― Søren Kierkegaard
"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."
Advice from Nikola Tesla
Energy is the fuel that drives life, the universe and everything. According to Nikola Tesla, who wrote extensively on the subject of human energy, we have a duty to increase this energy to the benefit of both the planet and homo sapiens.
Importantly he stressed that our pursuit of human energy is wholly subject to the laws of physics.
If COP 27 wishes to be remotely successful, the participants may wish to listen to Tesla.
Tesla defining human energy - three pillars
Tesla defined human energy as the product of intelligent thinking and intelligent action. (HE = IT x IA).
To generate higher levels of human energy he recommended practical action in three areas.
- Increasing the 'mass' of human intelligence.
- Eliminating the barriers to developing energy. He emphasised corruption, imbecility, war and laziness.
- Increasing creativity through the application of science and technology.
Increasing the 'mass' of human intelligence
It is worth remembering that the average global IQ is 82. Give or take a few this means that about four billion people are poorly educated or not educated at all. And it is upon their good wishes that many global leaders depend for their very power and position.
Here lies COP 27's first challenge. It is simply not in the interest of many global leaders to increase Tesla's 'mass' of intelligence in their countries. They may lose their power.
Of course the world's corporations are well aware of this, always employing the most intelligent, skilled and professional employees they can find. They know full well you cannot make a silk purse from a sow's ear.
Hopefully COP 27 will place global education and intelligence on the table.
Eradicating corruption - syphilis of the human mind
We know that corruption has been with us since the dawn of time. It is unlikely that it will every be fully eradicated. However we are now at a critical point in history where we must learn a new skill of managing a planetary system if we wish to survive the next ten thousand years.
This means we need to address the obvious bug in our software. COP 27 needs to find a global solution to identify and eliminate the potentially disastrous and specie-ending genetic defect of corruption, deeply embedded in our DNA.
Tesla includes all wars and imbecility within the broader definition of global corruption, as both are obvious barriers to planetary management.
Generating creative energy
Tesla saw this as the key to human evolution. Once the barriers to human energy have been removed - war, corruption, stupidity - nothing prevents homo sapiens from deploying all his ingenuity to explore the infinite treasure chest of our universe.
This means a global focus on science and technology is essential for our and the planet's survival.
COP 27 and the global leadership vacuum - our blind spot
We all have blind spots. Our habits and behaviours that have a potentially negative impact on those around us. Homo sapiens has one blind spot which may be terminal.
We know we live in a real world of rivers, trees and lions and an imaginary world of gods, nations and organisations - Yuval Harari. And here lies our greatest survival threat, deeply buried in the darkest recesses of our minds.
The planet is real. It sits alongside the 'rivers, trees and lions'. It does not sit alongside the imaginary 'gods, nations and organisations.' And here lies the ultimate human conundrum and source of imbecility. If we cannot let go of our belief that a nation is 'real', along with rivers and trees, then we will never accept that the planet is somehow 'more real'.
To accept the planet as an integrated system, more important than any nation or organisation, will require us admitting that we are not too bright after all.
And here we have 120 global 'leaders' at COP 27, each believing that their nation's mandate trumps the need to manage a global system.
In effect the planet has no leadership structure. Just a collection of nation leaders, wholly ill-equipped to even consider managing a planetary system.
Looking at all our leaders in our Global 200 Club it is probably fair to say that the majority are scientifically and environmentally illiterate, many are corrupt, and many will either be dead or out of a job in the near future.
A question you may want to ask yourself. Who is more likely to manage our planet successfully? Our Club of 200 or aliens? Right now I will go with the latter.
Summarising the real Tesla inspired COP 27 challenge
Current global systemic conditions suggest that the structures needed to manage a planet are absent.
If Tesla were alive today he would surely suggest that COP 27 also address the three fundamental issues that determine our energy and intelligence as a specie. All within the context of global leadership. And upon which our and the planet's very survival now depend.
- How to increase global education, intelligence, skills and critical thinking.
- How to eliminate, as far as possible, the scourge of corruption, war and general stupidity in leadership.
- How to release the full creative potential of homo sapiens through the global support of science and technology.
Above all COP 27 needs to start talking about the elephant in the room. We have strategies and structures to manage our imaginary nations and organisations, but no strategy and structure to manage a real planetary system.
Will COP 27 deliver? We wait in anticipation.