Hi Ajay,
Re "how evolution i.e. nature's plan (as far as we know today) impacts steering" by living things:
Very good question. It is interesting that, seemingly, accepted ideas about "selection" in evolution are about to be overturned. See two reviews of "Mutation-Driven Evolution" by Masatoshi Nei :
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3814208/pdf/evt150.pdf and http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ede.12062/pdf .
Here's a quote from the second review:
"To suggest that selection "shapes" new genes out of the "raw material" provided by duplication mutations (e.g., Cotton 2008) - that is, selection shapes new genes out of the raw material of new genes - is an absurdity...Because we now know that the role of generative processes in evolution is not limited to supplying raw materials, we now know that evolutionary theory is incomplete without a theory of form and variation. Incorporating such a theory will require us to rethink how we invoke causation and explanation, and to reject the false metaphor of selection as a creative agent that builds from passive raw materials."
I would suggest that the nature of reality is such that every living thing, i.e. every subject, is ultimately the "creative agent that builds from passive raw materials." !!!
Re when people "can and do steer the future" what your recommendation might be related to "ideas and attitudes that are destroying the planet":
People steer the future by their freely chosen actions, and these actions reflect their ideas. I like to think that an appreciation of (what I consider to be) the true nature of reality (i.e. that it is inherently experiential, subjective and creative) would lead to a new respect for reality, especially living reality.
Hoping to read your essay as soon as I can,
Lorraine