Noosphere
Encyclopedia
Noosphere according to the thought of Vladimir Vernadsky
and Teilhard de Chardin, denotes the "sphere
of human thought". The word is derived from the Greek
νοῦς (nous
"mind
") + σφαῖρα (sphaira "sphere
"), in lexical analogy to "atmosphere
" and "biosphere
". Introduced by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
1922 in his Cosmogenesis
". Another possibility is the first use of the term by Édouard Le Roy
, who together with Teilhard
was listening to lectures of Vladimir Vernadsky
at Sorbonne
. In 1936 Vernadsky
accepted the idea of the Noosphere in a letter to Boris Leonidovich Lichkov (though, he states that the concept derives from Le Roy).
In the original theory of Vernadsky, the noosphere is the third in a succession of phases of development of the Earth, after the geosphere
(inanimate matter) and the biosphere
(biological life). Just as the emergence of life fundamentally transformed the geosphere, the emergence of human cognition
fundamentally transforms the biosphere. In contrast to the conceptions of the Gaia theorists, or the promoters of cyberspace
, Vernadsky's noosphere emerges at the point where humankind, through the mastery of nuclear processes, begins to create resources through the transmutation
of elements. It is also currently being researched as part of the Princeton Global Consciousness Project
.
, the law describing the nature of evolution in the universe. Teilhard argued the noosphere is growing towards an even greater integration and unification, culminating in the Omega Point
, which he saw as the goal of history. The goal of history, then, is an apex of thought/consciousness.
One of the original aspects of the noosphere concept deals with evolution
. Henri Bergson
, with his L'évolution créatrice
(1907), was one of the first to propose evolution is 'creative' and cannot necessarily be explained solely by Darwinian natural selection. L'évolution créatrice is upheld, according to Bergson, by a constant vital force which animates life and fundamentally connects mind and body, an idea opposing the dualism of René Descartes
. In 1923, C. Lloyd Morgan
took this work further, elaborating on an 'emergent evolution
' which could explain increasing complexity
(including the evolution of mind). Morgan found many of the most interesting changes in living things have been largely discontinuous with past evolution, and therefore did not necessarily take place through a gradual process of natural selection. Rather, evolution experiences jumps in complexity (such as the emergence of a self-reflective universe, or noosphere). Finally, the complexification of human cultures, particularly language, facilitated a quickening of evolution in which cultural evolution occurs more rapidly than biological evolution. Recent understanding of human ecosystems and of human impact on the biosphere have led to a link between the notion of sustainability with the "co-evolution" [Norgaard, 1994] and harmonization of cultural and biological evolution.
in exchange for a local reduction in entropy
. This is true at every level of biological organization and increasingly so the more abstract such order becomes within living systems. For instance, genes
create an abstract information framework within which multicellular organisms may modify the topology of the epigenetic information state space
in order to adapt and subsequently evolve. This may include changing the genes themselves that are involved in the abstract information framework or altering the manner in which these genes coordinate their activity. Nevertheless, as complexity
and, therefore, order increases in biological systems, the amount of abstraction within that system also increases. This creates, in effect, an increase in information density. At the level of the brain
, this abstraction becomes evident as the information structure known as the mind
. Certain theories
posit that such an ordering alters the information state of the surrounding environment such that, for ever decreasing levels of entropy, there is a net local entropy deficit or "information moment
" impressed upon the surrounding environment by the extant local information structures. In this way, the mind, an abstract phenomenon seated in the physical substrate of the brain, may be capable of inducing a local entropic force that, when summed among many minds simultaneously, produces an even more amplified phenomenon known as the noosphere.
Vladimir Vernadsky
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky was a Russian/Ukrainian and Soviet mineralogist and geochemist who is considered one of the founders of geochemistry, biogeochemistry, and of radiogeology. His ideas of noosphere were an important contribution to Russian cosmism. He also worked in Ukraine where he...
and Teilhard de Chardin, denotes the "sphere
Theory of mind
Theory of mind is the ability to attribute mental states—beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge, etc.—to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires and intentions that are different from one's own...
of human thought". The word is derived from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
νοῦς (nous
Nous
Nous , also called intellect or intelligence, is a philosophical term for the faculty of the human mind which is described in classical philosophy as necessary for understanding what is true or real, very close in meaning to intuition...
