In the early nineteen hundreds there was a world wide outbreak of influenza. People in cities and countries all over the world were dying in record numbers. Doctors discovered that the influenza somehow affected the immune system by making the immune system attack its own body. That was why there were so many deaths. They also discovered something else: The people with the strongest immune systems who were dying because their immune systems were so strong that the influenza became a more effective kill agent in them. Their health and robust immune systems became the very thing that was killing them. What was good about the individuals served to promote what was bad.

The same can be true about those who have slow metabolisms. During times when there were natural disasters and food shortages the ones with the fast metabolisms would often waste away and die. The ones with a very slow metabolism could eat very little, and continue to live and seek other food and provisions. It was very beneficial to have a slow metabolism, to have much fat on one's body, and to find and eat very rich, fat foods helped on survive. One's weight and the ability to find fatty, high calorie foods were helped by the appetite that one had for such foods. Now times have changed.

In countries where there is little food many people with slow metabolism still do well, if they are poor, but if they can get a fair amount of food they are now at a disadvantage because they pick up wait easier. All of the fat and all of the extra weight is now, literally killing people. Obesity has increased all over the world. A person with a hardy appetite for sweets and fats is in danger of having a heart attack, diabetes, and many of the other diseases that correlate with one's weight. Since there is more food available now, the people who were better adapted to survive through scarcity are the candidates for death and the thin people with little body fat and no appetite for all of that fat are understood to be the better adapted, healthier person. The world and the environment have changed and have made it so.

The people who were robust and healthy are now just called fat, by the less enlightened people and even by the more enlightened sometimes, when they are not in private. People who are overweight have to fight like craze against their inclinations to eat too much, or even to eat enough, to maintain a healthy weight and a healthy lifestyle. Things have changed and those who cannot change with them often suffer because of their lack of ability to do so through early deaths and illnesses due to weight related causes. The same thing occurs in people's minds.

Ralph Burhoe described the necessary changes that had to take place in the human consciousness in order for humanity to survive in his book, Toward a Scientific Theology. He spoke about natural selection and the advancement of the species. He said that most things started as genotypes, or a code recorded on a strip protein that caused unlike particles of proteins during the many experiments to create life to come together, create life, and to maintain a stable system that could hold energy and discharge it as necessary to remain stable. Next he said there was movement to the phenotype, or the physical expression of the genetic code as an organism like a plant, animal, or human body. He then said that there was then a development of the culturetypes. Culturetypes were the same species coming together and living in harmony, in their small groups, in order to survive. Their culture caused them to perceive themselves as another larger, more encompassing organism.

First life appeared as cells, and then the life became an organism of cells (species), and then life progressed to an organism of like species called cultures or culturetypes. Today we find ourselves at that phase and we can't seem to get past the culturetype. Our racism, homophobia, nationalism, and the various tribalisms that exist in our world today are a result of being part of a culturetype. We try to create states and nations, but this attachment to our own culturetype seems to get in the way so that we can not work together as we would like. There is always division. This division causes us to hurt each other as individuals and to hurt people from other nations and races as well as beings that are other species. This attachment to culturetypes, or our cultures, is ultimately destroying all of us and destroying the earth as we wipe out more and more species, pollute the air because of political reasons, have racial ethnic strife, and or, are so influenced by subconscious stereotype projections that we can't really communicate with or work with each other. We need to take the next step that Ralph Burhoe discussed.

Burhoe discussed the need for human beings to advance through two other types in order to survive. The type following the culturetype was the ecotype where we realized that we have different cultures, but it is more important to focus on the fact that we are part of a whole eco-system. It is important to realize that we are all one, as part of this ecosystem and that the other designations are of very little importance. This would focus our attention to the care of the whole earth instead of our own little groups, or our own species. The next step after that is to recognize that we are part of the cosmos. We would adopt a way of thinking and being as a cosmotype realizing that we are part of everything that exists in the universe. We have not made it to the ecotype yet. At one time due to rivalries, scarcity, and lack of communication, we needed to be primarily grounded in our own cultures to survive and prosper. For a long time, however, that has not been necessary, and it really isn't now. We can communicate all over the world now. With better communication, transportation, and farming techniques we can eradicate hunger and make sure that everyone in the world has enough food, if we act now and do not wait until it is too late. I fear that our strength and ingenuity as a species is causing us not to take the next step. We, like the people with the strong immune systems, are killing ourselves.

We use all of our gifts, talents, and abilities to freeze time instead of smoothing the steps between the transitions. We hold back all of the progress that comes through the expansion of our thought capabilities and a reconnection with our hearts in order to maintain the market, and because we are afraid of change. Even if the world is miserable we know what to expect, so we hold on to things-thoughts and behaviors that our out of date and don't work anymore, too long. It is time, however, for those with the know-how and the courage to use their gifts and talents to move forward in a healthy way, instead of destroying our abilities to take the next evolutionary step. It is time for those who are in power and in charge of the media, educational institutions and governmental systems to move us forward and stop leading us to past failing systems so that we can all continue to feel comfortable in the Dance Hall of the Titanic. The band is playing as we are sinking, but we aren't even being told to abandon ship. They are giving us bigger and bigger buckets to bail out with.

All of the disasters that have taken place during this and the last century show us that we need to take the next step in order to survive as a species. We have to develop sensitivity and a sense of love for those who we consider the other and to care for them as we care for ourselves, or we won't survive. It is my hope that each of us will step up to the plate and begin to cultivate the mind-set necessary to take the next step. We don't need anyone to do it for us. We can do it by ourselves without waiting for the whole world. From the rich to the poor, to all people of all races, colors and ethnic groups we need leaders and pioneers who are willing to become their divine selves. We need people who are willing to break out of the box of the false identity and to become self actualized-breaking the mold. When we do this we will see a new world...a better world for our children and our children's children. It all starts on an individual bases as we take responsibility for ourselves and it spreads person to person, community to community and nation to nation, until we can create a more healthy beautiful world together.