The Daily Evolver

Maher, Musk & the Woke Mind Virus

Wed, 10 May 2023 03:46:00 +0000

Hey folks, As integral practitioners, we have insights that help us harmonize cultural polarities, which is why it’s too bad Bill Maher didn’t invite me on his recent show with Elon Musk where they decried the “woke mind virus”. Woke is the activist/fanatic arm of the emerging mass culture of postmodernity. Every stage of human development has activists and fanatics whose job is to fully bring forth the worldview (call it the “mind virus”) of their age. Our job is to see what they so desperately want us to see and to critically consider what they want us to do. We do the same with their opponents, cultivating the integrated wisdom that arises when one is able to hold multiple perspectives. I hope you enjoy the episode, edited from the ‘fireside chat” I hold regularly with the Integral Life Practice Community. Next chat is June 7th at 1 pm Pacific Time, Zoom link here. Join us!

Tucker Carlson, Don Lemon & the Evolution of the News

Wed, 03 May 2023 02:04:07 +0000

A brand new iteration of “This Week in the News”. Ankur Delight, who hosts one of my favorite podcasts, 10,000 Heroes, joins me to bring an integral take to the headlines of the week. This week, we look at the big shakeup in the mainstream news media. Days ago, and within an hour of each other, Fox News and CNN fired two of their biggest stars: Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon. What does this say about the modern news business, the evolution of our culture … and the possibility of a President Carlson? Hope you enjoy.

Peter Zeihan And The Missing Piece In Public Discourse

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Hey folks, This week I look at a rising star in the mainstream commentariat: Peter Zeihan. To me he is a good example of a proto-integral thinker in that he is a master synthesizer, weaving compelling narratives about our world that include economics, demography, geography, politics and history. He gives me a far more integrated understanding of a variety of issues from the Russia / Ukraine war to the workings of the drug cartels, to “Is it Oklahoma’s time to shine?” Yet, as with so many contemporary thinkers, his analysis misses the core value of integral thinking: that human consciousness and cultures have evolved and that they continue to. In this episode, I look at this missing piece that integral thinking offers, and which adds an invaluable element to any analysis of human events. I hope you enjoy the episode! – Jeff Salzman

Chatbot’s Paean to Integral & Trump Goes to Court

Sun, 16 Apr 2023 23:07:54 +0000

This week I look at the hubbub surrounding the introduction of large language chatbots, the latest evolutionarily-potent development in artificial intelligence. A long-time listener asked ChatGPT to write a poem expressing Ken Wilber’s developmental stages. The result (below) is mind-blowing. How is it possible for a machine to create three verses that capture the essence of developmental theory so well? Mind-blowing, yes, but is it beautiful? Can it be beautiful when it was written by a machine? Welcome to humanity’s next stage of understanding itself and our place in the cosmos. ALSO, it’s Trump’s turn in the dock with his indictment in Manhattan. Is this good or bad for democracy? For the answer, we look to the old Chinese farmer … I hope you enjoy the episode! – Jeff Salzman PS – This is an edited version of a live “Fireside Chat” I do with the Integral Life Practice Community every first and third Wednesday of the month. Join me this Wednesday, April 19, at 1 pm Pacific Time (Zoom link). On Ken Wilber’s Developmental Theory by ChatGPT Ascending the steps, we embark, On a journey through levels so stark, Wilber’s wisdom reveals, That development heals, As we climb, a new consciousness sparks. In the spiral of growth, we find, Our perceptions and thoughts intertwined, With each stage that we pass, A more intricate grasp, Of the depths of humanity’s mind. From the shadows to radiant light, Through these stages our souls take flight, In a dance of ascent, Where our hearts find content, In the wisdom that guides us to unite.

What Integral Brings to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion - Guest: Diane Musho Hamilton

Sat, 08 Apr 2023 15:06:44 +0000

The DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) movement is one of the leading edges of cultural evolution, installing green postmodern values which in part seek to correct hidden power imbalances regarding race, gender and identity in American institutions. My guest today is Diane Musho Hamilton, who has been on the front lines of the DEI movement for over two decades, starting as a diversity trainer in the Utah Supreme Court. Diane is also a transmitted Zen teacher in the White Plum Tradition, and a highly respected leader in the integral community. Diane’s specialty is working with groups under stress, of which there is no shortage when it comes to DEI initiatives. She is a master of metabolizing group energies and emotions thereby making space for new levels of collaboration and community to emerge. Diane is currently enrolling a new cohort in her Real LIFE Facilitator Program, a seven-month training in leadership, Integral theory, facilitation skills and the dynamics of working groups. It focuses on how to engage conflict, polarities and group shadow, as well as how to work creatively with them. We start our conversation by looking at the Integral movement in general and the unique perspectives it brings to the project of diversity, equity and inclusion. I hope you enjoy! – Jeff Salzman

Green Art, Stage Debate, Ukraine/Russia - Fireside Chats with Jeff Salzman

Sat, 25 Mar 2023 13:43:29 +0000

Hey Folks, In this Daily Evolver I explore a variety of topics: A telling difference between green art and integral art – Learn more about the Lost Birds music here. Yes, stages exist but maybe the spiral is spiked Traditionalism’s hot war on modernity in Ukraine Ghosts: an integrally-flavored tv comedy! This episode is recorded from the live “Fireside Chat” I do twice a month (1st and 3rd Wednesdays) for Integral Life. Join us live if you can this coming Wednesday the 29th at 1 PT, 4ET. Integral Life is building an impressive community of integral practitioners, and you can check out all the opportunities to participate here. I hope you enjoy this episode! Jeff Salzman

AVATAR, BROS AND OUR SKIN - Where Woke Goes Right and Wrong

Fri, 20 Jan 2023 23:33:21 +0000

In this episode, I take a look at three cultural artifacts that present worldcentric ideals of sustainability, egalitarianism and gender fluidity through an ethnocentric lens of good versus evil: Avatar: The Way of Water – James Cameron’s latest movie in his great green myth of Pandora, a pristine planet attacked by modernity (and a few pre-trans fallacies). Bros – A gay romantic comedy produced by Judd Apatow, where the triumph of queer ideology is a moral imperative. Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race – A picture book for preschoolers that shows how we would live in a world without regard for skin color – if it weren’t for white people. All contain developmental truths enmeshed with us-versus-them resentments that power the culture wars. Welcome to the beautiful-but-not-pretty evolution of consciousness! Jeff Salzman PS: I’m posting more on Twitter these days and you can “follow” me there @dailyevolver.

Elon Musk: Spiral Wizard? - An Integral Take on the Multi-Dimensional Man

Fri, 06 Jan 2023 04:57:25 +0000

In this episode, I analyze Elon Musk through the lens of developmental theory, which maps the “spiral of worldview evolution” within people and cultures. There are three major worldviews currently in contention in our culture: Traditional (order and conformity), Modern (secular and rational), Postmodern (sensitive and egalitarian). They all have goodness, truth and beauty to offer, and they all hate each other. Most people live in one worldview, can function adequately in another, and polarize against the third. If you can embrace the polarization and inhabit all three, then you are entering the next emerging worldview: Integral (evolutionary synthesis). If you can integrate all that (adequately, not perfectly) and add the lagging-edge worldview, the pre-traditional Warrior/Empire worldview, then you may be Elon Musk. In this episode, I explain. Enjoy! – Jeff Salzman PS: I’m posting more on Twitter theses days. You can “follow” my feed @dailyevolver.

2022: An Integral Review

Wed, 28 Dec 2022 03:04:12 +0000

Hey folks, welcome back to The Daily Evolver! It’s good to be with you again. Today’s episode was initiated by my Integral colleagues, Nomali Perera and Lee Mason of Practical Integral, who invited me to share my thoughts at the end of another year in the human adventure. The integral lens reveals a fundamental force in cultural development: the struggle between worldviews. In 2022 we saw this struggle play out in a geopolitical context, with the events in Ukraine, China and Iran. We saw it within our culture through the battles over covid, gender and race. And we can experience it individually as we grow into integral consciousness and are able to embrace multiple worldviews. Unfortunately, growth is painful and suffering seems to be a feature at every stage. That’s where this episode begins – but not where it ends. Enjoy! Jeff Salzman PS – Over my break, I got more involved in posting on Twitter, and I invite you to “follow” me there @dailyevolver. I’ve found Twitter to be quite stimulating and conducive to providing quick integral insights on current events. Indeed, my next episode will be about Twitter and its new owner, the spiral wizard Elon Musk. Stay tuned!

Transgenderism and Abortion

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 17:15:27 +0000

In this episode, Dr. Keith and I take on two hot-button issues in the culture wars, each of us coming up on different sides of key issues. Hopefully our disagreements will be as illuminating to you as they were to us. Transgenderism: The ever-increasing awareness and practice of gender fluidity, particularly among young people, is fueling the culture war. Does it represent cultural evolution? Yes, we agree. If so, what are we learning and how can we bring more wisdom and compassion to the struggle? Here we differ. Abortion: The US Supreme Court’s revocation of the right to an abortion has thrown jurisdiction to the states, many of which are racing to legislate the agenda of their dominant worldview. Is this progress? Keith argues the negative and I take the affirmative.

The Enchantment of Science

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 17:09:14 +0000

In this episode, Dr. Keith and I notice a growing attempt in the culture to bring meaning and purpose into the realms of science. We focus on English scientist Rupert Sheldrake, who argues that “science should be set free” from the boundaries of mechanistic materialism. Sheldrake is well known for his theory of the morphic field, an evolving collective mind that all living beings are both accessing and creating. A spiritual practitioner, Sheldrake seeks to include subtle and spiritual dimensions to create a more integral view of reality. He also offers the best explanation yet of how the heck dogs know when their owners are coming home!

The Three Sources of Suffering

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 17:03:28 +0000

There are at least three distinct sources of human suffering, all related, and none reducible to the others. They are: Nature—the unique combinations of temperaments and constitutional strengths and weaknesses that each of us is born with. Trauma—the Big T and small t traumas that are ubiquitous in human development, and which leave us more sensitized and vulnerable rather than more resilient. Nurture—the sum total of our family, cultural, and environmental experiences that help shape who we are and how we deal with the world, for better or worse. Dr. Keith and I dive into these three sources of suffering, explaining how each contributes to the challenges of human existence. We show ways to use this knowledge to grow towards living a happy ending at the beginning of something wonderful.

HEXACO: The Quality that Leverages All Others

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 16:56:11 +0000

Dr. Keith and I marvel at an exciting new (to us) typology system developed by Kibeom Lee and Michael Ashton: the HEXACO system. Lee and Ashton researched the popular 5-factor system and identified a new human trait, honesty/humility, which determines the adaptiveness and social worth of the other five. Briefly, the HEXACO factors are: H—honesty/humility. E—emotional resonance/empathy. X—extraversion. A—agreeableness. C—conscientiousness. O—openness to new experiences. This system raises important questions about human development, and what influences success/failure, intimacy/alienation, and happiness/misery.

Playing and Fighting: The Keys to Sociability

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 16:45:12 +0000

In this episode, Keith introduces me to his theory of human sociability. As he sees it, human relationships can be seen on a spectrum of playing and fighting. Playing is a cooperative activity with an agreed-upon set of rules. Sometimes play is pure fun, and sometimes winning/losing dynamics are painful. But any engaged activity under an external set of rules is considered play. Fighting is trying to dominate the other, with little or no regard for a shared set of rules. Three outcomes of fighting are domination, submission, or a shift to cooperation (play). Both playing and fighting are human superpowers that can be used for better or worse. Dr Keith and I explore the play/fight current through all of humanity, delivering surprising insights into intimate relationships, politics, and evolution.

Integral Conference: What’s the Future (WTF?) - A visit with conference hosts Lynn and Jose Fuentes

Tue, 19 Jul 2022 14:04:17 +0000

In this short episode, I am joined by Jose and Lynn Fuentes, who are producing an exciting conference for the integral community this November in Sedona, Arizona. The event is called Integral: What’s the Future and What Can We Do About It? It is designed in the spirit of a lineage of powerful gatherings that I (and perhaps you) participated in many moons ago. Jose and Lynn bring up golden memories for many of us when they write on their website: Somewhere between an Integral Living Room, an Integral Incubator, and a What Next Conference, there is a field – meet us there! Especially touching for me is that Lynn and Jose are invoking the spirit of our dear, departed Brother Terry Patten, who was integral to those historical events, and they are explicitly carrying on Terry’s transmission of joyful activism. As they write about the upcoming conference: We are gathering to consider how we can make a positive difference in the world. Come prepared with an open heart and mind, some great ideas for strategically inserting an integral consciousness into the world, and a desire to have fun doing it. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Lynn and Jose Fuentes and are inspired to check out the conference! Integral: What’s the Future and What Can We Do About It? November 3-6, 2022 Poco Diablo Resort, Sedona, Arizona $499 early bird ends August 15th

Who is Inside Your Circle of Compassion? (10 minutes)

Fri, 15 Jul 2022 17:54:49 +0000

Who’s Inside Your Circle of Compassion? – A key marker of consciousness development is an ever-expanding circle of people (and other living beings) who you consider to be worthy of moral consideration. Full episode: Psychopaths are People Too.

The Left’s Split, Embracing More (6 minutes)

Sat, 09 Jul 2022 00:03:04 +0000

The Left’s Split, Embracing More – The political Left is differentiating into “woke” and “non-woke” contingents – and fitfully integrating into a larger emergent identity. Full episode is here.

Reflections on Death (5 minutes)

Tue, 05 Jul 2022 15:19:56 +0000

Reflections on Death – An evolution-inspired contemplation on what dies and what … maybe doesn’t. Full episode here.

Do We Care More About People Who Look Like Us? (6 minutes)

Tue, 05 Jul 2022 15:09:40 +0000

Do We Care More About People Who Look Like Us? – Some thoughts about moral development from my series of episodes on the war on Ukraine. Full episode is here.

A Post-Progressive Approach to Climate Change - Guest: Steve McIntosh, President, The Institute for Cultural Evolution

Wed, 01 Jun 2022 17:56:41 +0000

This week political philosopher Steve McIntosh joins me to discuss global warming through the lens of cultural evolution. We focus on solving the “political will problem” that is currently stymying our collective response to the climate crisis. Steve argues that the progressive agenda on climate needs an upgrade: “Preserving the health of our natural environment is crucial for our collective well-being, which is why we can no longer indulge in the idealistic fantasy that America’s economy and energy systems can be immediately and radically transformed. Some prominent progressive voices are calling for the overthrow of capitalism, but this kind of absolutistic rhetoric only serves to block the formation of a larger national consensus around the most timely and realistic near-term approaches.” Steve’s ideas are fully fleshed out in the Institute for Cultural Evolution’s Policy Paper on Climate Change. It is one of a series of innovative “Win-Win-Win” policy analyses created by the think tank that address the issues of the day with the goal of providing key “wins” for each of the three major worldviews. I hope you enjoy the episode! – Jeff Salzman **** Steve McIntosh is president of the Institute for Cultural Evolution and author of Developmental Politics, How America Can Grow Into a Better Version of Itself. I am a senior fellow of the Institute and a member of its board of directors.

