A particular period of history doesn’t have a precise starting ‘date.’ But in my personal understanding of history and society today, I believe the new Enlightenment has already begun.  Although we are still grappling with some of the issues lingering from the first Enlightenment, over recent years I have been inspired by the many efforts of people and organizations, and scientific and ecological and intellectual progress. This gives me a sense of hope that we are leaping forward. There is not a single day that I feel the world is regressing. I feel we are moving forward despite our many struggles and challenges. But the Enlightenment movement is often overshadowed by bad news every day. The great work of researchers, environmentalists, social activists, and philanthropists is happening daily, even if we don’t see it in the headlines.

The dark side of our psyche will have to be tamed in order to be able to see the bright side of the world. Not that there is not work to be done, but we have to be very careful not to limit ourselves by our negativity. Dealing with our own negativity is part of our work living in an imperfect world. It will continue to be imperfect; it will remain an unfinished project, perhaps eventually leading to a Third Enlightenment someday!

At times it feels like the hyper-rational and skeptical mindset rewards those who say ‘no’, who find all the flaws and reasons that new ideas won’t work, such as the ideas presented here for the Second Enlightenment. Perhaps the same skeptical mindset viewed the first Enlightenment that it wouldn’t work. Hyper-analytical and judgmental minds hold us back. But if we can say ‘yes’ more often, or at least ‘maybe,’ at least considering new ways to live together, there are endless possibilities.

We are, however, walking a thin rope of the Second Enlightenment with trepidation about the climate change and burning our planet down. The profiteering capitalism in liberal democracies with the free ticket to exploit the natural resources for the energy-hungry world by using the unclean and unsafe technology can only be decelerated if we do not pollute the air and environment through the change of behavior. Let us make no mistake, we as consumers of cars and other polluting goods bear the brunt of the responsibility in the global warming. Activists and scientists are on it but the greedy industrialists have cleverly dug a backdoor tunnel in our consumer psyche that make us buy alternative goods and commodities such as Tesla cars, and other unaffordable cars which for the ordinary income-earners without capital is impossible. The collective interest demands of us to make sacrifices by reducing carbon footprint by 80% or more by walking, riding bicycles or using public transportation and even car-pooling. Our ecological future and is at stake so long as the big businesses are put before nature, before the safety of our species and the safety of the future generations. The thin rope we are on, we can either walk it and make a safe landing, or fall with massive damages to ourselves, animals, and nature. The course and direction of the Second Enlightenment depends on us as individuals and as groups.

So Much Good Are Happening

Here are some examples that I have learned about or have experienced personally, which make it very clear to me that we are moving in the right direction.

• Around the clock individuals, groups, organizations, labs, and universities in the West, East, North and South are working to make the world a more hospitable place to live. Great work in a myriad of fields ranging from medicine, technology-nanotechnology, cyberspace, and transportation, to conservation of national parks around the world, environment and animal protection, and international collaboration is already taking place.

• Medical examples abound: Technologies are used in near-miraculous ways to treat injuries and illness that would have been devastating not very long ago, such as laser operations that restore eyesight after retinal detachments or cancer, preventing blindness. So, many breakthroughs to treat previously untreatable cancers have emerged in recent decades, from gene therapies to gentler chemotherapy. Today, with the advancement in medicine both the types I and II diabetic patients can have a better quality of life, whereas diabetic patients ordinarily in the past would have a short and grueling life.

• Making health care a priority and human rights issue, just one example is Agnes Binagwaho, the former Rwandan minister of health (2011-2016) and current Harvard lecturer in Global Health and Social Medicine, who introduced comprehensive healthcare in Rwanda. She also worked with the late Harvard professor and the co-founder of Partners in Health (PIH), Paul Farmer, who took a radical path for 20 years to make great strides in achieving prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS in Rwanda and other countries such as Haiti, Lesotho, Malawi and Mozambique. Many people others around the world are part of collective efforts to provide medical care to others. Therefore, larger health systems are also undergoing transformations, and slowly, health care is reaching more at-risk and underserved people through global efforts, even though at times it feels like a drop in the bucket.

Environmentally as well, great things are happening in the realm of rights and protections and support for the natural world. Many environmental and animal rights activists and legal experts are working on a functional framework to protect nature. In fact, the legal experts are looking into giving legal rights to animals as well as to trees. “Ecuador and Bolivia (thanks to the wisdom and recommendation of the indigenous people) have already enshrined rights for the natural world, while there is a campaign to make ecocide a prosecutable offence at the international criminal court.” (click Equal Status for the Ecological World). Other countries may follow suit. In a remarkably progressive move, the status of the rights of rivers and trees is being debated in the UK. After reckless pollution and disrespect of the rivers, UK experts are proposing that perhaps the best way to protect animals, rivers and trees is to include them in a legal framework as well, giving them legal rights, which would provide legal protection.  See “Give legal rights to animals, trees and rivers, say experts,” The Guardian (October 10, 2022). And in a beautiful example of successful conservation and animal protection efforts, just recently eight Namibian cheetahs were transferred to India, where for the last 70 years cheetahs were completely gone.

