Evolution of the human mind

An individual's mind may be defined as the integrated totality of the conscious and unconscious processes involved in acquiring, storing, and utilizing information in his interactions with his environment. Through the physical evolution of animals, leading to the emergence of man, mental processes have also evolved and themselves have adaptive significance. Their evolution has paralleled that of the nervous system, particularly the progressive increase in the size and complexity of the brain.

It is argued (and speculated) on the basis of available evidence that the future of man is an evolving psychosocial condition, with closer communication and cooperation between all men guided by what has been termed the noosphere, namely the sphere of collective mind or thought (by analogy with the biosphere). Other views focus primarily on the ability of mankind to control its own evolution; or are more concerned with the possibility of a quantum jump in individual mental capacities to a permanent higher state of creative consciousness, better adapted to handle the complexity of the emergent planetary society.