ARMED INSANITY: Getting real about guns and criminality

Thu, 26 May 2022 19:04:02 +0000

This week I share our collective outrage and heartbreak over the shooting of the Texas schoolchildren and teachers, and manage to offer some hope that this time it will be different, that this shooting will heighten a social pain-point – unstable young men equipped with weapons of war – sufficiently to transcend political polarities. In this episode I ponder: America’s enneatype, frontier culture, “traditionalism with guns” Integrating the MSNBC and FOX News worldviews Recognizing budding criminality Matthew Yglesias’s positivity blowback How about the first part of the second amendment? The ever-widening circle of moral consideration What our grandchildren will know Blessings to all This is my last regular weekly episode of the season – see you in September! – Jeff Salzman

Frances Fukuyama: Trajectory Without Teleology - What’s driving the “long arc of history”?

Fri, 13 May 2022 00:37:42 +0000

Frances Fukuyama is one of our most prominent political philosophers. He is famous for his argument that liberal democracy and free-market capitalism represent “the end of history,” a thesis widely criticized (somewhat unfairly, as I’ll explain) in light of the rise of 21st Century autocracies, especially China and Russia. In his new book, Liberalism and its Discontents, Fukuyama updates his argument, which he sums up in his recent feature article in the Wall Street Journal: “The Long Arc of Political Progress: A democratic world order is not the inexorable outcome of historical forces, but even amid setbacks, societies are clearly evolving towards equality and individual freedom.” I’m always happy to see any ideas of cultural evolution reach the mainstream, and Fukuyama does an excellent job of tracing the patterns of human history, including the herky-jerky nature of progress. He makes a strong case that human conditions are getting better in the aggregate. But … what is powering this development? In human terms, how is it that an eight-year-old becomes a twelve-year-old? Is it just because they “make better choices” or “social structures change”? Alas, this is territory that Fukuyama and most mainstream political writers do not explore. In this episode, I add some insight that I think creates a more integral view. Enjoy! – Jeff Salzman

Illuminating Our Stage Structures - Guest: Developmental Psychotherapist Kim Barta

Fri, 29 Apr 2022 23:29:42 +0000

Sometimes in our psychological development the way forward requires us to go back, to re-explore earlier stages of life to see what is distorted or left unintegrated. This is the theme of the work of my guest today, developmental psychotherapist Kim Barta. He discusses his approach to personal growth, which is based on the STAGES Model of Development created by well-known developmental theorist Terri O’Fallon (who is also Kim’s sister.). Using psychotherapeutic practices, shadow work and meditation, Kim has devised a comprehensive system of self-exploration with stopovers at every stage of development, designed to bring the gifts and powers of that stage online. Shoring up our developmental scaffolding in this way makes us able – and worthy – to grow into the higher stages of integral consciousness, which Kim and the STAGES model also beautifully illuminate. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Kim Barta! – Jeff Salzman Kim is launching an intensive year-long program, “Shadow and Light” for a cohort of 16 people. (As always when I discuss a product with a guest, I get no compensation.) You can find out more about Kim and all his offerings at Kimbarta.org.

APOCALYPSE ALWAYS - Doom, Post-Doom and Beyond

Fri, 22 Apr 2022 19:04:44 +0000

This week I address a listener’s question about a fascinating subculture arising in the environmental movement: the “post-doomers”, people who, as she writes, “hold the idea that the collapse of civilization as we know it is already well underway, is unstoppable, and will be felt by us here in Comfortable Land through disruption of many kinds in the not-too-distant future.” Post-doomers find meaning in surrendering to this inevitable doom, much as a hospice patient might find peace – even joy – in the acceptance of their death. Or that their loved ones might find in reconciliation and mourning. I’m not a doomer. I’m an “I-think-we’ll-muddle-througher” and a chronic both-sidesist. I am allergic to alarmism as well as to those who dismiss their opposition. But might I be a post-doomer? Can one get the transmission without swallowing the doctrine? Yes, there is no end to environmental suffering, and any path to sustainability will continue to be painful and frightening. Witnessing and grieving this along the way makes us worthy to create a new and better world. Evolution proceeds through destruction and creation. Fortunately, since the Big Bang, at least, creation wins. I have not only hope but faith that will continue. Enjoy the episode! – Jeff Salzman

Integral Oratorio Debuts in London - Steve Banks on “Blue Pearl: A One World Oratorio”

Thu, 14 Apr 2022 03:27:58 +0000

My guest today, Steve Banks, is an accomplished, integrally-inspired composer who is about to drop a fantastic new piece of music that is both classical and cutting edge. It’s called Blue Pearl: A One World Oratorio and it will be performed for the first time in London next month. Blue Pearl is itself a fascinating example of integral consciousness arising in an established art form. In its structure it is a classical oratorio, defined as a “large-scale musical work for orchestra and voices, typically a narrative on a religious theme, performed without the use of costumes, scenery, or action. Well-known examples include Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Handel’s Messiah, and Haydn’s The Creation.” While Bue Pearl is rooted in the western sacred choral tradition, Steve’s spiritual inspiration is explicitly integral. Fusing several musical styles, his work celebrates the unity-in-diversity of the integral vision. The central image is of the earth as seen from space, the ‘blue pearl”, a fragile, living, conscious planet. The lyrics come from writings by Ken Wilber, Thich Nhat Hanh and Steve himself. The world premiere is May 14th at the St. Giles Cripplegate Church in London. It will be performed by the London Mozart Players and two choirs: the Excelsis Choir and Vox Farnham Chamber Choir. You can check out Steve’s website, Stevebanks.info for a prototype of the work, all the lyrics, and information on how to attend in person or online. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Steve Banks as well as his wonderful new work, Blue Pearl: A One World Oratorio. – Jeff Salzman

David Fuller, Wise Rebel - A revealing visit with the founder of Rebel Wisdom

Thu, 07 Apr 2022 22:09:04 +0000

Today I’m talking with David Fuller, one of the emerging luminaries of the emerging emergence movement (whew!). David, along with his partner Alexander Beiner, founded Rebel Wisdom four years ago, and has built it into a significant, integrally-informed cultural player, managing to thread the needle between – and beyond – the warring ideologies of traditionalism and progressivism. David shares his journey of development and how it led to the creation of Rebel Wisdom. He describes how the platform has itself evolved, morphing beyond its initial association with Jordan Peterson, who has gone hard anti-left. Rebel Wisdom has moved forward into new arenas, most notably sense- and meaning-making, and is currently exploring the territory beyond atheism. “Maybe even a world of spirit?”, I ask? David’s answer gives me faith in the continued evolution of Rebel Wisdom’s terrific contribution to global awakening. Enjoy the episode! – Jeff Salzman PS – Rebel Wisdom has featured several integral thinkers, including Ken Wilber. You can check out a recent conversation David hosted with Diane Musho Hamilton, Steve McIntosh and me here. PPS – One slight technical matter: My side of the conversation recorded in audio only, no video. So when I speak you’ll see a still photo of me – which is why I’m so stiff and my lips aren’t moving!

Trauma to transcendence - Using life’s wounds to grow

Thu, 31 Mar 2022 03:58:21 +0000

In this episode of the Shrink and the Pundit, Dr. Keith Witt and I discuss a powerful realization emerging at the leading edge of culture regarding the role of trauma in our lives. Dr. Keith is writing a book on the subject and has mined various psychotherapeutic modalities to create an integral approach to using trauma as a portal to health and higher consciousness. In our wide-ranging conversation we address: Trauma and resilience as forms of memory * The differences – and similarities – between ongoing trauma and “major event” traumas such as accidents, violence and illness * Trauma through human history * Sensitive vs sensitized: the healthy and unhealthy poles of postmodern consciousness * What child-centered parenting misses * The biological drive to have a spiritually-awakened brain * Updating your autobiographical narratives * Trauma and the self-transforming mind. I really loved this conversation and I hope you do, too! – Jeff Salzman You can find out more about Dr. Keith Witt here.

Gender Fluidity: Fruitful and Fanatic

Thu, 24 Mar 2022 23:31:08 +0000

The sexual evolution continues! This week I look at the controversy raging over the dramatic emergence of transsexual identity and gender fluidity, particularly among young people. I place it in the context of the stage transformations of sex and gender through history, and even get a little personal. I hope you enjoy the episode! – Jeff Salzman

Emergence Appears as Regression and Decadence - The developmental delusion we all share

Fri, 18 Mar 2022 19:03:18 +0000

Vladimir Putin’s ill-conceived war on Ukraine reveals a hidden aspect of consciousness evolution: newly emerging stages are seen by existing stages as a regression. Putin the autocrat saw democracies as weak and depleted. So did Hitler and the Japanese before World War II. It’s an old pattern that we can trace back to the warriors of old, who had contempt for the budding traditionalists beating their swords into plowshares. Over time, however, the emerging stage wins, not only because it brings on new capabilities (traditional order, modern rationality, postmodern sensitivity) but also because every stage contains the capabilities of the previous stages, often repressed but available when the chips are down. Thus, Zelensky, with his media-savvy modern and cool postmodern vibe, reveals in battle the heart of a lion and calls it forth in his people — much to the surprise of Putin, the world, and perhaps the Ukrainians themselves. The pattern continues in modernity’s misreading of postmodernity (I use a clip from Bill Maher’s show to illustrate this), and in the challenges being put to the emerging integral stage of consciousness and culture. I finish the episode with stunning excerpts from the book, Bloodlands, the story of Stalin’s war on Ukraine, and how its karmic echoes are resounding today. I hope you enjoy the episode! – Jeff Salzman

“Why do I care more about people who look and think like me?” - Listeners reflect on the war in Ukraine

Mon, 14 Mar 2022 16:06:22 +0000

I’ve received many thoughtful and heartfelt comments on the war in Ukraine from my listeners. In this episode, I share their insights and add a few of my own. 0:42 – How the stages of consciousness are arising “simultaneously”. 5:34 – The shocking strangeness of premodernity and its challenge to modern culture. 15:13 – “The world, even Russians, seem to be more unified and sensitized to the abhorrence of war.” 17:20 – “Why do I care more about people who look and think like me?” The challenge of moral growth. Thanks for listening – you can write me at jeff@dailyevolver.com, or leave a voicemail here. – Jeff Salzman

Ukraine: Putin‘s War on Modernity

Mon, 07 Mar 2022 01:23:09 +0000

Recorded 3/4/22 Vladimir Putin’s romantic Russian nationalism has metastasized into megalomania. Will Russian society go along? Will the modern world? Witnessing the heartbreak and resistance of the Ukrainian people.

Does Integral Help? - Conversation on Ukraine with Corey DeVos

Sun, 06 Mar 2022 19:45:04 +0000

Integral Life’s Editor-in-Chief Corey DeVos and I are old integral pals who love talking about current events. Here we turn on the microphone to share our attempt to make sense of the Ukraine conflict. Recorded 3/2/22

Ukraine Through the Lens of Development

Sun, 06 Mar 2022 19:18:41 +0000

Considering situations like the Ukraine war from multiple perspectives is like turning up the resolution on a google map. We are able to see more of what is there, how things fit together in a larger pattern and how to better navigate through it all. Recorded 2/25/22

The Global Minimum Tax + Social Media on the block (18 minutes)

Fri, 21 Jan 2022 03:34:06 +0000

A surprising step forward in defacto world governance, and keen eyes on the ongoing complexity of social media platforms.

John McWhorter Celebrates New Gender Pronouns (15 minutes)

Fri, 21 Jan 2022 03:27:19 +0000

Surprising support for woke politics from one of today’s leading anti-woke thinkers.

On David Brooks’ “When Dictators Find God” (16 minutes)

Fri, 21 Jan 2022 03:18:45 +0000

The New York Times columnist considers every motivation except authentic religious experience.

Take the Familiar and Make it Better (9 minutes)

Fri, 21 Jan 2022 03:11:08 +0000

Reviewing media writer Peter Baker’s critique of Chloe Zhao’s integrally-flavored, retro-future commercial.

Terry Patten, An Integral Life - Diane Musho Hamilton and I remember our beloved brother, and 20 years of Integral history

Fri, 07 Jan 2022 00:47:08 +0000

Today I am joined by my dear friend and colleague, Diane Musho Hamilton, to honor our brother-in-arms, Terry Patten, who recently passed away at the age of 70. Terry was beloved by many in the Integral community, and Diane and I had the privilege to teach and work with him for nearly 20 years. As Diane recounts, Terry was “the consummate integralist”, awake to his own mind, body and spirit, and dedicated to the wellbeing of all: family, friends and the world at large. I think of him as Integral’s “Zorba the Greek”, whose warmth, laugh and sheer ecstatic transmission could turn any gathering into a celebration. Above all Terry was an activist, championing what he called the “revolution of the heart”, an integration of: The “inner work” of self-awareness and personal transformation The “interpersonal work” of authentic, compassionate relating The “outer work” of practical, beneficial action in the world In our conversation, Diane and I reflect not just on our extraordinary friend, but also on the history of the Integral movement, the evolution of its ideas and practices, and the countless people who have been uplifted by the evolutionary vision. For anyone watching this episode, there is a photo show at the end. I hope you enjoy! – Jeff Salzman Terry Patten’s life’s work is articulated in his final book “The New Republic of the Heart, An Ethos for Revolutionaries”. You can find out more about Diane Musho Hamilton, and contact her about her offerings, here. The cover version of the song Spirit in the Sky is credited to Black Feathers.

