The future of the world is in good hands: Yours.

Are you having a hard time feeling hopeful about the future of humanity?

Do you dream of a better world?

You have as much power as any other human being to make that dream a reality. And when you work towards it, the will of the entire world is with you – and therefore, nothing can stand for long against you.

The goal of the Worldwill philosophy is to maximize human flourishing – to work toward an optimal state where all human beings can meet their basic needs and enjoy a happy and fulfilling life. And we believe that this state is not some unattainable ideal, but the natural state of the world.

A better world is not only possible, it is certain.

Worldwill is not based on any religion, nor is it meant to take the place of any. Whether you believe that we are all beloved children of the same divine Creator, or that we are all descendants of the same primate ancestor, you can agree that we are all part of the same human family. And therefore, every one of us has as much right as every other to live in peace and freedom.

The core of Worldwill is a simple logical syllogism:

• The future of the world is determined by the collective will of all human beings.
• The will of all human beings is to meet their basic needs.
• Therefore, the collective will of all human beings naturally seeks an equilibrium where everyone’s basic needs are met.

These three statements are the foundation of the Eight Core Principles.

1. The Principle of the Will:

The future of the world is determined by the collective will of human beings.

Homo sapiens is the dominant species on this planet, and we got where we are by virtue of our ability to live, work, imagine and create together. Undeniably, some of us are capable of terrible acts of cruelty and destruction. But if selfishness and violence, or even indifference, were our basic nature, we could not have built the world we have. We discovered, millennia ago, that we can get what we need to survive and thrive through cooperation much better than through competition.

2. The Principle of Basic Needs:

The will of all human beings is to meet their basic needs.

Everyone has different wishes and goals in life, but all human beings have the same basic needs. Roughly in the order they need to be met, these are:

• Life, and the means to sustain life (water, food, warmth, and shelter).
• Safety from all harm.
• Health, physical and mental.
• Love, in all its forms.
• Respect, being treated with dignity and appreciation.
• Freedom to determine the course of your own life.
• Enjoyment of the things that bring you happiness.
• Fulfillment, the sense of having a purpose in life and accomplishing it.

So, if the future of the world is determined by the collective will of all human beings, and the will of all human beings is to meet their needs, the third principle naturally follows the first two:

3. The Principle of the Optimal State:

Therefore, the collective will of all human beings – the Will of the World, or simply “the Will” – naturally seeks an equilibrium where everyone’s needs are met.

This equilibrium is what we mean when we use the word “peace.” Not just a “negative peace,” meaning the absence of violence and oppression, but a “positive peace,” the presence of everything that helps human beings survive and flourish.

Any action that helps bring the world closer to the optimal state is in harmony with the Will – in a word, harmonious. Any action that moves the world further away from the optimal state is against the Will – in a word, discordant.

4. The Principle of Reciprocity:

The Golden Rule is a moral universal: “As you strive to meet your needs, help others meet theirs, and do not hinder them.”

This principle can also be expressed: “What you wish for yourself, do not deny to others. What you do not wish for yourself, do not inflict upon others.” This principle has parallels in all the world’s major religions, and also in the work of secular ethicists like Baruch Spinoza: “Those who are governed by reason desire nothing for themselves which they do not also desire for the rest of humankind.”

However, you don’t have to subscribe to any religion or moral philosophy to understand this principle. You don’t have to be old enough to know what those are. Babies, before their first birthday, are naturally more drawn to someone who acts in a helpful way than someone who acts in a hurtful way.

You don’t even have to be human. Researchers who study our nearest primate relatives have discovered that they have a sense of empathy, fairness, reciprocity, and reconciliation. All the evidence suggests that these “four pillars” of morality are innate. We understand them from the moment we’re born.

Why, then, do we so often find it difficult to put them into practice?

5: The Principle of the Universal Mind:

We naturally follow the Principle of Reciprocity among family and friends. Our task is to apply it equally to all human beings – to move beyond a tribal mind to a universal mind.

