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Just as happiness is able to “infect” others with positivity, so too can loneliness infect others and spread like a virus. The difference between happiness and loneliness of course, is that the feeling of loneliness leads to greater negativity within one’s life. By understanding the way how both loneliness and happiness are able to affect ourselves and others, it will help us to realize ways in which loneliness can be eliminated from one’s life and where happiness can abound. The feeling of loneliness is never a nice experience and so hopefully the suggestions outlined here will help eliminated loneliness from your life. At the very least, this article will show you how loneliness is able to spread like a virus and how it is able to seemingly “infect” others.
No longer can loneliness be thought of as not having an effect on others outside of oneself. New research has discovered that it can spread like an infectious virus among groups of people. Interactions with others where negativity is being projected from those people have the ability to bring us down. The research has found that a lonely person is less trusting of others and as a result is further alienating themselves from others, which increases the level of loneliness experienced by that person. People who feel lonely will see things that people say negatively whereas those who are generally happy in their day-to-day lives will not have perceived that same thing in that negative way. In fact, they may not even notice that there was any such negative intent meant in what that person had said. An odd look or phrasing of something by a friend that would not even be noticed by the happy individual could be seen as an affront to a lonely person, which would in return trigger a cycle of negative interactions that would cause that lonely individual to lose friends and become even more lonely.
Study researcher John Cacioppo expressed his conclusion that “a lonely person who anticipates others are going to act negatively toward them finds evidence in their environment for that, partly because they anticipate it and partly because they elicit it”. Humans are social beings by nature and this is largely due to the overall aspect of consciousness as being an interconnected and unified whole, which is transpersonal in nature. By realizing that there is an interconnectedness not only among human beings, but among all living systems, we are able understand one of the reasons why we feel such a compulsion to interact with others. Unity and wholeness are principle aspects of our reality.
Getting back to the research, it was questioned how many degrees of separation exist for the “lonely virus” to infect someone. The result was that it takes three degrees of separation. What this means is that we are affected quite strongly by our friends’ loneliness, as well as that friends’ friends’ loneliness, and even that friends’ friends’ friends’ loneliness. If there is only one degree of separation to someone that was a direct connection to the another, a person is 52% more likely to feel lonely. I say connection because it does not have to be a friend, but can be someone that we interact with at a daily basis whether we choose to or not, such as an employer. As for further degrees of separation, for two degrees of separation, the number drops to 25% and then 15% for three degrees. The researchers further point out that “people with few friends are more likely to become lonelier over time, which then makes it less likely that they will attract or try to form new social ties”. This statement reminded me of the film Yes Man, where the character played by Jim Carrey becomes more and more alienated from friends and the social ties he had, because of his continuous response to any invitation by his friends to go do anything as being a “no”. He finally becomes so alienated that he barely has any friends left and is a very lonely person. This later changes but up to the point where he decided to make a fundamental change within his life and stop saying “no” to everything, the loneliness kept consuming his being.
In several studies on the subject, loneliness has been linked with various mental and physical illnesses, including depression, which demonstrates how these findings have some very practical implications and why it should be an issue of focus for those who continuously experience feelings of loneliness. There are many ways in which one can reverse the damage that loneliness has done to one’s life and social connections. What needs to be experienced, is the empathy and connectedness with others. By feeling this as a definite reality, one will naturally gravitate towards this higher emotional state of be-ing. High energy levels act as attractor fields or magnets and if a person is experiencing a negative state of mind brought about my solitude and loneliness, immersing oneself in these higher energy fields will help tremendously. You can start by not being as self-conscious of what you say and do. By interpreting everything in a negative light, you are hurting yourself and any prospects of the establishing of a strong and stable connection with someone else. See the glass as half-full and do not over-analyze situations or peoples’ actions/reactions. The reality of the situation is usually much more clear and direct than a person experiencing loneliness may realize.
A great way to shed the feelings of loneliness are to be proactive. Go out and be amongst people who seem as if they are radiating positivity. Be around others who are happy and who have strong social connections. Anything from parties, raves, festivals, celebrations, ceremonies, and other places where people get together and have a good time will be helpful towards this cause. Take the daring step to say hello and make new friends. There is nothing to lose by extending oneself outside the superficial boundaries that a person creates around themselves. Do not count on others to do this for you. You have the power of determining your future. Embrace this power and utilize it to its fullest potential.
