"If we could agree, as a species, what we wanted, where we were headed, and why, then we would make our future much less dangerous - then we might understand what we can and should relinquish" - Bill Joy
This feels right - idealistic but not utopian, as we have to start somewhere, don't we? Halcyon will look at whether any surveys already exist that ask people around the world what their core values and hopes are, so that we can try and arrive at at least the most basic consensus.
Aren't we fed up with all this "we can't negotiate with them, they want to destroy our way of life..." partisan propaganda? Sadly, we all know the pockets of the world in which this might still be the case, but everyone with an open mind seems to report the same thing: for the vast majority, what unites us almost certainly massively outweighs what divides us. So, if no such survey exists, well then we may just need to launch one, partnering with others with greater knowledge as appropriate.