Harnessing Evolution’s Gift of Borderless Wonder to Open New Economic Frontiers for Global Sustainability

Abstract

Evolution transcends the natural world, oblivious to political borders. It is at the transnational scale of Earth’s evolutionary heritage where transformative scientific discoveries await. These discoveries’ potential to bolster environmental health and resilience by unmasking the most consequential evolutionary trajectories is increasingly coming to light. However, overlooked is a borderless mega-reserve of wonder unearthed along these trajectories and begging to be recognized and harnessed as an unmatched resource for charting a global pathway into a sustainable future. The article backs this assertion with a business model designed to engender a new-generation world travel industry that opens transnational frontiers for the confluence of science-, art-, and faith-based appreciation and guardianship of nature. This model reinforces with economic energy the inspiration it has drawn from Francisco J. Ayala’s engagement of art to bridge evolution, creativity, and the future of humanity, and from his treatment of science and religion as complementary windows into human understanding of the world.