The Greek Philosophers first asked this question, and here we are 2500 years later and they would be surprised with the answers we have obtained. Modern Science used Descartes most probable-philosophical-statement, "I think therefore I am," to stay as objective as possible during its explorations and investigations of the material world. This Idealism gives the mind the ultimate authority for reality. They have suspended a belief in any physical reality until more physical evidence becomes available, and vowed not to be dissuaded by any of the existing cultural realities. After 500 years of discovery, we are now aware of our material and non-material existence, our evolution, our social reality construction, our technological power, our environmental impact, and our forthcoming global civilization.

It has become time to return to Realism, since probability has shifted back to the material world, as Descartes forgot about sleep. When one sleeps, the brain does not maintain the consciousness. The body-colony does not need it, so it is turned off to conserve energy. The material body-colony still exists during sleep. The consciousness does not. Therefore, Descartes premise is false. The mind is a product of the body-colony, not the other way around. You are just the mass-consciousness of your body-colony. You are shut off during sleep.

Your conscious self, or the I, which becomes the ego in the mind, is formed from your unique combination of genetics, memetics, the time and place of your existence, and the people you are acquainted with on the world stage. Individuality is natural and desired for continued evolution. The ego must make choices, which is why it has evolved, in the self-interest of the body-colony, which becomes the id in the mind, but the ego reacts to the world with its own perspective, which is constructed from the groups abstract reality, or cultural ultraparadigm, which becomes the superego in the mind. This perspective, or reality, is an artificial representation of the material world for the ego, the conscious self, to deal with the material world for the id, urges, and aided by the superego, conscience.

The material world is what is really real. In order to understand why the world is the way it is, one has to understand the web of causation. What is happening in the world now is a product of what has come before, which is a product of what came before that, and so on. We are the product of a tragic and triumphant history. We are a product of the continuing process of evolution. We are the mass consciousness of the body-colony which acts as a singularity for the collective. We are a collective of living cells gathered together for better survival. We are alive. We are pure energy reacting in a void. This more probable scientific evidence, which is verifiable to anyone who puts in the time, has given humanity a new living narrative, and left us with a new identity. Modern Science has shown us the wonder and the absurdity of the material world, and now the most-probable-statement would be, "We are primates, who are evolving psycho-socially as well as physically, and just a part of a living planet, which is hurtling through an infinite void."

In a very short time, our ancestors went from a comfortable jungle existence to a vicious Savanna reality. After establishing dominance due to our brains and our tools, humans began to develop complex cultures, to civilizations, to pondering, to action, to identity crisis, to having to choose which reality to live and live it. Since our reality construction is no longer guided by chance, the entire species must consciously create a new reality soon based on our experiences to be more in tune with the scientific evidence. Once we have created our own reality, we will be a mature species, since it is the adults who must decide how to live their lives. The decision, itself, makes us an authentic, mature species, not just the ultrameme chosen.

Are we ready for the masses to govern themselves and for the whole world to take care of everyone and the environment? No. Humans have come a long way extremely quickly, but we are not yet ready to be a fully mature species. The era of adolescent bickering and waste is far from over, and the near future does not look hopeful: pollution will continue unabated, the environment will continue to be devastated, disparity will increase, and human society will continue to unravel until the world has sunk into the chaos of despair, disease, famine and war. It is unfortunate that humans seem to learn only from debacles, and it is a shame that peace, cooperation, and harmony must be imposed over war, greed, and perfidiousness. Grow Up!

There may come the day when the Confederation of Terra may be imposed on the world. The dilemma is how to impose it without being totalitarian. You cannot, all cultural realities are totalitarian for that is their nature. No euphemism will cover it up; even freedom must be imposed. Rather than using war, forced conversion, or economic pressure, Kung fu-tsu used the Art of Peace to impose his alternative reality, or change through a high culture. In other words, it becomes something others want to join. The Terran Art of Peace utilizes the Confucian well-rounded education, the Five Virtues, the Ideal Human, and good leadership, as well as adding democracy and socialism, because a totalitarianism of equality and camaraderie is an honorable and pleasant totalitarianism for all of us involved in this madness.

Eventually, we will become a mature species with an ennobling and life-enhancing global ultraparadigm. The alternative ultrameme offered here, the Humans of Terra, is one vision of what that future could be like, although many details have been purposely omitted to encourage diversity and initiative, so the outcome may differ from this one. For those who want to see the Humans of Terra become the global cultural reality, there is much to do. Since the entire hermeneutic circle is a product of human minds, we can start changing the world, simply, by changing our perspective. Project Terra is in progress.