2022: New Culture Arising - Infinite dots and ways to connect them

Fri, 31 Dec 2021 22:22:17 +0000

Here are some end-of-year-musings about our current moment in the evolution of consciousness. I bring an integral lens to look at cultural polarization, effective governance, Covid, progress, our biggest dangers, and the challenge of the millions of stories people tell about all of it. Enjoy and here’s to a bright 2021! – Jeff Salzman

Spielberg‘s West Side Story: An Integral Masterpiece

Tue, 21 Dec 2021 02:26:22 +0000

In his remake of West Side Story, master filmmaker Steven Spielberg demonstrates how to bring a classic work of art into the present. Integrating the 60-year old Broadway musical’s cultural context into our own, his West Side Story expresses colliding worlds with deep sympathy and goodwill to all. And the sheer cinematic transmission! From the iconic opening, with its call-and-response whistle echoing through the tenements of New York City, the film’s every moment is lit with the sparkle of humanity. It exudes the passion of youth, the grittiness of street life, and the deep liquid space of the gang and family. What a joy to be in the hands of a great artist (and leader of great artists, as cinema is our most collaborative of art forms) at the height of his power. West Side Story tells a tale of race, culture and class conflict with a flamboyantly American flavor. It is the story of star-crossed young lovers (inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet), ethnic warfare, and the relentless march of modernity. In Spielberg’s hands, all of these conflicts are woven into a drama that is both particular and universal, and ultimately heartening. As Time Magazine’s critic Stephanie Zacharek wrote: “I had no idea I needed this West Side Story until I saw it.” I hereby nominate this beautiful film for status as an integral work of art, and in this episode, I make my case. I hope you enjoy it and the movie too! – Jeff Salzman

The Left’s Split: “Woke” and “Anti-Woke”

Fri, 10 Dec 2021 05:21:54 +0000

In this episode, I discuss a terrific essay I stumbled upon that brings an integral sensibility to a new cultural emergent: the differentiation of the political left into “woke” and “anti-woke” ideologies.. Cultural evolution proceeds through a process of 1) differentiating and 2) integrating. As we learn and grow we see that there are more dots to connect and more ways to connect them. New views arise which we disagree about, even with our friends. What had been a shared worldview morphs into multiple worldviews which often find themselves at odds. Thus it is with the current unfolding of the political left. Holly Muir and Spencer Greenberg, co-authors of the essay, Understanding the Divide Between Social Justice Advocates and the Left-Leaning “Anti-Woke” Community, describe their work: “We have been investigating the perspectives of two groups in contemporary U.S. society: 1) those who advocate for social justice, and 2) the newly emerging left-of-center “anti-woke” movement (i.e., liberal-leaning people who tend to oppose identity politics, cancel culture, and critical race theory). “In recent years, we’ve witnessed a meteoric rise of this anti-woke community, with a number of writers within it gaining large followings, including Coleman Hughes, Sam Harris, Jesse Singal, Katie Herzog, and Bari Weiss. Naturally, they have received a large amount of criticism from some social justice advocates. “Given that the two groups we are discussing both lean left on the political spectrum, a major question is: what do they fundamentally disagree about? To help answer this, we have attempted to map the opposing perspectives on 13 topics where disagreement between these two groups tends to arise. In some cases, it may be that there is little genuine disagreement between the groups, and the issue in question is simply described from a different perspective.” Rather than argue for either side, or even to find common ground, Muir and Greenberg perform a more integral move: they present each side on its own terms with good faith. It is a masterful example of the differentiation necessary for a true integration to emerge. Integral consciousness is not about reconciling opposing worldviews as much as it is about accommodating them, factoring in their blind spots, and appreciating the goodness, truth and beauty each of them brings. This article is a great example. Check it out and enjoy the episode!

Preview: The Dawn of Everything - A New History of Humanity

Sat, 27 Nov 2021 19:36:41 +0000

On this podcast a couple weeks ago I explored “The Great Stage Theory Debate”, a controversy kicked off by a tweet from Nora Bateson that said that developmental theory is “BS, colonial as hell and has got to go.” Now, apparently, we have the whole book version! “The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity,” by anthropologist David Graeber and archaeologist David Wengrow makes a similar case, aiming, as the New York Times writes, “to upend the narrative of social evolution.” Several listeners have written for my opinions about the book. I have kept up with David Graeber, the self-described “anarchist economist,” since he arose as a philosophical leader of the Occupy Wall Street movement a few years ago. I’m looking forward to reading the book and may have more to say on it when I do. In the meantime (it is 706 pages after all!) I’ll get the ball rolling by examining several key ideas behind the book using clips from a video that the authors recorded before Graeber’s untimely death prior to the book’s publication. I hope you enjoy the podcast! – Jeff Salzman PS – I also wanted to let you know about a special event in which I will be a guest. This Monday and Tuesday, Integral Institute Brazil celebrates its 10th Anniversary with a zoom conference featuring Ken Wilber and an exciting slate of Integral luminaries. Check it out here.

The Great Stage-Theory Debate - “Colonial BS” or “True and Humane”?

Thu, 28 Oct 2021 19:37:02 +0000

Is developmental theory valid? Is it even moral? This is the gauntlet laid down by author Nora Bateson in a cheeky tweet that launched a thousand comments: Stage theory… Is BS. Always was. And it is colonial as hell. Sorry, but that has got to go. — nora bateson (@NoraBateson) August 10, 2021 In a high-profile response to her social media posts, author Hanzi Freinacht shared a short essay defending stage theory as being both true and beneficial to society. The result has been an online controversy that has generated both heat and light in the Integral / Spiral Dynamics world. In this episode, I offer a shamelessly integral analysis of the ideas in contention, and how the conflict itself is contributing to the evolution of evolutionary thought. Let me know what you think at jeff@dailyevolver.com. And here’s more about Nora Bateson and Hanzi Freinacht.

Bite Size: Experiencing Integral – 20 minutes - Letters from Second Tier

Thu, 28 Oct 2021 17:32:52 +0000

Jeff Salzman considers the question, what is it like to experience integral consciousness? How does one feel, relate and function differently? Also, letters from listeners.

Bite Size Evolver: Racism through the stages – 13 minutes - A integral answer to the question, "Is it racist?"

Thu, 28 Oct 2021 17:00:37 +0000

Race is seen differently at each developmental worldview. What might the integral version be? Plus, a back-pocket thought experiment for race empathy.

Bite Size: Everyone Has a Piece of the Truth – 3 minutes - How to integrate, not conquer, opposing worldviews

Tue, 26 Oct 2021 00:16:27 +0000

Quick intro to the Daily Evolver • The three major worldviews fighting the culture war • How an integral approach gets the best of each.

Bite Size: Quick intro to Jeff’s work on the Daily Evolver – 16 minutes - Applying integral theory to the issues of the day

Mon, 25 Oct 2021 22:08:45 +0000

How consciousness and cultural evolution help explain current events (and vice versa).

Bite Size: Think Your Way Back to Religion? – 14 minutes - Considering Ross Douthat's arguments for a rational path to the Divine

Mon, 25 Oct 2021 18:26:00 +0000

Is our secular meritocracy capable of knowing God? In this excerpt from This Week in the New York Times, I consider Ross Douthat’s column: A Guide to Finding Faith.

Bite Size Evolver: Moral Development – 5 minutes - Animals are people too!

Sun, 24 Oct 2021 18:31:28 +0000

How we regard animals is a marker of moral development.

Post-Progressivism Meets Academic Philosophy - Guest: David Storey, Professor of Philosophy, Boston College

Fri, 08 Oct 2021 21:28:56 +0000

Welcome to a new episode of Post Progressive Inquiries, where my co-host Steve McIntosh and I talk with people who are co-creating the next stage of human development. Our guest today is David Storey, a professor of philosophy from Boston College. David discovered integral thinking outside of academia, as did most of us, but is now bringing its principles to bear on his teaching. Whether the subject is history, religion or the emerging ethics of environmentalism, David’s focus is on helping his students to learn how to communicate across worldviews. David, Steve, and I cover a lot of territory in our conversation. In the first part, we talk about how academia is itself evolving, particularly in its warming to developmental theory and in its engagement with the culture at large. In the second half, we discuss how to bring more cultural intelligence to humanity’s climate challenge, and highlight David’s new essay in the Post-Progressive Post: Why We Will Grow Together or Grow Apart. I hope you enjoy the episode – and check out the Post-Progressive Post! – Jeff Salzman David Storey also hosts the podcast, Wisdom@Work, where he talks with philosophers who have gone beyond the Ivory Tower to build careers outside of academia. Steve McIntosh is the founder of the Institute for Cultural Evolution, and author of many books on integral theory including his latest, Developmental Politics.

When Meditation Goes Wrong - Hidden dangers in Western Buddhism and the mindfulness movement - Guest, Dan Lawton

Fri, 24 Sep 2021 02:04:02 +0000

I have studied, taught and practiced meditation for over 30 years. I consider meditation, arising in its endless variations, to be indispensable to spiritual development and I sing its praises regularly on this podcast. I have also occasionally spoken about my experience years ago when an intense period of mindfulness meditation triggered a multi-year siege of anxiety which began to heal only when, after much suffering, I cast off the instructions of my teachers to “just keep meditating” and got up from the cushion and fled a retreat. A few weeks ago I ran across an essay written by meditation teacher, Dan Lawton, called When Buddhism Goes Bad; How My Mindfulness Practice Led Me to Meltdown. A committed meditator for ten years and a full-time teacher in the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction system, he described his similar (though perhaps more extreme) experience of anxiety and dissociation triggered by meditation. When I read his story, I felt an instant siblinghood. His essay validated my experience and brought clarity to the risk inherent in lifting a transformational spiritual practice out of its traditional culture where any resulting “hell realms” and “dark nights” are recognized and metabolized. He writes: As meditation practices have exploded in popularity in the West, they have brought with them an array of adverse experiences far beyond the typically-billed benefits of lower stress, decreased anxiety and reduced pain. The terrain of fractured, disruptive and altered states of consciousness has often been explored in Buddhist teachings through the centuries, but when these practices made their journey into Western culture, a sufficient understanding of the downsides of meditation was lost in transit. One way to avoid adverse effects is to integrate mindfulness practice with somatic, psychological and interpersonal work. For instance, both Dan and I ultimately found relief from our psychic pain through a trauma therapy called Somatic Experiencing, founded by the psychologist Peter Levine. My ordeal also undoubtedly fueled my later participation in developing Integral Life Practice (ILP) at the Integral Institute in the early 2000’s. ILP is a comprehensive synthesis of transformational practices and is currently offered in many forms through Integral Life. I just wish I had had it 10 years earlier! If an online search of “adverse effects of meditation” is any indication, the potential dangers of modern mindfulness practice are becoming more apparent. Dan highlights the work of Dr. Willoughby Britton, Director of the Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory at Brown University, who studies both positive and negative effects of meditation and has found that 37% of meditators studied report negative impacts on functioning and 6% had “lasting bad effects.” Dr. Britton has founded Cheetah House, a non-profit organization “that provides resources about meditation-related difficulties to meditators-in-distress and teachers of meditation-based modalities.” Meditation is a powerful and precious tool and I offer this podcast in the spirit of helping us to develop a less naive and more mature relationship with it. I hope you are enlightened by my conversation with Dan Lawton. *************** If you haven’t already, check out my new YouTube show, “This Week in The New York Times”, hosted by the Post-Progressive Post, where I look at news stories through the lens of cultural and consciousness evolution.

Bite Size: When Simone Biles Stepped Aside - Simone Biles exemplifies new attitudes to work

Tue, 07 Sep 2021 16:46:15 +0000

A new episode

Afghanistan: An Integral Case for Staying, and Leaving

Thu, 19 Aug 2021 21:31:23 +0000

The US withdraws from Afghanistan and the Taliban enters — and all so much faster than expected. In this episode, recorded 8/18, I take a look at what is happening in Afghanistan through the lens of evolutionary theory.

Post-Issue Relationships: Interpersonal development at teal and turquoise - Guest: Dr. Keith Witt

Fri, 06 Aug 2021 22:51:40 +0000

Dr. Keith Witt, integral psychotherapist extraordinaire, joins me for another episode of The Shrink and the Pundit, where we explore the contours of emerging integral consciousness. Today’s topic is what Dr. Keith calls the “post-issue relationship”, and here’s how he describes it: In a post-issue relationship, each problem is an opportunity to grow and love. A post-issue relationship may still have problems, resentments, doubts, and selfish or thoughtless injuries, but there is always an adjustment to love in response to pain or distortion. Second-tier living really is more good, true and beautiful! Our conversation starts at 3:16; I hope you enjoy it!. You can find out more about Dr. Keith Witt here.

Why I Hated the Movie “Pig” - Give me ugliness or give me nihilism, but not both at once

Wed, 28 Jul 2021 21:58:19 +0000

This week I review the new Nicholas Cage movie, Pig, about a truffle hunter in the wilds of Oregon who goes on a quest to find his kidnapped pig. It is the work of first-time filmmaker, Michael Sarnoski. I am very much an outlier on this movie, which has received rave reviews and a 97% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The rapturous response — The Guardian called a “masterpiece” — gave me pause and made me reconsider a movie that I would have otherwise written off as being shockingly bad. Upon reflection I realize that Pig is not a bad movie, it may even be a great movie if you like your nihilism served up as ugly as possible. There is a strain of postmodern (green altitude) identity that sees modern culture as hopelessly corrupt and exhausted, facing an existential meta-crisis. A significant sliver of them, self-described “doomers,” see a world so degenerated that withdrawal is the only moral choice. This view is defensible, of course, but inadequate. What’s missing is what integral thinking brings to the party: an evolutionary understanding that its meta-crises all the way down. Most of human history has been a rolling catastrophe. Welcome to evolution! The modern (orange altitude) stage of development, for all its soulless avarice, has been a boon to humans in terms of security and wealth, giving rise to life conditions that can generate a social critique like Pig, which is postmodern deconstruction at its platonic perfection, establishing once and for all that there is nothing good, true, or beautiful to be found. In the podcast, I draw a distinction between the aesthetics of ugliness and nihilism, both of which can deeply move me. But you have to give me something more than the told-not-shown love of a pig. These days I require my social critiques to have faith in life, movies like Minari, or even Nomadland. I’ll do a review of these soon! Let me know what you think at jeff@dailyevolver.com. Jeff PS. I love listening to podcasts at fast speed. Last week I learned you can also speed up YouTube videos. It’s great, try it! Just click the gear icon while playing a video and select the “speed” option.

