Norberg’s wealth of data can be seen to substantiate Teilhard’s Insights on the noosphere
Today’s Post
Last week we saw a synopsis of how Johan Norberg, whose interpretation of the documented history of human development provides objective evidence of human evolution. In the four (of the nine) categories of improvements in human welfare over the past 150 years that he cites, the ability of the human species to not only survive, but to thrive during its (so far) evolutionary run on this planet is very clear. That this data substantiates the optimistic insights of Teilhard is also not only clear, but descriptive of how they are being played out today.
This week we will see how Norberg views human evolution from a different vantage point, which also gives tangibility to yet another of Teilhard’s great insights, that of the ‘noosphere’.
Extrapolating Norberg’s Data
In his book, “Progress”, Norberg provides a wide spectrum of information, provided by many independent sources, and based on objective measures to provide a view of human evolution that is very resonant with the insights of Teilhard and the other thinkers we have encountered in our attempts to understand the fabric of human existence. Like Teilhard, he is very optimistic in his perception of the potential of humans to continue their evolution in the form of increased their welfare.
And, like Teilhard, he is keen to uncover the threads of causality by which this progress occurs. Looking at this potentiality, he sees the trend that
“ .. we are using ever-smaller quantities of resources per unit of output. Demand is not for the resource itself, but for what we do or make with it, and new technology and ingenuity will enable us to find other, hitherto unforeseen resources to achieve our needs. If the market is relatively free, a shortage will mean higher prices, in which case we will economize more with that raw material, and should a resource run out, we will find or invent substitutes.”
And, as Teilhard would agree, he goes on to assert that
“The most important resource is the human brain, a resource which is pleasantly reproducible.”
Thus, as both Norberg and Teilhard see it, the human brain can be understood as a reliable resource for our continued march to the future, requiring only two things:
– Personal freedom to innovate and invent
– Stable and productive relationships
Teilhard succinctly describes the dynamic that unites the development of the human person with the improvement of relationships in his “Phenomenon of Man”:
“Fuller being is closer union: such is the kernel and conclusion of this book.”
He sees this action at work in the human phenomena of the psychism, that which is found in human groups which effects the
“.. increase in mental interiority and hence of inventive power”
required to find and employ
“.. new ways of arranging its elements in the way that is most economical of energy and space.”
The finding of these new ways is obviously necessary for human evolution to continue. But as Norberg provides countless examples of, it is in the depository’ of these new ways that they are retained and reused. Thus, Teilhard’s concept of a ‘recursive’ mode of evolution is revealed. As humans contribute to this trove of insights, it in turn contributes to ever more to Teilhard’s ‘new ways’ of moving forward.
Next Week
This week we began to look at the huge trove of data which Johan Norberg culls to quantify how evolution can be seen to increase human welfare.
Next week we will look a little deeper into this facet to see how Norberg’s insights into the noosphere clearly substantiates Teilhard’s insights on human evolution.