Although its use is restricted in many parts of the world for one reason or another, the molecule MDMA, also known as Ecstasy, among other names, is able to create a fantastically strong bond between individuals, where the fundamental nature of reality being an interconnected Whole is experienced. If one is alone while having the MDMA experience, the feeling is a terrible one and becomes difficult to bear. Once a person becomes immersed into a sea of people, or even if it is just one other individual, he or she experiences that any and all feelings of loneliness that may have existed are now gone. The long-term effects of this experience are such that the person will have a more positive outlook on life and not have such feelings of intense loneliness as may have been the case before. These are facts verified by the administration of MDMA to thousands of patients by psychologists in the 1970s and although they are quite profound in a positive way, the legality of this molecule is not such where it is readily available at the local supermarket by the Aspirin. Since this is the case, we are unable to recommend its use. However, the facts concerning MDMA are presented here because the positive effects are the most instantaneous out of all the actions that can be undertaken by an individual to rid oneself of the feelings of loneliness.
Loneliness can be a terrible feeling to experience. The research that has been made in recent months and years demonstrates how infectious the feeling of loneliness is and how it can spread up to three degree of separation. Given this new information, people who experience loneliness can come to the realization of just how damaging this feeling is to their social connections and overall level of well-being in general. By interacting with individuals who are emanating positive energy and states of mind, the feeling of loneliness can dissolve and melt away. Do not become infected with the loneliness virus. Embrace the nature of being a human and form strong social connections. Live in love and positivity.
When comparing the current overall level of consciousness, that we as the human race exhibit, to the unlimited potential that we have in every possible way, we are still infants. Going far beyond the shift from the self-centered to the unity-oriented modality of existence, this potential includes becoming the infinite conscious creative force of Reality itself. It is a seemingly-unfathomable matter to contemplate upon, given our current overall state of consciousness. However, the potential is definitely there; we simply have to go through a supramental transformation of consciousness to reach this destination. Focusing on higher mind-states such as peace, love, and happiness, merging biological and technological systems, and the experience of extropy all assist in manifesting such a reality in humanity’s future. The choice whether we become that infinite infinite creative force is ultimately up to us. Each moment of existence that we spend resisting the realities of interconnectedness, oneness, and the universal laws such as those pertaining to cause and effect as well as attraction is one more moment keeping us away from attaining such an existence.
The concept of infinity is impossible to describe since it has never been experienced by a single human being. However, the idea of consciousness is likewise difficult to describe but as far as consciousness goes, it can be perceived as being one in the same with infinity if the perception is that all is consciousness and so if infinity is, was, and will be the totality of the manifest and unmanifest, then consciousness is infinite. Sure, we can put an 8 on its side and say that it is a reasonable visual and mathematical depiction of infinity, but it does not help us much in experiencing infinity or becoming the infinite intelligent consciousness that encompasses all that is in Reality. In order for this idea to work, one must have the conviction that consciousness is expressed as energy and this energy manifests itself in a wide variety of ways; from solid manifestations such as rocks, to the intangible and unquantifiable expressions of consciousness such as love. This idea makes use of a multidimensional Reality, in which there are several more dimensions than the 4 that we interact with on a daily basis. Theories in physics such as M-Theory identify the existence of 11 dimensions within their models and are adequate at assisting in the understanding of this idea of epigenesis.
Given all of this, it can now be understood how this process of becoming the infinite conscious creative force of Reality can come about. The mystical philosophy that can be used to explain this concept says that a person should utilizes life’s opportunities to change an individual’s circumstances. The evolution of the process is as such:
A person seeks first to understand how previous actions have contributed to current situations. Armed with this knowledge, the person sets out to initiate new causes that will eventually result in the most beneficial effects for both his or herself and humanity, as a whole. The aspirant understands that by using this method, drastic change or elevation in the progression of one’s present and future evolution of consciousness can take place. Such a person is a co-creator in his or her own destiny. This is something known as “conscious evolution”. Instead of assuming the passive status of a passenger on life’s journey, it is preferred to determine the direction and nature of his or her own trip. Much attention is paid to the subtle dimensions of what is considered the human being. Both eastern and western mystic tradition recognize that the health and vitality of the physical body are direct manifestations of this “higher” etheric vehicle.
