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The Evolution of Consciousness

Weblink: The Evolution of Consciousness

from The Evolution o..., 24.05.09

http://raws.adc.rmit.edu.au/~s3139278/pp1/evolutionofconsciousness/index.html

Evolve or die. 

That is the choice that we as a human race are faced with.  No matter what theory of evolution you believe - whether it is Darwinian, based on quantum physics, religion or spirituality, we cannot deny the fact that without evolving in some way, we as well as all other species would cease to exist. 

The main thing that sets us apart from other species is our level of consciousness - that is our ability to be aware of ourselves as well as things around us. 

Where did this consciousness come from?  Did consciousness evolve due to organisms mutating over billions of years as Darwin would suggest or is there more to it? 

Some have theorised that there is a spiritual element to the evolution of our consciousness.  The Mayan civilization predicted that conscious evolution would consist of nine stages; Cellular, Mammalian, Familial, Tribal, Cultural, National, Planetary, Galactic and Universal.  They expressed this notion in the form of a calendar which ends on 28 October 2012 and through pyramid structures consisting of nine levels. 

What does it all mean?  Will we reach a higher level of consciousness or will we cease to exist?

This project explains this notion of conscious evolution through a series of mash up videos relating to each stage of the Mayan calendar.

This project was produced by: Soong Fee Chen, Keshanee De Silva & Brendan Ryan for RMIT University. 

All images and video used are copyright free, and have been
used according to the appropriate Creative Commons licence.

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Derived from

List of References

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rcsj/3174929629/sizes/l/

STAGE 1:

http://www.archive.org/details/CEP_00_032
U.S. Government; Hydrogen Bomb Test (1952)

http://www.archive.org/details/IMB_WSSF_R43_C3
Ivan Bridgewater; Wide Screen Kaleidoscope Clouds (2008)

http://www.archive.org/details/Solar_System_Roundabout
Michael La Breche; Solar System Roundabout

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pshan427/815348106

STAGE 2:

http://www.archive.org/details/WhoShall1969
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Motion Picture Service; Who Shall Reap?

http://www.archive.org/details/Solar_System_Roundabout
Michael La Breche; Solar System Roundabout

http://www.archive.org/details/etf_frogs_toads_and_salamanders
Eastman Teaching Films; Frogs, Toads and Salamanders (1932)

http://www.archive.org/details/IntheBeg1937
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Dairy Industry, Extension Service, Division of Motion Pictures; In the Beginning (1935)

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1152833

STAGE 3:

http://www.archive.org/details/Nobodygorillanastygorillaavi

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1168175

STAGE 4:

http://www.archive.org/details/Dhuth-Humans200

http://www.archive.org/details/Davidleeking-fire148

http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/43784

http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/43784

STAGE 5:

http://www.archive.org/details/Miracles1960
U.S. Department of Agriculture

http://www.archive.org/details/CrazyHorseATribute

http://www.archive.org/details/kangaroo

http://www.flickr.com/photos/savingfutures/3263126049/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jungle_boy/154117544/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68244807@N00/3285599824/

http://www.archive.org/details/AnimaSol...leonardosMessage
Chris Valentine

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayd/179497347

STAGE 6

http://www.archive.org/details/HannuNieminenEvolution
Hannu Nieminen; Evolution (2006)

http://www.archive.org/details/loMysteryofTimefull
Lord Open/the Moody Institute; Mystery of Time (2007)

http://blip.tv/file/1659530?filename=Aljazeeraasset-GazaPrayers642.mpg
All AJE; Gaza Prayers

http://www.archive.org/details/TheSpreadofIslam
Ibnul Khattab; The Spread of Islam (2006)

http://www.archive.org/details/PublicDomainMetheusFilmandMedalllionPictu...
Tanio Boccia; Caesar the Conqueror (1962)

http://www.archive.org/details/1945-04-30_Mussolini_Executed
Universal Studios; Mussolini Executed, 1945/04/30 (1945)

http://www.archive.org/details/Hanging
CBebenezer; Hanging

http://www.archive.org/details/Judge_Priest
Fox Film Corporation; Judge Priest (1934)

http://www.archive.org/details/StoryOfOurFl
McCrory (John R.) Studios; Story Of Our Flag (1938)

http://www.archive.org/details/Mediajokey-Cellportraits449-2

http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/93433

STAGE 7:

http://www.archive.org/details/sIvanBes1938
Besse (Ivan)

http://www.archive.org/details/WorldatW1942_2
U.S. Office of War Information

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1-Footage-ChateauThierry
US Army Signal Corps.

http://www.archive.org/details/Apollo11MoonLanding
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

http://www.archive.org/details/Conquerb1943
RKO-Pathe

http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/1695

STAGE 8:

http://www.archive.org/details/AV_184-NEW_TECHNOLOGY-WHOSE_PROGRESS
Frank Morrow

http://www.archive.org/details/M0diphyD_s1e03

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ntr23/557840620/

All images and video used are copyright free, and have been used according to the appropriate Creative Commons licence.

Music and Voice Overs: Brendan Ryan

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  • Anonymous's picture

    22.06.09 — Pool team

    Hi Brendan, Keshanee, and

    Hi Brendan, Keshanee, and Soong Fee,

    I enjoyed your work. What it does well is create dramatic mood and momentum with the interplay of voice, image and music. Sometimes I felt that this mood & momentum was broken as each state stopped- I could have happily heard it all as a single piece without the stops, but able to jump to each state with the navigation buttons. Perhaps a way around this would be to start each state with a specific sound effect motif to avoid that abrupt feeling of starting the music where it stopped lasted time.

    The narrative voice worked well but some needed their ends faded to avoid the noticeable atmos drop outs- best to do this before you apply effects. I really liked the image choices, though occasionally the images waited for the audio to cue them in. The home page has quite a bit of text on it- facts figures and questions- I could have handled a bit more philosophising around the theme.

    Obviously a lot of work in this- I liked it.

    Cheers,

    Steven (RN Sound Engineer)

  • Anonymous's picture

    13.06.09 — Natasha Mitchell

    (Note to wider public -

    (Note to wider public - these comments should be taken in the context of this being a university class exercise! These RMIT projects are very sophisticated, and we welcome much simpler and entirely amateur contributions to Gene Pool too!).

    Hi team (Brendan, Keshanee, Soong Fee)

    Thanks for uploading your project to Gene Pool. I've been having some problems viewing your project...and I'm not sure it's the Adobe flash player requirement (I haven't had problems viewing all the other projects, some of which I think used flash).

    I'll keep trying, and add some comments when I get the chance.

    The framing statement for your project is certainly enticing, so that's a great start! And it looks like you drew on some interesting creative commons imagery from http://archive.org too.

    I'm certainly intrigued to see what you've come up with (of course I would argue that the only developed "theory" (theory with a capital T) of evolution is that proposed by Darwin. But certainly the "concept" or "idea" of evolution finds a way into many settings and traditions, including the spiritual.

    Thanks again for adding to the Gene Pool, and hope you enjoyed preparing the project. Good luck with your next projects this year. Feel free to add your thoughts here too.

    Natasha Mitchell
    Presenter + science broadcaster - ABC Radio National
    http://abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind
    +
    Gene Pool coproducer

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