Arrested and Abstracted Development: A Species at the Crossroads Pre-publication Weekly Chapter Excerpts

Chapter 4 argues that scientific culture is not a break from the historical path of human development but its continuation. It is a continuation rather than a departure from it. What changes is only the legitimating system of knowledge: science replaces religion, while the underlying assumptions remain intact. Human existence continues to be organized collectively, conceptualized abstractly, and managed by managing the external world. The universe is interpreted as a fully knowable material system governed by laws and forces, and science assumes that all processes can eventually be explained and controlled. Within this framework, the human being is understood as a genetically and environmentally conditioned organism. Adulthood is treated as the endpoint of development, not the beginning of lifelong conceptual and mental growth. The individual is not viewed as “a continuously unfolding natural process requiring lifelong self development.” Instead, the species is still seen as composed of social collectives rather than independent individuals responsible for managing their own mental existence. Scientific culture institutionalizes collective organization through hierarchical systems that define identity, relevance, and stability externally—through roles, norms, and institutions. Individuals respond primarily to the demands of this socio cultural and technological superstructure rather than to the natural conditions reflected in their own experience. Understanding continues to be built through abstraction—scientific models, symbols, and measurements—reinforcing the belief that reality is controllable and that irregularities in nature and society can be engineered away. Education and training socialize individuals into established knowledge systems and roles rather than developing the mental faculties needed to understand and manage inner life. Sustaining and improving existence is defined almost entirely in social and material terms. Mental needs are assumed to be met indirectly through external stability, material abundance, and technological control. Scientific culture intensifies the traditional practice of managing life by managing external conditions, expanding human intervention from agriculture and engineering to genetic and subatomic manipulation. The chapter concludes that scientific culture deepens and institutionalizes the limits of the historical path, superimposing a vast socio cultural and technological structure onto nature and human experience and replacing natural mental powers with external constructs. As it states, scientific culture “institutionalizes the historical path… and its limits and problematic consequences.” The result is increasing alienation from the mind, escalating interference in nature, and growing contradictions between human conceptual systems and the natural conditions of existence.

Arrested and Abstracted Development: A Species at the Crossroads Pre-publication Weekly Chapter Excerpts

Chapter 3: Historical Path and Direction of Human Development Chapter 3 shows that despite enormous cultural, social, religious, scientific, and technological change, the direction of human development has remained the same since the dawn of consciousness. Humanity has consistently relied on four inherited assumptions: organizing life through the collective, understanding existence through abstraction rather than experience, grounding identity and stability in external structures, and managing life by controlling external conditions instead of managing the mind. These assumptions became embedded in Western Greco Roman, Judeo Christian, scientific, and technological culture, which now shapes global development. The chapter traces this path from hunting and gathering through agriculture, early cities, ancient empires, Greek and Roman worlds, Christianity and Islam, the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment, revolutions, industrialization, and modern scientific technological society. Across these eras, human development is marked by recurring cycles of rise and decline, conflict over authority and resources, and persistent struggles between collective order and individual autonomy. Over time, collective hierarchy deepened, abstraction replaced experiential understanding, external systems defined identity and stability, and managing existence became synonymous with controlling nature. These patterns produced long term contradictions: alienation from the self, conflict between groups, and escalating interference in natural systems. Socio cultural constructs came to be mistaken for natural conditions, and limits in mental development were misinterpreted as limits of human nature. The chapter concludes that this inherited developmental direction—externalized, abstracted, collective, and focused on controlling conditions—now threatens both human existence and the natural environment. Sustainable development requires shifting from external control to managing the mind within changing natural conditions, establishing clarity and stability internally rather than through external systems.

Arrested and Abstracted Development: A Species at the Crossroads Pre-publication Weekly Chapter Excerpts

Chapter 2: Initial Conditions and Early Human Responses Chapter 2 explains how early humans, facing an unfamiliar and constantly changing world without mental skills or a sense of self, responded to experience through first impressions, projection, and trial and error behaviour. Human development began at the dawn of consciousness, when early humans faced an unexplained, constantly changing world without any mental framework for understanding experience. Humans confronted a world they could not interpret and, lacking mental skills or a sense of self, projected their inner experience outward, imagined external forces to explain their feelings, and sought identity, order, and stability outside the mind. These early responses formed four foundational assumptions that shaped the entire historical path of human development: • Managing existence through the collective — defining identity and guidance outside the individual. • Conceptualizing existence in the abstract — creating speculative images beyond experience. • Establishing order and stability externally — relying on external structures for clarity and certainty. • Managing existence by controlling external conditions — acting on the world to cope with inner mental demands. These assumptions became embedded in cultural, social, religious, economic, scientific, and technological development. Cultural systems reinforced them, transmitting externalized frameworks rather than developing individual mental faculties. Though originally trial and error coping mechanisms, they hardened into the long historical path of human development and now contradict natural mental conditions, generating persistent mental, social, and environmental crises.

