In Dragons of Eden, Dr. Carl Sagan postulates actual mutations in the brain itself and sees evidence of positive mutations all around us. Sagan says that the the incredible intellectual and social conflicts of our era arise from a basic evolution or mutation in our brains, that we are leaving what he regards as the childhood of our species and entering adulthood.

Think of this particular period in which we currently reside as our techno-social 'tween years or our period of adolescence. This era is marked by physical, psychological, and social/moral/ethical transitions associated with the movement from a state of childhood to a state of adulthood. This period is also marked by an intensified pre-occupation with issues of identity and autonomy. Read any informed article on Web 2.0 and net neutrality and these are the issues (identity, autonomy, accessibility) we are working on.

What are the conditions necessary for the brain (and our collective being) to make this great leap, to break free of a narrow set of beliefs to a larger set of universal opportunities in living and computing? Sagan quotes Bertrand Russell who notes that the development of such a mind requires a period with little or no demands for conformity--a time when one is encouraged to develop and pursue one's interests, no matter how strange or useless.

Of course, this situation is clearly ideal. Instead, most of us have been subjected to repressive systems of conformity and encouraged to follow "normal," or sanctioned interests, to become who we are told to be. Similarly, most computer applications are designed to replace an older form of doing things with a new one, rather than re-visioning how we work, how we live, and how could be. As a result, it becomes practically impossible to use our repressively programmed brains to free ourselves. Such possibilities were never entered as data.

The problem here again is that the defensive belief systems of the brain will deny that possibilities outside the ones we already know exist. Thus, we are constrained by our self-imposed limitations. This applies to not only computer users, but to computer programmers, politicians, educators, pundits, etc., as well.

So how do we break beyond these limitations? How do we successfully move from a social/digital childhood to an adulthood? How do we, in essence, uncouple our brains from outmoded ways of thinking, seeing, and behaving, and move to a more mature era?

Clearly we are standing at a threshold of amazing changes in our culture and society, from the way we interact with friends and colleagues, to the way we shop and seek medical advice. Futurist/Inventor/Researcher Ray Kurzweil suggests that we, as a society, are heading toward a moment of singularity when machines will become self-aware, with unpredictable consequences. Yet, for such a moment of singularity to occur, we are still in a position as a society where a number of adolescent needs must be met before we are physically, mentally, socially and ethically prepared to handle such an event.

What other changes need to take place to allow ourselves as a society to sufficiently develop before we are ready for the next phase of our existence?

It is also easy to point to theory and say, "theoretically," these things are possible; however, practically, there are a number of factors (political, economic, social, spiritual) that are still being worked through that will either permit us to grow or stunt us permanently.

It is important to recognize that whatever model we adopt, whatever methods we use, is truly unimportant. We must recognize that our beliefs are what convince us that we are who we think we are, not who we might become.

Perhaps then the way to develop our brains and our human capacity is to perform a bit of brain surgery to prevent ourselves from continually clinging to outmoded beliefs. Who we are supposed to be and who we are told to be need to be removed to make room for our full uniqueness and original fearlessness. Without this effort, are we not destined to keep repeating ourselves and remain in a state of perpetual adolescence?

Fritz Perls is quoted as once saying, "We have to lose our minds to come to our senses." An important question then becomes: Are you afraid to lose your mind that is caught up in the static, the white noise of society; a mind that has been programmed, hypnotized, addicted, conditioned into a preconceived sense of normality and sleep-like submission?

Come on! What do we have to lose?

Confronting these ideas can propel us beyond belief to a place that, for many people, is terribly unsettling. Writer Mel Ash suggests that we "use beliefs as tools... But never confuse them with the real work at hand." In other words, we cannot allow ourselves to be afraid of putting them down when they no longer serve us or become destructive. Our belief systems are not life preservers; they are often anchors limiting us to one point of view, one range of experiences. Perhaps then we need to be able to move to a system of disbelief which takes us down a path of what might be as opposed to a path leading toward what we think we already know. Disbelief is not the death of meaning; it is an opportunity to hold our thoughts at bay while we consider the possibilities.

In the end, who we might might become and how social software enhances our lives is entirely up to us. While we might currently reside in a house dominated by fear and anxiety over growth and change, we ultimately have the power to change our individual and collective futures. But only if we allow ourselves the opportunity to do so.

[Note: Many of the ideas in this post were generated from a recent re-reading of Mel Ash's text  Shaving The Inside of Your Skull: Crazy Wisdom for Discovering Who You Really Are: A User's Guide to Psyche, Self & Transformation. Ash's text is loaded with many ideas and exercises for transforming who we are to who we want to be. But be warned-- the text's goal is to shake your foundations loose. Dogmatists beware!]