Flourish in the Future

ingThe goal of this website is to present the Epic of Evolution in ways that inspire you to create a flourishing future.  Learning about our magnificent 14 billion year journey can expand your sense of possibility, helping you imagine and create the life of your dreams.  This amazing story of the past enlarges our imaginations with creative new possibilities for the future.

Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal

The goal is that by the year 2023, 23 percent of the world’s population is flourishing with an inspiring evolutionary world view that helps them flourish and encourages them to contribute to the ongoing renewal of sentient life of Earth and beyond. These inspired people will create a tipping point.    By 2030, everyone on planet Earth will be celebrating this inspiring cosmology and flourishing as a result.

When I first started this Epic of Evolution web site in 2005, this goal seemed beyond possibility.  For starters, in 2005, more than 20% of the people on the planet lived in extreme poverty.  Second,  most people didn’t accept biological evolution as their cosmology (ie Creation Story).   Third, most people were unaware of human progress. 

Sixteen years later, so much has changed.  While many people still continue to struggle, for most people, life is better than it was 15 years ago.  Today, fewer than 9% of all people live in extreme poverty.   While this is tragic for each of these people,  the positive trajectory out of poverty  offers them real hope that they will see the end of extreme poverty in their lifetime.  

Also, in the past 15 years, thanks to the Internet, scientific data is available to most people on the planet.  As a result, today, over 80% of  Americans, acknowledge the science of evolution. Not only does evolution explain how humans and species evolved, it explains our psychology, our culture, our appetites.  Evolution  explains how our universe came to be and how our planet changes over time. 

Since 2005, a slew of authors have written books and produced websites highlighting  Human Progress, the Great Enrichment, Rational Optimism, and the Innovation responsible for this progress.

If you listen to the news, it may seem that life has gotten much worse.  Although problems seem much bigger now than they did 20 years ago, the truth is, our awareness of the problems is bigger.   The good news is, our awareness of solutions is also bigger. 

And this awareness is great news.  Greater awareness means that solutions are closer.  Awareness of problems is half the solution.   But if you look at the data, so much much progress has happened in other areas, that the goal of a flourishing population seems within reach.

 Even better, the science that informs the Epic of Evolution helps us create solutions to our biggest challenges, like enriching billions who live in poverty,  preventing super-volcanos or meteor strikes, and  optimizing climate change.  By understanding what works, we can ensure freedom for all people and create a sustainable and flourishing paradise on Earth and beyond. 

Imagine

The human imagination is a powerful creative force, one that has altered the future of life on this planet.  The Epic of Evolution inspires our imagination because it reveals a world that is far more spectacular and awesome that anyone could imagine without the gift of the scientific method.  

Innovation

With imagination, free flow of information, and a sense of  rational optimism, humanity is creating a flourishing future.   We much first imagine that future.  And a great way to imagine a flourishing future is to understand what created the best of this present moment.

by Cathy McGowan Russell