In the conclusion to their book How to Talk with Anyone about Anything the authors share their vision of what the future could look like:
“We believe the axis of history turns on changing how we talk to each other.
Given that belief, our goal over the next thirty years is to teach the Safe Conversation process to 2.5 billion persons, the tipping point of the world’s projected population in 2050, with the intent of helping usher in the next and fourth stage in human social evolution.” (p.241)
The Goal
How about that for a goal?
They typify the stages of human evolution as: the age of Tribalism, the age of Agriculture, the age of the Individual (what we are in now) and the age of Relationship. “The Age of Relationship is our next step as a species to ensure we not only survive, but thrive. That will be a new global humanity,” (p.242) “with political systems dedicated to the human values of freedom for all, universal equality, radical inclusiveness, and the celebration of diversity; and countries where war is a distant memory of a tragic age when people talked in monologues and competed with one another for control and dominance rather than cooperated for the welfare of all.” (p.243)
Quantum theory tells us that everything is connected. “The welfare of each of us is dependent upon the welfare of us all.” (p.242) “Connecting is our foundational reality. The welfare of the whole serves the interest of individuals. This radicalizes all interactions in all human ecosystems, making relationship first an ethical practice.” (p.245)
The Conclusion
In an individual culture, self-interest comes first, but look where that has gotten us. They conclude:
“While promoting the welfare of the individual has furthered human evolution over the last three hundred years, shifting to a relationship first supports the next phase of human evolution by making all relationships important. Finally, putting relationships first serves as a catalyst of a new community based on a relational value system as a way of life, a way of being with others.
A world community with that priority would transcend any that was organized around the individual. This is how we can live together and thrive in all our interactions with others.
What a world that will be!”(p.246)