Arrested and Abstracted Development: A Species at the Crossroads Pre-publication Weekly Excerpts

Chapters Overview The Chapters Overview presents the structure and progression of the work Arrested and Abstracted Development, showing how each chapter builds toward a comprehensive understanding of human existence grounded in natural conditions rather than socio cultural abstractions. Chapter 1: Natural Conditions of Existence, Mind and Mental Existence The chapter establishes the conceptual foundation by examining the natural conditions of human existence, especially the mind—the locus of conscious experience, understanding, choice and action. It outlines the nature, elements, needs, and challenges of mental existence, as well as the lifelong process of conceptual and mental development required to manage life within changing natural conditions. The chapter establishes a foundational distinction between natural conditions of existence, which are universal and beyond human control, and human created socio cultural conditions, which must be corrected when they contradict nature. The chapter begins by outlining the natural conditions of human existence. Human existence unfolds in a constantly changing natural world, and the mind is the central place where we experience these conditions, make choices, and organize action. Because experiences enter automatically and mental powers develop only through sustained effort, clarity, stability, and understanding must be deliberately constructed by forming accurate mental images, meeting natural mental needs, and continually updating our grasp of reality. Managing human life therefore means managing the mind—developing natural abilities, making sense of experience, and interacting with others who each construct their own understanding independently.

Arrested and Abstracted Development: A Species at the Crossroads

Pre-publication Weekly Excerpts "Arrested and Abstracted Development" provides the conceptual foundation of the IHCMD Project: making the 21st century the century of the mind and mental development. It addresses the escalating global mental, social, and environmental issues and crises. It aims to understand and manage human existence and development in sustainable, equitable, secure, and peaceful ways, under changing conditions, within natural parameters. The goal of the advanced excerpts is to spark public debate, advocate for, promote, and facilitate the necessary change and transformation. A public discussion forum will be announced at a later date. Core Thesis Modern civilization has mastered the physical world while neglecting the one realm that determines everything we think, do, and create: the mind. As a result, scientific technological culture now generates crises—ecological, social, political, psychological—that it can no longer resolve. Its demands exceed nature’s regenerative limits and the human mind’s capacity to understand or manage them. This book reveals the deeper cause behind today’s accelerating instability: an arrested and abstracted path of human conceptual and mental development. Across history, humanity has built powerful external systems while failing to understand the natural conditions of human existence and the inner mental life that reflects them. To sustain human life in a changing natural universe, we must shift the focus of development inward—toward the mental faculties, powers, and practices required to manage existence within natural limits. This work outlines that shift and the new foundation it makes possible. Table of Contents Introduction Chapter 1: Natural Conditions of Existence, Mind and Mental Existence • Natural Conditions of Human Existence • Human Mind and Mental Existence • Human Understanding • Managing Human Mental Existence • Fundamental Challenge of Human Existence Chapter 2: Initial Conditions and Early Human Responses • Nature of Human Development • Culture and Cultural Development and Change • Beginnings of Human Development / Dawn of Human Consciousness • Fundamental Assumptions, Approaches and Practices • Central Elements of Human Development • Limits, Shortcomings and Contradictions • Results and Consequences Chapter 3: Historical Path and Direction of Human Development • Historical Path and Periods • Early Beginnings • Human Development Chapter 4: Scientific Culture • Conceptual Framework • Approaches and Practices • Sustaining and Improving Human Existence • Chapter 5: Limits, Shortcomings, Results and Consequences of Scientific Culture • Conceptual Framework • Approaches and Practices Chapter 6: Conditions and Developments at the Turn of the 21st Century • Limits / Problems of Scientific Culture and the Historical Path • Shifting Primary Focus • Unsustainable Path of Development Chapter 7: Traditional Analyses and Responses • Historical Development of Science, Scientific Knowledge, Methods and Practices • Problems, Limits and Shortcomings of Scientific Knowledge and Understanding • Mental Problems, Disorder, Instability and Insecurity • Social Problems, Disorder, Instability and Uncertainty • Environmental Problems Chapter 8: Beyond Scientific Culture • Nature, Causes, Development of Problems and Difficulties • Direction of the Answers and Solutions • In Concrete Practice • Integrating Answers and Solutions into Existing Socio Cultural Reality and Practice Chapter 9: Looking Ahead: Potential and Possibilities • Understanding and Managing Human Existence and Development • Social Existence and Development • Economic Material Development • Scientific and Technological Development • Dealing with Nature and the Natural Environment Appendix A: Background Research and Study References

