We point at three sources.

Antonio Damasio's Descartes' Error will point at a cognitive mechanism—why (contrary to what Descartes and others made us believe) our decisions are largely not conscious but pre-conscious.

Selected pieces from the works of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu will show why the issues of power, empowerment and disempowerment are already decided and inculcated in social relations, in subtle uses of language and in customs. The point will be that a lion share of what we must recognize as power issue is in our awareness of it.

In the third source, three other leading sociologists, Beck, Giddens and Lash, discuss 'reflexive modernization.' While our discussion is yet to be written, the main message is already in the title: 'reflexive modernization' means that the way we are evolving culturally, and in particular making key choices, is now becoming and has to become based on careful deliberation.

These three sources create a spotlight in the light of which we are seen as being in an especially demanding moment in our evolution: We need to become conscious in a new way. While the traditional culture of our parents required that we automatically comply, we now must learn to see and re-create our culture. The risks involved in not doing that cannot be overstated; and yet the benefits that might be reached by doing that might even be much larger (...).