"mind
Mind
The concept of mind is understood in many different ways by many different traditions, ranging from panpsychism and animism to traditional and organized religious views, as well as secular and materialist philosophies. Most agree that minds are constituted by conscious experience and intelligent...
") + σφαῖρα (sphaira "sphere
Sphere
A sphere is a perfectly round geometrical object in three-dimensional space, such as the shape of a round ball. Like a circle in two dimensions, a perfect sphere is completely symmetrical around its center, with all points on the surface lying the same distance r from the center point...
"), in lexical analogy to "atmosphere
Earth's atmosphere
The atmosphere of Earth is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained by Earth's gravity. The atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention , and reducing temperature extremes between day and night...
" and "biosphere
Biosphere
The biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems. It can also be called the zone of life on Earth, a closed and self-regulating system...
". Introduced by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ was a French philosopher and Jesuit priest who trained as a paleontologist and geologist and took part in the discovery of both Piltdown Man and Peking Man. Teilhard conceived the idea of the Omega Point and developed Vladimir Vernadsky's concept of Noosphere...
1922 in his Cosmogenesis
Cosmogenesis
Cosmogenesis is the origin and development of the cosmos. This term "Cosmogenesis" was used by Helena P. Blavatsky to describe the content of Volume I of her two-volume The Secret Doctrine, published in 1888; volume II was called "Anthropogenesis" or the origin of humanity.-Teilhard...
". Another possibility is the first use of the term by Édouard Le Roy
Edouard Le Roy
Édouard Louis Emmanuel Julien Le Roy was a French philosopher and mathematician.Le Roy was received at the École Normale Supérieure in 1892, and at the agrégation in mathematics in 1895...
, who together with Teilhard
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ was a French philosopher and Jesuit priest who trained as a paleontologist and geologist and took part in the discovery of both Piltdown Man and Peking Man. Teilhard conceived the idea of the Omega Point and developed Vladimir Vernadsky's concept of Noosphere...
was listening to lectures of Vladimir Vernadsky
Vladimir Vernadsky
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky was a Russian/Ukrainian and Soviet mineralogist and geochemist who is considered one of the founders of geochemistry, biogeochemistry, and of radiogeology. His ideas of noosphere were an important contribution to Russian cosmism. He also worked in Ukraine where he...
at Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
. In 1936 Vernadsky
Vladimir Vernadsky
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky was a Russian/Ukrainian and Soviet mineralogist and geochemist who is considered one of the founders of geochemistry, biogeochemistry, and of radiogeology. His ideas of noosphere were an important contribution to Russian cosmism. He also worked in Ukraine where he...
accepted the idea of the Noosphere in a letter to Boris Leonidovich Lichkov (though, he states that the concept derives from Le Roy).
In the original theory of Vernadsky, the noosphere is the third in a succession of phases of development of the Earth, after the geosphere
Geosphere
The term geosphere is often used to refer to the densest parts of Earth, which consist mostly of rock and regolith. The geosphere consists of the inside of the Earth or other planets or bodies....
(inanimate matter) and the biosphere
Biosphere
The biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems. It can also be called the zone of life on Earth, a closed and self-regulating system...
(biological life). Just as the emergence of life fundamentally transformed the geosphere, the emergence of human cognition
Cognition
In science, cognition refers to mental processes. These processes include attention, remembering, producing and understanding language, solving problems, and making decisions. Cognition is studied in various disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, linguistics, and computer science...
fundamentally transforms the biosphere. In contrast to the conceptions of the Gaia theorists, or the promoters of cyberspace
Cyberspace
Cyberspace is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.The term "cyberspace" was first used by the cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, though the concept was described somewhat earlier, for example in the Vernor Vinge short story "True...
