WIE: What do you mean by "an integral spiritual perspective"?

JF: It's the sense that the human being is one beautiful, small part of an incredibly vast universe. And more specifically, it's the sense that you are a part of God. God isn't out there as an anthropomorphic being who is going to visit earth one glorious day and pass judgment on all of us Homo sapiens. No, God infuses all things. You are That. Everything is part of this incredibly vast, ancient, macroscopic being. It's a very pantheistic vision, which very much resonates with me.

So as we look at a century-long sweep into the future, I see a rapidly rising integration of science with a sense of spiritual oneness with the cosmos. I think the spiritual revolution of the future has to do with an arising awareness of our place in space and time, an arising awareness of what we really are, and that knowledge comes from science. It will be the first spiritual revolution in history that originates from science, and I think that's just a tremendously hopeful concept. Those are the basic principles that will be common to whatever type of twenty-first-century or third-millennium spirituality is going to take root.

If that type of belief system emerges across society as a whole, it can give us the kind of rugged emotional foothold on which to rest the social challenges that the twenty-first century will present us with. The challenges of the twenty-first century cannot rest on the aging and arthritic religious dogmas of the past. So we're in a period of time right now where perhaps the single most important thing to do is educate. Among all other priorities, all of which are urgent simultaneously, it's hard to imagine what's a higher priority than education. We have to find a way to convey the inherently spiritual nature of the universe and the cosmos without sacrificing scientific integrity, and with complete accessibility to the typical person.

If we can succeed in significantly expanding people's sense of their place in the cosmos, their place in space and time and the relationships that they have with all other things, if we can dramatically expand that consciousness in the next twenty years, then you can turn six billion people into collaborators in the problem-solving process. Because it's going to take collaboration of the whole planet to save the planet. It ain't going to be done by a handful of environmental organizations, although they can be the catalyst, maybe even the critical catalyst.

WIE: Can you give me a picture of the world as you believe it will look in fifty years?

JF: The kind of 2050 that I envision is not a society that is harnessed to an increasingly powerful economic machine where the output of goods and services is the definition of success. We could live in a society in 2050 where we know that economics is no longer in conflict with the sustainability of our culture, where what is traditionally defined as economically necessary work is occupying a declining percentage of time in our lives, opening the rest for other activities. I see a society in which individual human beings are freed to enjoy life, to pursue their own passions. And it would be an era in which the knowledge of science becomes joined with a sense of wonder at the spiritual connectedness of all things, which is increasingly describable by science. I see a possible 2050 with breakthroughs in science that simultaneously lengthen our stride and lighten our footprint by allowing new forms of energy generation and transportation to replace the fossil-fuel-based systems of today. With these tools, I believe we will have the opportunity to transform cultures and societies that are wasting today for a lack of resources and tools for self-transformation, such as in Africa. I see a possible 2050 where the continent of Africa is slowly becoming a garden once again. But if we fail to cross above the fifty percent mark in the number of ordinary modern adults who wake up every morning thinking about these types of issues and making a difference in their own way, if we can't cross that threshold, I don't think that we'll make it.

But in spite of all the dire circumstances we face, I'm optimistic, because it just makes so much sense. And when you reach a certain critical mass of people who come to this understanding, you'll see, I think, that while the process of transformation can be very painful for many parts of society, the joy of actually seeing all of these problems beginning to be addressed in serious ways will be very motivating to people. It's motivating to actually see light at the end of the tunnel, even if the end of that tunnel is a century away.

Joe Firmage on Opening the Frontier of Space
Currently, you cannot look at the earth from the outside. But if you could see your mother, your creator, from the outside, and see how beautiful this world is—with your own eyes, not through a photograph—you would more likely than not have the same reaction that Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell had, and so many others have had. You'll become a different person. A lot of astronauts just break down in tears the first time they see it. And if that opportunity was given to a number of people a few orders of magnitude larger than the handful of astronauts lucky enough to get out there, it would have a profound effect on the whole consciousness of society. We would see ourselves literally as one, because it's not two earths, it's one. One integrated being.

I see a possible future in which the frontier of space has been opened and we're taking our first tentative steps into a new ocean. Imagine the opportunity to launch a new space program for the world—the opportunity to align the vision of countless brilliant, talented, engaged, focused, passionate people from every culture, from every nation. It could be a tremendous opportunity for a planetary renewal, simply through the process of coming together to try to do it. And that is to say nothing of the kind of society that might be imagined if it could be done.

While I don't think that opening the frontier of space is by any means sufficient for a transformation of society, it could be one of those very potent catalysts that could dramatically advance the cause. And you know, I'm definitely on record saying that I believe it's going to happen. It's probably going to happen in our lifetime, too. It's something I'm excited about!