The next step in human evolution is of consciousness, or awareness of our thought process.

Currently, from my perspective, there are generally three separate groups…

The first and largest group has the least amount of awareness. These people can only think about how their thoughts caused their actions after it all happens. Even then, their grasp of the chain of events that start in our imagination and end in the physical world, is limited.

The second group has awareness of their thoughts in real time, but they do not have the skills or the will to manage them. This causes an internal conflict that leads to insecurity, and is most often displayed in varying degrees of social awkwardness to dysfunction.

The third group is aware of the thoughts going through their minds, are aware of the process of thoughts growing into action, and have the ability to manage and direct them through a chosen meditative practice. (Including storytelling and other forms of “non-formal” meditation.) The result is that they have the ability to play a larger role in their own lives, which, in turn, has a larger impact on the lives of the people around them.

Often, regardless of the intentions of people in the third group, members of the first group will react defensively to the sense of intrusion by trying to disrupt the meditations and thought processes of the third group. This, in turn, by the processes of evolution and selection, will pressure members of the third group to know themselves as more than their physical self.

Economic and Evolution Poker Theory

There is a certain dynamic to learning how to play poker; beginners focus on the rules, intermediates focus on the cards, experts focus on the other players, and professionals focus on it all. As the knowledge the players have of the game grows, the very nature of the game changes. Which is also true with economics and evolution.

As more people in an economy learn about economics, the nature of the economy changes… causing economics and economic theory to evolve. And, as more people in an environment learn about evolution, the very nature of the environment changes… causing evolution and evolution theory to evolve. Thus, the next step in our evolution and the next step in our understanding of evolution are exactly the same thing.

Or, in the big picture, everything in the universe evolves… including the process by which we evolve. The process was simple and perfectly random when life began, but with every step of life’s evolution, and especially with every step of our awareness of evolution, the process has become more complex and less random. (Which is exactly why all economies evolve towards tyranny.)

Going Deeper Into The Poker Game

In your mind’s eye, picture a nice card table, an oval table with a green felt top and cup holders on the sides, in an otherwise empty room. The table can comfortably sit six people. There is a hanging lamp over the center of the table and no other light to distract or cause glare.

First, place six novice players at the table and take a moment to imagine how that would go. There would be a lot of talking and joking around, telling stories and catching up about families and work. There would also be a poker rule book floating around the table that would be referred to often.

Second, place six intermediary players at the table and see how they would interact. They would know the rules of the game, but they would not be entirely familiar with all the options and possibilities in the cards. A few of the players would have little cheat-sheets on index cards, which they would have to share with the players who did not think to make one. The conversation would still be open and fluid, with the added element of some of the players accusing others of being very lucky or cheating in a half jocular way.

Third, place six expert players around the table and watch as the conversation drops off to almost nothing, as the players spend their time scrutinizing the other players. What conversation there is, is one or two quick sentences and quickly left hanging in the air. The winners would be glowing, while the losers would show extreme frustration.

Lastly, place six professionals around the table. All of them wearing sunglasses that do not reflect. All of them sitting perfectly still, with any motion they do make being highly choreographed. And not one of them uttering an unnecessary word. The only emotion that is ever shown is when one of the players is finally pushed out of the game.

So, that was pretty easy. Now, make it one professional, an expert, two intermediates, and two novices at the table. A much more interesting dynamic. The professional stays quiet and motionless behind his glasses, while the intermediates compete in their effort to show off by explaining things to the novices, and the expert chooses their moments to correct the intermediates for greatest affect. But how would the game be played? Would the professional play their own hand against the five others equally? Or would they support the novices against the expert at first, then finish of the novices at the end. Would the expert even be aware of the larger game dynamics of the professional? Or would they spend all their time trying to read their stone face for any hint of a tell. Or, maybe the professional would decide to use their dominance to teach everyone at the table about all the intricacies of the game.

More appropriate to our capitalistic society, place two professionals, one expert, one intermediate, and two novices at the table. The obvious competition is between the two professionals. But, how will they use the others at the table? Will they at least be respectful? Or will they treat them as nothing but chaff.

These last two imaginary scenarios can be poured over for a very long time; exploring all the ins and outs, ups and downs, of all the different possibilities. And, I would argue, a person would be all the wiser for the time spent. However, I would like to move on for now.

Previously, I introduced the concept of economics and evolution being like a game of poker. For economics and the physical world of evolution, this is a very easy and tangible comparison. Where, for example, banks are the professionals, investment houses are the experts, the individual professional investors are the intermediates, and the average consumer is the novice.

Before that, however, I spoke of people with different levels of awareness of their own thought process; or consciousness. Where the people with the most awareness had a natural impact on the people around them and thus, would be pressured to see themselves as more than just themselves… like a professional poker player sitting at a table with players who were not professionals. They would learn to use them in their tactics and strategy.

My overall point of this thought progression, is that a professional player could be very selfish and ruthless or they could choose to help other players by the way they included them in their own strategies. This is also true with people of greater awareness/consciousness. Being more conscious, or being more emotionally sensitive or empathic, does not mean the player is going to be nice or thoughtful. They can just as easily use their skills for ruthless and selfish purposes.