We live at the most crucial time in human history. Experts consistently predict that we are living through the sixth major extinction period in the history of our planet, and in his book The Precipice, Toby Ord puts the odds of a major human-cause extinction happening in the next century at 1 in 6. Just for context, the odds were more like 1 in 100 a century ago. Those of us who are living here at this time are not here by accident. We are here to move us through this precipice period in the human story…and I believe we are here to give rise to the fourth major human revolution – the Consciousness Revolution.
As part of this journey, we must individually and collectively explore the “default settings” in our human minds. Our brain was designed and tested in vastly different conditions than the ones we are asking them to operate in today. Our brains have evolved to detect threats and fulfill needs that will allow us to reproduce and spread our bloodline. Coming to understand our fears and needs is a critical step in becoming more conscious – aware of our awareness.
In this episode, we first explore the four fundamental human fears:
- Being wrong
- Failing
- Experiencing emotional discomfort
- Getting rejected
We then look at the needs we are each trying to get met in our daily behaviors, breaking it down between what Maslow described as “deficiency needs”: the need for safety/security, the need for belonging, and the need for esteem/affirmation. and “growth needs”: the need for exploration, the need for love, and the need for purpose. Each one us must do the work to understand what drives our behavior, and these two “maps” can be an extremely helpful way to do so.