, Vernadsky's noosphere emerges at the point where humankind, through the mastery of nuclear processes, begins to create resources through the transmutation
Nuclear transmutation
Nuclear transmutation is the conversion of one chemical element or isotope into another. In other words, atoms of one element can be changed into atoms of other element by 'transmutation'...
of elements. It is also currently being researched as part of the Princeton Global Consciousness Project
Global Consciousness Project
The Global Consciousness Project is a parapsychology experiment begun in 1998 as an attempt to detect possible interactions of "global consciousness" with physical systems...
.
History of concept
For Teilhard, the noosphere emerges through and is constituted by the interaction of human minds. The noosphere has grown in step with the organization of the human mass in relation to itself as it populates the earth. As mankind organizes itself in more complex social networks, the higher the noosphere will grow in awareness. This concept is an extension of Teilhard's Law of Complexity/ConsciousnessLaw of Complexity/Consciousness
The Law of Complexity/Consciousness is the tendency in matter to become more complex over time and at the same time to become more conscious. The law was first formulated by Jesuit priest and paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin....
, the law describing the nature of evolution in the universe. Teilhard argued the noosphere is growing towards an even greater integration and unification, culminating in the Omega Point
Omega point
Omega Point is a term coined by the French Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin to describe a maximum level of complexity and consciousness towards which he believed the universe was evolving....
, which he saw as the goal of history. The goal of history, then, is an apex of thought/consciousness.
One of the original aspects of the noosphere concept deals with evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
. Henri Bergson
Henri Bergson
Henri-Louis Bergson was a major French philosopher, influential especially in the first half of the 20th century. Bergson convinced many thinkers that immediate experience and intuition are more significant than rationalism and science for understanding reality.He was awarded the 1927 Nobel Prize...
, with his L'évolution créatrice
Creative Evolution (book)
Creative Evolution is a 1907 book by French philosopher Henri Bergson. Its English translation appeared in 1911. The book provides an alternate explanation for Darwin's mechanism of evolution, suggesting that evolution is motivated by an élan vital, a "vital impetus" that can also be understood...
(1907), was one of the first to propose evolution is 'creative' and cannot necessarily be explained solely by Darwinian natural selection. L'évolution créatrice is upheld, according to Bergson, by a constant vital force which animates life and fundamentally connects mind and body, an idea opposing the dualism of René Descartes
René Descartes
René Descartes ; was a French philosopher and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. He has been dubbed the 'Father of Modern Philosophy', and much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day...
. In 1923, C. Lloyd Morgan
C. Lloyd Morgan
Conwy Lloyd Morgan, FRS was a British psychologist. He is best remembered for the experimental approach to animal psychology now known as "Morgan's canon"....
took this work further, elaborating on an 'emergent evolution
Emergent evolution
Emergent evolution is the hypothesis that, in the course of evolution, some entirely new properties, such as life and consciousness, appear at certain critical points, usually because of an unpredictable rearrangement of the already existing entities...
' which could explain increasing complexity
Complexity
In general usage, complexity tends to be used to characterize something with many parts in intricate arrangement. The study of these complex linkages is the main goal of complex systems theory. In science there are at this time a number of approaches to characterizing complexity, many of which are...
(including the evolution of mind). Morgan found many of the most interesting changes in living things have been largely discontinuous with past evolution, and therefore did not necessarily take place through a gradual process of natural selection. Rather, evolution experiences jumps in complexity (such as the emergence of a self-reflective universe, or noosphere). Finally, the complexification of human cultures, particularly language, facilitated a quickening of evolution in which cultural evolution occurs more rapidly than biological evolution. Recent understanding of human ecosystems and of human impact on the biosphere have led to a link between the notion of sustainability with the "co-evolution" [Norgaard, 1994] and harmonization of cultural and biological evolution.
Possible mechanisms
Living systems are dissipative structures that create internal order by expending energyEnergy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
in exchange for a local reduction in entropy
Entropy
Entropy is a thermodynamic property that can be used to determine the energy available for useful work in a thermodynamic process, such as in energy conversion devices, engines, or machines. Such devices can only be driven by convertible energy, and have a theoretical maximum efficiency when...
