It is rare to live through a shift in history as significant as today’s. In many ways, from developments in digital technology, transport or plumbing the secrets of the atom, we are very advanced. In others, such as the way we conduct politics, we are governed by greed, tribalism and flawed ideological considerations.

This stark mismatch means we have created a world that we are unable to manage, our tools and our minds are out of sync, as are human relations across the globe. Indeed, when our socio-political context is not conducive to having our most basic drives and motivations met, or our vulnerabilities are mismanaged by our leaders, we become unhinged. The degree of inflammation and anger in the public and private spheres today suggests just that.

Some will say that it has ever been thus, but the stakes for our species have never been so high. Given the nuclear, genetic and digital power we have unearthed and the degree of technological connectivity, there may be no culture or civilization to pick up the pieces if and when chaos spreads and collapse occurs.

We have created a world that we are unable to manage, our tools and our minds are out of sync, as are human relations across the globe... Some will say that it has ever been thus, but the stakes for our species have never been so high.

We are already pursuing a few approaches to fix these challenges when what we need is a thoroughly human balance to a heavily technological and left brained world. The change begins in us, not in grand schemes.

The first of the current attempts to manage politically is to arrest the runaway train of globalization with more national control. MAGA, Donald Trump, and Brexit are all about that. Fundamentally, this is a bet on rekindling national will and solidarity; a group’s strength and resilience in the face of challenge.

The second approach is the opposite, to increase international cooperation and regulation as a means of managing global issues more effectively. This is advocated by elites across the world whose values and interests are already trans-national. Managing man-made climate change is this group’s arch mission, even as debate rages about the significance and consequences of this intervention. Its fundamental premise is that the more inter-state structures and connectivity we have, the better. These two trends are in intense competition, yet neither is able to ‘win’. This rivalry is leading to the fragmentation of nations.

Both however pale in comparison with the drive to increasingly rely on digital technology and AI for decision-making in everything from medicine to warfare. If AI can bring vast amounts of information together more quickly, why not use it? This is a bet on a mind apparently better than our own - an ignorance of what it means to be a human being.

Finally we have the old plague of geopolitical rivalries playing out today between the global giants, the USA, China, India and, in their shadow, Russia. This theme is that of the prevailing dominance of great nations, but at stake is the risk of nuclear war, and continued hegemony over smaller countries.

These competing mega trends are weaving and ducking into each other, but, critically, their appearance together at one time suggests a perfect storm, one we may not be able to handle. Whether the response is renewed national vigour, stronger international structures and control, an alternate technological mind, or dominance over others the result will likely be greater human misery, oppression, and a failure to find the security and certainty that we desperately seek. The more probable outcome is political radicalization, conflict and, ultimately, nature catching up to our hubris and blindness through a grand collapse.

However, the silver lining is that, when times are so disrupted, there is more space to introduce new ideas. We need a new outlook that is less about domination, technological control, or a winner-takes all mentality. Where we have arrived at globally and scientifically demands new political approaches where personal and tribal excesses, that we previously afforded, are mitigated and the capacity for greater human creativity and fulfilment is released.

This cannot be done through the current methods we are relying on – the results are already in our face. Ironically, the answer also lies all around us, even if we choose to ignore it: a better understanding of our basic ‘software’, the innate needs and drivers that make up the baseline of our humanity, lead us to conflict if unfulfilled, and to much greater potential if well addressed.

The Charter for Human Needs in Politics outlines just that, what those needs are, how they are cast aside in today’s political world and institutions, and how greater knowledge about them alongside new outlooks, such as a disciplined pluralism, can help us move away from today’s labyrinths of despair.

The Charter for Human Needs in Politics outlines just that, what those needs are, how they are cast aside in today’s political world and institutions, and how greater knowledge about them alongside new outlooks, such as a disciplined pluralism, can help us move away from today’s labyrinths of despair.

When understood and lived with, working with these innate needs, such as autonomy, meaning, belonging and status, helps stabilize us and makes us less prone to extremism, manipulation, greed and misery. Better understanding of the upstream reality of who we are, that drives the downstream of action, is the sine qua non for the solid judgment and wisdom needed to run a world where AI, genetic manipulation and hypersonic missiles abound.

Instead, today, basic innate needs such as autonomy are hollowed out by a dependency on digital technology, meaning is ravaged by the erasure of meaningful social relations and traditional culture, and a gladiatorial and infinite competition for status and an addiction to instant stimulation are rapidly soaking up one of our most valuable resources, the capacity to provide proper attention.

It will not matter that China or the USA dominates the world, that we devise compacts for global issues, or that AI provides answers in a few seconds, if human potential is untapped and our flourishing and conscious evolution remain impossible. A highly emotional, anxious and unfulfilled leader or citizen means hobbled minds and spirits that perceive partially and darkly. These cannot contribute to the well-being of the world.

It will not matter that China or the USA dominates the world, that we devise compacts for global issues, or that AI provides answers in a few seconds, if human potential is untapped and our flourishing and conscious evolution remain impossible.

Our recent development has been unbalanced, and we are, in some ways, self-handicapped beings. We have mighty technological arms and legs, an overdeveloped analytical left hemisphere of the brain, and a powerful, greedy animal-ego. But our sense of proportion, judgment, patience and sophistication (our ‘wisdom mind ’) is still embryonic. 

Such fundamental change is not likely to happen quickly, but the more rapidly people come on board, the stronger our capacity to meet the challenges facing us will be. Moving into a complex and uncertain future demands a more balanced and even development that requires an unavoidable first step: knowledge of our innate needs and motivations - and politics that serve that end. The Charter for Human Needs in Politics lays this out for those that sense that, at this critical stage of human history, we cannot go on as we have done in the past.

Ivan Tyrrell, Trustee of the Human Givens Foundation, and John Bell, Director of The Conciliators Guild.

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