Do we exist in an independent reality?

Question from the Internet:

“Do we live in an interdependent reality? Do our most important accomplishments require interdependency skills that exceed our present abilities?”

In our minds — according to our inherently egocentric, subjective consciousness, perception — we live in an independent reality, so much so, that we all feel ourselves in our own “self-made” Universe, where everything revolves around our own “self”.

Human history so far, everything we ever achieved individually or collectively has been based on the fiercely, proudly individualistic ego, we look at even history as a chain of unique, heroic, pioneering individual achievements, and modern society is also built on the exclusive success, progress, growth of the individual at the expense of others and Nature.

On the other hand, what we are slowly learning through the helplessly recurring vicious historic cycles, and through the perpetual crisis of our own collapsing human system is that in Nature’s fully integrated and interdependent system — we are also integral parts of — our individualism does not lead to success. It leads to failure and inevitable self-destruction, similar to how cancer works and unfolds in the biological body.

Thus our — collective — success and survival depend on acquiring completely new abilities. We need to learn how to build positive, sustainable, mutually responsible, and mutually complementing interconnections, cooperation, calculations for the sake of the whole system above egocentric, subjective calculation — above and against our inherent nature.

The unique evolutionary feat single-cell organisms achieved when they combined to multi-cellular organisms 400–600 million years ago for the obvious evolutionary advantage, now humanity — a loose, constantly warring collection of egotistic. narcissistic individuals — have to repeat the same feat but in our case consciously, proactively, forcing Nature’s evolution to make us similar to its fully integrated, interdependent system.

We also have to do this in order to facilitate our continuing survival, but also for a qualitatively much higher, unprecedented, collective sense of existence.