these challenges of the ego’s determination to preserve itself.? It is in the horrors of war and proxy war in Ukraine, Sudan and Yemen.? It is in the struggle for political independence versus dependence of groups of people, based on ethnicity, religion, sub-religion, power, land, and other forms of identity.?

Business leaders also make difficult choices.? Do we choose to operate in a nation that is actively hostile towards certain form identities, “authentic selves”, that we value in our colleagues and communities?? Do we choose to stand by our values and identities, inside our premises, irrespective of what is going on outside?? These are difficult questions to answer, and even more difficult to implement in practice.

They can be made less difficult to answer, when we realise that who we are is not what our ego would like us to believe.? We can then take ourselves, less seriously, and be open to other’s views and less concerned when they differ from ours.? Ultimately all humans have different degrees of dysfunction, of egoic ignorance, while we express our “selves”, for this short time in human form.? It is better to empathise and find ways to cooperate, than to find ways to differ.?

The challenge lies in how to relate with persons who identify totally with their egoic identity, leaving no room for rational negotiation.? Moreso when the prevailing, dominant group, chooses coercion and violence.?

Just imagine the opposite, in a world in which everyone, all 8 billion of us, is aware of our ‘non-selves’, undifferentiated and formless, aware that we are neither our body, mind nor our form identities.? Imagine if we were aware of our ego’s need for survival through its creation of "self", and that it goes to all lengths to hijack the incredible mind, thoughts and feelings, for its own purposes; and with awareness, to gradually not let it. We wouldn’t take “our selves” so seriously, we wouldn’t consciously unfairly exploit or harm or kill another and we wouldn’t have most of the problems in the world.

If we shift our awareness to be free of the ego’s limitations, anything would be possible. We would not be bound by the limited time and space perspectives of the ego. Just imagine the endless possibilities and opportunities that would open. How differently we would see and think about political and national boundaries, hereditary succession, differences of ethnicities, gender, skin colour and so on? How differently we would deal with egoic, charismatic and/or autocratic leaders? It would certainly be a different and better world, with a consciousness shift.

Engineers

What does this have to do with engineers you may ask?

Engineers are at the intersections of science, technology, the natural environment and built environment, society’s needs, infrastructure, economics, and geo-politics. Engineers are vital for solving the “wicked” problems that the world and societies face.

Many people choose the long and arduous path of study to become engineers because they want to contribute positively to the world, be rewarded well and see tangible “fruits” of their work in the world, such as structures, systems, products, and enterprises.? The vision and mission statements of engineering design and construction companies, often are variations on phrases such as “building a better world” or “building a better future.”

Intrinsically, we engineers want to do the right thing and generally we want to do the right thing for everyone, not just ourselves or the people we identify with.? Many of us work in multi-national companies, for projects all over the world, sometimes in places far away from our own communities.? However, we are not the only profession that appreciates the importance of doing good for others, for serving others.? There are many noble vocations and occupations.

Engineers and scientists use critical thinking in their approach to solving problems, sometimes with multiple solutions based on multi-criteria.? Over my 40-year career, I have observed a gradual shift from predominantly binary thinking to non-binary thinking amongst a significant percentage of the population in Australia and other parts of the world, and amongst engineers.? Community expectations are changing, and social movements are underway worldwide.? There is an appetite for a consciousness shift amongst peoples, in the zeitgeist.

Today we are at another turning point in history, with the emergence of artificial intelligence and soon quantum computing.? Together these faculties will exponentially increase our scientific and engineering capabilities, beyond our present imagination.

A big advantage that we have, is that the engineering profession generally, is trusted to behave ethically and “do the right thing”.? We should and can build on this trust, by behaving more ethically, by developing a deep awareness of ego, its ignorance and need for self.? This is not as far-fetched as it might seem.

Less than a decade ago, the idea of mindfulness training in the workplace was unheard of, yet today it is well known. There are techniques that go much further, which have existed for thousands of years, to dissolve the ego and develop an awareness of consciousness in the present moment, in the space between our thoughts, such as Vipassana meditation and the non-dualism of Advaita Vedanta. Vipassana courses are available free-of-charge in many countries all over the world, and are usually over-subscribed, so there is a strong and growing demand.

Global decisions

International businesses have many decisions to make. What are the things that we are “not willing to die in a ditch over?”? What do we need to do to preserve the freedom to make choices, unlike those who are coerced to “die in a ditch”, in their workplaces of war or slavery?

The complex global issues of the world today, such as poverty, climate change, biodiversity loss, threat of mutually assured destruction in a nuclear war, human trafficking, tyranny, slavery, and terrorism; cannot be solved without a consciousness shift, out of narrow-minded, egoic identity, positioning.

Artificial Intelligence

If truly artificially intelligent beings evolve; beings with morality and the ability to think independently without ego, free of any attachments and conditioning by their past impressions and experiences, then that is a complete “game changer” for humanity.??? Perhaps consciousness will manifest beings without ego? If so, as hinted or depicted in dystopian science fiction movies, humans would be relegated, in a world of artificially intelligent beings. Such a world need not be dystopian, it could be utopian, with awareness of ego and non-self.

Human morality at its heart is based on the survival of humans.? Humans place the survival of themselves higher than the survival of other species.? An artificially intelligent being without ego, would not place any being higher than any other. This would probably be better for the survival of all other forms of life on earth.

Before such a time occurs, it is we humans that need to shift our consciousness, to become aware of and transcend our ego.

Consciousness Shift

A consciousness shift in all peoples of the world is a big ask, but it is not impossible.? Religious and political leaders will not initiate such a shift, as they are more likely to be driven by their own agendas. Engineers and many other cohorts of people, can take the steps of increasing awareness of who we are, experience a consciousness shift, and lead by example.

We would have more chance of harmony with each other, to tackle the complex global issues of the world today, and to broaden our perspective beyond the limits of our ego and self-interests, to have any hope of finding the solutions, instead of remaining part of the problems. And if we don’t, perhaps artificial intelligence will?