Progress Denialism: Getting us Nowhere

Fri, 16 Jul 2021 17:32:52 +0000

Bill Maher kicked off a cultural meme a few weeks ago with a segment on his popular show Real Time where he skewered the cultural left for progressophobia, which he defined as “situational blindness, except what you can’t see is that your dorm room in 2021 is better than the South before the Civil War.” In this episode, I map the idea of progress in our culture. Maher’s comments were widely praised in the mainstream media, from Morning Joe Scarborough on MSNBC (center left) to Peggy Noonan at the Wall Street Journal (center right). Together these represent the modern worldview (orange altitude). Traditionalists (blue/amber altitude) see no progress in this wicked world, only the opportunity for redemption or transcendence. Progressives (green altitude), who also have a fallen-world narrative, see the idea of progress as an insult to all who continue to suffer. The arising integral stage has a chance to revalorize the message of progress. Not as a march to a triumphal future, but as the ever-widening circle of moral consideration we have, individually and collectively, for each other and all aspects of our world. Onward to upward! On a personal note, many of you may know that our Brother Terry Patten, who I have worked with and hosted on the Daily Evolver many times, is fighting a battle with cancer. I invite you to join me and many of his friends and fans in supporting him at his GoFundMe site. ~ Jeff Salzman

Announcing The Post-Progressive Post! - A new web publication for the politically homeless

Tue, 29 Jun 2021 17:14:11 +0000

The Post-Progressive project proceeds! In this episode, Steve McIntosh, president of the Institute for Cultural Evolution, joins me to introduce a major new web publication created to transcend and integrate our polarized politics: The Post-Progressive Post. Subtitled, “A Home for the Politically Homeless” the Post-Progressive Post seeks to be a meeting place for integral thinkers, folks who see value in many sectors of the political spectrum and want to join the effort to form an “omni-inclusive” worldview. In this podcast, Steve guides us on a tour through the site, including: Post-progressivism defined: the 100-word version, the 700-word version and the multi-page version An ever-growing array of news analysis, opinion columns, blogs and podcasts by leading integral thinkers Win-win-win positions on the issues of the day which honor traditional values, modern values and postmodern values Quizzes and exercises to help you explore your own integral consciousness Portals to the post-progressive Facebook and Twitter feeds, and more ways to get involved The Post-Progressive Project as a whole is an initiative of the Institute for Cultural Evolution. Steve McIntosh is the president of the Institute and I am on its board of directors. I hope you enjoy the podcast, and The Post-Progressive Post!

Triggered by Deep Disagreement - … and how “integral pluralism” breaks the deadlock

Fri, 18 Jun 2021 18:53:37 +0000

In this episode, I point out a heartening trend among cultural commentators: an increasing recognition that people, particularly people fighting a culture war, not only think different things, they think differently. A key teaching of integral theory is that human consciousness and culture evolve through stages of development. Each stage has its own receptors, processors and algorithms, and each reveals a different “worldspace” which their subjects occupy. When conflicts arise among people of different worldspaces, there is limited common ground and deep divisions remain that are immune to influence. Philosopher Robert Fogelin refers to this divide as “deep disagreement” where successful argument is not an option. What is called for is integral consciousness, a worldspace occupied by someone who is capable of holding multiple perspectives, a person that Peter Limberg and Conor Barnes describe as a “pan-tribalist participant, who has the ability to communicate across tribes in a way that seems fair and reasonable to each tribe. They would have the mental agility, empathy, and wisdom needed to shift between a multitude of perspectives.” In this podcast, I place the notion of “integral pluralism” in a developmental context, which I think helps us understand it not just as a psychological capacity but as a movement of human history. I also highlight how it helped me consider the high-profile public apologies offered this week by two of my least-favorite people: Marjorie Taylor Greene and Chrissy Teigen. Enjoy! For more on the application of integral pluralism in the current culture war, see Greg Thomas’s excellent new essay “Why I Am a Radical Moderate.” June 26th: Grace and Grit: From Book to Movie to Integral Life Practice On another note, my friends and colleagues, Nomali Perera and writer/director Grace and Grit (the movie), Sebastian Siegel, would like to invite you to a zoom call where they’ll discuss the movie, as well as engage in community practice. It is free and open to all. You can find more details here.

Mapping the Emerging “Integrative Meta-Perspective” - with psychiatrist and futurist Charles M. Johnston M.D.

Fri, 28 May 2021 00:58:11 +0000

Today on Post-Progressive Inquiries I explore the contours of the next stage of human development with psychiatrist and futurist Charles M. Johnston. Charles has just released two new books exploring an emerging way of thinking that he calls the “integrative meta-perspective”. As Charles explains, “Our work today is to bring big-picture, long-term perspectives to the human condition. While these kinds of insights can initially stretch people’s understanding, with time, most people find them seeming like common sense. What is new is that this is a degree of common sense that before now we could not have fully grasped — or tolerated. It would have overwhelmed us. Today, it has become essential.” I hope you enjoy our conversation and check out his latest books: Creative Systems Theory—A Comprehensive Theory of Purpose,Change, and Interrelationship In Human Systems (With Particular Pertinence to Understanding the Times We Live In and the Tasks Ahead for the Species) Perspective and Guidance for a Time of Deep Discord: Why We See Such Extreme Social and Political Polarization—And What We Can Do About It. Post-Progressive Inquiries is a co-production of the Institute for Cultural Evolution and the Daily Evolver Podcast. Steve McIntosh will join the series in the next episode.

The Meaning of It All - An integral look at grief and loss

Wed, 19 May 2021 17:36:31 +0000

In this episode, I take a look at the “ultimate questions” of religion and philosophy: Who are we? Where are we going? How does one live a meaningful life in a world that is marked by loss and death, but also goodness and beauty? Throughout history, humanity has come up with many different and often conflicting answers to these questions. Early humans perceived a spirit world where the ancestors were present and available. Traditional cultures posited a transcendent reality – Godhead or Nirvana – with death as an opportunity for liberation from evil and suffering. Modernity deconstructed religion and spirit but produced the insights of psychology, as well as countless therapies for personal growth. The integral approach is to embrace them all and to be illuminated by multiple truths. In that spirit I created this episode by talking to four of my smartest integral colleagues about their views of the ultimate questions: Dr. Keith Witt, integral psychotherapist for over 50 years, talks about the psychotherapeutic approach to trauma and grief. Integral teacher and coach Nomali Perera shares the story of the death of her father and the metamorphosis of meaning it sparked in her. Buddhist priest and integral teacher Diane Musho Hamilton offers guidance on the meditative approach of compassion and soothing presence. And integral philosopher Steve McIntosh brings a theistic perspective, seeing death as a passage in one’s infinite cosmic journey of divine perfection. I feel better – and a little bigger – having had these conversations. I hope they help you expand a bit as well! – Jeff Salzman

Psychedelics go Mainstream + John McWhorter & Bill Maher on Race

Fri, 14 May 2021 22:14:39 +0000

Part 1: I look at a front-page story in the New York Times about how psychedelic drugs, such as ecstasy and magic mushrooms, are poised to reshape psychiatry. I make the case that this is a significant move in the evolution of human consciousness. Part 2: I play excerpts from a fascinating conversation between John McWhorter and Bill Maher on race relations, and imagine how an understanding of developmental theory would have improved it. Here’s to another week in cultural evolution! ~ Jeff Salzman

Post-Progressive Diversity - Integral Consciousness Busts Ideological Bunkers

Thu, 29 Apr 2021 19:32:00 +0000

This week I explore an essay published in Israel’s newspaper Haaretz that The New York Times said “shook the Israeli left like an ideological bunker-busting bomb.” In it, Nissim Mizrachi, former head of the department of sociology and anthropology at Tel Aviv University, describes what he calls the blind spot of liberals, who, he says, “do not see themselves as ‘classifiable’ from the outside.” “I think the most blatant phenomenon in world politics today is the resounding defeat of the liberal vision,” Mizrachi says. “It’s a double breakdown: one involving the government, in the sense of the left’s inability to gain a political foothold among the masses; and more deeply, one involving an inability to imagine an order that accommodates opposition groups.” Integral theory shows us that all first-tier worldviews, not just liberalism, are stuck in their ideological bunkers. And that the way forward is to explore and open to the world of others, particularly our political opponents. In the second part of the episode, I apply this thesis to the culture war currently being fought within the African-American community, where the antiracists, led by Ibram X. Kendi, are sparring with the anti-antiracists, led by Glenn Loury and others. What does a diversity of worldviews look like? It’s deceptively simple, says Professor Mizrachi, “We think the other side’s concerns are not mine, but they should be because I care about him or her. We share something in common here. We are sharing this land and this nation. It sounds horrible, but he or she needs to become part of us. Because they are part of us.” Sounds kind of beautiful to me, but getting there sure ain’t pretty. I hope you enjoy the episode!

Fighting and Friending our Way Forward - Dr. Keith Witt on the psychological mechanisms that animate evolution

Sun, 21 Mar 2021 22:08:09 +0000

All living processes exist in a rhythm of opposing forces which create conflict, resolving into either cooperation or domination. This dynamic of tension is the subtext of most human activity. The good news is that in the long run friending wins. In this episode of The Shrink and the Pundit, integral psychotherapist Dr Keith Witt explains how sociability is latent in most interactions, even those that are marked by hostility. And how human beings at every scale, from individual children to collective nation-states, invite constraints to provide a delineated space for new growth. Dr. Keith’s insights help us normalize – and realize the potential – in the inevitable conflicts of life. NOTE: We apologize for the buzz you might hear at times from Dr. Keith Witt’s mic.

Meghan and Harry, The Nobility of Green

Thu, 11 Mar 2021 18:38:57 +0000

Every stage of development brings forth new territories in the evolution of human consciousness and culture. A few days ago we witnessed a move into postmodernity (green altitude) in Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Harry and Meghan, the renegade Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Harry and Meghan are exemplars of postmodernity’s most powerful creed: to relieve human suffering that has been unseen in previous structures … suffering in the collective, with a new dedication to those people and groups who have been previously marginalized or discounted by society, and suffering in the individual, with a heightened awareness of psychic pain, trauma, and “mental health”. To some, the interview was a display of hypersensitivity and self-indulgence; to others a noble challenge to right the blind spots of history. In this episode, I explore this latest skirmish in the culture war. With a burst of sunshine by John Denver!

The Maladies of Mean Modernity - Anxiety and depression ravage a world of plenty

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 18:23:20 +0000

Good rationality demystifies the world and bad rationality disenchants it. This week I look at two examples of the casual blindness of mainstream culture to all things divine. 05:44 – Amy Dickenson, writer of the popular advice column “Ask Amy” counsels a woman who is offended that her sick husband’s caregiver offered to pray with him. 17:49 – In the essay, “My Generation Isn’t Suffering Enough,” a wise young writer looks at Gen Z (under 25 years old), and asks why they are so hopeless and sad. Along the way, I look at how a divine Other can be brought through modernity, cleansed of fundamentalism, and experienced directly as the 2nd Person of Spirit. The deep meaning this brings to life (and death) is the ultimate antidote to anxiety and depression. Enjoy the episode!

Empathy and Friendliness at Integral - Joe Biden and a New Generation Lead the Way

Sat, 27 Feb 2021 20:33:31 +0000

This week I spotlight more of what’s new in cultural evolution: President Joe Biden leads a memorial to COVID victims and offers consolation to their survivors in a way that brings on the best of “good green”. Green consciousness, “the sensitive self”, is drawn to ever-deeper levels of empathy and care, especially for those who are typically unsung in society. It is the leading edge of human evolution and the part of green that we want to integrate into 2nd tier consciousness. Joe Biden, uniquely qualified by virtue of his personal suffering, is leading the way. TwinsthenewTrend is the moniker for twin brothers Tim and Fred Williams, now 21, who have become YouTube sensations recording “reaction videos” of themselves listening to all types of music. Their effortless flow and guileless friendliness to all are magnetic and, I argue, represent qualities of integral consciousness that are native to a new generation of young people, two more of whom I profile. 13:00 – TwinsTheNewTrend 24:15 – Zoë Jenkins of Civics Unplugged 31:15 – Young friend from Stockholm Enjoy the episode! – Jeff

The Next Economy with Pia Malaney - Senior Economist at the Institute for New Economic Thinking

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 18:29:23 +0000

In this episode of Post-Progressive Inquiries, Steve McIntosh and I visit with economist Pia Malaney to ponder economics through the lens of evolutionary theory. We look at what is arising concerning globalism and nationalism, wealth distribution, the future of work, model economies, the culture war between MAGAstan vs WOKEstan, and why Joe Biden gets us from the fire into the frying pan. Hope you enjoy the episode! – Jeff Salzman Pia Malaney is Co-Founder and Director of The Center for Innovation, Growth and Society and Senior Economist at the Institute for New Economic Thinking. Her own professional research has focused on economic, biological, and sociological approaches to human welfare. She has held positions at the Harvard Institute for International Development and the Center for International Development at Harvard’s Kennedy School where she worked in collaboration with Asian and African governments on the development of health care and economic policies. She received a BA from Wellesley College and a PhD from Harvard University. Learn more about the Institute for Cultural Evolution and Steve McIntosh.

Impeachment Hits Bedrock, Cancel Culture Evolves

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 22:47:21 +0000

In this episode, recorded in the middle of the impeachment trial, I examine both the stunning House prosecution of the worst presidential betrayal in U.S. history (thank you Liz Cheney) as well as the apparent, dispiriting acquittal. It turns out that rationality and the evolution of “laws not men” are not built on solid ground, but are tethered to tectonic consciousness structures that are pre-rational, mythic and magic. I also look at last week’s Real Time show, where Bill Maher makes a good case about the religious qualities of Trumpism, but … if only he understood development. Finally, I highlight his guest, Charlotte Alter, who attempts an integral analysis of the cultural “cancellation” of actor Armie Hammer. It may fall flat with Bill — but you’ll get it! Enjoy the episode and let me know what you think. You can write at jeff@dailyevolver.com or leave a voicemail here.

Marjorie Taylor Greene is Optional - Integral observations on life in times of war

Thu, 04 Feb 2021 19:40:24 +0000

Just when we thought it was safe to go back in the water, out of the depths arises Marjorie Taylor Greene, the QAnon Congresswoman from Georgia who trumps Trump in conspiracy nonsense. In this episode I attempt to bring some integral context to her and QAnon, the spaces they rent in our heads and suggest how we as evolutionary practitioners can relax into a more mature engagement with our ever-morphing culture.

Gen Z at Second Tier - Guests: Gary Sheng and Zoë Jenkins of Civics Unplugged

Fri, 29 Jan 2021 23:16:58 +0000

Inspiring+++ Worth sharing! I shared to a Greta Thunberg Facebook group. – Pierre Hamel Very inspiring! Hopeful! Refreshing integral worldview in action. – Pat Veenema This is so inspiring and hopeful. I was imagining that Jeff and Steve may have felt like proud parents! These young people “get it.” – Mary Reese Folger In this episode, Steve McIntosh and I visit with two young leaders, Gary Sheng and Zoë Jenkins, who are activating higher consciousness in Generation Z through their organization Civics Unplugged. Civics Unplugged is a community of Gen Z leaders committed to strengthening democracy through civic entrepreneurship in the U.S. and around the world. The organization has received significant attention with partners like Andrew Yang, the Smithsonian, Duane “The Rock” Johnson, and National Geographic. Wisdom is rarely married to youth, but meeting these two young people gave me greater confidence in our future, and I hope it will for you as well. – Jeff Salzman Gary Sheng, a former software engineer with Google, is on Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30” list of young innovators. Zoë Jenkins is a 17-year-old equity and justice advocate from Lexington Kentucky. __________________________________________________ Announcement Are there higher “stages” to friendship? My friend, Terry Patten, will be offering a major address on one of our key leverage points in a fragmenting world: our capacity for generosity and friendship. You’re invited to register for Spiritual Friends Amidst Cultural Madness: The Power of Our Grateful Generosity. The free online event will be Wed, February 3rd 2021 @ 12 Noon PST, and you can watch or listen to the recording at any time.