According to the evolution of consciousness, humans build upon that which has already been created, but add new elements because of the activity of one’s consciousness (in times past interpreted or labeled as spirit). Humans have the capacity, therefore, to become creative intelligences (creators) and ultimately, to become part of the Supermind that is the infinite creative intelligence of Reality. For a human being to fulfill this promise, his or her training should allow for the exercise of originality, which distinguishes creation from imitation. When the process of epigenesis becomes inactive, in the individual or even in a race of species, evolution ceases and degeneration commences. This concept is based on the view of the world as being a training school, which posits that while mistakes are made in life, humans often learn more from mistakes than successes. Suffering is considered as merely the result of error, and the impact of suffering on consciousness causes humans to be active along other lines which are found to be good, in harmony with nature. Humans are seen as localized fields of consciousness attending the school of life for the purpose of unfolding latent powers within their beings, developing themselves from impotence to omnipotence, reaching the stage of creative beings at the end of humanity’s present physical evolution.
Science fiction has played with the idea of humans eventually evolving to the point where they become pure energy and exist in a higher dimension of Reality. Although it may seem like fiction to us humans, it may have become a reality for a race somewhere else in the universe (assuming there is life beyond earth). There is little in the way of impossibility in Reality, which assists in assuring us that the evolution of humanity is far from over. Consciousness has growth potential that is not even contemplated by the most advanced thinkers of today. There must be an open mind when musing about the possible future metamorphosis of the transpersonal consciousness of humanity since without such an accepting position of awareness, the vision cannot be seen. If the vision cannot be seen, it cannot ever come to fruition or become manifest. The 21st century is teeming with advanced concepts, ideas, and theories concerning our current abilities and future possibilities. Let us not close doors that have never been walked through. To get to the top of the mountain, one must first have the courage to climb.
In recent history, it has been theorized that human beings are hardwired to be instinctively selfish. This perception of reality made for way for the “every man for himself” concept and idea that we are individualistic at the core of our nature. However, many studies being conducted over the past several years are demonstrating that this idea is not accurately portraying the underlying nature of human beings. There is mounting evidence that the human race is evolving towards becoming more compassionate and collaborative since our survival counts on these things. In fact, the reasons given by a growing group of psychologists as to why we humans are as successful at surviving and thriving as we are, is because of our nurturing, altruistic, and compassionate traits. With the understanding of the concept of oneness and the interconnected nature of all aspects in Reality, it is realized that this revolutionary perception on evolution makes sense. By being kind to another, we benefit not only that other individual by elevating their positive emotions, but also benefit ourselves by elevating our own.
There has been a study done at the University of Montreal that has found that emotions, depending on whether they are positive or negative, have the ability to either increase or decrease pain. With this being the case, it would be in the best interests of human beings to gravitate towards positive and compassionate feelings and emotions rather than those to the contrary. By being more positive, compassionate, and kind, humans reap rewards instead of experiencing punishments from maladaptive and detrimental emotions and states of consciousness such as anger. In fact, anger has been found to be linked to all the major causes of death in humans. It would therefore be obvious that the evolutionary process of consciousness would prefer emotional states that transcend anger. If all of this is true, then the genes responsible for the predisposition of anger in some, as found in a study where there was a discovery that anger has a genetic component, will gradually tune out of existence according to the “survival of the kindest” model of consciousness evolution.
Dacher Keltner is the co-director of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and he has expressed recently that “human beings have survived as a species because we have evolved the capacities to care for those in need and to cooperate. As Darwin long ago surmised, sympathy is our strongest instinct.” This expression of empathy by human beings is directly connected to the realization of oneness being the fundamental aspect of Reality, whether it is a conscious or an unconscious realization. Empathy is the ability to feel what another feels and has recently been found to be a genetic predisposition in human beings. By feeling what another feels, we are able to better understand what another is going through, since we are able to experience it for ourselves. The greatest teacher in life is experience and so it is not difficult to understand that empathy is able to give critical insight into another’s life situation. If a person is feeling melancholy, the feeling of empathy can have a person desire to elevate the melancholic individual’s emotional state to a higher level. Once this process occurs, the higher emotional state will have a positive effect on the other person and benefit both parties. It is in our everyone’s best interests to have an elevated level of consciousness, for we are all One.
A sociologist by the name of Robb Willer has expressed that the more generous we are, the more respect and influence we are able to have. In one study which has backed up this assertion, participants were each given a modest amount of cash and were told to play games of varying complexity that would benefit the “public good.” The findings demonstrated that participants who acted more generously received more gifts, respect and cooperation from their peers and had more influence over them. Willer said that “the findings suggest that anyone who acts only in his or her narrow self-interest will be shunned, disrespected, even hated, but those who behave generously with others are held in high esteem by their peers and thus rise in status. Given how much is to be gained through generosity, social scientists increasingly wonder less why people are ever generous and more why they are ever selfish.” Call it karma, cause and effect, or a result of interconnectedness and oneness, being kind and compassionate is being seen as a driving force in the evolution of human consciousness and our continued extropy into the future.
