Yesterday I was thrilled to read "Peace prize for Gore stirs hope and speculation" in the Los Angeles Times. Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for helping push global warming into the public consciousness" through his book and Oscar winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."
In class we have discussed different meanings of the word "consciousness". In the case of the article mentioned above, I believe the word "consciousness" refers to a state of heightened awareness. Al Gore was given this prestigious award because he successfully increased awareness about the existence of global warming and how the actions of any particular individual have a direct impact on important issues such as climate change, preservation of our environment, and human rights. In fact, many believe that we are currently experiencing a dramatic shift in global consciousness in terms of coming to a universal understanding that we are all connected.
Do you agree or disagree that a dramatic shift in consciousness is occurring right now? What examples do you see in your life that support or disprove the idea of a shift in consciousness taking place?
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I hope we are greeneyez ! It's the only hope for the preservation of our species and the beautiful planet we inhabit.
Einstein said we suffer from a sort of mental "optical illusion" which makes us believe we exist as separate entities.
I believe that the fact of global warming and pollution had always been in the back of people's mind, but they just choose to ignore it. They don't want to act upon it. Today many are working towards a greener society to help perserve the environment for the future generation. Actions such as hybrid cars are being proccessed to save oil and prevent green house gasses from being released and more recycling centers are opening up. The people should work towards pollution prevention rather then pollution clean up, it is cheaper and more effective. If there is not anything to clean up, then there is no problem or potential pollution.
Although I feel there is a new awarenes of the problems we face with global warming, I can truly say I think we have only scratched the surface in the genral public's attention span. I hear comments from people around me (parents at my daughter's Christian school and workmates of my husband's) that show a complete lack of knowledge of the science involved and also many people are still convinced it is liberal propaganda. I even talked to a parent the other day (who is still a Bush supporter believe it or not)who has a family member in Iraq and she says we are really making progress over there it's just that the media only shows us the bad stuff. ( I guess like the killing of innocent people!)And when I showed the other parents at a track meet the other day Charlotte's sports bottle, they had never thought of it and didn't know where to get one.Unfortunately this all makes me believe we still have to hammer home our ideas and hope they listen before it is too late.
Peace to all.............
From my own observations, it seems that whenever a great shift in consciousness is taking place, there are those who strongly resist it. I think perhaps that it is the people who fear change who are the most resistant. The evidence of the increased awareness is all around such as the hybrid cars (as mentioned by Cheyanne), the reusable bags at the market, and the editorial in the Los Angeles Times the other day strongly calling for more people to eat less meat to help save the planet. On the other hand, there is also evidence that many people continue to be in the darkness as mentioned by Catherine. It is challenging not to become discouraged but to keep it positive. I agree with Cheyanne about pollution prevention. Let us not create the trash in the first place. One way to do this is to reduce our consumption. Finally, I believe that one of the best ways to contribute to a positive shift in consciousness is to lead by example, and "Be the change you wish to see in the world" as Ghandi said.
A few days ago, my enviromental teacher read an article about hybrid cars. They have been created a while ago, but unknown to the public. When they were very first produced, but not yet marketed, the gasoline companys banded together and paid millions to have hybrids not be marketed becuase that would destroy their business. They were the reason why hybrids did not come out till today. If the gas companies did not do that, we could have been about to prevent a fraction of the carbon and green house gas release to the atmosphere which could have changed what the environment is today (the butterfly effect). Gasoline companys clearly are selfish, and are not satified with the millions they alreayd make.
Have you ever seen the documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car?"/ It is about how the auto industry and the oil industry destroyed the electric car. It really saddens me to think that for years in California we could have been living in a place where the cars produced zero carbon emissions! Our communities would have been so much lovelier to live in with much cleaner air and much less noise pollution, not to mention global warming would have been slowed down. What a disappointing waste! I hope the human race is smart enough to save itself.
I disagree. That may just be because I don’t see any examples of this in my community. “Dramatic”? I would say that’s too strong of a word to use. If you were to go out into the street and quiz people on their global warming awareness I could promise most people wouldn’t even know what you were talking about. It’s just like if you were to conduct a survey on how many people living here actually know their most important constitutional rights provided by the 1st Amendment (Bill of Rights). However, if you were to ask them the 5 names of the Simpson’s main characters…. Well you know. I would be a hypocrite if I acted as though I myself am as aware as we should be, I’m truly not. I wish more information was presented or at least readily available.
I think that whereas in past years the movement to protect the environment has been perceived as being on the fringe, now this same movement has become incredibly mainstream. Before discussions of eating vegetarian and living a green lifestyle could only be found in alternative publications or health magazines, but now you will find articles on going green in practically every avenue of mainstream media. One reason is that many celebreties such as Cameron Diaz and Leonardo DiCapprio have used their fame to shed light on the issue.
Arent we always experiencing a shift in conciousness. We change as we evovle. Every generation has brought something new that redefined society. Global warming is a strong issue that can not just be wished a way because we want it to. It will take hard work and dedication as a people to help reverse the horrible effects on our enviornment. We have the resources to help turn the problem around, however we have to stick together. If we could succeed in this we will be making a shift in conciousness
I think we are shifting in consciousness but I’m not sure how much. There are a lot more people who are learning about new problems and researching them. I don't think many people knew about what they are doing that is harming the earth. Recently people have made many discoveries. Like many of you said there are lots of ignorant people and I strongly agree. I know a lot more than I did about everything three years ago! As far as I know, I would say our consciousness is going in many different directions. I find it sad how the media focuses on silly things like Paris Hilton or Anna Nicole Smith. There are many other important things that I would rather see on TV. What bothers me is that usually the really good information is hard to obtain. (Sorry about reposting my browser is messed up)
I agree with Adam. The world is often concerned with far less important things such as pop culture. The Media is used as propaganda for the Government. Instead of displaying the issues in the world they display tv Shows
and Gossip. Its alot easier for us to just hear the good news and go about are day feeling good. However we cant make any progress unless we really put out the effort.
It bothers me how the media cares about one group of people over others. On the Palestinian Israeli conflict they sound sadder when they talk about a few Israeli people dieing. When they talk about Palestinians, no matter how many more of them have died they wont sound as upset. I am bothered by the fact that there is lots of discrimination and bias in the media. They don't care about darker skinned people, but they do care about people who messed their own lives up and feel bad for them, while others need the attention a lot more. Now that I think about it what you mean by shift can be any change. Now that I look at the whole thing I would certainly agree that there is a dramatic shift in our consciousness. Also I am bothered by all the stereotypes that go on in society. I think it’s very stupid to believe in stereotypes because we are all humans, no race is better. So many stereotypes are even projected in the media. Sadly the media is the only source of some people’s knowledge.
I believe we are constantly shifting in consciousness. So many new discoveries are made each day. Technology is on the rise. So much has changed in 30 years. If we didn’t shift in awareness we wouldn’t really advance as a society. Every generation is expected to surpass the previous one. Although we are shifting in consciousness, things have really become out of hand. Now less people are expected to surpass their previous generation which hasn’t happened for a long time. I think there are a lot of problems in our society. Not enough people know enough information. Even in LAUSD, they put limitations on what teachers can teach, I think this is lame and it has no benefits. I don’t think our education in general is good enough in terms of quality.
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