. This is true at every level of biological organization and increasingly so the more abstract such order becomes within living systems. For instance, genes
Gênes
Gênes is the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Italy, named after the city of Genoa. It was formed in 1805, when Napoleon Bonaparte occupied the Republic of Genoa. Its capital was Genoa, and it was divided in the arrondissements of Genoa, Bobbio, Novi Ligure, Tortona and...
create an abstract information framework within which multicellular organisms may modify the topology of the epigenetic information state space
Manifold
In mathematics , a manifold is a topological space that on a small enough scale resembles the Euclidean space of a specific dimension, called the dimension of the manifold....
in order to adapt and subsequently evolve. This may include changing the genes themselves that are involved in the abstract information framework or altering the manner in which these genes coordinate their activity. Nevertheless, as complexity
Complex adaptive system
Complex adaptive systems are special cases of complex systems. They are complex in that they are dynamic networks of interactions and relationships not aggregations of static entities...
and, therefore, order increases in biological systems, the amount of abstraction within that system also increases. This creates, in effect, an increase in information density. At the level of the brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
, this abstraction becomes evident as the information structure known as the mind
Mind
The concept of mind is understood in many different ways by many different traditions, ranging from panpsychism and animism to traditional and organized religious views, as well as secular and materialist philosophies. Most agree that minds are constituted by conscious experience and intelligent...
. Certain theories
Entropic force
In physics, an entropic force acting in a system is a phenomenological force resulting from the entire system's statistical tendency to increase its entropy, rather than from a particular underlying microscopic force.-Polymers:...
posit that such an ordering alters the information state of the surrounding environment such that, for ever decreasing levels of entropy, there is a net local entropy deficit or "information moment
Moment (physics)
In physics, the term moment can refer to many different concepts:*Moment of force is the tendency of a force to twist or rotate an object; see the article torque for details. This is an important, basic concept in engineering and physics. A moment is valued mathematically as the product of the...
" impressed upon the surrounding environment by the extant local information structures. In this way, the mind, an abstract phenomenon seated in the physical substrate of the brain, may be capable of inducing a local entropic force that, when summed among many minds simultaneously, produces an even more amplified phenomenon known as the noosphere.
Instances in popular culture
- The resulting political system has been referred to as a noocracyNoocracyNoocracy, or "aristocracy of the wise", as defined by Plato, is a social and political system that is "based on the priority of human mind", according to Vladimir Vernadsky. It was also further developed in the writings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin....
.
- American integral theoristIntegral TheoryIntegral Theory is a philosophy posited by Ken Wilber that seeks a synthesis of the best of pre-modern, modern, and postmodern reality. It claims to be a "theory of everything," and offers an approach "to draw together an already existing number of separate paradigms into an interrelated network of...
Ken WilberKen WilberKenneth Earl Wilber II is an American author who has written about mysticism, philosophy, ecology, and developmental psychology. His work formulates what he calls Integral Theory. In 1998, he founded the Integral Institute, for teaching and applications of Integral theory.-Biography:Ken Wilber was...
deals with this third evolution of the noosphere. In his work, Sex, Ecology, SpiritualitySex, Ecology, SpiritualitySex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution is integral philosopher Ken Wilber's 1995 magnum opus. Wilber intends it to be the first volume of a series called The Kosmos Trilogy, but subsequent volumes were never produced. The scholarly work comprises 850 pages, including 270 pages of notes...
(1995), he builds many of his arguments on the emergence of the noosphere and the continued emergence of further evolutionary structures.
- The term Noöcene epoch refers to "how we manage and adapt to the immense amount of knowledge we’ve created." http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200907/intelligence
- The noosphere concept of 'unification' was elaborated in popular science fiction by Julian MayJulian MayJulian May is an American science fiction, fantasy, horror, science and children's writer who also uses several literary pseudonyms, best known for her Saga of Pliocene Exile and Galactic Milieu Series books.- Background and early career :Julian May grew up in Elmwood Park, Illinois, a suburb of...
in the Galactic Milieu SeriesGalactic Milieu SeriesThe Galactic Milieu Series of science fiction novels by Julian May is the sequel to her Saga of Pliocene Exile. It comprises four novels: Intervention, Jack the Bodiless, Diamond Mask and Magnificat...
