So if I may seem so bold as to condense. To be metaphysical you, neither believe in a creator god nor do you believe in a soul. This may seem indivisible but many Hindu believe in a soul that reincarnates but do not believe in a creator god. Some are panentheistic and believe that all life is one big soul that has variable penitrance into the physical realm.
You have atheistic beliefs, but contend that ones actions have lasting effects. you believe
But do these effects fade with time, or is there a true "butterfly" effect. Do we produce just ripples in the stream or do we alter its course?
It depends. One has to recognize that humanity is not necessarily one, but is a collective. If a large enough portion of the collective wishes to uphold the past momentum established by one or a few individuals, then yes, an individual's actions can have lasting effects. If the collective wishes to step aside and ignore the actions of one or many, then the effects will fade.
We are an animal. We are driven entirely by chemical activity in the nervous system. We have complicated that a bit with self-awareness, however that ended up coming to be a reality... but the important part is, imho, we have no limit in terms of progress. Our thoughts cannot merge, but many minds can be put to the same task, which in situations can be like a super computer in that multiple units are working on the same problem. There will be deviations, there will be similar results, and as long as the individuals continue to contribute their input so that others can build off what they have thought up in their mind, the entire collective remains capable of learning more and more. One of the first problem-solving issues we arrived at, was how to teach our young when our species was ancient. As time passed on, language came to be, with it came complex thoughts. Etc etc etc.
My point? :hmm:
Our individuals actions can have insanely lasting effects, it all depends on the weight of the actions and how they are perceived by others. Look at education... advanced education is essentially summing up thousands of years worth of musings and creative work on the part of others. Not every little bit gets attributed to the person who contributed, but what they did helped lead the way. Chaos theory, applied in the more simple, local concept of the butterfly effect, can definitely be seen with humans. If one person didn't think of something, others might not have ever had the chance to ponder it and add their own thoughts to the mix. Now, it must also be said that no human is unique in their personality or behavior. We can be made into something a little more unique through environmental contributions (family, schools, social circles, personal experiences, etc) but ultimately the brain structure, chemical activity, and the genetics that led to that, set in place the base personality of an individual.
Anyhow... that means that while 1 person someone started a chain reaction of work on a specific topic, it cannot be argued that nobody would have never thought of the same first thing somewhere else. Now, how long after? Who knows. And the people who would have come across that different person's musings? Unknown. Various concepts and theories could end up looking quite different even when the same original idea was exactly the same, or many years later, the end result could be the exact same. We are predictable and yet greatly unpredictable, because society and who is privy to know about an individual's actions can greatly change the events that will follow. The immediately following effects could be different, and still wind up at the same place.
Take the concept of "history repeats itself." It truly does. We can take certain actions, and the immediately following events can be "unique", yet as time passes, and more actors contribute their own actions, the effects quite often start resembling the effects of something long ago. We see it all the time, on the small scale, or on the global scale. By we, I'd have to argue that depends on who is looking. Not everyone will see the same details, and some people would argue every single event that has ever happened in unique. I argue the opposite, but that's how I perceive the world.
Global consciousness? I don't believe in such a thing. That is not to say we have not behaved in such a way that such a thing could never be perceived, but in a wholly physical sense, I don't think it exists. But our thoughts and actions, if we choose to make them known, can over time spread through the minds of anyone who cares to learn of them. Will anything happen as a result? Maybe, maybe not.
Our progress as a species, and by progress I mean our unification, our technological, medical, and scientific advancements, and our push into territory we've never known (and the effects on society may be completely new as well), is rooted in individuals. Some person who may be a genius in 20 years, may be at a crossroads right now that on one end may result in never achieving that genius status. We can never know for sure what any individual is ultimately capable of, because individual choices and environmental impacts can create vastly different outcomes, at every moment in life. One person's choice 5 years ago could lead to progressively different choices later if they had made a different choice. Or it may not. Each choice will also carry different weight, but it can also be hard to attribute and classify every moment.
One person's success may even depend upon an individual making certain choices, and these two people may never meet.
Isn't that a fun thought?