Civilization can get to that higher level of evolution but only if we change our rapacious ways. The potential positive future for our species is analogous to the metamorphosis of a butterfly. A caterpillar’s body is comprised of several billion cells. In the body of the growing caterpillar, the economy is booming and the cellular community is actively employed. The voracious appetite of this organism leads to their devouring the leaves of the plant on which they are living. Caterpillar growth slows and eventually comes to an end as the available resources are consumed. Within the pupa, the caterpillar cells are out of work and their highly structured community begins to fall apart. Specialized imaginal cells within the ensuing chaos provide organizing information and direction to create a different, more sustainable future. Metamorphosis is complete when the non-sustainable caterpillar civilization transforms into the ecologically sensitive butterfly civilization.
The global crises we face today are Nature’s wake-up call for humans to realize that civilization needs to undergo a “metamorphosis,” — the current environmentally destructive “caterpillar” version of civilization must transform into a “new” sustainable organism, Humanity.