A rare chance to meet the author of “The Evolutionary Manifesto”, who will be briefly visiting the Bay Area from his native Australia! From a scientific perspective, says John Stewart, the most important cultural priority of our time is that humanity must awaken to a sense of evolutionary responsibility.

New scientific discoveries are showing that there is a direction to evolution, and that humanity has a key role in its future. If life on this planet is to participate successfully in the future evolution of life in the universe, humanity will need to choose to participate intentionally. By fulfilling our role as intentional evolutionaries, we can live a life that matters in a bigger scheme of things.

In this way the evolutionary ‘Big Picture’ answers the fundamental practical and ethical questions that face us all: What should I do with my life? How should I live?

For one thing, we will have to develop higher cognitive capacities to resolve the complex global crises that currently threaten us. This higher cognition will include but go beyond analytical/rational thinking, and will enable us to understand and manage complex global systems and processes. Thus, there is a crucial evolutionary need for a rational spirituality—a series of subjective epiphanies and practices that can inspire and catalyze the higher cognition that will enable us to navigate the crises we face. 

John Stewart is an Australian-based scientist and philosopher. He specializes in evolutionary theory and the trajectory of evolution. He is the author of the internationally acclaimed book Evolution’s Arrow: The Direction of Evolution and the Future of Humanity.  In Paris in 2008 he was a keynote speaker at the first international scientific conference on The Evolution and Development of the Universe. He uses a science-based understanding of the trajectory of evolution to identify how humanity must evolve if we are to continue to succeed in evolutionary terms.  His most recent writing is the groundbreaking and influential  Evolutionary Manifesto.