The New Age has begun!

[Clarakore]

As long as humans are humans, war will be a fact of life.

That's not cynical or pessimistic or skeptical. That's the facts. Expecting homo sapiens to be a species without aggression and war is like expecting lions to stop hunting antelopes and buffalo and start eating potatoes. It is simply the nature of the beast. It is the way things are.

That's not to say we should simply do nothing about it, or shrug our shoulders any accept that anything goes. We should do everything to minimise our aggressive instincts and to foster international co-operation and prosperity and we should try to cut back on our methods for truly causing havoc (nuclear non-proliferation, arms cutbacks, etc.) but to think that there will be no war on planet Earth in 50 years is naive in the extreme.

You can take the human out of the wild African savannah, you can't take the wild African savannah out of the human, to rephrase an old saying.

Our ethics our evolving? Is that really true? The most destructive wars and genocides all happened within the last 100 years of our species 200,000 year history. That doesn't sound like much improvement in the way of ethical evolution.

You are making comparisons using a single metric but you need more markers for accuracy. First of all consider the fact that a greater amount of casualties does not necessarily mean our ethics are not evolving. They are even if at the same time industrialization made possible the mechanization of war allowing for greater casualties. There is also the fact that throughout history political units have consistently evolved, both offering more safety (think being able to travel from one end of Rome to the other on their roads without worrying about every single nation you passed through and if you would be eaten by a fierce tribe who ate all strangers in an earlier era) but also more danger (think greater armies assembled on the field vs a few tribesmen with clubs) but both at the same time. It is unfair to yourself to ignore one and focus only on the other, the negative.

Our ethics are evolving, consider the following but my point is made in the last part in bold:

In this view, the term “moral” does not gain its legitimacy by virtue of its status as “received wisdom,” engraved in holy writ. Rather, the body of moral law is a prescriptive model of morality based on close observation, intuition, and extrapolation. Prophets like Moses, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Mo Tzu, Jesus, Mohammed, Sankara, and others are seen as perceptive moral philosophers with an uncanny knack for the long view.

As in science, virtually simultaneous, independent discovery of the same moral truths is not uncommon. Then and now, moral precepts can be understood as intuitive extrapolations based on empirical observations of cause and effect.

Take, for example, the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.” It’s not hard to imagine that witnesses to tit—for—tat cycles of revenge killings concluded that “not killing” was the way to avoid deadly multi—generational feuds, and that someone—tradition credits Moses—packaged this discovery (along with other similar moral precepts) for his contemporaries and, unwittingly, for posterity.

<snippet>

As with all models, so with models of morality: close follow—up scrutiny may bring exceptions to light. Exceptions have long been sanctioned to the commandment “Thou shalt not kill”—to wit, capital punishment and warfare. But Moses may yet have the last word. As we move into the twenty—first century, the global trend to abolish capital punishment is unmistakable. Likewise, the inefficacy of war as an instrument of foreign policy is becoming clearer, and, as it does, the frequency of wars is diminishing (as documented by Steven Pinker in The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined).

http://www.psycholog...on-moral-models

Now even as wars became more brutal judging by the numbers and types of casualties, they have also became more humane, with the introduction of protocols such as the Geneva Convention and the inclusion of agencies such as the Red Cross/Crescent.

The Romans would crucify war criminals at times but even they had upwardly evolving morals for they found human sacrifice for religious ceremonies as distasteful unlike earlier eras who did not. Our most modern societies do not practice this and soon they will not practice war.

It is like a new technology, the car for instance, we don't know all the dangers when introduced but we will begin safety features and regulation of the industry to keep citizens safe. We are still working on it but cars are getting safer all the time and one day when automated will reduce human error but this is besides the point.

We also have bigger wars but in reaction we introduce bigger safety valves. The Civil War was to change the American perception of death because of how deadly it was. Before people died and were buried in tact and in a Christian view they would be resurrected, body and all.

