Is a new human species imminent?

Whether we recognise it or not, in 2025 we are on a pilgrimage together; some might drop out, others might wake up and join the evolutionary stream, but the pioneers will push through.

There is a saying in English about separating the wheat from the chaff. Its common meaning is?to separate things or people that are of high quality or ability from those that are not. It is apparently based in the Biblical text (Matthew 3;12):

'His winnowing fan?is?in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn...'

Back in 1996 Graham Hancock launched his book 'Fingerprints of the Gods'. When a colleague heard I would be attending the launch he requested me to ask him whether there will be a separation of people. I managed to spend a little time with Hancock. He responded to the question that if it were to happen?it would be a self-separation.

Self-separation

What then might ?'self-separation' mean - and what would be the definition of of human high quality or ability? In religious terms separation is typically restricted to the fate of believers versus non-believers. ?But, here in the Holos.Earth Project, now in this 21st century where more conscious people have transcended religious dogma, it surely relates to something else. For us it must be related those whose impact in the world is generative - and that will be holistic. ??

We know from history that for quite a while Homo Neanderthal coexisted with Homo Sapiens - that's us. There are many hypotheses why we replaced the Neanderthals. Some of them have to do with climate change, others with competitive advantage. Ultimately it had to do with adaptability, and an enhanced capacity to cope with the harsh environment.?

Technology

Now it seems in this complexifying world, where much of that increased complexity is a function of the impact of our technology, there is evidence that more and more people are experiencing psychological stress with an increasing occurrence of burn-out, even suicide. The technology that was supposed to increase our comfort, and the monetary exploitation of that technology, has alienated us from each other and compromised the very life-giving milieu that enabled us to evolve where we are as a human species. Might Homo Sapiens itself be on the way to extinction as a species? Might a new human species be evolving? ? ??

Unstoppable evolution

In the Holos.Earth Project ?we choose to trust that the evolutionary process, in which human civilisation of necessity needs to become more conscious and responsible to each other and our precious life-giving natural milieu, won't be stopped. Yes, it might be temporarily interrupted, but surely not aborted.?

Emergent holistic initiatives

And the evidence seems be there. The internet abounds with increasing numbers of holistic initiatives - under many different descriptions and applications. Gaia consciousness that sees Earth as a single integrated living?‘Being' is on the rise. Increasingly we find folks re-interrogating their materialistic economic lifestyles and striving to live in greater harmony with each other and nature. ?Jan Smuts' seminal concept of holism is again being re-evaluated at academic level, for its impact on humanity. His legacy is being reappraised beyond his political and military roles, notwithstanding the current popular post-colonial and ‘woke' narratives.

This year, in preparation for a festival in 2026 to celebrate 100 years of the publishing of 'Holism and Evolution’, commencing now January 16, we will unpack the insights of the 12 chapters of his seminal work in regular monthly online interactive dialogue. This was my original intention: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/commentary-introduction-holism-evolution-jan-smuts-van-wyk/? ? ?

Separation - physical versus psycho-spiritual

So back to the issue of separation - might it be psycho-spiritual rather than physical? Could it refer to those who are able to continue their personal growth in consciousness towards more holistic living as distinct from those choosing to remain ensconced in the prevailing destructive materialistic and mechanistic mode. If so, then what then might be the criteria for separation? From the holistic perspective it could be threefold:

Competition/collaboration

• Does the intention and behaviour find the right balance between creative competition and generative collaboration? Competition can serve to sift out the ‘wheat from the chaff’ -especially when it is about 'raising the game', assuring quality. Collaboration in turn enables generative eco-systemic coherence - generating functional adaptive ecologies - natural, communal, and organisational. ?

Holistic coherence

• Does the specific behaviour contribute to the coherence (smooth collaborative functioning) of the human and natural eco-system affected? Ashby’s ‘law of requisite variety’ shows how diversity, when functioning collaboratively, both adds to resilience and creativity to the ‘whole'. Extractive practices, which exploit the resources of a functional ecosystem and so disturb its adaptive coherence, or wholeness, are ultimately self-sabotaging. ? ? ??

Creative evolution

• Does the behaviour enable or obstruct the on-going evolutionary advance in consciousness? Given the cosmic evolutionary process, as we are now beginning to recognise it, self-aware biological life is also evolutionary. And 'evolution' can be measured by an understanding and practical respect of the ultimate interdependency of all living systems. ?This surely raises the question whether by abdicating our own natural information processing and problem-solving capacities to technology, we might actually be interrupting the process of human evolution. ? ?

New beneficial human species

Ultimately, we trust, the measure of the above identified criteria will be whether it will better enable humanity to take our rightful place as a beneficial species on planet earth. ??

Whether we recognise it or not, in 2025 we are on a pilgrimage together; some might drop out, others might wake up and join the evolutionary stream, but the pioneers will push through. So we look forward to significant break-throughs in consciousness and practice to celebrate at a festival of Holism in 2026. ?

On Wednesday 16 January @ 19h00 CET we will commence with our examination of Smuts' first chapter; "The Reform of Fundamental Concepts" in which he presents an integrative experiential view of matter, life and mind.