A Wish for Higher Dimensional Thinking

An interesting article "Rewire our brains....save our world" by Mark Buchanan in the Washington Post appeared in today's ST. The gist is about the need to innovate differently in  a finite planet and how humans are unable to know the real truth behind what they do ie. their thinking falls short of reality. One professor calls it "low dimensional" thinking whereby our engineers and scientists at best only consider "a few of the true pathways of cause and effect" whilst ignoring the "complexities" of  a "multi faceted" world. An example is given in the building of a dam whereby many effects are ignored other the major ones like the impact on the estuary and the obvious surroundings. This is because the human mind is unable to "capture" the vast number of dimensions our actions have on the environment.It then remains to hope that advanced technology can increase brain capacity to fathom these dimensions.

2 things strike me after reading this article:

• How deep do humans care even on a basic level, not to mention from a multi faceted perspective
• The idea of cause and effect across all aspects of life

In our pursuit to satisfy our sense pleasures we don't really care, do we? For example do we honestly care if industrial logging and industrial agriculture for biofuel and bio-energy bring about climate change and cause increase in food prices. I think we are more interested in how cheaper fuel can lower the price of a budget-air ticket. Yes it is hard to talk about caring for the future environment when that pleasure to be had is so immediate. Talk about sense pleasure, today's BT about the opening of W-Sentosa Cove has a picture of the lighted cone shaped outdoor wet bar , an absolute picture of style and trendiness that thrill your senses. So this onslaught of beautiful pleasures clobber your guilt into numbness.

The second thing that strikes me is the description used in the article about cause and effect (in this case with regards to the environment) but which I increasingly can relate to many aspects of our life. The article talks about the often unrealised social and biological impact over the long term and how "We're unaware, until eventually we have the famous 'unintended consequences'." As I am now attending Buddhist class 'cause and effect' is of course often mentioned and discussed. This has made me more and more reflective on how my past behaviour and actions or even that of my parents have a chain of effects intended and "unintended".
How I prioritised my life which governed many of my decisions and directions have some unexpected results amidst expected ones. I do know what the writer meant when he wishes that our brain can have higher dimensional thinking  and capture more pathways of ttruth.