Humanity in the Womb of History

From climate change to mass species extinction and the threat of nuclear war, history as we know it appears to be approaching a precipice. Using a phenomenological lens, the author describes ways in which our political economy, neurochemistry, and habits of digital communications technology usage contribute to these existential threats. Taking cues from ancient Athens to contemporary brain science, the essay next suggests directions for developing a curriculum of consciousness through which we might literally change our minds and thus envision a future, very different from the present, lying just beyond the horizon.