You’re a radical progressivist, banking on the 11th hour salvation of our ingenuity!

Patron Saint: Ray Kurzweil
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The Good News: You are optimistic and action-oriented. We definitely need your enthusiasm and inventiveness on the road ahead.

The Bad News: You can sometimes get swept up in the Myth of Progress and the Cult of Disruption, ignoring or downplaying unintended consequences of neo-liberalism and free markets. And you know, sometimes those solutions to “wicked problems” that actually make things worse in ways you never intended? That’s a thing too (see geoengineering).

Solution: Buckminster Fuller might have said it best when he described a future that works “for 100% of humanity, in the shortest possible time, through spontaneous cooperation, without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone.” That sounds like a pretty good Up to shoot for. The time for “moving fast and breaking things” maybe over––but let’s move smoothly and try to build things that don’t break, eh?

Scroll down to the end to see how your Rapture Trap compares to the other 3 most common stories.

Critical Debrief:

‍Now that you’ve identified your own #1 Rapture Trap, it’s time to peel back the onion and see what’s underneath that story that makes it so sticky... 
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Professor John Gray at the London School of Economics has uncovered a fascinating pattern underneath all End of Times philosophies that unite everything from Old Testament prophecies, to online conspiracies to cryptocurrencies. 
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He also points out the fatal flaw that if left unchecked can turn a well-meaning ideal into destructive fanaticism. (that’s what you’ve really got to watch out for with your Rapture Trap)
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That pattern is as follows:
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– There was a time before the Fall where humanity lived in harmony
– There was a fall which removed us from that state of Grace
– To return to Grace, we will have to go through a trial or transformation
– On the other side of that trial everyone who has been faithful to the movement will be rewarded in a Heaven on Earth (or off it)
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This pattern began with Judeo Christian End Times philosophies but has become so pervasive that even “god-less” versions like Communism follow the same format!
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But the fatal flaw is that, regardless of which Rapture Ideologies we are drawn to, a) if the Ends are literally heaven on earth (or off it) then the Means are always justified, and b) a solution that only works for 1% of humanity (no matter how you count them)  ends up being sociopathic for the remaining 99%.
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Once you see this four stage framework you can spot it in your Rapture Trap, but also in all the others!
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We’re not likely to get a neat and tidy Singularity--sacred or secular. Instead, it’s gonna look and feel a lot more like The Intertwingularity–a giant muddy Meme Soup, unmoored from any kind of narrative continuity whatsoever. We might even look at the same things, agree that what we’re looking at is both real and important, but come to completely opposite conclusions about what it means and what we should all do next. 
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Whether it’s billionaire philanthropists saving the world or secretly scheming to take it over, or Deep State conspiracies plotting to hijack democracy or preserve it, or Antichrists masquerading as messiahs— it’s getting nearly impossible to sort through it all and come to trustworthy conclusions.
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As the Intertwingularity sucks us down the drainpipe of time and space, it’s not likely to play out exactly like anyone’s stories predict. It’s entirely possible that the Great Sorting Hat at the End of Time won’t give a damn which side we thought we were on—Rebel or Stormtrooper, Red Pill or Blue—but only on our intentions. Which flag we flew, which uniform we wore will yield to something much simpler. Were we coming from fear or love? Were we standing for all of us or only some of us? 
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So think about dodging your Rapture Trap and coming on over and playing for Team Human! That means growing beyond your tribal allegiances (your church, political party, online friends, or cultural class) and stepping up for humanity.  
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All of us, or none of us. This planet (no pissing off to Mars), these bodies (no computer uploads to the Singularity), these lifetimes (no life extension for a fortunate few).
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In defense of the Good, the True and the Beautiful. 
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Doesn’t that sound like a whole lot more fun (and a good bit more noble) than turning our backs on our collective challenges to grab one of the last lifeboats for ourselves?
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And if you’re interested in the bigger conversation underneath this little quiz, including the toolkits for building ethical culture that has a chance of making it through these crazy times (plus a bunch of neuroscience, optimal psychology, and wild-ass stories from NYC firefighters and vampires, magic carpet flying Tibetan princesses, hashish smoking Persian warlords, Meme Jesus, Benedictine monks on Ecstasy and a cast of characters that will blow your mind...check out: Recapture the Rapture: Rethinking God, Sex, and Death in a World That’s Lost Its Mind.
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But bewarned: there’s no free lunches, and once we’ve woken up and grown up, we all have to show up.
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This book is a user manual for how to do exactly that.
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It’s the End of the World (and you know it) but we’ll be fine!