There is evidence of positive emotional states increasing within the global consciousness of humanity, which shines a hopeful light on where the future of the human race will be. After analyzing data from the World Values Survey based at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, it was found that in the past 25 years, the overall happiness of human beings around the world has been rising substantially. This finding goes hand in hand with the theory of the human race experiencing an evolution of consciousness to progressively higher levels. For humans to be inherently selfish would be illogical since they would only be harming themselves in the end. Given that humans are still thriving demonstrates that helping others, being kind, experiencing empathy, and practicing compassion have all been part of the human experience as long as we have existed. If we are to truly experience extropy in the future, the realization of oneness is something that should be within the forefront of our minds. With oneness, come all the positive expressions of consciousness such as love, empathy, and kindness. We are all in this together and it has become apparent that it is in our best interests, as a race, to express these higher states of be-ing.
Humanity is no doubt arriving at a crossroads, at which it will have to make critical and key decisions that will affect its extended future. There are many specifics within society and culture that can be looked at and seen as being detrimental to our overall survival as a species on this planet, as well as the evolution of humanity’s collective consciousness. Behind these issues, lie egoistic expressions such as greed. Greed is defined as the excessive desire for things such as wealth and possessions and can morph into a psychological addiction, with increased desire for acquiring and consuming more and more, and then even some more. There is never an end to amassing and consuming when bypassing reason and experiencing the feeling of greed. This idea of greed being incredibly detrimental to our future and survival has even been expressed within a new report just released by the Worldwatch Institute. It seems that one of the keys to avoiding a dystopian future is the elimination of greed from our minds. The realization of the interconnected nature of everything in reality is definitely one way of achieving this goal.
This new report states that unless the lifestyles of people change in a way that they are not part of the “cult of consumption and greed” any longer, no progress will be made on key environmental issues that affect the lives of not only humans, but all other life on the planet. The idea that consumerism leads to excessive pollution and environmental degradation is not a hypothesis but a verifiable reality. With this being the case, one must look at what the driving motivators or causes are for this consumerism. When one looks deeply enough, he or she will find that at the root of it all, among a few other things, lies the egoistic tool of greed.
The problems created by greed and consumerism are at such epic proportions now that anything short of a major social transformation, and how people perceive the reality of our biosphere, will be an inadequate response to solving the various crises we have, and will continue to have, as a result. The report affirms that the collapse of human civilization itself is a possibility if these issues are not dealt with now. The threat of culture collapse is seen as so serious that the report has stated that government targets and new technology were simply not enough to rescue humanity from ecological and social threats. Although these statements may seem dramatic and over-the-top, they are not outside the realm of reality. Anyone can look around and see the incredibly expedited degradation of the environmental biosphere. These are serious issues that need serious solutions, not simply rhetoric and minuscule modifications. As Erik Assadourian, the institute’s project director had said, it was “no longer enough to change our light bulbs, we must change our very cultures”.
There may be many reasons as to why this consciousness of desire has such a strong position within human society (particularly the industrial and post-industrial parts of society). Whatever the reasons may be, the important thing is to realize that they have led to a detrimental consciousness of consuming that will not come without its negative side effects. The quickest way for the culture to change, is for the culture to have a personal experiential realization. This realization, is that we are all connected and interconnected with nature and all that it encompasses. The planet can survive extinctions, as is evident from geological records. However, self-aware sentient life has come and gone several times in earth’s past. It would not be a good thing if we went the way of the dinosaurs. This is a worst-case scenario of course, but quite a real possibility, as many indicators show. By realizing that everything in reality exists within an elaborate interconnected matrix, where everything affects everything else, one will see that the greed and consumerism that he or she expresses, are negatively affecting not only factors and people external to themselves, but their own selves as well. Interconnectedness is an ancient truth and a now-proven scientific reality (something I go into detail in my upcoming book). This is not an easy fix, but it is unfortunately the key solution to this enormous problem we face today. Hopefully, humanity will come to this realization sooner, rather than later.
