In the 1950s, scientists conducted research on a group of macaque monkeys on the Japanese island of Koshima. These scientists would drop sweet potatoes on the ground for the monkeys to eat. However, one day, one young monkey took the sand covered sweet potato and rinsed it at a nearby lake, discovering that the sweet potato tasted better washed.
Not long after, more monkeys on this island adopted this ritual which eventually (and unexplainably) moved across the water to monkeys being studied in nearby islands. And although these monkeys never came into contact and were separated by water, the act of rinsing food before eating it entered these species' collective consciousness and hence changed their pattern.
This strange event was coined the "100 Monkey Principle" which stated that once a critical number of people's consciousness changed (and in this case that number was 100) a tipping point would occur which would lead to a change in group consciousness.
What the 100 Monkey Principal demonstrated was "the field" and/or the "collective consciousness" which I define as a stream of energy that holds all thoughts, emotions and storylines that impact both the individual and collective energy. It is the storehouse for the consciousness of all life forms on the planet including the greatest record keeper, earth herself.
We are living through times of great energetic change. Each storyline that we heal, every shadow that we bring awareness to and every act of courage that we take part in all contribute to the energy matrix of the universe and determines the vibrational frequency of light (or darkness) prevalent in the mass energy grid.
Long story short, everything matters and the earth needs more people in touch with their own humanity. We are all interconnected.
Can Virtual Reality Help Save The World?
That was an interesting point of view and I wondered if I agreed. After all, I saw men, women and children enjoy themselves at these events and try out VR, but what was missing for me was RELEVANCE.
Perhaps it is because I am a woman, or maybe it’s because I’m well embedded in the world of millennials but the content and technology I was looking for was embedded not in ESCAPISM but grounded in RELEVANCE and EXPANDED REALITIES.
ARE THE MASTERS AND CREATORS OF CONTENT AND TECHNOLOGY TRYING TO CREATE A GENERATION OF ESCAPISM? OR DO THEY HAVE THE POWER OF CREATING A BETTER FUTURE THROUGH TECHNOLOGY AND STORYTELLING?
About a month ago, I was at the Brookfield Place in NY where Charity Water was having a massive Virtual Reality installation. It was an amazing feel good event that ran for a few weeks and raised a significant amount of money for the charity. The proposition was simple: watch our 8-minute VR film and unlock $30 dollars from an anonymous donor. For the viewers, they got to contribute to a cause by watching a film. For Charity Water, it was a way to get their organization known and a vehicle for fundraising. And for the mysterious donor, well it got hundreds of people who never experienced VR to try out the technology.
It was a win-win across the board.
And this past weekend, I attended a beauty event at ABC Home where natural beauty products, elixirs and spiritual services where displayed and offered. While there, Deepak Chopra exhibited his VR meditation film that allowed viewers to experience peace and meditation through the device and content. And of course I had to try.
1) The VR integration was through an organization or brand/persona that I cared for, respected and probably most important I trusted in.
2) The topic was something I cared about.
3) And lastly, the experience solved a real world problem for me. Charity Water solved my need to contribute to a cause and Deepak’s film showed me how to use technology to meditate.
And in both instances, it just made me feel good.
Those inside this technology, claim that the market will reach up to $150 Billion by 2020*. But if the world is gone by 2020, there will be no monetization to be had by anyone. And hence, comes my interior motive.
I am a believer of change and I do believe that VR and the content masters have a unique position to influence this change. And certainly there are organizations that already do this like Creative Visions, the organization that supports my motion book/graphic novel, in its directive to help creative activists; and FOST which has a programming embedded in its DNA called FOST for Good. And the Games for Change conference held in NY each year. The set up is there, now if only more gatekeepers could follow suit.
After all, underlying this current “reality” are millennials, women and men that are looking for ways to help the world and also heal themselves. Jane McGonigal expounds on this in her TED talk, “Gamers Can Make a Better World” and how these gamers experience epic wins in games but have no outlet in real life to experience situations where they can save the world. And this to me, is just untapped energy waiting to be utilized.
Imagine a VR meditation film set underwater with whales that allows viewers to meditate to whale and water sounds thus accomplishing both the viewers' desire to meditate while also bringing an appreciation to ocean life. Or an augmented reality app that allowed a mother and her children to follow an orangutan through a grocery store that picks out products that contain palm oil and hence ban. Or as my boyfriend Mike voiced, a VR game that allowed him to experience what it was like in Rome so that he could learn from the mistakes of that time period and hence not repeat them in this one.
Which brings me back to my original question, is it possible for these gatekeepers to actually use their power to help create a better future?
There is this law of energy that states that the more attention we give anything, the more that “thing” will appear in our lives. I’ll go deeper to say that it’s not only our attention but our energetic frequency that creates our reality. It is as simple as a person who identifies with being accident-prone and thus attracts a higher probability of accidents to him or her. That person just radiates that story line. But if we generate a new storyline then that person’s reality changes. And maybe it’s time we changed ours.
Wouldn’t it be nice if this new world that is being created for us by the content and technology makers use their power for good?
Wouldn’t it be incredible if somehow this new technology inspired people to change and activate this humanitarian energy?
Wouldn’t it be magnificent if somehow the collective consciousness on the planet moved away from survival mode but towards thriving, pro-earth and life generating modalities (for both animals and humans)?