Arrested and Abstracted Development - Table of Contents

Table of Contents Introduction Chapter 1: Natural Conditions of Existence, Mind and Mental Existence Chapter 2: Initial Conditions and Early Human Responses Chapter 3: Historical Path and Direction of Human Development Chapter 4: Scientific Culture Chapter 5: Limits, Results and Consequences of Scientific Culture Chapter 6: Conditions and Developments at the Turn of the 21st Century Chapter 7: Traditional Analyses and Responses Chapter 8: Beyond Scientific Culture Chapter 9: Looking Ahead: Potential and Possibilities Appendix: Background Research and Study References

What Individually We Cand Do Today, Dealing With The Global Problems We Face

Setting the Conceptual Context

To consider and understand what we can do individually today dealing with the global problems we face, we must first set the stage. We need to establish some clarity of mind and understanding about the problems we face, and how as a species we got to where we find ourselves today and the problems we create. We have to establish a framework of understanding within which to consider what individually we can do.

To this end, we first need to distinguish and differentiate between symptoms, results and consequences, on the one hand, and root-causes and underlying developments, on the other hand. We also need to distinguish and differentiate between instant relief, short and medium-term answers and solutions addressing symptoms, results and consequences, and long-term development, change and transformation addressing root-causes and underlying developments.

The global problems we face today -- persisting and growing cultural, religious, racial, political, social, economic-financial, environmental, interpersonal and individual problems, difficulties and crises, competition, conflict, confrontation and violence, and associated problematic, negative, harmful and destructive results and consequences. They are only symptoms, results and consequences.

We are the causes. Human behaviour and actions are the causes. Specifically, how we understand and manage existence and development are the causes and underlying developments. More to the point, the causes are what lies behind, defines and governs human behaviour and actions, how we understand and manage human existence and development, the choices and decisions we make, the aims, goals and objectives we pursue.

In their essence, the causes are rooted in what takes place and what we do in the mind and mental existence. The experiences, perceptions, sensations, feelings and emotions, thoughts, ideas and notions that enter the mind and our awareness, how we deal with, respond and adjust to them. How we make sense of them and the conditions that lie behind them, and the sense we make of them, and how to deal with them. The causes lie in the beliefs, views, values, conventions and practices we embrace and rely on, and how we acquire, develop and use them. The choices and decisions we make, and how we make them, the aims, goals and objectives we pursue, and how we define them, the behaviour, actions and practices in which we engage, and how we consider, plan, organize and manage them.

Traditionally, throughout history, in dealing with problems and difficulties the focus and concentration has always been instant relief, instant fixes, short and medium-term answers and solutions addressing symptoms, results and consequences, while failing to address the root-causes and underlying developments. Traditionally and today, we abrogate responsibility for ourselves individually, our behaviour and actions, how we understand and manage our existence and development, particularly what takes place, what we do and need to do in the mind and mental existence. In religious culture, individual responsibility is abrogated to supernatural forces, spirits and gods. In scientific culture, we abrogate responsibility for ourselves individually to nature, natural forces, processes and developments, the brain, neurological processes, our genetic makeup and natural evolution. On a daily and more general level, we abrogate individual responsibility to culture, society, government, family, parents, superiors, experts, specialists, and so on. Holding them responsible for the behaviour and actions in which we engage, the choices and decisions we make, the aims, goals and objectives we pursue.