The Inauguration of Relief - Biden and Harris are new but normal

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 05:19:23 +0000

Hey folks, here’s some commentary I did live today as the Inauguration for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris was unfolding. As always I looked for interesting integral angles, and think I found some. Also, I finally made peace with JLo! Enjoy and let me know what you think at jeff@dailyevolver.com. – Jeff Photo of National Mall: AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Leading Leaders to Higher Ground - Rand Stagen on what’s next in executive development

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 19:51:42 +0000

Epic interview. Brilliant and inspiring ideas (and strategies and tactics) around leadership development and how to work with “power” in the service of cultural transformation – Accelerating Leadership Rand Stagen is well known in the integral world as founder of the Stagen leadership academy. Stagen is the gold standard for leadership training, focused on long-term, disciplined, “leadership practice” which integrates psychological and even spiritual dimensions. I consider Rand to be one of most effective practitioners of applied integral thinking out there, and I enjoyed this conversation immensely. I hope you do too. “Post-Progressive Inquiries” is a co-production of the Daily Evolver and the Institute for Cultural Evolution. My co-host is the founder of the Institute, Steve McIntosh. You can find out more about Rand Stagen and the Stagen Leadership Academy here.

PUKE HIM OUT! - Mean Red Trump is Poison

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 22:36:21 +0000

Thank you for this hopeful and inspiring conversation. – Donnell Allan Thanks fellas. I needed this chat. – Mary Evans Absolutely love you guys. Tons of sense-making along with optimism for the future. It feels good to smile again. – Cee Gee Last Wednesday we saw a mob assault the US Capitol Building in an attempt to stop the certification of November’s presidential election. Five people have died. This insurrection was incited by a sitting president of the United States – whose flags then waved from the broken windows beneath the Rotunda. As these astonishing events have sunk in over the past few days, there is a growing sentiment that Trump and rabid Trumpism must be condemned and contained. And that Trump’s political energies – “mean red” in developmental terms – are poisonous to the hard-won civility of a modern society. In this episode, integral psychotherapist Dr. Keith Witt and I try to add some integral perspective. Let me know what you think at jeff@dailyevolver.com. – Jeff Salzman

The Light and Shadow of Integral Consciousness - Guest: Nomali Perera, Integral Coach, Facilitator, Trainer

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 23:27:40 +0000

Excellent nuanced conversation. – Daniel Schulman Never heard anybody articulate so beautifully the differences between integral self and holistic self; although hearing explained so succinctly, it felt like home. Like many kensho moments when it opens us to a deeper understanding that we can never close again. Thank you. Yellow is still trying to understand and let go, teal accepts. – Steven Webb Great conversation in the transition from one tier to the next. The clear appreciation of the seminal work of Clare Graves, Don Beck and Chris Cowan is wonderful. Thanks to Jeff Salzman and Nomali Perera. 1:09: 26, well invested! – Albert Klamt What a wonderful conversation, thanks for sharing! A must-listen for every integral person. – Johannes Schunter Enough people have been experimenting with integral consciousness for long enough that some of its contours are becoming apparent. As with all stages of human history, integral both sheds new light and casts new shadows on the human condition. In today’s episode, Nomali Perera, my dear friend and colleague in integral practice for nearly 20 years, and I share a few of our observations. 13:13 – How integral includes, and get hijacked by, previous stages of consciousness 39:14 – “Integral bypassing” – what the maps show us vs the territory we can actually inhabit 52:10 – The qualities of the Yellow/Teal and Turquoise stages of Integral consciousness, and how we can embrace both I hope you enjoy the episode and, if moved, let me know what you think! Send emails to jeff@dailyevolver.com or leave me a voicemail here. Nomali Perera is a certified integral coach, facilitator and trainer, and can be found on Practical Integral.com.

Letters from Listeners and My Favorite Things

Thu, 24 Dec 2020 22:23:52 +0000

I start this week with some feisty and insightful letters from listeners and end with an idiosyncratic list of my products of the year, decade and millennium (so far). (01:34) Who’s more mean, trads or pomos? Responses to my critique of the famous “toast scene” in the movie Five Easy Pieces. (18:39) How can the mythic impulse in religion be integrated? (22:55) My ebullient resilience, and how to capture integral in four bullet points (26:25) My products of the year, decade and millennium so far (34:40) Gratitude to the Integral movement’s leading light Let me know what YOU think! Write to me at jeff@dailyevolver.com or leave me a voicemail. And farewell to a no-fun but probably quite fruitful year. Hope you all have a Happy Holiday! – Jeff Salzman

The Evangelical Schism - “Jericho politics” causes Christians to choose

Sun, 20 Dec 2020 23:52:19 +0000

In this episode, I look at the tensions arising among conservative Christians about how fervently to support Trump. 01:23 – Clips and observations from the Jericho march on Washington DC earlier this month featuring evangelical leaders (and Alex Jones), and the backlash it has caused with others in the movement. 21:25 – How mainstream punditry is seeking to explain the seeming paradox of Trump-loving Christians. 35:50 – Bill Bryson and Jack Nicholson demonstrate why the hatred of the left still unites traditional conservatives – and why we deserve it. I hope you enjoy the episode! Announcement: The Institute for Cultural Evolution think tank, where I serve on the Board, is recruiting an Executive Director to help run our operations. The job description for this new position can be found here. If the possibility of working with ICE sounds intriguing, I encourage you to check out this opportunity. – Jeff Salzman

A Call To Further Becoming for Women Over 50 - Guest: Sue Brightman

Wed, 16 Dec 2020 22:56:13 +0000

In this episode, I welcome integral thinker Sue Brightman to talk about her new book, A Call to Further Becoming, The New Declaration From Women Over 50. Sue describes the cutting edge of consciousness being pioneered by women who are now entering – and thriving – in elderhood. Based on 100 interviews with women age 50 – 70+, Sue shares 10 themes that capture the emerging essence of this creative, exciting and spiritually-rich stage of life. I hope you enjoy the episode! – Jeff Salzman

Newsmax – Righter Than Fox - Trumpers making sense of the world

Fri, 11 Dec 2020 21:11:43 +0000

In this episode I share some clips from Newsmax, the cable news network that is the new home for Trump people who have left Fox News for not being supportive enough of the President. Though inspired by the mendacity of his election fraud claims, the reporters hew closer to the truth than Trump does (The National Report), except when they opt for a good old-fashioned rant (Diamond and Silk). The result is a more differentiated mediaverse, required for the integration to come. I end on a happy note, with uplifting evidence of the evolution of consciousness in the person of five-year-old Tianna.

American Post-Progressivism Meets Swedish Metamodernism - Guest: Tomas Bjorkman, Co-author of The Nordic Secret

Sat, 05 Dec 2020 00:01:57 +0000

This is intellectual champagne!!! – Alexander Husum Welcome to Post-Progressive Inquiries, a new podcast series coproduced by the Daily Evolver and The Institute for Cultural Evolution (ICE). In each episode, ICE President Steve McIntosh and I explore new territories emerging in politics and culture. We are happy to have as our inaugural guest Tomas Bjorkman, an “applied philosopher and social entrepreneur” who has founded and funded many initiatives dedicated to the co-creation of a more conscious society. Steve and I talk with Tomas about his work, and particularly his association with the Metamodern movement that has emerged out of European developmental thought. Tomas Bjorkman is the founder of the Ekskäret Foundation and Retreat Center on Ekskäret Island in the Swedish Archipelago. He is the author of several books, most recently The World We Create, From God to Market. Integral philosopher Steve McIntosh is the author of several books on integral philosophy, including Developmental Politics, and Evolution’s Purpose.

What is Truth? - The path to a trans-truth world

Sun, 29 Nov 2020 01:44:06 +0000

Thank you Jeff. I love your show. Thank you for this talk. I struggle with these same feelings and it was good to find some humor in it. – John & Barbara Knoops Many thanks Jeff and Keith. Your episodes are always enjoyable and thought provoking. I immediately resonated with the concepts of empathy without demanding empathy in return, re-enchantment and ceremony. I have experienced these in my own life and look forward to more conversations that address their further development. – Barbara Senglaub Dr. Keith kicks off this episode with research showing that although virtually everybody lies, most people vastly prefer to tell the truth and believe other people are doing the same. But how do we as integralists make sense of competing truth claims, particularly from different sides in the culture war? How do the facts and logic of modernity stack up against the allure of premodern myth and story? And what are the effects to the body politic of the long-term diet of lies served up by our newly-certified Loser-in-Chief? “The Shrink and the Pundit” is my ongoing conversation with integral psychotherapist Dr. Keith Witt.

Using and Misusing History - Premodern lessons in a postmodern world

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 06:41:41 +0000

As always, Jeff gives us an outstanding talk about the user of Integral Theory to understand and navigate our world. – Nils Montan On last week’s edition of CNN’s Global Public Square, host Fareed Zakaria ardently condemned Donald Trump’s attack on the election, drawing dark parallels to the rise of Hitler and Nazism after World War 1. His first guest, former National Security Advisor, General H. R. McMaster, chided Fareed for “misusing history”, arguing that the US has modern institutions specifically built to withstand the will of an autocrat. There is an essential truth in both of these perspectives. Fareed is right that pre-rational tiers of human consciousness can be dangerous and violent. They hunger for great myths, and thrill to the warrior leader who has come to set the world right. McMaster is correct that the US government is designed to check these non-rational impulses, and seems to be doing so effectively against the onslaught of Trump the Red. In this episode, I argue that integral thinking provides a next possibility beyond trusting leaders and trusting institutions. It is to trust in development itself, which in modernity and postmodernity has installed reliable new structures of rationality and sensitivity that dilute and contain (but do not eliminate) the premodern ones. Maybe the lesson of Germany in the ‘30’s is not that it could happen again in the US., but is found in the subsequent evolution of Germany into a world-leading nation less than a lifetime later. And that the odious Trump, if not Trumpism altogether, is headed to the ash heap of history.

Turning Off Trump - Guests: Diane Musho Hamilton and Terry Patten

Tue, 10 Nov 2020 05:45:47 +0000

Who better to process the election with than my integral political pals, Diane Musho Hamilton and Terry Patten? After all, it was just four years ago we gathered at my place to celebrate Hillary Clinton’s victory together (Ha ha!). The next day we recorded the podcast, The Trump Era, Day 1: Three integrally-informed friends attempt to face reality. After four years of The Trump Show, we’re happy to be changing the channel. To what, we don’t exactly know, but we’re happy to share our musings with you! Share back at jeff@dailyevolver.com. This is a co-production with Terry’s podcast “State of Emergence”. You can find out more about Diane here.

How Sam Harris Misreads the Right - And reveals a blind spot of “mean modernism”

Fri, 06 Nov 2020 02:29:03 +0000

Very good podcast Jeff. Puts a lot of calm into a very chaotic time. – Nils Montan The day before this week’s US presidential election one of my favorite public intellectuals, Sam Harris, released a podcast where he announced a breakthrough in his understanding of what had heretofore been a mystery: the appeal of Donald Trump to his followers. His revelation: Trump offers what no priest can credibly offer: a total expiation of shame. His personal shamelessness is a kind of spiritual balm. Trump is fat Jesus. He’s grab-them-by-the-pussy Jesus. He’s I’ll-eat- cheeseburgers-if-I-want-to Jesus. He’s punch-them-in-the-face Jesus. How painfully partial and depressing is Harris’s denigration of the 30% of the population who love Trump, and the 47% who voted for him. And we thought Trump was insulting (he is)! Integral thinking offers so much more in the way of understanding – and appreciating – people with different worldviews. We see the dignities and disasters of all three developmental stages currently fighting the culture war and seek to integrate the best of each. Harris, in contrast, offers a “mean modernism” that marks all non-rational reality as deluded and dangerous. Enjoy the podcast and let me know what you think at Jeff@DailyEvolver.com.

Vote for Joe! - And his vision of our next America

Fri, 30 Oct 2020 13:39:57 +0000

One of my biggest surprises in this campaign has been the growth in my estimation of Joe Biden as a person, candidate, and possible President of the United States. No longer just the compromise contender to defeat Donald Trump, Biden has inspired me with a vision for America that seeks to integrate the two competing stories of our history, those of gratitude and grievance. I endorse him enthusiastically! Watch full video of “The Love – @Black Eyed Peas and Jennifer Hudson | Joe Biden for President 2020″ _ _ _

Good Green’s Path to Integral - What’s emerging in racial reconciliation

Wed, 28 Oct 2020 15:15:22 +0000

That is great piece! Real manifestation of 2nd tear in practical terms. And eye opening even for people from abroad USA, which have bit different racial issues. – KuboF Hromoslav Powerful. Extremely informative. Thank you – Sue Brooks This is really good. Cindy Wigglesworth has a great balance between a lot of knowledge/wisdom with true humility. She’s doing good work in our world, y’all. – Michael Gott Whoa, such a great conversation! – Sarah Foster Barrett This week I welcome back my dear friend, Cindy Wigglesworth, a Teacher known and loved by many in the integral world. Several years ago, Cindy turned her considerable insight to the issue of racial reckoning in America, particularly on the part of privileged white people, and has helped build a vanguard program of diversity training through her church, Unity of Houston. As always with Sister Cindy, whether we’re talking about spiritual intelligence or Star Trek, I received a transmission of new consciousness in this conversation, and ended it with an enlarged view of what is happening and how to be helpful. I hope you do, too! Cindy Wigglesworth is author of SQ21: The Twenty-One Skills of Spiritual Intelligence, and you can find out more about her and her work here. Cindy is also an accomplished watercolorist and painted the illustration above. Friends, don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and Like us on Facebook! Thank you!

Psychopaths are People Too - A growing empathy for empathy disorders

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 05:12:48 +0000

I remember hearing something like “any behavior is appropriate in some context”. Your presentation really brings this out! – George Shepherd Moral development involves increasing the categories of people who are inside one’s circle of compassion. At the green postmodern stage, we include people who have been marginalized because of race, looks or sexual identities, as well as folks with mental and emotional conditions that deviate from behavioral norms (which are themselves questioned). One of the most challenging frontiers in the mainstreaming of abnormal behavior is the “anti-social personality disorder,” which includes psychopathy and sociopathy. These conditions range from people who lack empathy and capacity for guilt, to people who lie and bully, to violent criminals. In this episode, I look at two examples of our culture’s reconsideration of people who exhibit this spectrum of traits: The author of last Sunday’s New York Times’ Modern Love column, “He Married a Sociopath: Me”, who describes her journey from a sociopathy diagnosis in her early twenties to a functional life today as a wife, mother and doctor of psychology (specializing in anti-social personality disorders). A certain resident of the White House. Hope you enjoy!