Humans, like other animals, are naturally more willing to invest energy and resources into nourishing and protecting those who are related to us than those who aren’t. We feel more comfortable around those who are similar to us, and wary of those who are different.

Comparatively recently, in relation to the entire time Homo sapiens have existed, we went from living in small bands or tribes connected by kinship, to larger units like chiefdoms, city-states, and nations. Our innate moral sense was too slow to adapt to this new environment, so we needed a reason to live and work with others who were no relation without fighting among ourselves. Our legal codes, moral philosophies, and the creeds of the world’s major religions were created to help us move from a tribal mind to a universal mind.

Whenever we encounter another human being, our task is to relate to that person as one member of the human family to another, and not to let our judgment be clouded by any prior ideas about any groups that person may belong to. All that need concern us is the present heart of the present person.

6. The Great Error:

Most of the discordance in the world comes from the belief that “my needs can only be met at the expense of yours.”

If humanity has an “original sin,” it can be expressed in three words: “Us against them.”

It is no exaggeration to say that most of the harm done by one human, or group of humans, to another throughout history has resulted from seeing all of life as a zero-sum game: “More for you, or your group, must always mean less for me, or my group.”

In truth, there is no reason why the basic needs of everyone in the world cannot be met. Of the eight basic needs, only the first three – survival, safety, and health – require any kind of material resources, like food, water, and medicine. And those resources exist. The question is not whether the world can produce enough of them, but how to make sure they are available to everyone who needs them.

As for the rest – love, respect, freedom, enjoyment, and fulfillment – they are intangible, and therefore inexhaustible. Not only is there no scarcity of them, they naturally increase. Loving and caring people increase the amount of love in the world. Happy people increase the amount of happiness in the world. Over the past three decades in particular, psychology and medicine have given us abundant evidence to confirm what our religious and philosophical traditions have been telling us over the past three millennia: Those who are kind to others benefit themselves, and those who are cruel to others harm themselves.

7. The Principle of Least Loss:

Conflicts of needs should be resolved with the least possible loss for all concerned.

Conflicts of needs will inevitably arise. If needs have to be prioritized, the more fundamental ones – life above all, then safety, then health, and so on – take precedence over the higher-order ones. After that, those of the more take precedence over those of the fewer, and preventing a certain loss takes precedence over preventing a possible one.

8. The Principle of Sustainability:

That which is in harmony with the Will can be sustained indefinitely, but nothing against the Will can last.

History offers countless examples of oppressive rulers and unjust social systems that temporarily imposed their will over the Will of the World. But this situation can never last. The will of people working to meet their needs will always be stronger than the will of those working to deny the needs of others. Any government or social system that meets the needs of some, while systematically denying those of others, will inevitably fail. The Will always finds a way.

When a social system is harmonious, people will naturally cooperate with it. When it is discordant, it needs to impose itself by force, at a tremendous cost.

A harmonious system need never fear the truth. A discordant system must always conceal or twist the truth.

A harmonious system sustains itself. A discordant system, when force can no longer be maintained and the truth can no longer be concealed, will invariably collapse.

What, then, does it mean to live a harmonious life?

When you live in harmony with the Will of the World,
your good will knows no boundaries.

You care for your family,
and for the human family.

You are a good citizen of your country,
and of the world.

As you strive to meet your needs,
you help others meet theirs
and do not hinder them.

What you wish for yourself,
you wish also for others.
Thus, you freely pursue your own happiness
and naturally increase the happiness of others.

You relate to everyone you meet
as a fellow member of the human family.

You do not let your judgment be clouded
by preconceived images of a certain group,
but you concern yourself only
with the present heart
of the present person.

You may be a practitioner
of any faith tradition or none,
but you approach the Great Mystery
with deep humility,
mindful that the universe is far greater
than our power to comprehend.

And because you work with the Will,
the Will works with you.