. It is also the reason Teilhard is often called the patron saint of the Internet.
- Brian StablefordBrian StablefordBrian Michael Stableford is a British science fiction writer who has published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published as by Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped the middle initial and appeared under the name Brian Stableford...
references human culture as a possible delirium or fever dream of the noösphere in his novella Mortimer Gray's History of DeathMortimer Gray's History of Death"Mortimer Gray's History of Death" is a science fiction novella published in 1995 by Brian Stableford. It was nominated for the 1996 Nebula Award for Best Novella...
, first published in 1995.
- Greg BearGreg BearGregory Dale Bear is an American science fiction and mainstream author. His work has covered themes of galactic conflict , artificial universes , consciousness and cultural practices , and accelerated evolution...
used the concept of the Noösphere as the interaction space of his 'noöcytes' when he expanded his short story Blood Music to a full length novel in 1985.
- Ambient dance group The OrbThe OrbThroughout 1989, the Orb, along with Martin Glover, developed the musical genre of ambient house through the use of a diverse array of samples and recordings. The culmination of its musical work came toward the end of the year when the group recorded a session for John Peel on BBC Radio 1...
, in the track "O.O.B.E." from the album U.F.OrbU.F.Orb-Disc 1:# "O.O.B.E." – 12:51# "U.F.Orb" – 6:08# "Blue Room" – 17:34# "Towers of Dub" – 15:00# "Close Encounters" – 10:27# "Majestic" – 11:06# "Sticky End" – 0:49-Disc 2:# "Blue Room " - 3:09# "Blue Room " - 7:37...
, use a sample from the reading of New Pathways in Psychology by Colin Wilson, who discusses the concept of the Noösphere.
- In The Gone-Away WorldThe Gone-Away WorldThe Gone-Away World is a science fiction novel set in a post-apocalyptic world crippled by the 'Go-Away War'. First published in June 2008 by Heinemann, it is the first novel to be written by Nick Harkaway....
, a novel by Nick HarkawayNick HarkawayNick Harkaway is a novelist. He is the author of The Gone-Away World, a novel published in June 2008. He is the son of author John le Carré....
, Earth is devastated in a war fought with "Go-Away Bombs"—weapons which erase the information content of matter, causing it to disappear from reality. The falloutFalloutFallout or nuclear fallout is the residual radiation hazard from a nuclear explosion.Fallout may also refer to:*Fallout , a 1997 post-apocalyptic computer role-playing game released by Interplay Entertainment...
of these bombs, called "Stuff", subsequently draws information from the noosphere, "reifying" human ideas and thoughts into physical form and creating a fantasy landscape of monsters and horrors.
- In the anime series Neon Genesis EvangelionNeon Genesis Evangelion, commonly referred to as Evangelion, is a commercially and critically successful Japanese anime series that began airing in October 1995. The series was highly influential, and launched the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise. It garnered several major animation awards...
, the Human Instrumentality Project has the goal of achieving the state of a Noosphere.
- In the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow of Chernobyl, the nuclear power plant is being used for scientific experiments involving adjusting the Noosphere to remove aggression from humans. As a failed attempt at doing this, the "Zone" was created.
- Progressive Death Metal band ObscuraObscura (band)-History:Obscura was founded in 2002 by Steffen Kummerer. The band was named after the Gorguts album Obscura. In 2006 Obscura self-released their debut album Retribution and toured alongside Suffocation within Europe. A European headlining tour through East and South Europe followed in 2007...
have a song called "Noosphere" on their album CosmogenesisCosmogenesis (album)- Band lineup :* Steffen Kummerer - guitars, vocals* Christian Muenzner − guitars* Jeroen Paul Thesseling − bass* Hannes Grossmann - drums* Ron Jarzombek - guest guitar on track 9* Tymon Kruidenier - guest guitar on track 2...
.
