To live wisely depends on accepting the constancy and positive power of change and on developing group consciousness.
Throughout his life, futurist Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) asserted that humanity’s survival on Earth depends on the wisdom to change reality by shifting attention from propping up what is obsolete to building new models.
Anchored in a spirit of “if we build it...", Fuller writes:
To live wisely depends on accepting the constancy and positive power of change and on developing group consciousness. These two principles form the wings of wisdom we ride to BUILD NEW MODELS that will change our reality.
Solidified models crumble when they no longer meet the environmental, economic, and health needs of a living world. The Band-Aid approach to healing ineffective models has never worked. To survive, we are called to reach deep into our compassionate hearts and creative minds and join together to share our collective wisdom.
Living from wisdom assumes eternal change. Change is an active principle—a guiding intelligence that asks timely questions and reveals the next step. When we cooperate with, rather than resist change, we engage in wisdom in action, the ability to acknowledge the existing reality, envision another way of being in the world, and create systems that support the evolution of group consciousness. Change becomes the guiding spirit. Used with wisdom, change evolves our model. When many individuals and organizations use this approach, group consciousness is raised and more new models evolve that naturally serve one another.
When a group of any size agrees to be guided by its connection with one another and all others, its members cease considering themselves as individuals separate from humanity. This realization of interconnectedness creates true group consciousness. True group consciousness depends on cooperation, perseverance, and the intent of selfless service. Conscious groups make change safe. Each member of a conscious group contributes her individual experience, creativity, and piece of the wisdom. The resulting collective wisdom is greater than the sum of its parts. Conscious groups can then join in exploring true solutions instead of re-inventing problems.
As agents of change, conscious groups build inspired models. Inspired models foster cooperation within and between people and nations. When we choose to build a new model using the principles of the constancy of change and group consciousness, we ride the wings of wisdom to creating a new reality. In this way, we realize world wisdom in action.