But during the Civil War so many American sons were maimed or their remains were in pieces that the view of this had to change. Heaven became a place of spirits only. The original view became old fashioned and quaint because it would mean that if you were torn apart by mechanzied weapons or were burned to death you would not be able to be resurrected.

A nurse in the American Civil War, Clara Barton, was chief behind efforts to get America to sign the Geneva Convetion two decades later.

Good comes with bad and usually a result of it, good is a direct response to bad and the most effective, but in the end you cannot separate them, as a nation grows the amount of good it does will rise proportionatley to the amount of bad it does. The scales are tipping toward the good. The safety vales will become more efficient and powerful. Soft power vs hard power. We are going to be a better off planet for it.

Edited January 10, 2013 by I believe you

[kitty81]

'If you "want to believe" something enough, you'll start cherry picking evidence and massaging it and reinterpreting things until you get what you want'

yup.

[Professor T]

On the question of Human Ethics leading the change, I believe this is the case..

I saw a video by Robert Lundon, (think that's the name) thank's to some breadcrumbs that Blue d Energy left in an unrelated post..

Anyway, this guy was talking about Ethics and Morals, and what I got from 4 hours of lectures was the following:

Morals are imposed...

Ethics are Projected...

"Thou shal not kill" is an imposed Moral imo..

but "I will not kill" is an ethic I project..

Morals are imposed and as such they're easily ignored..

Ethics are projected from within, and they are guiding principles so can't be ignored..

[Lion of Judah]

The Quantum age of Space travel and Genetic enhancement of our species

[Abramelin]

So, I am looking for positive proof that the New Age has indeed begun. Maybe you have been witness to events recently but did not recognize them for being out of the ordinary. A group spontaneously forming to help someone then dissipating just as fast. Anything to do with the collective working in harmony or to help others. Of society getting better, old problems getting fixed, etc,...

Any experiences you have had since the solstice that fit this or anything else you can think of as positive proof the New Age has begun, please add it. I want to believe.

I have grown a beard, and it's now grey instead of black like it used to be when grew one.

Sign of 'old age', I guess.

[Clarakore]

I have grown a beard, and it's now grey instead of black like it used to be when grew one.

Sign of 'old age', I guess.

I am quite sure that accepting the fact we all must age and can do so gracefully will free one from violently resisting it through a torrent of products marketed at one to remain feeling young but left still afraid of growing old.

Now if you do all that you are free from the bonds of corporate mind slavery and are thus part of the New Age.

Lyrics semi-related.

I eat dinner at the kitchen table

And I wash it down with pop

I eat leftovers with mashed potatoes

No more candlelight

No more romance

No more smalltalk

When the hunger stops

When the hunger stops

Never thought that I’d end up this way

I who loved the sparks

Never thought my hair’d be turning to grey

It used to be so dark

So dark

No more candlelight

No more romance

No more smalltalk

When the hunger’s gone

No more candlelight

No more romance

No more smalltalk

When the hunger’s gone

When the hunger’s gone

http://www.mcgarrigles.com/music/heartbeats-accelerating/i-eat-dinner-when-the-hungers-gone

Edited January 11, 2013 by I believe you

[Clarakore]

New age has begun and insn't so great, can we go back to the 90's now?

The New Age might have begun in 1987 during the harmonic convergence. I am not up and up with all that star jazz but I do know that humanity can use whatever motif it wishes to use to progress, I will stand behind progress.

Edited January 11, 2013 by I believe you

[Space Commander Travis]

The New Age might have begun in 1987 during the harmonic convergence. I am not up and up with all that star jazz but I do know that humanity can use whatever motif it wishes to use to progress, I will stand behind progress.

interesting point; who knows, perhaps it might have started out in the right direction (Berlin Wall coming down, end of the Cold War etc), but then, since the old power structures were still in place in the "Free" world, they prevented, or at least delayed, things from taking their course because of course they'd do all that they could to hold on to power, so they spent much of the last 20 years looking for enemies, and inventing them if they couldn't find any. But now perhaps inevitability has caught up with them and the structures they dominate (the Global Economy, "Democracy"), and crumbling beneath them, so they, too, will soon go the way of the Berlin Wall, perhaps.

