Brave New World

This phrase was first coined by Shakespeare but became prominent as the title of a book by Aldous Huxley published in 1932 describing dystopian a future world, one of the main themes being the dangers of giving the state control over new and powerful technologies.
‘Dystopia’ is the antonym or opposite of ‘Utopia’ – the ‘ideal state’, described by Sir Thomas More in 1516.
To some extent and according to Huxley’s stated intention, his book is a parody on H G Wells’ ‘A Modern Utopia’ published in 1905. Wells discussingthe ‘bright’ side and Huxley the ‘dark’ side of humanity.
There are similar dystopian themes in the writings of D H Lawrence and of course George Orwell’s novel ‘1984’ published in 1949. Interestingly Huxley’s book was set in the 26th Century whereas the date of Orwell’s book has already passed. Both wide of the mark but I surmise Orwell might have been closer.
Later in 1957 Ayn Rand published her classic work ‘Atlas Shrugged’ again set in a dystopian world of ‘Peoples’ States’ and here’s where all this becomes relevant.
The theme of Atlas Shrugged, as Rand described it, is “the role of man’s mind in existence”.
This corresponds exactly to the writings of Napoleon Hill. Wallace D Wattles, Henry David Thoreau, Neale Donald Walsch and many others.
Hill’s statement “Whatever a man can conceive and believe he can achieve” or in other words, and drawing on the other authors in this field – nothing ‘happens’ unless and until we (as humanity) cause it to come about.
As the Bible puts it more simply (from NKJV Matthew 7:7-8) – “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”
But we don’t even have to ‘ask’. In Matthew 6:8 it states that prayer (or wishing or asking or manifesting) is not necessary as God (The Universe, Source, the Higher Power) knows what a person needs even before they ask.
It’s amazing what you can discover when you strip out the religious connotations and focus on the faith.
The situation you and I are in, the situation the whole world is experiencing is a function of what ‘we’, as collective humanity, have been thinking, praying for, wishing for, manifesting for, casting spells for, setting goals for and so on.
There is something good in the current situation for everyone.
There are answers to prayers, to discontents, to longings, to wishes, to dreams, and much more.
It’s all there – it just didn’t quite turn out as expected!
But the thing is, the point of this insight is – what ‘happens’ next?
What happens when the majority of people are wishing this would all be over or that things would get back to normal?
You and I know that one cannot step in the same river twice. Whatever our concept of time we cannot go back and re-live our lives in a previous time. We can go back an remember or observe but we cannot be as we were then. The same thing happens going forward – we can envisage we can create ‘future memories’ but we cannot really be ‘then’.
You and I will not be going ‘back’ to normal – we are not going ‘back’.
So, the thing is, where are we going?
Where do we wish to go?
What do we wish our ‘brave new world’ to look like?
Probably not dystopian but ‘utopia’ also has its ‘problems’, restrictions, conventions and cultures that may not fit in with what you or I wish for.
Now is the time for Brave Thinking.
Brave Thinking is a term coined by Mary Morrissey, perhaps as an antonym to Thoreau’s idea of ‘Common Hours’ thinking – “If one advances confidently in the direction of their dreams and endeavours to live the life which they have imagined, they will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
Common Hours thinking is limited and restricted to ‘normal’ whatever that represents in any particular culture, but Brave Thinking is ‘outside the box’ – way outside the box, even out of sight of ‘the box’.
It’s close to what used to be called ‘brainstorming’ (before that became ‘politically incorrect’) now often referred to as ‘masterminding’ where people got together to solve ‘problems’ or challenges by throwing out any idea that came into their head however ridiculous it might seem to others prior o reaching a consensus on a way forward.
It’s not that, it’s more powerful and more individual but is often employed between what Morrissey calls ‘Partners in Believing’ because there are certain tenets you have to have ‘on board’, primarily those that ‘everything is created twice, first in the mind and then in reality’ which I have alluded to before and also the concept that everything is driven by belief and faith that whatever is being conceived in the mind will come to pass.
There is a technique to this which, as a certified Brave Thinking coach I will explain another time, but just as an experiment I’ll pose you a few questions.
Given a ‘clean slate’ – What if . . .
There was another way of transporting goods from place to place – what might that look like?
There was another way of working, without gathering people together in one place – what might that look like?
There was a different way of educating children and adults – how might that work?
A way could be found to do all the things that require IT or AI to operate – how would we go forward without our computers and our smartphones? (Remember we’re not going ‘back’)
There was a different way of transporting people around the world (apart from a Start Trek style ‘transporter’) – what might that be?
Just a few questions, but what about you?
What would you like or love your ‘new normal’ to be regarding –
Who you are, what you know and understand, how you feel, your health and fitness and so on?
How you relate to others, individually, in communities and cultures and how you relate to the environment and Universe?
What you do, what you contribute, what you give?
Where you live, your lifestyle, what you receive in reward for what you give, your freedom?
These are Brave Thinking questions.
Are you up for finding the Brave Thinking answers?