Plotting a course for survival, Ervin Laszlo speaks with Tom Fox
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Ervin Laszlo is a Hungarian philosopher of science and a systems theorist. Alarmed by the scale of global environmental degradation and ever growing conflicts around the world, he founded the Club of Budapest to bring together artists, theologians, scientists and thinkers committed to “create and implement holistic solutions to problems that face the entire human family.” We have but a short time to save humanity, he tells Tom Fox.
Episode 1: Finding the will to survive (17 min.)
Once people face up to the problems threatening human survival, Laszlo tells Tom Fox, “They will find the will to do something about it.” Empowering people, not frightening them, is Laszlo’s method to overcoming ignorance, indifference and laziness. “We can live sustainablely in reasonable well-being -- all of us -- on this small planet and these ways need to be explored,” he said.
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Episode 2: Avoiding the global collapse (24 min.)
You suggest that we have a very short time to avoid a global collapse and you suggest an alternative path, interviewer Tom Fox asks Ervin Laszlo. Can you explain? Laszlo first names "the worst human values and beliefs" that are leading us to collapse, such as, the subconscious belief that nature is infinite, marketplace fundamentalism and the use of force to meet economic or political goals. The chief human value, the chief survival strategy, he says, is remembering our interdependence. "We cannot forget that what is good for me, has to be good for you. ... only then can we survive."
He concludes that we live in exciting times: "We are the first generation in history to be able to decide if we will be last generation in history or the first generation in a new phase in history."
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Ervin Laszlo has published some 75 books in 18 languages and is the editor of World Futures: The Journal of General Evolution. His recent books include:
· The Chaos Point: The World at the Crossroads (Hampton Roads, 2006)
· Science and the Reenchantment of the Cosmos: The Rise of the Integral Vision of Reality (Inner Traditions, 2006)
· Science and the Akashic Field: An Integral Theory of Everything (Inner Traditions International, 2004)
