Conscious evolution

The concept of conscious evolution refers to the theoretical ability of human beings to become conscious participants in the evolution of their cultures, or even of the entirety of human society, based on a relatively recent combination of factors, including increasing awareness of cultural and social patterns, reaction against perceived problems with existing patterns, injustices, inequities, and other factors. The realization that cultural and social evolution can be guided through conscious decisions has been in increasing evidence since approximately the mid-19th century,^{[citation needed]} when the rate of cultural change globally began to increase dramatically.^{[citation needed]} The Industrial Revolution, reactions against the effects of the Industrial Revolution, the emergence of new sciences such as psychology, anthropology, and sociology, the revolution^[which?] in global communication, the interaction of diverse cultures through transportation and colonization, anti-slavery and suffrage movements, and increasing human lifespan all would contribute^[when?] to the growing awareness of social and cultural patterns as being potentially subject to conscious evolution.

The idea of conscious evolution is not a specific theory, but it has loose connections to integral theory, metamodernism, General Evolutionary Theory (also known as Evolutionary Systems Theory), Spiral Dynamics, and noosphere thought.^{[1][need quotation to verify]} Barbara Marx Hubbard also connects the idea with that of the global brain;^[1] Julie A. Yusupova associates conscious evolution with collective consciousness.^[2] Some have suggested "conscious cultural-evolution"^[3] as a more accurate term, to reduce association with standard biological evolution, though this is not widely applied.^{[citation needed]}

Conscious-evolution theory suggests that now that humanity is conscious of its history and of how things evolve (evolutionary consciousness), and given the rapid pace of change in society and culture, humanity can (and should) choose advancement through co-operation, co-creation and sustainable practices over self-destruction through separateness, competition, and ecological devastation.^[4]