The leading edge of reality is mind, and mind is the primary substratum of being.
We need to truly explore the problem of consciousness because, as man gains power, he is becoming the defining fact on the planet in the near-space area. So, the question that looms is, “Is man good?” And then, if he is, “What is it he’s good for?”
We actually have a tool to push the button. We are no longer dependent upon whatever factors it is that previously controlled the ingression of novelty into human history. We have taken that function to ourselves, and this will accelerate and intensify the cultural crisis.
We have changed. We are no longer, as I said, bipedal monkeys. We are instead a kind of cybernetic coral reef of organic components and inorganic technological components. We have become a force which takes unorganized raw material and excretes technical objects. We have transcended the normal definitions of man. We are like an enormous collective organism with our data banks, and our forecasting agencies, and our computer networks, and the many levels at which we are connected into the universe. Our self-image is changing; the monkey is all but being left behind and, shortly, will be left behind.