[+joc]

The New Age might have begun in 1987 during the harmonic convergence. I am not up and up with all that star jazz but I do know that humanity can use whatever motif it wishes to use to progress, I will stand behind progress.

Damn Progress! Progress has given us what? The ability to live longer so that we can destroy more? Is Progress being fat, stupid and lazy? Is Progress the ability to go to Wal-mart and buy all the crap that China can manufacture?

Give me back my Buffalo! Give me back my beautiful plains! Give me back my traditions! Can Progress do that? No. It can only destroy. Damn Progress!

[Space Commander Travis]

Damn Progress! Progress has given us what? The ability to live longer so that we can destroy more? Is Progress being fat, stupid and lazy? Is Progress the ability to go to Wal-mart and buy all the crap that China can manufacture?

Give me back my Buffalo! Give me back my beautiful plains! Give me back my traditions! Can Progress do that? No. It can only destroy. Damn Progress!

I agree with you there, but I think that's the point that's being made; Progress isn't just carrying on with the exploitative ways of Civilisation, it's finding a new way now that that's crumbling.

[_Only]

Why would cherry picking the positive in 2013 make any more sense than waiting until 2031 or doing it back in 1994 and use that as evidence that some "new age" began then or will begin in the future?

It spreads positivity now, not in 2031 or 1994. It's not a dirty thing.

[Emma_Acid]

The new age has begun and has been underway for a while. I dont think the solstice was the exact marker though it may have been key inmarking the event.. with every change there is the adjustment period and these dont tend to be pretty. I think we will all be dead before the real 'change' is evident.. but slowly and surely it may.. its good to pay attention to the small signs and be involved in them.. peace and harmony? 100% available for us, it all depends on how we think, act and believe...

I like what another poster said, think globally, start locally. We are the change...

So you can't be proven wrong. Convenient.

[_Only]

As long as humans are humans, war will be a fact of life.

That's not cynical or pessimistic or skeptical. That's the facts. Expecting homo sapiens to be a species without aggression and war is like expecting lions to stop hunting antelopes and buffalo and start eating potatoes. It is simply the nature of the beast. It is the way things are.

No. We have evolved as a species to move past most of the things we used to consider 'a fact of life'. We simply don't need to anymore, and have found far better ways to live. So those parts will eventually die out, in the natural process as we continue to evolve (not in a physical, but mental/emotional way, seeing as how we are needing less and less to evolve physically to survive in this world). This is a brand new thing in the grand timeline of our existence. Killing each other to survive just isn't needed anymore. Now we do it because we have taught each other that the only way to solve our problems between nations is to kill each other in shows of force. We have since started to try more peaceful ways to work out our differences, but there is still a strong clinging to the old mentality of fighting being the only way to end an issue. There are many reasons for this mentality, but all can be surpassed. I believe your view is extremely pessimistic and dooming, for the reasons above and more.

All that aside, my new age began in late January of last year (2012). I accept that some will read what I experienced and think I'm crazy. That doesn't matter (well, much); it was a personal experience that only truly matters to me. I can only share it to try to give a glimpse of how it made me feel.

I had a dream; all I remember of it was seeing through the eyes of something in outer space, looking at the Earth. I woke up, being the most moved I have ever been in my life, and I had no idea why. I was bawling in joy, with the greatest feeling of peace. Some time after, I sat up in my room, and was shocked. Everything in my room looked the same (everything in its normal place), but it all had powerful personal relevance to me (every item). As I looked at it all and thought about how odd this was, I started to have great thoughts about it that took me by surprise. These were clear, smart, often witty responses to some of the thoughts and questions I was asking to myself. As I thought how I came up with these thoughts, that inner voice said 'that was us', or something similar. Conversing began, and as they conversed with me, they also conversed with each other. They all were so friendly to me and each other, and the feeling of love between us all was so strong. We were all seeming to share a single mind in a way, and were serving to help each other. We were all one; in thought, feeling, and love.