When the Left Goes Right - Conspiracies and Trump-love among spiritual progressives. Guests: Jason Lange and Nomali Perera

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 01:34:58 +0000

Wow a great stimulating conversation. – Mary Linda Landauer These two guests were particularly interesting. a fascinating discussion. – Dave Cardano A couple weeks ago I received an email from my old pal Jason Lange with the question: “What’s your pulse on all the ‘conspirituality’ out there?” I’d never heard the term “conspirituality”, but I understood what he meant when he described “the weird convergence I’m seeing of ‘spiritual’ friends going hard right, Trump, even QAnon.” What an interesting phenomenon! I’ve seen some of it myself, even in the integral world. Is it a reaction against the recent eruptions of mean green? An evolutionary regression brought on by stressful life conditions? Or perhaps a strange integration, as is the way of evolution, of the split-off fragments of earlier stages? Or … do they see something true that the rest of us are missing? I wanted to know more, so I invited Jason and our colleague Nomali Perera, who has a keen cultural eye, to a conversation. I learned a lot (what a world!) and trust you will too. – Jeff Salzman 1:00 Conspirituality, what a great word! 16:13 Can we even know what’s true? 20:00 Trump, the mind-blower 20:58 Vaccines and the DNA of the USA 40:58 Who or what has authority in the face of conspirituality? 42:21 Healthy American nationalism and Biden 45:16 The emerging Integral political right 52:52 So, what now? Some ideas to move forward Nomali Perera is an integral coach and consultant, and can be found at Practical Integral. Jason Lange is a filmmaker and evolutionary guide and producer of the podcast, Do the Evolution.

Integral Life Practice Comes to Life! - Live sessions with leading teachers. Guest: Corey DeVos

Tue, 13 Oct 2020 19:49:18 +0000

Hey Folks, I recently checked in with Corey DeVos, Editor-in-Chief of Integral Life, about their long-awaited debut of Integral Life Practice (ILP), a “personal-evolution” program that integrates the best practices of spiritual, psychological, interpersonal and cognitive development. Integral Life has brought together dozens of deeply-experienced Practice Leaders to provide live, daily guided ILP practice sessions that you can experience from the privacy of your own living room. Check it out here. But being integralists and old pals, Corey and I couldn’t stop our conversation there, so we also took on our mostly-concurring integral interpretations of today’s news in politics and culture, as well as the evolution of the integral community. And Corey’s new integral hobby which you can also purchase! We hope you enjoy. – Jeff Salzman 1:51 – Introducing Integral Life Practice: the new online community practice platform on IntegralLife.com 11:44 – What’s going on in the Integral community regarding politics, culture and news 55:34 – Corey’s amazing AQAL woodwork!

The Autocrat and the Democrat - Trump loses his breath while Biden pulls ahead

Thu, 08 Oct 2020 22:34:02 +0000

That is the best and most integral commentary on the US presidential election I have come across so far. Thanks so much, Jeff. – John O’neill With less than a month left in the campaign, Trump, knocked back with Covid, stokes his base with new cries about “the Russia hoax”. Meanwhile Joe Biden, up in the polls, goes to Gettysburg to talk about faith in “One America.” In this episode I share my observations on another week in the evolution of American politics.

The First Presidential Debate: Nutty And Fruitful

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 18:04:10 +0000

The first debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden is over – and I didn’t start drinking! In this episode, I show how an integral view helps us see the debate for what it is instead of a defective version of “what it should be”. Then I look at some of the issues the candidates addressed, and how together they moved the ball. By the way, I hope you’ll join me for my live show every Wednesday at 1pm US Mountain Time. The Daily Evolver Live is hosted by IntegralLife – and now simulcast to my Facebook page! As always, I love hearing what’s on your minds and hearts, so keep your comments, questions and critiques coming! You can write me at jeff@dailyevolver.com, or leave me a voicemail (which I may play on the show). And don’t forget to Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter…

“What’s Up With These Trump People?” - And other questions from listeners . . .

Wed, 23 Sep 2020 04:06:48 +0000

Hey Folks! In this episode, I respond to provocative comments from my very smart listeners, and share some photos from my trip to Trumplandia! See topics and timestamps below. I love hearing what’s on your minds and hearts, so keep your comments, questions and critiques coming! You can write me at jeff@dailyevolver.com, or leave me a voicemail (which I may play on the show). And don’t forget to Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter… THIS EPISODE: 0:45 – “What’s up with these Trump people?” Trump supporters seen through the lens of Piaget’s developmental theory. 13:06 – The devilish details in the political integration of left and right. 24:16 – Rapper J Cole’s “vulnerable rap with a sword” displays integral consciousness. 30:52 – “Isn’t woke culture really warrior red, and critical theory amber fundamentalist?” 39:30 – Peak Barbra: a 24-year-old Barbra Streisand transmits early green consciousness in her signature song.

Breath and Body Vitality - Dr. Keith and I rage against the dying of the light

Sun, 20 Sep 2020 00:06:38 +0000

In this episode of “Shrink and the Pundit,” Keith and I explore breathing practices described in a powerful new book, Breath, the New Science of a Lost Art, by James Nestor, as well as a muscle conditioning program developed by Dr. Zach Bush in his 4-Minute Workout. Both systems promised – and delivered – big results from easy effort, enabling both Keith, a master practitioner, and I, a serial dilettante, to tap into new vitality from rethinking some basic biological functions. I hope it inspires you too! __________________________________ Attn: Apple Podcast users – please resubscribe Our link to Apple Podcasts broke, so new episodes may not be showing up. To fix, simply delete the Daily Evolver from Podcasts – then resubscribe. All fixed!

What’s So Good About WOKE? - Culture is getting greener and sometimes meaner

Fri, 28 Aug 2020 04:21:12 +0000

“Claire and I listened to Jeff’s latest podcast on Sunday and it was a breath of fresh air. Highly recommended if you’re upset by the current culture wars. (if you’re not, are you still alive?) Yes, Jeff uses some integral jargon from time to time but I think anyone will appreciate his view from 10,000 feet.” – Bill Epperly, PhD, of Integral Awakenings Every stage of human development is experienced by its subjects as an awakening into a new world. Traditional religious believers (amber/blue meme) “wake up” to the reality of a transcendent God or Nirvana. Modern rationalists (orange meme) create “the Enlightenment,” a world freed from the bondage of ignorance and superstition. Postmodern (green meme) progressives “get woke” to how the historic karmas of oppression continue to manifest, including in our own hearts and minds. People at each of these stages tend to hate and fear those who have not awakened into their world, and each has their orthodoxy, thought police and cancellation of heretics. This provides the fuel for today’s culture war (and the endless wars of history). I receive a lot of questions about what integral thinking can reveal about woke culture, and the challenge it brings to the established modern and traditional views. In this episode, I respond to a message I received from a listener who sums up his argument with a sincere question: “What’s so good about WOKE?”

Life Beyond Outrage - Can we really be friends with our enemies?

Thu, 20 Aug 2020 04:40:58 +0000

Integral psychotherapist Dr. Keith Witt sparked this episode of our ongoing conversation, “The Shrink and the Pundit”, by writing to me about a dilemma that many evolutionaries share: In our personal relationships we are pretty good at harmonizing differences. But when it comes to politics and culture it is a much harder task. He writes: I’m mostly stable at teal and turquoise helping my clients at whatever Kosmic address they occupy, but I find that much more difficult when considering the larger social struggles. It’s as if a primitive part of me wants war so I can attack and defeat enemies, while the mature part of me wants to turn enemies into allies, even brothers and sisters. I can do this on the local, individual level, but keep struggling with it on larger cultural levels. I objectify and attack individuals, institutions, and groups, knowing I’m objectifying them, knowing that it is not the most beautiful, good or true reaction. I feel like I’m missing something that’s just on the edge of awareness. WDYT? Together, I think Keith and I found some answers, and may even have caught a glimpse of what can happen when the cats and dogs stop fighting. Enjoy and let us know what you think! Dr. Keith Witt is a practicing psychotherapist and author of many books and courses on integral psychotherapy.

My Spiral Unfolding So Far - Jeff Salzman with Nomali Perera and Lee Mason of Practical Integral

Fri, 07 Aug 2020 19:40:23 +0000

In today’s episode I recount my own evolution through the spiral of development and share how the integral vision has illuminated my world(s). I was approached for this interview by two dear friends: Nomali Perera, with whom I’ve worked on many integral projects since 2004, and Lee Mason, whom I’ve come to know more recently. Nomali and Lee are both coaches, facilitators and teachers in the integral arena, and have teamed up to create a series of offerings called Practical Integral. In addition to this interview, they asked me to join them in producing short introductory videos on each of the five dimensions of Ken Wilber’s AQAL Theory (all Quadrants, Levels, Lines, States and Types). It was a perfect lockdown project that we enjoyed thoroughly, and the videos, Back to Basics: Introducing Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory, are now available on their site. I encourage you to check them out (and perhaps send them to someone who might enjoy hearing the lived experience of integral consciousness more than the fine points of theory). I hope you enjoy both the interview and the new video series. And please do get in touch with Nomali and Lee if you are interested in integral facilitation and coaching. About Lee Mason and Nomali Perera Based in Amsterdam, Lee Mason will be teaching the fourth edition of his comprehensive Integral Flourishing course, starting on September 14th, 2020. Nomali Perera, a certified Integral Master Coach will be offering three new Immunity to Change™ group coaching sessions in August and September. You can find more details on www.practicalintegral.com.

The Power of Authentic Relating and the Circling Practice - A Conversation with Jason Digges

Mon, 03 Aug 2020 17:19:54 +0000

One of the most powerful projects to come out of the integral movement is the practice of “authentic relating” with its core 2nd-person technology of “circling.” The Boulder Integral Center was a laboratory for its development, and Jason Digges was in the thick of it, first by being personally transformed, then by teaching it to others … and now with his terrific new book Conflict = Energy, The Transformative Practice of Authentic Relating.

Evolving Race and Culture - A conversation with Phil Anderson and Greg Thomas

Tue, 21 Jul 2020 06:03:01 +0000

We are in a cultural moment regarding race where we can literally see and feel the movements of history. It’s making for many great conversations among integralists, and in this episode I share one I enjoyed recently with two evolutionary thinkers, Greg Thomas and Phil Anderson. Our topics include differentiating the often-conflated concepts of race, culture and development … recognizing and harmonizing both poles of the culture war … and exploring the uniquely cosmopolitan role that Black folks play in the ever-accelerating evolution of humanity. As always you are welcome to join the conversation by writing to me at jeff@dailyevolver.com or leaving a voice mail here. Greg Thomas, CEO of the Jazz Leadership Project, is a writer, intellectual, and entrepreneur. Greg was instrumental in developing programs such as the National Jazz Museum in Harlem’s flagship interview series, Harlem Speaks. He has written about culture, race, and democratic life in publications ranging from the Village Voice, Integral+Life, New Republic, Salon, UPTOWN, The Root, the Guardian Observer, and the New York Daily News—as jazz columnist. Greg has lectured on American cultural history and jazz at Columbia, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Hamilton College, and Harvard. His blog is Tune In To Leadership. Phil Anderson has a background in electronics hardware design and software engineering and has spent the last few decades engaged in various Internet-related entrepreneurial activities. An epiphany that occurred in 2007 when trying to model the process of evolutionary emergence using engineering control theory concepts led Phil to the idea of Holons, Holarchies and Wilber’s Integral theory, although because of how Phil arrived at Integral thinking, he retains his own unique holonic Integral perspective. His blog is published at Integral World.

Listeners respond on race

Mon, 22 Jun 2020 21:40:20 +0000

My last episode, Toward A Post-Progressive View of Race Relations, sparked a lot of letters from listeners. In this episode, I answer some of the very good questions and very smart criticisms I received. Keep them coming! Send email to jeff[at]dailyevolver.com or leave a voicemail here. – Jeff

Toward a Post-Progressive View of Race Relations - Part 1: How George Floyd’s murder is growing-up AmericaPart 2: Reading Ibram X. Kendi and Thomas Sowell

Wed, 10 Jun 2020 16:01:15 +0000

The videotaped murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police and the subsequent two weeks of demonstrations has galvanized the nation. In part 1 of this episode (00:10), I look at the evolutionary potency of the events of the last two weeks, which have brought into searing clarity the realization that a part of the American family has been grievously discounted and mistreated. And that we as a country passionately desire to set things right. I describe a resulting turn of the “spiral of development” regarding race, with red behaviors becoming more constrained, traditionalists becoming more professional, and modernists becoming more sensitive and humane. In part 2 of this episode (12:50), I look at the continued development of the leading edge of society: postmodernism. What might growth beyond contemporary political progressivism look like? I attempt to flesh this out under the guidance of two leading African American intellectuals, Ibram X.Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist, and Thomas Sowell, author of Black Rednecks and White Liberals. Though each of these men come from opposite poles of contemporary American politics, both bring essential truths to the table. Integrating them reveals a more complete understanding of America’s tragic racial legacy and the unique role of Black America in building an ever-more vibrant nation of ever more vibrant people.

The Emergence of Post-Progressive Political Thought - A conversation with Steve McIntosh

Wed, 20 May 2020 18:01:22 +0000

It’s subtle but some of you have noticed: I’ve changed the tagline of the Daily Evolver to “A post-progressive look at politics and culture”. It used to read “Integral insights into politics and culture”, which still describes what I attempt to do in this podcast: to point out what I see as the emerging edges of human and cultural evolution, and to foster new habits of thinking for people who wish to embrace multiple worldviews. So when my pal, neighbor and integral philosopher Steve McIntosh, used the term post-progressive in one of our evening hangouts, my integral chimes rang. Steve and I both paused to ponder. Post-progressive … is it a term? Are people using it? A quick google search showed that it describes a genre of rock music. How about politics? Yes, there was one prominent article that had the term post-progressive in its title; the author used it, however, to describe certain combative streams of leftist politics. But how about the next stage in the evolution of political thought? While Steve and I have both happily identified as progressives for decades, we have also begun to chafe at the hardening of its orthodoxy, especially in the age of Trump, and to feel an evolutionary pull forward. We notice this is true of many other folks in the integral community and the culture at large. If we and integral theory are correct, the post-progressive move forward will, in part, involve integrating the best of progressivism and the best of its conservative opposition. But unlike centrism, which seeks to compromise competing ideals of the status quo, post-progressivism represents a vertical move that will expand the political playing field to embrace emergent thinking and policies. In this episode, Steve and I explore the new terrain of post-progressive political thought, as well as its “felt sense”. For more, check out Steve’s new article, Toward a Post-Progressive Progressive Political Perspective, published in Aero Magazine online. Many of the core ideas are also expressed in his new book Developmental Politics: How American Can Grow Into a Better Version of Itself – and of course in the Daily Evolver podcast archives.