There seems to be a heightening level of awareness within the human race with respect to nature and all that it encompasses. Everything from the discoveries of the rudiments of language in monkeys, metacognition in some animals, self-awareness of elephants, the ability for animals to tell “right” from “wrong”, to the creation and extension of bills of rights for animals and plants by countries such as Switzerland and Ecuador as well as the acknowledgment of dolphins as being non-human persons.. There is a growing awareness by humanity that nature and its inhabitants are not as primitive and simple as it may have believed to be the case in the past. With this growing awareness, comes growing understanding of the unity that humanity has with the environment within which it exists. This sense of unity with nature is not something new and indeed has been the primary position of awareness for many societies in existence before their industrialization. In today’s post-modern societies, there is a resurgence of that connection with the biosphere and interconnected organism that is the planet and all that exists within it’s domain. As more discoveries are made, greater awareness shines down on humanity’s collective consciousness and thereby, allowing us to evolve the transpersonal consciousness to a level where the ego is no longer the dominator of the Self.
Science can be a wonderful thing. It can prove without a doubt what may have been suggested in times past, but was not completely understood as being the absolute truth, which always left a bit of doubt or confusion. However, with continuous scientific discoveries occurring all the time, it is of great fortune that we are able to attain substantial data and knowledge concerning the environment and all that it encompasses. With these new discoveries, it is being quite evident that humans have mistakenly been ignorant and arrogant concerning the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms with respect to their levels of sophistication, evolution, consciousness, and awareness. If we were to start looking at the mineral kingdom, much can be seen from the recent discoveries made. Of course, there has been such an influx of findings that they would be able to fill up an entire book. However, just a few will be looked at in order to demonstrate the point at hand. All of the discoveries and findings mentioned within this article have been announced publicly within the last two years.
Rocks have been looked at as generally non-living, inanimate, unconscious, and completely devoid of any lifelike characteristics. However, stunning new evidence shows that the incredible diversity of crystals and minerals after the rise of life on this planet and points to the reality that rocks, like plants and animals, have been evolving all this time, and we did not even realize it until now. This idea is being called “mineral evolution”, which is the concept that many of the our planet’s rocks, minerals, and crystals are dynamic species which emerged and transformed over time. Of course, the evolution of the mineral kingdom is not exactly the same as the evolution of the plant and animal kingdoms, since minerals do not mutate, reproduce, or complete like other living organisms, to our knowledge. However, the vast variety and abundance of all the various minerals on earth have changed quite dramatically over the 4.5+ billion years of earth’s past. US geologist Robert Hazen who led the research team for this finding, said that “for at least 2.5 billion years, and possibly since the emergence of life, Earth’s mineralogy has evolved in parallel with biology.” This should not be too big of a surprise to us, however. It makes quite a bit of sense that evolution is all-encompassing…everything from our consciousness, to galaxies, to rocks. Everything is in a constant state of be-ing and become-ing and the condition of the various aspects of Reality being static does not find much evidence to support itself on. It looks more and more as if Reality is dynamic and extropic in nature.
Stepping out of the mineral kingdom, we make our way to the plant kingdom. Although it has been known for quite some time that the rainforests of the world act as lungs for the planet, it has recently been discovered that they act as a heart as well. What this implies is that not only are rainforests giant carbon sinks of the planet (acting as lungs), but they may also be responsible for moving many of the weather patterns we see all around the globe (just as the physical heart moves blood throughout the entire body). The new study researching this subject suggests that rainforests, such as the ones in Africa and South America, create winds that circulate water around the planet. It is known that more than half the rainfall in rainforests evaporates and recirculates, which then keeps the upper air moist. New findings show that rainforests are also moving the air around them, which also has the effect of moving the water around. It turns out that as important as plants and trees are to the ensuring that there is enough clean oxygen for all sentient beings to thrive and survive on the planet, they are now acknowledged as being even more important, by affecting the very weather patterns of our biosphere.
Perhaps as a response to the various discoveries concerning the plant kingdom, there have been governments across the planet that have took it upon themselves to become trailblazers in the area of plant and ecosystem rights. This higher awareness has been most recently demonstrated in the countries of Switzerland and Ecuador. In the case of Switzerland, the Swiss Government’s Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology has come to the consensus that plants have rights, and that they have to be treated appropriately. Making our way to Ecuador, we can see that the country has changed its constitution to say that nature has “the right to the maintenance and regeneration of its vital cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes.” The basis of these rights “change the status of ecosystems from being regarded as property under the law to being recognized as rights-bearing entities.” The idea of plants having a degree of consciousness is very well documented and so it is not unreasonable for a government to come up with such a conclusion in respect to the plant kingdom. However, the perceptions of humans are not always quick to shift and change. It is demonstrations such as these which show that there is indeed a higher awareness being experienced by humanity with relation to its biosphere neighbors.