There was a lot more that I won't go into, but I still think about that night, and am awestruck, as that was really the night my new age began. From that moment on, I became a new person inside. A lot of my hate and fear instantly dissipated. And while some powerful remnants still remain, I now am learning how to assess the feelings, and process them, allowing me to figure them out and attempt to fix them. This is also what I have learned to do in just about every facet of my me. This is a 180 from the me I used to be, which would push things down, ignore them, and sit in hate and self pity. I have learned to love again, and am finding peace and joy in what I once saw nothing. I am seeing many things around me in a new light, feeling and thinking about things in this same new light.

So the above is my personal 'new age'. And that's where it all begins and ends, don't you think?

[_Only]

So you can't be proven wrong. Convenient.

She was just giving her personal views and beliefs, not attempting to compete in any contest where proof is necessary.

[Lilly]

When I was young people were proclaiming that the "new age" was upon us. Now it's happening again. Funny thing though, basic human nature doesn't appear to changed one bit. Actually in many ways things appear (to me anyway) to be getting worse.

[AsteroidX]

Theres so much talent and innovation being stifled under oppression.

[Professor T]

When I was young people were proclaiming that the "new age" was upon us. Now it's happening again. Funny thing though, basic human nature doesn't appear to changed one bit. Actually in many ways things appear (to me anyway) to be getting worse.

A generational thing perhaps?

I gew up in the groovy 70's and kind of feel the same way..

Each new generation proclaims it a new age, but the only thing that changes is a downward spiral of society passion for life and an upward trend in plastic ego's.

[_Only]

Well, every day can be a new age, if you want it to be.

[orangepeaceful79]

Everything is human created? Ya know, except everything that's not.

Sorry to say IBY, it just sounds like a lot of vague nonsense that sounds nice but doesn't have any substance.

And by 'ills' I mean genetic disorders and diseases. Things you catch or have written into the very fabric of your DNA, like MS or Huntington's.

Exactly. Its just wishy-washy New Age Blah blah blah. Empower yourself! Love, Peace, Happiness! Embrace everything and seek peace...mumble mumble mumble. All laudable outcomes, but no clear blueprint for action. Just thought-projects and internet glad-handing.

I, though I wish I weren't, am of the opposite mindset of the OP. The New Age (if there is one) is heading in the other direction. WE are in decline as a species. I'm a teacher and I see the evidence of it everyday in my students. We are a society (at least here in the US) that is increasingly materialistic, and decreasingly willing to reach out and help each other and larger causes. All my students talk about are video games and electronic devices....alternate realities that they steep themselves in at every possible opportunity.

Kids are different now...they learn differently, they expect to be entertained at every juncture. They are a symptom of a society that is largely concerned with shallow pursuits. I've been in education now for 13 years and its been getting worse. These kids I see everyday are the canary in the mineshaft. A quiet alarm nobody is paying much attention to. My colleagues and I feel as though we are fighting an uphill struggle.

No magical New Age awakening is going to reverse this. I wish I were wrong but I don't see an evidence to the contrary.

[orangepeaceful79]

Theres so much talent and innovation being stifled under oppression.

Can you expand on this? What are some examples of this happening?

[Hasina]

Exactly. Its just wishy-washy New Age Blah blah blah. Empower yourself! Love, Peace, Happiness! Embrace everything and seek peace...mumble mumble mumble. All laudable outcomes, but no clear blueprint for action. Just thought-projects and internet glad-handing.

I, though I wish I weren't, am of the opposite mindset of the OP. The New Age (if there is one) is heading in the other direction. WE are in decline as a species. I'm a teacher and I see the evidence of it everyday in my students. We are a society (at least here in the US) that is increasingly materialistic, and decreasingly willing to reach out and help each other and larger causes. All my students talk about are video games and electronic devices....alternate realities that they steep themselves in at every possible opportunity.