Zoom into the Integral European Conference - The show will go on - online!

Tue, 12 May 2020 04:40:16 +0000

I’m a big fan of The Integral European Conference (IEC), which has become the leading event in the international integral community. The fourth and latest IEC, Global Integral Awakens, was scheduled for the end of this month at Lake Balaton in Hungary. Then came COVID-19 and reluctant cancellation. But the show will go on – online! Founder Bence Ganti and his conference team have risen to the challenge of reimagining the conference on the Zoom platform, complete with over 70 presenters and a full range of activities including workshops, games, even live concerts and dance. In this short episode, Bence shares some of how the online conference will work and how you can participate. See IEC ONLINE. Bence and the team are also planning the next in-person event in May 2021. For more on the goals and spirit of the conference check out our earlier conversation.

Conversations as Phenomena of Evolution - Cultivating the second-person at second-tier

Wed, 29 Apr 2020 03:51:32 +0000

Human beings have evolved – and continue to – within the domains of first-person, second-person, and third-person reality. In first-person (I-space) we integrate ideas and worldviews. In third-person (it-space) we create new systems and technologies out in the world. This episode is about evolution in the domain of second-person (we-space), where we develop in relationship with others. My guest is my longtime friend and colleague, Diane Musho Hamilton, who discusses the ideas behind her new book, Compassionate Conversations, co-authored with Gabriel Menegale Wilson and Kimberly Myosai Loh. She explains how, by simply talking and listening to other people more consciously, we can enact our own – and humanity’s – evolution into the Integral Age.

The Light in the Covid Tunnel - Dr. Keith and Jeff on life in lockdown

Wed, 22 Apr 2020 20:50:06 +0000

Dr. Keith Witt and I have way too much fun discussing the consequences, in all four quadrants, of life in the time of COVID-19.

Some Cheery Contemplations on Death - …. and the Self that doesn’t die

Wed, 15 Apr 2020 18:56:19 +0000

Consider, friend, as you pass by, as you are now, so once was I. As I am now, you too shall be. Prepare, therefore, to follow me. This famous epitaph from a Scottish tombstone sums up the central dilemma of human existence: it ends in death. But is death the end? All peoples throughout history have intuited that there is more to this life than meets the eye. And they (we!) have created endless practices and art forms to invoke reality beyond time and space. In the spirit of preparation and good cheer, I share some ideas and poetry that have come in handy for me.

A Plague Arrives - How Integral practice helps us to meet it

Sun, 22 Mar 2020 05:33:27 +0000

This week I take a look at the Coronavirus pandemic and humanity’s response to it. The integral lens helps us see more clearly the myriad forces rising out of this crisis, which increases our wisdom and compassion in dealing with it. The situation is changing day-to-day and I will no doubt comment further in future podcasts. Let me know what you’re thinking at jeff@dailyevolver.com.

Why Not to Have a Secret Affair - Dr. Keith on How Cheating Ruins Everything

Thu, 12 Mar 2020 01:14:39 +0000

As a psychotherapist, I have conducted over fifty thousand therapy sessions with men, women, couples, teens, kids, and families over the last thirty-seven years. And I’m here to testify that secret affairs literally screw everybody up. So says Dr. Keith Witt in this fascinating exploration of infidelity in marriage, which arises out of human beings’ two competing sexual drives: to pair-bond and to cheat. From an integral perspective, affairs arrest the development of both the couple and each individual partner. Keith explains the reasons people have secret affairs (and how they justify them), how to recognize and derail the cascade of behaviors that lead to infidelity, and how healthy couples recover and move forward in its aftermath.

So It’s Joe - Biden claims the middle lane in a race with Bernie

Fri, 06 Mar 2020 02:18:11 +0000

What a difference a Super Tuesday can make! Last week I and many others wrote off Joe Biden’s candidacy as hopeless. Now he is the front runner for the Democratic nomination in a two-man race with Bernie Sanders. What happened? And what might it reveal about the race going forward? To ponder these questions, I invite onto the podcast two of my favorite Integral political pals, Diane Musho Hamilton and Terry Patten.

Bernie, Bloomberg or Pete? - Choosing from My Final Three

Thu, 27 Feb 2020 16:26:12 +0000

It’s the high political season here in the U.S., and like all good citizens I am called on to cast my vote. My fellow Coloradans and I are part of Super Tuesday, where one-third of the Democratic electorate will decide who we want to go up against President Trump in November. In this podcast, I attempt to bring an integral sensibility to my decisions on the six major candidates, and to share how I’ve come up with my own final three.

The Gebserian Practice of Integral Consciousness - Jeremy Johnson previews his new course on The Ever-Present Origin

Thu, 20 Feb 2020 21:16:53 +0000

In the lineage of Integral philosophers, Jean Gebser is a mystic. Famous for delineating the structures of human consciousness as archaic, magic, mythic, mental and integral, he regarded them as arising not just sequentially in history but also vividly in an ever-present now. “While it is clear that adults possess various mental and physical capacities not possessed by children, and modern cultures possess scientific and technological capacities unknown in primal cultures, it is equally clear that children possess profound imaginal capacities greatly diminished in most adults, and primal cultures take for granted a deep connection with, and intimate knowledge of nature that is impossible to achieve in modern cultures, a connection and knowledge for which many of us harbor a profound yearning.” – Jean Gebser (1905-1973) My guest, integral philosopher Jeremy Johnson, president of the Jean Gebser Society, explains how Gebser’s vision is uniquely relevant to contemporary life, and how it offers an integral spiritual transmission that seeks to be manifested through practice. Jeremy is pioneering this practice, and in this episode he shares the themes of his new course, Seeing Through the World – Integral Consciousness and the Ever-Present Origin, starting this Sunday, Feb 23. Check it out and I hope you enjoy the podcast! Jeremy Johnson has a degree in sociology from Fordham University, the Jesuit College in Manhattan, and a Masters in Consciousness Studies from Goddard College. He is the founder of Nura Learning, and author of the book, Seeing Through the World: Jean Gebser and Integral Consciousness. Gebser portrait by Nina Bunjavec

A New Politics of Culture - Steve McIntosh discusses his new book, Developmental Politics

Sat, 15 Feb 2020 01:18:30 +0000

In this episode integral philosopher Steve McIntosh and I discuss his new book: Developmental Politics—How America Can Grow Into a Better Version of Itself. Steve employs integral political philosophy to help overcome America’s hyperpolarized cultural condition. He offers a pragmatic yet inspiring approach to our national political dilemma through a new politics of culture—one that goes right to the heart of this entrenched, complex issue. Steve’s proposals for overcoming hyperpolarization are founded on an emerging form of “cultural intelligence” that directly addresses the conflicting values underlying our poisoned politics. This new way of seeing leads to an inclusive vision of social progress—a new American Dream—that can help revive our collective sense of common cause and thereby restore the functionality of our democracy. Developmental Politics provides the fresh thinking we need to transcend America’s contemporary political impasse. In his book, and this episode, Steve offers one of the best applications of integral thinking I know of, and right on schedule for our times. I hope you’ll find it as inspiring as I do. You can find out more about Steve McIntosh and Developmental Politics at SteveMcIntosh.com. See (and share!) his 5-minute video on YouTube.

Choosing the Best Psychotherapy for You - Guest: Integral Psychotherapist and Zen Priest, Chad Bennett

Tue, 28 Jan 2020 23:56:03 +0000

Like everything, the practice of psychotherapy is evolving. Emerging in the field today is a new integration of modalities that have previously been siloed, each claiming to be the best. But best for who – and what? My guest today is integral psychotherapist and Zen priest, Chad Bennett, who explores the new integration of therapeutic processes that is taking shape. He starts by describing the three major streams of psychotherapy: Shadow work seeks to penetrate psychological issues, which are resolved by thinking and insight. Trauma work deals with biological issues, which are resolved by sensing the body. Attachment work addresses issues that are ultimately spiritual in nature, and are resolved, as he puts it, by “being”. In this episode, Chad explains how each modality works – separately and together – and maps their integration in a way that serves as a guide for both choosing and managing your therapeutic adventure. Our conversation made a lot of pieces fall into place for me, and I trust it will for you, too! Chad Bennett is an Integral Zen priest studying with Doshin Roshi, and has been a practicing psychotherapist for many years. You can find out more about Chad at his website Integral Somantic Awakening.

Befriending the State of the World - Terry Patten and I take our perennial argument to the next level

Sat, 18 Jan 2020 02:36:06 +0000

My longtime friend and integral comrade Terry Patten and I have argued for many years about the state and trajectory of the world. And though we both strive to bring an integral perspective to the question, we do see it differently, and in ways that I think reflect differences of views within the integral community, and maybe within your own psyche. In this episode, we share the latest of our ongoing discussions. We enjoyed the heck out of it and, as always, finished a little bigger than we started. We hope you do the same! This episode is a co-production of The Daily Evolver and Terry’s new podcast, State of Emergence.

Trump Trips the Trigger on Iran

Thu, 09 Jan 2020 17:37:09 +0000

President Trump’s drone assassination of Iran’s General Qassim Suliemani has dramatically increased the tensions between the US and Iran. It also raises concerns about Donald Trump’s motives and judgment in carrying out a U.S. President’s most deadly option, and what the ramifications may be. In this episode, I attempt to shed some integral light on the situation.

Integral European Conference Preview

Tue, 07 Jan 2020 02:38:58 +0000

Today my guest is Bence Ganti, the driving force behind the upcoming Integral European Conference, a major six-day event for the Integral community which will commence on May 26th at the Azur Resort at Lake Balaton in Hungary. This fourth biennial conference will be the biggest and most comprehensive yet, with over 700 participants from 50 countries. Titled Global Integral Awakens, the conference will offer 250 programs on a wide range of integral issues, from contemporary politics to organizational development to art, culture and spirituality, in a potent goulash of presentations, workshops and experiential processes. And there’s goulash night too, the Hungarian specialty cooked in cauldrons over an open fire … then trance dance … then a firewalk! To extend your integral immersion, consider the pre-conference training on human development with Dr.Robert Kegan, as well as a post-conference 3-day sightseeing tour by bus. Click here to find out more about the Integral European Conference.

The Path of Virtue - How an internet quiz made me a better person

Sun, 29 Dec 2019 18:58:50 +0000

Integral philosopher Steve McIntosh helps us usher in the new year (and decade) with a fresh look at an ancient formula for living a happy, productive and meaningful life. In this episode he explains “the virtues”, a philosophical concept with living roots reaching back to antiquity, including Plato and Confucius, as well as modern validity in the findings of positive psychology and social science. Virtues practice is a powerful means of personal growth, and Steve gets us started by introducing The Character Exercise, an eight-minute internet quiz that helps us clarify our highest ideals and create a personalized “portrait of the good”. You are invited to do the quiz midway through the podcast … your answers generate a printable chart that serves as a practice tool for cultivating happiness and fulfillment. I took the quiz a few months ago and I can honestly say that it has significantly changed my life for the better. I am surprised at its power and trust it will be helpful to you too (let me know!). (let me know!). Later in the podcast, Steve imagines the virtues as illuminating the path through our hyper-polarized political culture, a prospect he explores more fully in his upcoming book, DEVELOPMENTAL POLITICS, How America Can Grow Into a Better Version of Itself.

Spotting Integral Arisings - Three comedians evolve culture and consciousness

Mon, 16 Dec 2019 21:50:52 +0000

In this episode, I point out some integral insights bursting forth from the world of comedy: Bill Maher, who ended his season of Real Time on HBO with a surprising sort-of-integral message Joel Stein, author of In Defense of Elitism, Why I’m Better Than You and You’re Better Than Someone Who Didn’t Buy This Book Eliza Schlesinger, who dissects her wedding – and worldview – in her Netflix comedy special, Unveiled PLUS a quick visit from the Comedian-in-Chief himself. Enjoy the episode!

Cultural Evolution Goes Mainstream - Considering “This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution”

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 22:59:43 +0000

In this episode, Dr. Keith Witt and I discuss evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson’s latest book, This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution, where he challenges mainstream science to broaden its inquiry to include cultural and consciousness evolution, two pillars of integral theory.

Climate Changes at Every Stage - Guests: Gail Hochachka and Terri O’Fallon

Fri, 22 Nov 2019 22:19:19 +0000

“All of us – researchers, practitioners and activists – are all looking for what it means to meet the call for transformative change. If we can bring in developmental psychology as one of the knowledge sets, I think we’re going to have some really exciting times ahead.” – Gail Hochachka Can developmental psychology help us respond more effectively to climate change? My guests, Terri O’Fallon and Gail Hochachka, say yes. In this episode, we discuss Gail’s Ph.D. project at the University of Oslo, where she has utilized Terri’s STAGES model to gain insight into how people at various developmental stages make meaning about climate change. Her findings, using data drawn from populations in El Salvador and Guatemala, show how multiple levels of meaning appear within the traditional, modern and postmodern worldviews. Traditional, conformist meanings are concrete, atomistic and related to the present and recent past. Modern, expert and achiever meanings are more abstract, involving cause-and-effect logic, with time extending to the future and past. Postmodern, pluralist meanings demonstrate contextual, network-thinking, and are the most forward and backward-looking in time. Gail’s findings were published in the prestigious, peer-reviewed journal Global Environmental Change, and have gained significant positive attention. You can read the article here. In this episode, we also hear from Terri about how climate change is viewed at the integral stages of Teal and Turquoise. I hope you will be inspired, as I was, to learn how these two pioneering women are creating a new “basic science” of understanding perspectives that will help humanity adapt and indeed transform in response to our climate challenge.

Judge Judy, Evolution’s Warrior - Wielding ego to liberate ego

Tue, 12 Nov 2019 18:34:16 +0000

As the star of Judge Judy, Judith Sheindlin presides over the #1 show in US daytime television, where she rules on small-claims disputes drawn from real-life litigants across the country. Now in its 23rd year, Judge Judy attracts 10 million viewers a day who are eager to watch the 76-year-old grandmother transform into a Valkyrie for Justice, laying waste to the mendacities of cheating lovers, thieving landlords, lying teenagers and meddling mothers-in-law. In this episode I examine her genius and her enormous contribution to the evolution of consciousness and culture.

