Transformation and Inflection Points

Transformation and Spirituality

Jonas Salk, the medical pioneer who developed the vaccine for polio went on to undertake significant research into the cycle of existence for various species. In his work he concluded that there were three very distinct patterns to the lifecycle of any species.  In brief they were:

•             Following long and stable growth, the rate of growth suddenly spurts upward, after which the species ceases to exist;

•             Growth accelerates, then rapidly declines, then accelerates, then declines again, fluctuating throughout its entire existence;

•             A long period of steady growth is maintained, then spikes upward and then hits a plateau on which it maintains itself from then on (this is the normal pattern for species which survive).

In the third type of transformation, the species reaches a “point of inflection” which divides the entire mode of the species’ existence into two distinct epochs. At the point of inflection, a transformation is triggered in the existence of a species which creates the conditions conducive to the long term survival of the species. Salk concluded that the human species was entering the point of inflection and that there would have to be a significant shift in human values and modes of survival if the species was to continue to survive. Critical to this period was that Salk concluded that as a result of our work on genetics and other related fields we have reached a point where we can affect the genetic outcome, and closely aligned to this that we had reached a point where we could, through the application of human will, affect the outcome of our own evolution.