- In the 2008 video game LittleBigPlanetLittleBigPlanetLittleBigPlanet, commonly abbreviated LBP, is a puzzle platformer video game, based on user-generated content, for the PlayStation 3 first announced on 7 March 2007, by Phil Harrison at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, California...
, the titular planet is described in terms similar to a noosphere—that is, it is the physical manifestation of idle human thoughts. Users can further expand on this idea by creating levels and uploading them to the servers for other players to experience.
- In F. Paul WilsonF. Paul WilsonFrancis Paul Wilson is an American author, primarily in the science fiction and horror genres. His debut novel was Healer . Wilson is also a part-time practicing family physician. He made his first sales in 1970 to Analog while still in medical school , and continued to write science fiction...
's 2009 Repairman JackRepairman JackThis series of novels uses realistic, thriller-like situations to tell a story with a broad supernatural theme. It is technically a spin-off branch of the aforementioned larger, overarching supernatural horror series, The Adversary Cycle.- Introduction :...
novel Ground Zero, the recurring character of The Lady is revealed to be a manifestation of the Noosphere whose function is that of a "beacon" which informs a higher intelligence ("the Ally") that sentient life exists in the area where she appears.
- In the 2009 Warhammer 40,000Warhammer 40,000Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop, set in a dystopian science fantasy universe. Warhammer 40,000 was created by Rick Priestley in 1987 as the futuristic companion to Warhammer Fantasy Battle, sharing many game mechanics...
novel Mechanicum by Graham McNeillGraham McNeillGraham McNeill is a British novelist. He is best known for his Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 novels, and his previous role as games designer for Games Workshop.-Biography:...
, the noosphere is an experimental communication infrastructure that empowers the user by harnessing the power of the collective mind.
- In the book Metro 2033Metro 2033 (book)Metro 2033 is a novel written by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky.-History:Some twenty years after a nuclear war, only a few thousands of people survive in the metro...
by Dmitry GlukhovskyDmitry GlukhovskyDmitry A. Glukhovsky is a professional Russian author and journalist. Glukhovsky started in 2002 by publishing his first novel, Metro 2033, on his own website to be viewed for free. The novel has later become an interactive experiment, drawing in many readers, and has since been made into a video...
the Noosphere is mentioned as being destroyed during the last war, and with it also destroying paradise and hell.
- Dan SimmonsDan SimmonsDan Simmons is an American author most widely known for his Hugo Award-winning science fiction series, known as the Hyperion Cantos, and for his Locus-winning Ilium/Olympos cycle....
's Ilium/Olympos novels use the Noosphere as a way to explain the origins of powerful entities such as Ariel and Prospero, the former arising from a network of datalogging mote machines, and the latter of whom derives from a post-Internet logosphere.
- Cory DoctorowCory DoctorowCory Efram Doctorow is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who serves as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organization, using some of their licences for his books...
's short story "I, Rowboat" refers to noosphere as a cyberspace inhabited by digitised minds of humans who have chosen to leave their bodies.
External links
- "Evidence for the Akashic Field from Modern Consciousness Research" by consciousnessConsciousnessConsciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
researcher Dr. Stanislav Grof, M.D.Stanislav GrofStanislav Grof is a psychiatrist, one of the founders of the field of transpersonal psychology and a pioneering researcher into the use of non-ordinary states of consciousness for purposes of analyzing, healing, and obtaining growth and insight into the human psyche... - http://www.lawoftime.org/GRI/GRI.html# The Place of the Noosphere in Cosmic Evolution (pdf)
- http://noosphere.princeton.edu/ Global Consciousness project at Princeton
- Fortaleciendo la Inteligencia Sincrónica
- Unidad de Ciencia Noosféricas de la Universidad del Mar en Chile
- http://transhumanism.org/index.php/WTA/declaration/
- http://www.odeo.com/channel/105280 "Just Say Yes to the Noosphere", a Podcast from Stanford Law School
- Omega Point Institute Noosphere, Global Thought, Future Studies
- Semandeks A web application that tries to imitate Noosphere
- Synaptic Web States that the Web is the substrate for the "sphere of human thought"