It is this approach of dealing with problems and difficulties, which has brought to human species to where we find ourselves today, and the problems and difficulties we face globally. Addressing only symptoms, results and consequences, while failing to deal with root-causes and underlying developments, is leading to creating persisting and growing problems, difficulties and crises, competition, conflict, confrontation and violence, and associated problematic, negative, harmful and destructive results and consequences. The way we understand and manage existence and development, the conditions, demands and challenges of existence, our own mental and physical existence and development and the world around us contradicts, conflicts with and falls short of the natural conditions, demands and challenges of existence. Leading to the problems – persisting and growing cultural, religious, racial, political, social, economic-financial, environmental, interpersonal and individual problems, difficulties and crises, competition, conflict, confrontation and violence, and associated problematic, negative, harmful and destructive results and consequences, we face locally and globally around the world today.

Today, because of this approach and way of understanding and managing existence and development, and dealing with problems and difficulties, failing to address the root-causes and underlying developments, we are in the process of destroying the very foundation of our existence, the natural environment. We are bringing about changes in nature and natural developments, which in the long-term will render the natural environment of the Earth uninhabitable for the human species. Exploiting natural resources beyond actual human material needs, and degrading and interfering in nature, natural forces, processes and developments beyond what is required to manage and sustain human existence and development.

(For a discussion about the specific limits, shortcomings and contradictions of how we view, understand, organize and manage existence and development, leading to the global problems we face today, you can go to http://ihcmd.org. On the right-hand side, under the heading Lecture Presentations, you find ten, one-hour lecture presentations, in both PowerPoint and PDF format. Discussing the nature and causes of the problems we face, how as a species we got to where we find ourselves today, and the direction of the answers and solutions, the direction we need to take in conceptual and mental development and growth.)


Nature And Direction Of The Answers And Solutions

To deal with the global problems we face requires more than instant relief, quick fixes, short and medium-term answers and solutions addressing symptoms, results and consequences, while waiting until a later date to address the root-causes and underlying developments. What is required is to address symptoms, results and consequences within the context of dealing with root-causes and underlying developments, dealing with both of them at the same time, simultaneously. We must address the symptoms, results and consequences within the context of changing how we understand and manage existence and development, particularly how we understand and manage the mind and mental existence, what takes place, what we do and need to do, what we must establish, develop and maintain in the mind and mental existence.

Addressing the symptoms, results and consequences must take place within and contribute to long-term development, change and transformation addressing the root-causes and underlying developments, changing how we understand and manage existence and development, and not detract from it. Short and medium-term answers and solutions addressing symptoms, results and consequences will provide the time required for the long-term development, change and transformation of addressing the root-causes and underlying developments. The long-term development, change and transformation addressing the root-causes and underlying developments, in turn, is to provide the nature and direction of dealing with the symptom, results and consequences.


What We Can Do Individually

Within this context, what we can do individually today is quite simple and straightforward. Exercise and practice daily:

· Consume less, buy less, and waste less.

· Make fewer demands, looking for causes, answers and solutions to others and the world around us. Instead, look first to yourself.

· Be more actively engaged in understanding and managing ourselves, our own life and existence, our mental and physical health and well-being, order and stability, development and growth.

· Pay closer attention, keep track of, and take responsibility for what we do, what we engage in, and how we do things.

· Pay closer attention, keep track of, and take responsibility for the beliefs, views, values and understanding we embrace and rely on, and how we acquire, develop and use them. The choices and decisions we make, and how we make them, the aims, goals and objectives we pursue, and how we define them, the behaviour, actions and practices in which we engage, and how we consider, plan, organize and manage them.

· Pay closer attention, keep track of, and take responsibility for what takes place and what we do in the mind and our mental existence. The experiences, perceptions, sensations, feelings and emotions, the thoughts, ideas and notions that enter our mind and awareness, and how we deal with them. How we deal with, respond and adjust to them, how we make sense of them and the conditions that lie behind them, and the sense we make of them and how to deal with them. The mental behaviour and actions in which we engage, and how we consider, plan, organize and manage them.

· Establish and maintain the necessary internal mental conditions, a sense of self, mental order and stability, clarity of mind and understanding, a sense of certainty, security and confidence, in everything we do and we engage in, before acting, before engaging and dealing with external conditions, with others and the world around us.

Working our way down the list, from the top to the bottoms. When we arrive at the bottom of the list, we will have made a major contribution, not only to address the symptoms, results and consequences, but to address the root-causes and underlying developments behind the global problems we face. In addition, we will have reached a level of individual development and growth to lead other, by example.


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