Kids are different now...they learn differently, they expect to be entertained at every juncture. They are a symptom of a society that is largely concerned with shallow pursuits. I've been in education now for 13 years and its been getting worse. These kids I see everyday are the canary in the mineshaft. A quiet alarm nobody is paying much attention to. My colleagues and I feel as though we are fighting an uphill struggle.

No magical New Age awakening is going to reverse this. I wish I were wrong but I don't see an evidence to the contrary.

I'm in the middle, we'll get better slowly and individually, learning a bit as a group and then improving just slightly. There's proof of that in our general soceity with how we've improved health and communication. It goes back to us as individuals to improve things. Not so esoteric date, not cause some 'new age' started.

Kids will always be kids, it's the teens and the adults they grow into that you want to focus them on. They can be entertained but focused on their futures, that is one o the bad things with social networking. It's compounded everyone to care about what everyone is doing RIGHT NOW or JUST DID, there's no planning, no thinking.

[_Only]

Exactly. Its just wishy-washy New Age Blah blah blah. Empower yourself! Love, Peace, Happiness! Embrace everything and seek peace...mumble mumble mumble. All laudable outcomes, but no clear blueprint for action. Just thought-projects and internet glad-handing.

There is no blueprint for action necessary. It's about how you see what is already here. If you think people changing their perception and minds to seek out love, peace, and happiness is 'wishy washy blah blah' mumbling, I feel sorry for your opinion, but don't make fun of people who have done so, or are attempting to. You're asking dreamers to change the world. They're changing their mind. But you don't understand that the two are the same. If you think that's mumbo jumbo I'm spouting, I don't know what to tell you.

[orangepeaceful79]

There is no blueprint for action necessary. It's about how you see what is already here. If you think people changing their perception and minds to seek out love, peace, and happiness is 'wishy washy blah blah' mumbling, I feel sorry for your opinion, but don't make fun of people who have done so, or are attempting to. You're asking dreamers to change the world. They're changing their mind. But you don't understand that the two are the same. If you think that's mumbo jumbo I'm spouting, I don't know what to tell you.

I think that changing one's mind is great. Its certainly the first step. Here's the kicker though - the reality on the ground isn't changing. Which leads me to believe that changing one's mind and writing about it on the internet and changing one's mind and actually going out and doing something to try and make the world a better place are two VASTLY different things. A plan of action is needed, even if it is something simple for the individual. I just don't see people DOING. I hear people talking, I can read about all this stuff, but where's the beef - so to speak? _Only if you are someone who is out there, working to make the world a better place, then I applaud you and I apologize for lumping you in with the other lazy New Age warm and fuzzy internet do-nothings.

I have many friends who spend their days posting all manner of New Age stuff on the internet, on their facebook pages....so many important memes! But they do NOTHING. Even the ones with jobs don't actually put any of their warm fuzzies into action. So forgive me if I'm jaded. I'm just tired of hearing talk and reading glurge and never seeing any change.

[+and-then]

Those who push the "New Age" dogma are simply repeating the oldest lie of all: you can be as gods. I actually believe a new age of peace IS coming but mankind isn't the author of it.

[+joc]

Those who push the "New Age" dogma are simply repeating the oldest lie of all: you can be as gods. I actually believe a new age of peace IS coming but mankind isn't the author of it.

There is a New Age coming for sure...but it has no resemblance to Peace whatsoever...in fact...it is a New Age of Chaos. The New Age of Darkness...rather The New Dark Age. We all think technology is here forever...it is a flash in the pan...and the flash that ends it is nuclear...and it is coming. Watch for it. The first Mushroom Cloud will be something to talk about....the following ones...no one will want to talk about it anymore. No more lights...no more electricity...no more engines...no more jets, or cars, or music. The New Dark Age coming to a city near you; brought to you by the PTB.