Humanity’s Indomitable Drive For Change

This article argues that true revolutions do not emerge spontaneously from “subterranean depths” but begin as powerful visionary ideas that transform thinking and impel action. The work centers on Abraham Maslow’s December 8, 1941 “Peace Table” vision—experienced the day after Pearl Harbor—where he conceived a psychology devoted to human potential and the creation of Eupsychia (the Good Society). Drawing on Maslow’s account of an earlier transformative “peak-experience” involving William Graham Sumner’s Folkways and the sacred vow it inspired, the article situates Maslow’s mission alongside comparable grand visionary projects by Auguste Comte and Oscar Ichazo. The piece assesses the mixed legacy of Humanistic Psychology: while Maslow and his colleagues failed to change societal direction, they succeeded in establishing the three-pillar theoretical foundation (Humanistic, Transpersonal, and Eupsychian Psychologies) necessary for a “Psychology of the Peace Table.” The article then provides a sociological autopsy of the movement’s “murder” and stagnation, identifying four factors: corporate media censorship, irrational academic resistance to mystical/transpersonal openness, systematic defunding and marginalization, and—critically—the lack of advanced Knowledge Technology. Maslow’s theoretical development was constrained by primitive typewriters, expensive long-distance communication, and print media that ossified ideas and buried revisions in esoteric journals. The article concludes with cautious optimism: facing contemporary polycrisis, humanity now possesses the administrative, technological, and knowledge-processing capacity (digital platforms, AI, global connectivity) that Maslow lacked, suggesting the window for realizing Eupsychia remains open.

“Humanity’s Indomitable Drive for Change” (2026)

• Challenges the romantic notion that revolutions emerge from “subterranean depths”, arguing instead that transformative change begins with powerful visionary ideas that redirect intellectual life and impel action
• Reconstructs Abraham Maslow’s December 8, 1941 “Peace Table” vision and his earlier transformative vow (inspired by a peak-experience reading William Graham Sumner’s Folkways) to develop a holistic, humanistic Weltanschauung capable of building Eupsychia
• Situates Maslow’s mission within a broader tradition of grand visionary social theory, comparing his project to Auguste Comte’s “positive philosophy” and Oscar Ichazo’s “Challenge to Change”
• Identifies the three-pillar foundation of Maslow’s theoretical architecture: Humanistic Psychology, Transpersonal Psychology, and Eupsychian Psychology
• Provides a sociological autopsy of the movement’s failure: corporate media censorship, pathological academic resistance to mystical experience, systematic defunding and “murder” (per Elkins), and internal theoretical limitations
• Analyzes the role of Knowledge Technology in social theory formation, demonstrating how primitive typewriters, print media ossification, and pre-digital communication constraints crippled Maslow’s ability to refine and disseminate his evolving ideas
• Argues that while Maslow’s generation lacked the tools to realize their vision, contemporary polycrisis coincides with unprecedented technological capacity (word processing, global connectivity, AI) to finally construct the Peace Table and manifest Eupsychian society
• Concludes with strategic hope: the vow remains fulfillable because we now possess the Knowledge Technology and global administrative capacity that the 1960s lacked

Recommended citation: Sosteric, Mike. (2026). "https://medium.com/the-peace-table/humanitys-indomitable-drive-for-change-e1c5bde7302b."
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