Recently, the CBS news program 60 Minutes did a piece on nuclear fusion. I learned a lot, as they explained it in a way that allowed someone who knows little about physics to understand it.
Here is the bottom line: While fission supplies a phenomenal amount of energy by splitting atoms apart, fusion supplies nearly limitless energy by bringing atoms together. Surely there is a lesson for us here. Regular readers of this blog, or those who have read A Little Book to Save Humanity, probably know where this is going.
Fission: Nuclear weapons use fission. Fission is also the process nuclear energy power plants use to make electricity that can be supplied to our homes, contributing to protecting our climate from the problems that fossil fuels create. Nuclear medicine is another area in which fission makes important contributions.
But fission is a mixed blessing. Let me count the ways:
- Nuclear weapons give us the power to destroy humanity in the blink of an eye.
- Nuclear waste has to be buried deep, for hundreds of thousands of years or more, to keep it out of the environment. And accidents can happen.
- War, earthquakes, and accidents can impact nuclear power plants, creating danger, in unpredictable ways.
Fusion: Those who research fusion, bringing atoms together, report that it can potentially provide cheap, 
almost limitless energy, while producing waste that is, by comparison, far less hazardous and easier to manage. Imagine the possibilities inherent in having abundant energy that is safe for the environment. Quality of human life would take a huge step forward.
The downside of fusion is that we haven’t entirely figured out how to do it yet. It is really complicated to achieve fusion in a scalable way.
Now the Parallels to Human Nature: It took top scientists to figure out how to accomplish fission. But comparatively speaking, fission is primitive, and fusion is sophisticated. Likewise, it is much easier to tear human relationships apart (fission) than it is to build them by bringing people together (fusion). Human fission can be seen in war, riots, gossip, and name calling. These
destructive behaviors are driven by a primitive part of our brain called the amygdala. The amygdala early in human evolution, when threats to survival were constant. In modern times, while threats still exist, we are much safer. But the primitive amygdala hasn’t kept up. It sees many things as threats that actually are not threats. As a result, people often fight other people who could become wonderful allies, were we to engage in human fusion.
Just as there is dangerous waste with nuclear fission, there is terrible waste with human fission – lives and relationships that are destroyed or go unfulfilled. Serious problems that go unsolved, ignored or just get kicked down the road. Human fission produces the waste of human potential.
Like nuclear fusion, human fusion is more difficult. It requires that we make use of a far more sophisticated part of our brain, the prefrontal cortex, rather than fission’s primitive, impulsive amygdala. The prefrontal cortex combines critical thought and constructive emotion. It’s a bit slower than the amygdala, and takes more effort.
But the results are worth it. Human fusion produces lasting love, enduring respect, ongoing working relationships, and collaboration to solve problems that seem impossible, but turn out to be solvable.
Yes, it is difficult, sometimes even frightening, to find ways to overcome deep differences. But the benefits of the extra effort are worth it – nearly limitless in fact, and with much less waste:
- Love in a solid marriage brings real safety, not just for the couple but for their children.
- Win/win business negotiations benefit both parties, and mutual success leads to more business!
- When countries resolve their differences by coming together rather than by going to war, the lives of soldiers who otherwise may be slaughtered are saved, along with their productivity.
- Groups with different ideas can work together to solve the complex problems that we face, such as how best to educate children, how to ensure a comfortable and healthy environment, and how to create access to healthcare for everyone. No one group has all the answers to these hard problems. If there were such a group, these problems would already have been solved.
Science may not be quite ready to accomplish nuclear fusion in a safe, widely usable way. But we do know how to accomplish human fusion. We humans just need to do more of it. We can do so by training ourselves and others in the skills required to shift from using the amygdala to using the prefrontal cortex.
We already have the wherewithal. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) skills integrate our outstanding capacity for logical thought with our growing capacity for productive (intelligent) emotions. This is not pie in the sky thinking. Science has established, beyond all reasonable doubt, the benefits that EQ skills provide. And those benefits are within the grasp of all of us right now.
At some point, hopefully in the near future, educational institutions will include access to training in EQ skills for people of all ages. But until then, each of us has to find our own resources. One such resource is A Little Book to Save Humanity (https://theeqpress.com).
