The Power of Collective Imagination

“The world is deeply interconnected at the core level in ways we are just becoming to understand. Developing our collective imagination to advance our collective consciousness is essential in the human quests for survival, sustained prosperity and spiritual growth” ~ Dr. Liliana N. Fargo

Technological innovations through human history have allowed us to increase our productive potential, but it has also allowed us to be increasingly aware of how diverse we are in terms of cultural perspectives, and how similar and interconnected we are in terms of our basic human condition. We speak over 6,500 different languages in the world; but we all feel sadness, pain, happiness and love in very similar ways. We have evolved in our traditions, but the meaning of a simple smile has remained universal since the beginning of our times.

When Christopher Columbus arrived to the American Continent, back on October 12th of 1492, after many years of planning and 36 days over the Atlantic, he believed he had discovered a new route to Asia, but what he in reality encountered was a ‘New World’. Two Worlds collided, and the rest is a complicated history of confluence and conflict, like many other examples in history when cultures and nations gravitate towards confrontation and conflict rather than exploration, understanding and appreciation of their differences.

Our ability to travel around the world has significantly expanded over time, and nowadays we can easily take a flight from Hong Kong to New York in less than 16 hours, and can immediately connect online to any person around the world with internet access. The world has indeed become more interconnected in technological terms; and nevertheless, we remain heavily divided in terms of appreciation of our cultural differences, and understanding of our common humanity.

This is one of the greatest challenges we have to confront as part of humanity at this point in history: The quest to use our technological advances to expand our collective consciousness; and to engage the world in a collective conversation that not only will allow us to communicate ideas in an effective way, but also help us to develop a better understanding of our different perspectives, and open our minds to new ideas.

Humanity certainly has many challenges ahead in terms of climate change, health crises, economic conditions and social conflicts, among others. However, without the motivation to engage in a productive conversation, and without the willingness to expand our minds to new ideas, our prospects for solutions are limited.

We need a collective effort of Imagination to solve the challenges of our times. Old ideas and old systems cannot solve current problems they contributed to create, and cannot lead us to navigate a changing world. Through Collective Imagination we can develop the solutions that will incorporate the best ideas from every perspective, and will allow us to truly evolve in the understanding of our common human purpose.

Let the conversation start!

Dr. Liliana N. Fargo, Ph.D., is an Economist, Educator, Independent Thinker, Social Advocate, Globalist, and Visionary.