According to research on population density and growth [Science Magazine] this year, estimates are that the human population will reach 7 billion sometime in the next two weeks. You will recall that I began this year with an article discussing the importance of valuing our balance with the planet and the fellow inhabitants of it. The moment for each of us to recognize our place as one of 7 billion is nearly upon us.
As I detailed in another article at the mid-point of this year, "we need to also open our minds to the diversity and beauty of what it means to be human". Each human on this wonderful planet is an organism of unique evolutionary elegance. As we approach 7 billion, I implore you, each reader, to recognize how much you value your community (family, friends, etc.) and also accept that every person -- friend or foe -- has a community which they also treasure and value.
Try to take a step back in your own mind; imagine that you can look through another person's eyes. Especially when making decisions which will affect another being or a community of beings, consider what actions you would wish to have taken toward your own community. Some choices do result in necessary consequence, but weigh the necessity of each reaction upon the quality of the action. In a group as large as our global human community is about to become, it is far too easy to become detached from the very ethics and connections which make us distinctly human.
Consider this, "between now and 2050 the world population will increase by 2.3 billion" [Singularity Hub].
With such drastic growth coming, excercising empathy and understanding will become paramount. Our technological, data-driven world, separates us from the human interaction. Consider your community, consider your network of connections, value every human you meet, greet, email, link, like, or poke. We are each one in 7 billion; meaning, we our each unique and different, but we are also each as inconsequential as the people we choose to ignore.
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