Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research have become, if not a new normal, a significant part of the academic landscape in recent decades. But have these trends gone far enough? Are they studying what needs to be studied in ways that need to be studied to pave the way for the new normal ways of living beyond the COVID-19 pandemic? This short paper invites an even more fundamental step-back into the nature of humankind's evolving awareness and offers suggestions for enabling research that engages more deeply and impacts more relevantly.