This volume is a newly revised and updated edition of Evolution and Consciousness (Brill, 2019) and provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the emerging concept of the evolution of consciousness. It presents an overarching model that moves us to a new level of meaning and understanding of our place in the world.

From the "alpha" to the "omega," Pierre Teilhard de Chardin offers an evolution-of-consciousness paradigm of the universe and a triumphant vision of humankind and its future. Guided by a "creative process" that motivated Teilhard, Vincent Frank Bedogne aims to unite matter with consciousness, science with spirituality. He looks beyond Darwin and the big bang; beyond traditional ideas of God, religion, and the human role in existence. As he does, we realize that the universe is crossing the most profound threshold in its evolution since the dawn of reflective thought a thousand lifetimes ago; and, like the threshold to reflection, this blossom of transcendence is unfolding within us. The book philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin would have written had he lived another fifty years.

This volume provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the emerging concept of the evolution of consciousness. It presents an overarching model that moves us to a new level of meaning and understanding of our place in the world.

Based on his life's research, Robert Ornstein provides a look at the evolution of the mind. He explains that we are not rational but adaptive, and that it is Darwin, not Freud, who is the central scientist of the brain. Our minds have evolved to help us survive, not to reason. At the same time, our individual worlds have developed our minds and destroyed many of our natural abilities.

This book gives the reader an understanding of what consciousness is about, and of how to make conscious experiences more pleasant. It expands on a new theory that describes the evolutionary trajectory leading to conscious life forms. In short, the evidence suggests that consciousness first evolved some 300 million years ago as a consequence of the introduction of feelings. Feelings offer a strategy for making behavioural decisions. Besides playing a crucial role in the evolution of the human mind, they are a key factor in regard to mental health and quality of life. Fortunately, the human brain is plastic. By exploiting available options for modulating the mind, it is therefore possible to impact on what sort of experiences the brain serves. More specifically, you can strengthen the capacity for positive feelings and reduce the sway of negative feelings. The text covers biological, neurological, psychological, and philosophical aspects of the mind.

The Evolution of Consciousness brings together interdisciplinary insights from philosophy, neuroscience, psychology and cognitive science to explain consciousness in terms of the biological function that grounds it in the physical world. Drawing on the novel analogy of a house of cards, Paula Droege pieces together various conceptual questions and shows how they rest on each other to form a coherent, structured argument. She asserts that the mind is composed of unconscious sensory and cognitive representations, which become conscious when they are selected and coordinated into a representation of the present moment. This temporal representation theory deftly bridges the gap between mind and body by highlighting that physical systems are conscious when they can respond flexibly to actions in the present. With examples from evolution, animal cognition, introspection and the free will debate, this is a compelling and animated account of the possible explanations of consciousness, offering answers to the conceptual question of how consciousness can be considered a cognitive process.

Spiritual teacher and best-selling author of Letting Go offers a thorough explanation of the levels of consciousness. In this book, renowned spiritual teacher Dr. David R. Hawkins offers an in-depth look at each level in the Map of Consciousness®, and how it relates in general to the whole field of consciousness. He also defines what is meant by linear and nonlinear, content and context, as well as the radical state of subjectivity, awareness, and consciousness. The Map of Consciousness® is used to illuminate the understanding of the ego and our programs and how to be free of them. As Dr. Hawkins explains, the Map is not a hierarchy of worthiness but more like a prism that breaks up the light into different colors. Spiritual work is making choices that move us up toward the Light. In the second half of this book, Dr. Hawkins explores: How to transcend positionalities Why just hearing certain information can be transformational That there is no such thing as “nothingness” The “Progressive Fields of Realization” and the theory of evolution How to disassemble the ego The basics of quantum mechanics Throughout, Dr. Hawkins speaks on the emergence of positive spiritual energy that is dominating the consciousness field of mankind with profound implications for everyone. "The whole use of this scale, the whole use of what we learn from it is merely to support the intention on the part of everyone here to move forward in consciousness and to fulfill the human potential."

Thomas McNamara, in Evolution, Culture, and Consciousness, presents the first comprehensive theory of human perception and consciousness based on the generally accepted principles of evolutionary psychology. This theory, building on the best evolutionary research, explains that just a few simple neurological changes in the primate brain account for human speech, self-consciousness and the creation of meaning out of experience. All primates can learn, but our species evolved a new instinct for learning, which makes childhood learning just as powerful as the other biological instincts found in all other primates. McNamara shows that children are genetically programmed to learn not just what to think, but how to think, shaping the preconscious process for creating meaning out of experience. However, because our environment has changed radically since our origin, this archaic form of consciousness has become a major block to human development and success. After explaining how we have all been programmed to preconsciously create meaning out of experience, McNamara shows how we can create a new and more successful way of thinking and feeling, resulting in a happier, more productive, stress free life.

A Seminal Work of Visionary Hope, Updated for the 21st Century In this era of government gridlock, economic and ecological devastation, and seemingly intractable global violence, our future is ever more ripe for — and in need of — fresh, creative reimagining. With her clear-eyed, inspiring, and sweeping vision of a possible global renaissance in the new millennium, Barbara Marx Hubbard shows us that our current crises are not the precursors of an apocalypse but the natural birth pains of an awakened, universal humanity. This is our finest hour. Conscious Evolution highlights the tremendous potential of newfound scientific knowledge, technological advances, and compassionate spirituality and illustrates the opportunities that each of us has to fully participate in this exciting stage of human history. As we do, we will bring forth all that is within us and not only save ourselves, but evolve our world.

Why is there so much chaos and suffering in the world today? Are we sliding towards dystopia and perhaps extinction, or is there hope for a better future? What happened in the human lineage over the last three million years that made us into a near-geologic force capable of altering the face of our planet and threatening our own existence? In Emerging World, Roger Briggs explores the evolution of consciousness and shows that this is behind everything humans have done, are now doing, and are capable of in the future. By bringing together the best knowledge from paleoanthropology, cultural philosophy, cognitive psychology, and evolutionary theory, Briggs makes the case that humanity is now on the verge of a major transformation, a monumental turning point in our story. Foreseen by many sages and scholars, this anticipated leap promises a new era of history and culture, and a new civilization on Earth in which the needs of all people are met and we become stewards of our living planet. Yet this is by no means guaranteed. Emerging World offers a new understanding of our crisis today and points the way to a bright future for humanity and life on our planet.