Emerging out of the plant kingdom and into the animal kingdom, a myriad of recent discoveries exemplify humanity’s growing awareness of the sophistication and higher level of be-ing that animals exist at. The latest and most well-known finding is concerning dolphins. Dolphins have been perceived as being very intelligent beings for at least several thousand years. In ancient Greece, it was punishable by death to kill or harm a dolphin. Much mythology revolves around dolphins. However, concerning the scientific data being research and analyzed, it has been found without doubt that human language and dolphin movement patterns show similarities in brevity. The law of brevity in human language, according to which the most frequently-used words tend to be the shortest, extends to dolphins, as well as other animal species. The way in which this is observed was that when dolphins move on the surface of the water, they tend to make the simplest movements, in the same way that humans tend to use words comprised of less letters when they are speaking or writing.
Perhaps it is discoveries such as these and others that are altering the positions of awareness that humanity has concerning dolphins to the point where they are being described by scientsts as being non-human persons and as a result, should be treated as such. Dolphins are recognized as being the most intelligent beings on our planet, after humans. The signs are numerous, such as the anatomical research showing that dolphin brains have many key features associated with high intelligence, studies showing that dolphins have distinct personalities, strong sense of self, and ability to think about the future. Dolphins are also cultural animals, which means that new types of behavior can quickly be picked up by one dolphin from another.
More stunning research has discovered that dolphins, as well as other animals such as macaque monkeys, have shown to have conscious metacognition. There is a growing amount of evidence that animals share functional parallels with human conscious metacognition. Metacognition is essentially the ability to reflect upon, monitor or regulate their states of mind and although once considered solely the domain of humans, is now seen as evident in some animals as well. J. David Smith, Ph.D., a comparative psychologist who has conducted the study, has concluded that “metacognition rivals language and tool use in its potential to establish important continuities or discontinuities between human and animal minds.”
Metacognition aside, animals are also now known to possess self-awareness. First seen in gorillas and then later in elephants and dolphins, self-awareness is no longer solely recognized as being the domain of the human being. When most animals see themselves in a mirror, they will interpret what they see as another animal, possibly a threat, and may attack the image, or, be scared away. After awhile, the animals habituate and ignore the reflected image entirely. However, an animal that is self-aware will recognize the image as its own, reflection, which is something that requires a degree of abstract thought and cognitive association.
As fascinating as these things may be, new research has discovered that several species of animals, such as monkeys, wolves, coyotes, elephants, chimpanzees, rodents, bats, and whales, have a sense of what is called “morality”, in that they are able to subjectively tell “right” from “wrong”. In a series of studies scientists have found that monkeys and apes can make judgments about fairness, offer altruistic help and empathize when a fellow animal is ill or in difficulties. The existence of a conscience is also apparent, and remembering obligations also exists. Even when there is no obvious reward for an an altruistic action, chimpanzees were still observed as willing to help others. The conclusion of this observation led to the statement by one of the researchers that “chimpanzees spontaneously help both humans and each other in carefully controlled tests.” Perhaps the most interest point in this discovery is that everything else being equal, animals such as chimpanzees prefer to reward a companion together with themselves rather than just themselves alone. The act of giving by the monkeys is self-rewarding and can be said as being a demonstration of the interconnected consciousness of monkeys, just as humans, within their interconnected transpersonal consciousness, will experience the same effect. As the old adage goes, what you do to another, you do to/for yourself.
The one final demonstration in this article of this elevated level of consciousness and be-ing that other aspects of nature have is that of language among animals. It has recently been found that the rudiments of language exist among monkeys. Certain monkeys that have been studied have been seen to combine the same calls in different ways, using rules of grammar that turn sound into language. Alban Lemasson, a primatologist at the University of Rennes in France, has stated that “this is the first evidence we have in animal communication that they can combine, in a semantic way, different calls to create a new message.” As it stands, it seems that humans are no longer the sole users of language in the sophisticated manner in which we use it. Although nowhere as complex as the syntax of human beings, it is more advanced and complex than we have ever previously been aware of.
All these discoveries have occured within a few years and are demonstrative of the incredibly accelerated rise in awareness that humanity is experiencing with respect to the level of consciousness of various aspects of nature, as well as how primitive nature and all the various aspects of it, seemed to be in times past. There is an awakening to a more intelligent nature than previously was acknowledged. This is a step towards a new age in which humans and the rest of nature will hopefully have a more symbiotic and unifying relationship with the environment, and more respect will be given to it. Baby steps, for sure, but baby steps towards a positive future, nonetheless.
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