Letter 1: Dear Future Human

Dear Future Human,

This is Ronit Herzfeld, a 69-year-old woman, writing to you from the planet Earth. It is the year 2025.

I have no way of knowing if or when you will receive this letter. But it is my hope that when and if you read it, you will ultimately find its contents unnecessary.

That may seem like a strange statement, given the effort I have taken to write to you. Yet, it is my deepest prayer—for you, for our species, and for all sentient beings on this beautiful planet—that you have successfully transcended the divisive, chaotic period in which I lived. It is my deepest wish that by the time you receive this letter, my perspective is no longer needed.

But I hold that possibility with less certainty than the likelihood that we have brought upon ourselves a great calamity—a collapse that has left future generations to recover from the wreckage.¹ If, in fact, you do find this message on the far side of some Great Collapse, you may very well need to understand how we arrived there—and what you must do in the future to forge a different path than we did.

I am not a pessimist, and I pray that the faithless part of my heart is wrong about what awaits us in the near future, and where we may be heading. But I cannot ignore the fact that today’s world increasingly feels completely out of control—fragmentation, fear, and confusion dominate the landscape. That has not stopped me, however, from dedicating nearly every moment of my life to helping individuals transcend the divisive and chaotic forces in their own lives. It is precisely because I know what we are capable of—outrageous creativity, compassion, building caring community and making sacrifices for the greater good—that I have devoted my life to exposing our collective blind spots and sounding the alarm for anyone willing to listen.

Yet, the challenges confronting us—environmental degradation, economic inequalities, wars, tribalism, depression—are too vast, too complex, and too deeply interconnected to be solved through the siloed methods and mindsets we currently employ.² But our most daunting challenge right now is not the external problems we face. It is the internal barriers—the perceptual, emotional and cognitive limitations that keep us locked into outdated ways of being.³ If humanity is to have any real chance at contending with these external threats, I believe, the intervention must occur not merely in our external environment, but primarily in our internal one: the way we perceive, think, and relate.

The level of resistance I’ve encountered has led me to conclude that, at this stage in our evolution, this is not simply a product of bad policies, bad luck, or bad actors, but rather stems from the ways our brains and psyches have historically adapted to our environments. Understanding these internal barriers requires recognizing that our brains evolved to navigate far simpler worlds than the one we face today. Adaptations that once served our survival now hinder our ability to work together, innovate effectively, or envision sustainable futures. We are simply not equipped to perceive the threat we face. Our perspectives are too limited—too distorted—to fully grasp what is unfolding. If we cannot perceive the real and urgent danger ahead, how can we possibly hope to respond to it, care for what is at risk and address the necessary adjustments?

The answer is: We can’t. Tragically, most of us are sleepwalking through our lives, unaware of how our actions affect our lives, our surroundings, and everyone in our orbit. Lost in our individual and collective stories, denials, and projections, the world becomes increasingly nightmarish. Humanity is standing at the edge of a cliff, unable to determine whether the ground before us is solid or merely an illusion, even though a single step in either direction might mean the difference between life or death.⁴

That is, unfortunately, the deadly reality for the humans of my time—not because we are unintelligent or indifferent, but because the human brain, magnificent and complex as it is, remains wired for survival in a past time. We have necessarily devoted ourselves to learning, discovering, and reshaping our external physical environment in the service of the survival of our species. Meanwhile, our understanding of the interior world—our innate drives, the nature of our mind, and our need for shared values—has been mostly ignored. Now, we must urgently shift some of our focus and resources toward evolving our inner world before it’s too late.

On one level, we “know” something is off with the way our world is unfolding. The media of my time is full of articles, podcasts, and think-pieces that discuss various aspects of this issue. And yet we don’t seem to understand—to fully comprehend—the implications for our future and the future lives of all species on the planet.

What we often fail to recognize is that both the brain’s evolutionary design and its development from birth to adulthood limit our ability to perceive and respond to the world in a healthy, adaptive way. As a result, we tend to react quickly rather than respond thoughtfully, we focus on short-term outcomes, and default to ego-centric and tribal thinking—precisely when our circumstances call for long-term, collaborative, and strategic responses.⁵ Consequently, we tend to make emotionally reactive, quick fix, and tribalistic decisions when our world desperately requires long-term, cooperative, and strategic thinking.

Additionally, because we are wired to perceive ourselves as all-knowing—believing we can comprehend and predict what is best in any environment—we are often blinded to our own underlying motivations and the consequences of our actions. This blind spot has led us directly into our current predicament—unable to prevent the looming calamity. While we can intellectually discuss the dangers we face as a species—climate change, nuclear war, environmental degradation—the full implication of these words fail to trigger the fight-or-flight response in our bodies because we do not experience an immediate, visceral threat. In other words, we struggle to prevent potential catastrophes because we do not feel their urgency in the way we would if confronted by an attacking animal or seeing an oncoming car. Limited in our ability to viscerally embody future risks, we focus predominantly on immediate, daily needs and concerns, neglecting preventative action until it is too late.

So what, if anything, could we have done to protect ourselves? If we can’t see or feel the threat, how could we begin to address it?

For decades, I have attempted to uncover the underlying causes of our individual and collective destructive behaviors. Often, I have felt like an alien, marooned in a strange world where people have fallen victim to the same illusion: rationalizing their destructive thinking and behaviors even as they are clearly hurting themselves and each other. Time and again, I’ve been driven to explore the root of our apparent insanity. Time and again, I’ve tried to raise the alarm. Time and again, I have hit a wall.

