Sharing The Human Journey

Sample Letter

My friends,

As most of you know, for the past year I’ve been working on an update and re-design of The Human Journey website. I’m happy to announce that the new mobile-friendly site is now live—have a look!

The first section, “Follow the Journey” explores the evolution of our species from our origins in Africa to our migration across the planet, the development of language and tools, and the core ideas that began with the earliest human settlements and continue to inform our modern world.

The second section looks at key challenges we face today in the light of what we now know about who we are and how the past has made us—so we can make conscious and responsible choices: The production and use of energy in a world of finite resources. The exponential acceleration and impacts of economic disparity. Finding workable solutions in education, health, and aid. Understanding the workings of our “moral endowment”—both our inbred empathy and our tendency to view the world as “us” vs. “them”—and much more.

This has been quite a journey for me personally, pushing me to think about things in totally different ways—especially considering the events of the past year. As we are seeing so clearly, the very same technology that enables us to deliver the latest information and insights from our leading scientists is also being used to promote unprecedented misinformation, distraction, outright fabrication, bigotry, nativism, and polarization.

According to Gallup, 38% of Americans believe that God created humans less than 10,000 years ago. And an increasing number of people doubt that objective facts exist at all. It seems the very flexibility of mind that allowed our species to thrive over hundreds of thousands of years unfortunately also leaves us open to manipulation and indoctrination.

Though not overtly political, the Human Journey aims to influence our understanding of truth.

The end goal of this project is not to foster a particular belief system but to bring accurate information into the social consciousness and discourse. I see this as an essential step to countering these alarming trends, which is why I’ve chosen this work as my path to “resistance.”

Please do explore the site and let me know your thoughts—both about the content, the usability, and any ideas for spreading the word.

Here’s looking to a happier New Year!