• In the age of unusual patterns of natural disasters due to climate change, more than 10 million trees in the last decade or so have been planted across the globe by just The Canopy Project. Grain for Green has planted mixed forest in China for the last two decades. Tree-Nation is active in 83 reforestation projects around the globe. These efforts are great leaps forward toward reviving decimated tree populations and trying to counter the effects of climate change.

• Healthy business-earth relationships are also becoming more common. A goodwill initiative is just a decision away. Just this year, the outdoor clothing Patagonia’s founder, Yvon Chouinard decided to transfer the company’s value of $3 billion to a trust under the slogan of “Earth is Now Our Only Shareholder.” And, until there are collective, dedicated global funds to help care for the world, there are hundreds of thousands of philanthropists who give away their share of wealth to the world. Just one is Jamsetji Tata, founder of Tata Industries, who with his family has given more than $100 billion for the improvement of health and education, a significant amount and a contribution to the betterment of our world. Other contributions, even on individual levels, happen daily, and even though the amount of contribution may not be the same, their intentions are equally important and heartwarming.

• Scientific-philosophical-psychological breakthroughs are constantly being made, reminding us of what positive potentials lie ahead. The great authors, scientists, artists and performers are daily making the world a better place to live. Nobel Laureates in medicine, chemistry, literature and other areas are continuing to revolutionize our world with their innovative discoveries and paradigm shifts. The Noble Laureate, Daniel Kahneman, was a psychologist who won the Nobel Prize in the field of economics. With his pioneering analysis of the reliable and unreliable (rational and irrational) mind Kahneman impacted our understanding of the effects and styles of decision-making in our daily life, with great potential for supporting a paradigm shift of awareness of how we life our lives.

• The leap forward is not driven solely by the great minds and Nobel Prize winners, but is also powered by the everyday people who bake bread, teach youngsters in the schools, who grow food, take care of patients and elderly in the hospitals and hospices, collect garbage, work as cashiers in shops and supermarkets, sell fruits and vegetables on the streets, drive buses and taxis, – all on a daily and nightly basis. Their hard work and creative problem-solving make it possible for us to meet our basic needs, forming the foundation of our lives.

• University students are also turning the intellectual and social wheels in their own unique ways, bringing fresh ideas, energy and inspiration to societies. I have experienced this personally: One memorable day, an undergraduate student of philosophy in my class at the University of Innsbruck where I teach had to give an oral presentation on his selected topic. With his unassuming and stoic attitude, he took a seat in front of his fellow students, preparing to present his topic: “The Concept and Grasping of Nirvana.” He began to present spontaneously, without looking at his notes. When he finished, the whole class remained silent in awe for some moments. I too was immersed in deep thought and full admiration. I had never expected an undergraduate student to present such a succinct and advanced analysis of such a subject matter that requires years and years of studying and pondering, even by Buddhist scholars. Although the powerful work of this young student was only heard by his classmates and me and didn’t make it to the headlines, it can be catalogued as a triumph of knowledge added to the intellectual bank of our ascending generation.

• The world is constantly injured but has to be healed again due to the intervention of those who care. In Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus pioneered the microcredit loans for the poor and the disadvantaged who would never qualify for the bank loan. He won the Noble Peace Prize for making this attempt a delightful success – as a peace-builder, a philanthropist and a dignifier of the poor.

• In the same country and many non-democratic countries, thousands of bloggers, often young people, put their lives on the line by using social media platforms to discuss critical issues and challenge the dogmatic authorities. They face very challenging situations, yet they get their message of free-thinking out, and it brings about awareness and ultimately change.

• Another leap forward is how we treat those with neurological or psychiatric disorders today. The civility and respect towards these patients of today is due the medical-scientific information unlike the preceding generations who often attributed such disorders to God’s punishment or being possessed by the devil. Among many examples of success, the stand-out story is prominent author and professor of animal behavior Temple Grandin, who has had autism throughout her life. Despite the odds and huge challenges at the time of her youth in the 1950s and 60s, she finished college and received her doctorate degree in animal sciences. One of her unique contributions was to come up with the most humane system for handling and slaughtering livestock, which is still used today. She is still a public speaker on both autism and animal rights.

There are so many good-hearted people who have dedicated themselves to healing the ills of the world in ways both large and small. Their work counters the minority of villains with guns and power who make trouble around the world, who hopefully one day will be incorporated into a peaceful human family.

The world of human beings has never been perfect. In the real everyday world, restoration depends on our positive and dynamic attitudes, on our daily sympathetic behavior and our constructive acts. We are inclined to ask ourselves, how can I as a minor, single individual make any changes in this gigantic and seemingly uncontrollable world? Change can become possible through a will power, by not giving in to temptations derived from ego and the exterior world of consumption. If we wish a Second Enlightenment to take root, we each in our own unique way need to join the enthusiasts of a healthier planet and become the custodians of the new Enlightenment that is already underway.