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The Cognitive Cradle —- Training Terrain for a Collective Brain

The cyclic flow of calcium at different scales and in both biotic and abiotic matters proves that the Earth is a dynamic, extensively-related, unpredictable system. However, to better control the earth, we civilized humans attempt to use the dichotomy to construct a static pyramid of hierarchy, which is destroying the earth at an accelerating pace. Inspired by Ongees’ Dream-sharing events, I propose an annual event of one-week dream-sharing along with a giant tensile structure suspended in Tompkins Quarry. During the day, 10,000 people walk and climb through the huge quarry, looking for clues of connections among different spheres. At night, they would share and discuss the day’s discoveries and the previous night’s dreams and then go to sleep together. Based on the cognitive map theory in neuroscience, the whole event, which acts as a collective brain, can help people from all over the world harmonize their experiences from different cultures and build a more coherent future. The shared dreams as shared cognitions can replace the dichotomous hierarchy and finally restart the dynamic system of the earth.