Barbara Marx Hubbard has dedicated her life to the exploration of a uniquely inspired school of evolutionary thinking called Conscious Evolution. Based on the idea that evolution itself is evolving—from unconscious matter to conscious life and beyond—this particularly compelling theory traces the deepest currents of evolution from the past to the present, and then seeks to chart its course from the present to the near—and not-so-near—future. In Hubbard's words, “evolution is the force of consciousness revealed in nature, and by turn, in human nature. Now human nature—newly aware of evolution itself—is becoming conscious that it is participating in evolution for the very first time.” It is this nascent potential—and looming necessity—for human beings to begin consciously engaging with and even directing the very processes of evolution itself, that forms the core of Hubbard's message and mission.

In this engrossing discussion with WIE's Elizabeth Debold, Hubbard describes her inspirations and discoveries, nimbly stepping from personal intuitive understanding to established scientific exegesis and back again. Peppering her discourse with references to the people and ideas that have informed her life and work, from rocket scientist Verner von Braun to futurist-inventor Ray Kurzweil, the dialogue is a perfect introduction to one of today's cutting-edge and perhaps most inspiring, evolutionary theories.

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