How will the human being overcome its shadow? Perhaps by fleeing it? Perhaps by fighting it incoherently? If the engine of history is the rebellion against death, rebel now against frustration and vengeance. (Silo 1981)

Presentation by Fulvio De Vita at Third International Symposium Big History and Global Evolution at Lomonosov State University of Moscow In the last portion of this Big History that involves us so closely, there appears a fundamental component: human consciousness (1). Capable of reflecting on itself, it continually expands its spatial and temporal horizons, creates the world every second, and rebels against the determinisms of “nature”. It seems to be the most advanced expression of the global process, at this point in evolution and on this planet. We intend to focus on this manifestation –consciousness–, trace some of its major evolutionary steps, describe as far as possible what it is going through now, and envisage its future possibilities, which are likely to bloom at the moment of the new evolutionary leap which lies before us. 1 By consciousness we mean that which coordinates and gives a structure to the activity of the psyche, from senses to memory.