Spirituality, for many, seems ti ve a sense of connection to a much greater whole, which can include an emotional experience of awe and reverence. However, for many others especially those who are inclined towards the pragmatic, there may be an increasing tension between their own values and spirituality.
Many conflicts may originate due to intolerance and a lack of commitment to a peaceful resolution of differences, leading some to believe that dialogue can only be brought about by restoring public faith in the spiritual, or at least in the immense potential of values as a means for resolving differences.
Many people are starting to try and understand and thereby influence the evolution of spirituality. One conscious effort to act on this has been the creation of 31 December each year as World Spirituality Day.
Spirituality is of course, an ancient value, and previous attempts to make the whole of society more spiritually aware have occurred, for example, during both the Renaissance and even long before that, during the the so-called "Axial Age".
At TED, psychologist Jonathan Haidt asked a simple, but difficult question: why do we search for self-transcendence? Why do we attempt to lose ourselves? In a tour through the science of evolution by group selection, he proposed a provocative answer.
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