Tami Simon asks D.W. Pasulka about the new human her book describes, the ultra-human in Teilhard de Chardin's phrase, being born out of the forces that are shaping us. What would it be like? She is careful to frame her answer. This is her opinion, she says, not what her research found. And it is not something she wants. She likes human beings. She likes how we are made, and that we have the capacity to cultivate an interior life. She finds it wonderful and beautiful. The book, she admits, is somewhat dark, and it was dark to write, because she spent a long time immersed in forecasts of the future that frankly looked frightening. What does she see? It is hard to predict, but one change is already visible. Everyone carries a phone and is constantly on it. In the hallways of her own university, fifteen years ago, students gathered and talked before class. Now they are on their phones, having conversations that are not with each other. This is not necessarily bad or wrong, she says, but it is shifting human community and shifting mental health. Teilhard saw something like this as a new form of the human, with less of a boundary than we are used to. She thinks he might be right, and is not entirely sure, and notes it has not yet happened. We think of ourselves as insular: what I think stays in my brain. Yet technology that reads brain waves now exists. Marshall McLuhan foresaw a time with no privacy at all, not of the house but of the mind. Teilhard, McLuhan and Arthur C. Clarke, the three visionaries in her book, were all describing the loss of what she calls cognitive sovereignty, and she thinks we are at the very beginning of it. Many cultures and traditions have believed in telepathy, and so did all three of those men. McLuhan believed technology would augment it. In contemplative traditions, abilities like discernment are treated as side effects of the interior life, not the goal, and practitioners are told not to dwell on them. But what if that happens at scale, through devices that let minds control machines and let machines read minds? That, she says, is a form of telepathy we have not really considered yet, and it is being built now. Want to go deeper with D.W. Pasulka? Join Sounds True for more conversations like this. Get your first month FREE at https://bit.ly/4ctecMn Subscribe to Sounds True's YouTube Channel ► https://bit.ly/SubscribeSTYT Sounds True is a mission-driven learning and media company, and a recognized leader in wellbeing, personal growth, and spiritual transformation. Partnering with the world’s foremost wisdom teachers and best-selling authors, the company reaches millions worldwide with its unique programs, digital learning experiences, and worldwide events. The company also features a variety of original series, weekly shows, and live online experiences on Sounds True One, its global platform and community with members across more than 125 countries. Sounds True is a Public Benefit Corporation and also the home of the Sounds True Foundation. Connect with us: ▪️Facebook: http://bit.ly/2XFIIeE ▪️Instagram: http://bit.ly/2UlEoiH ▪️Website: http://bit.ly/2tOl02d