THE NEW WAVE

We have been hearing about the "New Age" thinking, and the worldview of the human race across the globe is shifting. The old mechanistic view of the Universe, which ruled the thought process of mankind for over two centuries, is fast crumbling down. The physicists from eighteenth century onward expressed their unflinching confidence to explain the universe through the laws of physics and the thought process of the world was dominated by the scientific rationalism pushing out the old world wisdom of philosophy, metaphysics, religious mysticism to the back ground.

Any period in history is dominated by its thought leaders and the trend of thoughts manifests itself in various aspects of life of that epoch. The mechanistic rationalism of science resulted in rising materialism in society and its concomitant evil of greed, decadence of moral and ethical values of the society. The corruption we talk about so vociferously is a by product of the dominant thought trend of this period. But these thought trends of the past are changing decisively and new thoughts waves are progressively percolating into social consciousness. To quote a few examples to elaborate this-- the dominant thought movers, up to, and of the twentieth century-- Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Charles Darwin, Descartes, even Newton have lost their relevance against the emerging "New Age" thinking.

The change is very palpable but at the same time very chaotic. On the positive direction, mankind has become very conscious about the protection of the ecology and the environment-- a clear departure from the mindless exploitation of Nature for industrial advancement. The patriarchal concept of gender inequality, putting women subservient to men has been replaced by the acceptance of feminine as the symbol of Nature-- eco-feminism. The concept of the Universe as a mechanical system has been substituted by Universe as an information system and Earth as a living entity. The certainty principles of science have been overshadowed by the probabilistic tenet of quantum mechanics. The intriguing DNA mystery is a definite blow to the long-cherished anthropomorphic view of mankind. The new Creationist theory putting the handiwork of an intelligent designer at the centre stage has already posed formidable challenge to the established evolutionary theory. The decline of the yesteryear superpowers is a body blow to the political and economic equation of the world. Added to these, the empowerment of the terrorist groups, the nuclear ambitions of some fundamentalists, failed and rogue nations are disturbing trends for the peace and security of the world. Even the futurists fear that the hyper-intelligent Robots will subjugate human beings in a few decades.

We are living in a world in transition; it is not easy for the world order to stabilize smoothly embracing the new thoughts, ideas, and changes and to overcome the menace of terrorism, nuclear warfare without paying the price for these widespread changes. At no period in human history the transition was such multidimensional.

All forms of governance and economic isms look deficient in application for the emerging “New Age”. No leader can lead effectively without imbibing the new wave of thoughts and the leadership crisis will sweep the world under its feet. The current level of leadership will lead the world to agonising chaos and anarchy. Maybe a new race of leadership with strong spiritual wisdom will emerge to lead mankind in the right direction.