And each time led me to learning something new about our nature, deepening my understanding and expanding my perspective on what it means to be human. After years of relentless inquiry—both theoretical and clinical—I have arrived at a somewhat comprehensive and coherent framework—one that may help you better understand the complex challenges we faced, and that you may still be facing.

This framework also pointed me toward an idea for a possible experiment—one that I believe is worth pursuing. Since the root of the problem lies in the way our brains are designed—specifically, that a great deal of our brain’s architecture becomes hardwired to our early childhood environments⁶ — we inevitably struggle to adapt to the complex environments in and demands of adult life and the rapidly changing modern world. We need to create environments and reinforcers that would stimulate new neural growth, encourage adaptive learning, and strengthen the pathways needed for complex, long-term thinking, emotional regulation, and deeper social connection. You may think this an outrageous idea, particularly since evolution unfolds over millennia. While that is true, given the recent scientific advancements, particularly of the brain’s capacity for neuroplasticity and AI, we are in strong position to explore ways to make this possibility a reality. I fail to see that we have another choice.

At this juncture, we are not merely facing a political, technological, or environmental crisis, but a crisis of imagination and integration.

History has proven that in other contexts, when humanity is faced with imminent danger or a formidable challenge, we are capable of extraordinary breakthroughs. When nuclear power threatened to reshape warfare in the1930’s, the Manhattan Project mobilized the brightest minds to master atomic energy before it could be misused. When scientists discovered that CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) were destroying the ozone layer, the Montreal Protocol was signed by 197 countries, successfully phasing out ozone-depleting substances.⁷ When we needed to decode the very essence of life, the Human Genome Project mapped our genetic blueprint.⁸

Now, we need to mobilize for a far more urgent project: to create a blueprint for an entirely different future by clearing and expanding our lens of perception in the present. Clearing our lens of perception means learning to see the world, ourselves, and each other with greater clarity, free from the distortions of fear, bias, old habits, and outdated assumptions that we unconsciously inherited. If we cannot see reality more clearly, we cannot respond to it wisely. We will continue to recreate the same cycles of conflict, short-term thinking, and self-destruction that have plagued humanity for generations. Expanding our perception means developing the capacity to hold multiple perspectives, to recognize our interconnectedness, and to imagine new possibilities beyond the rigid either/or choices of the past.

Without this inner shift, no amount of external innovation—whether technological, political, or social—will be enough to solve the crises we face. True change must begin at the level of how we perceive and engage with the world. Only by upgrading our collective perception can we build a future that is wiser, more compassionate, and sustainable for all.⁹

Over the past two decades, neuroscientists and cognitive psychologists have uncovered crucial insights into the brain’s neuroplasticity and its shaping factors; we now have enough knowledge and tools to begin exploring this possibility.¹⁰ Armed with some of their knowledge, I have spent the past decade striving to bring together some of the world’s leading thinkers around this vision. I have travelled the world and met with scientists, philosophers, social psychologists, historians, tech innovators, people in the arts, religious and spiritual teachers. My proposal was simple: assemble an interdisciplinary group to actively explore how we could accelerate human growth and adaptation, enabling our minds and behaviors to evolve in step with the demands of a rapidly changing world. This offers an opportunity to shift our trajectory and intentionally harness our latest breakthroughs to shape a different future.

Most people responded with genuine interest but were not moved to mobilize their resources around this venture. They weren’t ready for the shift in mindset it required.

Perhaps, by the time this letter reaches you, my idea for such a project will no longer sound outlandish. Perhaps, by then, humans will have united at some point in your past to intentionally evolve their minds, expand their perceptual capacities, and transform their social and economic structures accordingly. But if not—if we failed to organize ourselves in time to avert disaster—then perhaps these letters will serve as an important resource. My intention is to remind you of where you came from so that you will have a sense of where you are going.

I hope, so much, that it is somewhere good. Somewhere cooperative, and harmonious, and connected.

Somewhere very different from the time I live in now.

There is much more I wish to say to you. For now, I hope that no matter where or when you are reading this, you take this letter as a reminder that you are cared for. One of the greatest delusions of my historical time is the belief that each one of us is alone. If I could puncture just one part of our delusion, it would be that. (I will explore this issue in greater detail in future letters.) I hope by the time you read this, Dear Future Human, you will recognize this for the insanity that it is. I hope that it will not seem strange to you to accept that you and I are connected even if we have never met.

After all, we are all connected—you, me, those who came before and those who will follow. We are all part of this magnificent ever evolving thread of life seeking itself, partaking in this wondrous process of creation.

So remember, Dear Future Human, that you are never alone.

And I hope, even if this letter does not serve you, or cannot help you, it will at least remind you: you are loved.

-Ronit

1. International Scholars, Warning on Societal Disruption & Collapse, Facing Future, December 2020.

2. Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Covid-19, Climate Change, Armed Conflicts – World’s Crises Can Lead to Interconnected Polycrisis, January 2024.

3. Heather Berlin, Can You Trust Your Own Brain?, Big Think, 2023.

4. Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, Stepping Into the Liminal, Emergence Magazine, September 2023.

5. Andrew Huberman, This is Why You Feel Triggered All the Time, RESPIRE, April 2023.

6. Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, Experience Builds Brain Architecture, September 2011.

7. Historica Canada, The Montreal Protocol, April 2025.

8. Wellcome Sanger Institute, The Human Genome Project – A New Era of Scientific Progress, February 2025.

9. Inner Development Goals Team, Inner Development Goals Film, September 2021.

10. Debbie Hampton, The 10 Fundamentals of Rewiring Your Brain, HuffPost, June 2016.