Forging a Human Future

Erika Erdmann was the editor of a periodical that used to be on our exchange list - Humankind Advancing. She died in 2006 at the age of 87, active to the end. Her main inspiration was the neuroscientist Roger Sperry, whose concepts of downward causation and emergence are also key themes of Erika's work, to which she adds the importance of fusing love and reason - feeling and thinking - for a constructive human future. The editor provides an illuminating biographical memoir, describing the decade in which she worked with Sperry. An important difference between them was Erika's emphasis on cooperation as well as competition. Her vision is clearheaded: despite the fact that love and compassion have been preached the centuries in the West, we are still subject to corruption and organised crime. Hence love and compassion are not enough. Moreover, as Sorokin also observed, violence can never lead to justice; what is required is a combination of love and concern with reason and insight in pursuit of our highest aspirations. We must be ready to move on from previous systems of thought that have outlived their usefulness and base our actions on key values such as 'wisdom, mental maturity, open-mindedness, and well-informed concern for humankind.' The book conveys Erika's visionary thinking and is a timely reminder of perennial priorities.