Pioneering an Integral Spiritual Tradition - Conversation with Thomas McConkie, founder of Lower Lights

Wed, 30 Oct 2019 01:31:56 +0000

“While we can easily plateau in our adult development, we don’t have to. In fact, there seems to be no upper limit to how much we can grow. The latest stages of human development remain a Mystery waiting to be lived.” … so says Thomas McConkie, founder of Lower Lights, a spiritual community that is practicing a new approach to integral spirituality. Based in Salt Lake City as well as operating virtually, Lower Lights seeks to integrate the three pillars of mindfulness, adult development and the wisdom traditions to discover Universal patterns of growth and transformation. In our conversation, Thomas discusses the doctrines, practices and rituals he and his community have developed to, as he says, “address the whole human being, always in relationship to a larger whole.” I consider Thomas to be one of the brightest young innovators in the emergent field of integral spirituality. I hope you enjoy our conversation! Thomas McConkie has joined with Integral theorist Terri O’Fallen to create Spectra, a 9-month “journey of transformation” for a cohort of 20-25 people. You can find out more about the program here.

Syria, Impeachment and Some Integral Sparks - Highlights from the Live Wednesday Podcast

Mon, 28 Oct 2019 15:05:44 +0000

President Trump has given us a taste of his America-First foreign policy by withdrawing from Syria, and his Trump-First foreign policy by arm-twisting Ukraine for political dirt. In all of the chaos there are patterns of a new integration arising in the way US voters think about who we are and our place in the world. This is edited from my live weekly webcast, hosted on Integral Life, every Wednesday at 1pm MT, 7pm GMT. If you’d like to participate with a question or comment, use this link: https://zoom.us/j/392949640. Or you can watch without participating here: https://integrallife.com/live

How Republicans Justify Trump - Highlights from the Live Wednesday Podcast

Fri, 25 Oct 2019 16:25:53 +0000

The culture war heats up and President Trump is fighting with gloves off, trashing precedent, propriety — and apparently the Constitution. Liberals can’t fathom how conservatives have chosen a lying, cheating philanderer as the standard-bearer for traditional values. In this episode I try to shed some integral light on the subject. This is edited from my live weekly webcast, hosted on Integral Life, every Wednesday at 1pm MT, 7pm GMT. If you’d like to participate with a question or comment, use this link: https://zoom.us/j/392949640. Or you can watch without participating here: https://integrallife.com/live

More on Greta and Climate - Highlights from The Daily Evolver Live

Sat, 19 Oct 2019 03:45:36 +0000

In this week’s episode, edited from the live webcast, I focused on listener response to my earlier podcast on Greta Thunberg and the environmental movement. Enjoy these highlights and tune in live when you can!

Considering Otto Scharmer’s “Axial Shift” political theory - With Dr. Keith Witt

Fri, 11 Oct 2019 23:22:49 +0000

Many integralists are fans of Otto Scharmer, MIT professor and developer of “Theory U”, a brilliant tool for activating higher stages of consciousness that has gained wide acceptance in organizations. As a leading public intellectual Dr. Scharmer also writes about politics and culture. In this episode, integral psychotherapist Dr. Keith Witt and I discuss Scharmer’s political theory as presented in a popular and much-shared article, Axial Shift: The Decline of Trump, the Rise of the Greens, and the New Coordinates of Societal Change. Enjoy the episode! – Jeff Salzman

Greta Thunberg: Climate Prophet and Scold

Wed, 25 Sep 2019 18:32:01 +0000

In this episode I share some thoughts on the evolutionary power of Greta Thunberg, the young Swedish climate activist, and her visit (via sailboat!) to the UN Climate Summit.

Trump vs the Twenty - The Democratic candidates fight to go to war

Fri, 09 Aug 2019 00:03:44 +0000

This week I examine the roster of Democratic contenders vying to unseat Donald Trump. It’s fascinating to watch them trying to create a larger public identity and harness the cultural forces they need to stand out. For my jumping-off point I consider two articles in last week’s Sunday Review in the New York Times: “Donald Trump Is Not A Sinister Genius”, by Ross Douthat, which makes the case that Trump is beatable, and “Tinder the Vote”, by Eve Peyser, a comic take on each of the Democratic candidates in the form of a quick dating profile. If article #1 is correct then one of the people profiled in article #2 will be the next President of the United States. In this episode I share which of them is – and isn’t – getting my heart fluttering. Let me know what you think at jeff@dailyevolver.com!

The Avengers & Game of Thrones: Era-Defining Entertainment - Guest: Filmmaker Jason Lange

Thu, 01 Aug 2019 16:19:43 +0000

This summer marks the finales of two multi-chapter fantasy epics that have both reflected and shaped our evolving culture. HBO’s Game of Thrones presented its eighth season, earning a record-breaking 32 Emmy nominations (it has 161 overall). Over at the movies, the Marvel franchise based on The Avengers comic books released its eighteenth and final installment, Avengers: Endgame, which has already become the world’s highest-grossing movie of all time. What are the cultural forces behind these entertainment juggernauts? Today I bring an integral lens to that query with my guest, Los Angeles-based filmmaker and evolutionary guide Jason Lange. Jason wrote and directed the award-winning sci-fi short film SHARE, and is currently crowdfunding a new webseries, Stuck in Development. (See if you can find the integral easter egg in the background of the kickstarter video!)

Befriending Emotional Pain - Guest: Integral Psychotherapist Dr. Keith Witt

Thu, 18 Jul 2019 17:14:17 +0000

“We have to accept the reality that to one extent or another everyone has chronically amped-up distress, and a persistent negativity that generates confusing, distorted stories and emotional pain.” This statement kicks off another fascinating conversation with my pal, integral psychotherapist Dr. Keith Witt. What makes our distress difficult to accept, Keith says, is that we live in a culture that preaches zero tolerance for emotional pain. We have convinced ourselves that when we feel it we should be able to fix it — with therapy, pills, spiritual practice or one of the thousands of products that promise to make us happy. And if/when we can’t fix it we are a failure. It’s a double-bind that contributes to psychological conditions such as anxiety and depression, now at record levels. In this episode of our ongoing series, The Shrink and the Pundit, Dr. Keith and I talk about evolving a more mature relationship with our own – and other peoples’ – emotional discomfort and pain.

Grace and Grit: The Movie - Guest, Filmmaker Sebastian Siegel

Fri, 28 Jun 2019 16:16:26 +0000

Today’s guest, Sebastian Siegel, is the screenwriter and director of the upcoming movie, Grace and Grit. The film tells the true love story of iconic, Integral philosopher Ken Wilber and his wife Treya. Based on the acclaimed book that chronicles Treya’s journals, they fall madly in love in 1980’s California and are immediately faced with illness and challenges that tear them apart. They overcome by finding a connection beyond this world, and love beyond life. The film stars Mena Suvari and Stuart Townsend as Treya and Ken, and features supporting performances by Frances Fisher, Rebekah Graf, Nick Stahl, and Mariel Hemmingway, In our conversation, Sebastian, who is an integral practitioner, friend, and long-time fan of Ken’s work, talks in depth about many elements of making the film from writing, development, and casting, to directing, storytelling, and production, and his overriding mission to serve not just this epic love story, but also the emergence of Integral consciousness itself. Sebastian Siegel is author of the book, “The Consciousness Revolution”, and is the creator of two documentaries: “Awakening World” and “Spirit of Evolution.” You can find out more about Grace and Grit at the movie’s website, Sebastian’s instagram account. , and his website.

Encounter with My Bully - Peace in the valley? Not so fast…

Tue, 18 Jun 2019 17:33:40 +0000

My vision of a peaceful Colorado summer of slowed-down punditry and ramped-up gardening has been disturbed by a specter of menace entering the scene. While never reaching a crisis level, it has nevertheless presented a real-life dilemma that has taxed whatever integral capacities I have, and has proven to be potent grist for my daily evolving. In this podcast I share the story of my bully and me.

The First Church of Integral - Farewell to the Boulder Integral Center, 2007 - 2019

Tue, 04 Jun 2019 21:29:15 +0000

By Jeff Salzman In September 2007, I along with partners Nomali Perera, Ross Hostetter and Jason Lange, co-founded Boulder Integral in a sweet old church in Boulder, Colorado. Four years later our group passed the baton to Robert MacNaughton and his team, who renamed it The Integral Center. Although our approaches were different, Robert’s and my goals were the same: first, to provide a bricks-and-mortar center for the study and practice of integral theory, attracting integral teachers and practitioners from all over the world. The second goal was to create a place for local integral enthusiasts in Colorado to take root and grow into … well, whatever a community of integralists can grow into. After a dozen years of significant success in the first goal and many wild and wooly attempts at the second, our integral adventure has come to an end. Or, better yet, it goes forward, as the fire of integral consciousness that was lit and continues to shine through the many thousands of people who sojourned to the Integral Church. In this conversation, Robert and I commiserate and commemorate the life of the Boulder Integral Center, and share some of the lessons we learned from our intense, surprising and ultimately fruitful experiment in integral community-building. Robert MacNaughton is a leadership consultant and facilitator who specializes in the fields of Integral business and experiential education. Robert focuses on supporting leaders with execution strategies, designing work culture, and navigating interpersonal conflict both personally and professionally. Robert is leading an Aletheia, Integral Circling Intensive in Boulder, June 21-23rd. This Aletheia is unique in that it’s limited to only 8 participants. Learn more and apply here: http://integralcentered.com/Aletheia.

SEEING RED: From General Butt Naked to President Trump - The horizontal development of the warrior

Fri, 24 May 2019 22:12:20 +0000

Every first-tier worldview wants to dominate the world, and given a chance they will run roughshod over all who dissent. But as humanity grows (and we individual humans grow) each worldview has to contend with opposing worldviews, a process that constrains the totalitarian impulses of each. In this way, worldviews, even as they stay true to their essence, become less dangerous as they arise in an ever more complex, multi-stage world or person. But they’re still there, or rather here, living and breathing in our developmental stack, and we just have to click on a news site to see that the worst of humanity can break out at any time. In this episode I explore this phenomenon of horizontal development as it applies to red “warrior” consciousness and culture, using examples from General Butt Naked, an infamous Liberian warlord turned evangelical Christian minister, to current popular art such as Game of Thrones, to the President of the United States, a master of red energy. I also discuss the integral practice of relaxing the repression of worldviews within ourselves and liberating the precious gifts that each stage brings.

Social Justice and Self-Responsibility - Guest: Fleet Maull, Prison activist and author, Radical Responsibility

Tue, 07 May 2019 20:24:34 +0000

My guest, Fleet Maull, is a criminal justice activist and integralist who shares the story of his time in prison and the work it has inspired. In the 1980s Fleet was a contemplative psychology graduate and student of Buddhist teacher Chogyam Trungpa. But a double life caught up with him as he was convicted of drug trafficking, and he ended up serving 14 years in prison. While behind bars, Fleet sought to put his Buddhist training to work and began teaching meditation in the prison chapel, eventually founding the Prison Mindfulness Institute and The Prison Hospice Association. Today Fleet continues his work in what he calls mindfulness-based emotional intelligence training, which has proved to be remarkably successful in sparking transformation for people inside and outside of prison. In this conversation Fleet shares wisdom gained from decades of work with countless prisoners, virtually all of whom, he discovered, had been victimized themselves, the realization of which was central to their healing. Fleet reflects on the evolution of the social justice movement, and the challenge that woke activism brings. He seeks to integrate the best of the personal- and social-responsibility models, as well as brain science, into a more inclusive view of whole system transformation. I talked to Fleet as he took a break from an in-depth training program he was conducting for law enforcement and corrections officers in Ottowa, Canada. Fleet Maull’s’ new book, Radical Responsibility, is available for pre-order. Anyone who pre-orders it between now and May 13th will be enrolled in his 8-module, $397 Radical Responsibility online course for free.

The Quadrant Lens: How to See Your Blind Spots - Conversation with Dr. Keith Witt

Mon, 29 Apr 2019 22:42:32 +0000

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Keith Witt about what he calls “the seductive power of quadrant absolutism,” riffing on the quadrant model (part of the AQAL Model) developed by integral philosopher Ken Wilber. Quadrant absolutism denotes the propensity each us of has to see the world through the lens of a preferred dimension of reality – the inner world vs. grounded reality, for instance, or through relationships rather than tasks (see illustration). These preferences, innate and learned, help us create internal models of everything – the world, ourselves, other people – and rely on these models to function. We project our models onto events to better understand and put them in context. We resist input that contradicts our models and struggle with people who see the world differently. As a result we may miss out on the fruits of entire dimensions of reality. The good news is that seeing our native perspective is a powerful way to expand beyond it and to grow into integral stages of consciousness. As Dr. Keith says, “The awakening to a stable teal worldview involves being much more open to high-velocity shifts in perspectives.”

Campaign Closeup: Marianne, Bernie and more Mayor Pete! - Guest: Corey DeVos, Editor-in-Chief, Integral Life

Fri, 26 Apr 2019 22:06:00 +0000

By Jeff Salzman The Democratic field for US president is taking shape fast. Today I have a freewheeling conversation with Corey DeVos of Integral Life about our impressions of the emerging landscape, with a special focus on Marianne Williamson, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg.

Diversity and Inclusion: Where We’re Growing - Guest: Diane Musho Hamilton

Sun, 21 Apr 2019 15:14:20 +0000

By Jeff Salzman From the earliest clans to today’s multicultural societies, we can see the circle of moral consideration that human beings and cultures have granted to others has increased, stage by stage. Traditional societies (amber altitude) are built on racial and religious identity and enforce overt and often brutal hierarchies. Modern societies (orange altitude) in turn seek to grant legal rights to all, as we have seen with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, laws against discrimination against women, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the legalization of gay marriage. The postmodern project (green altitude), is to correct less overt biases embedded in the structures of society, and in the hearts and minds of each of us. In this episode, I talk with Diane Musho Hamilton about how the process of authentic inclusion continues to emerge, and what she’s learned from her work in diversity training and mediation. Diane Musho Hamilton is a Zen teacher, mediator and meditator. She is the author of The Zen of You and Me: A Guide to Getting Along with Just About Anyone.

The Spiritual Adventure of Psychedelics and Wilderness - Guest, Philosopher Steve McIntosh

Fri, 12 Apr 2019 22:42:21 +0000

In his classic book, Adventures of Ideas, Alfred North Whitehead describes the eros of the beautiful, the true, and the good. And to this list of intrinsic values he adds the idea of adventure, without which, he observes, “civilization is in full decay.” In this episode, Jeff Salzman’s guest Steve McIntosh explores Whitehead’s theme of adventure as it relates to the realm of spiritual experience. Steve focuses specifically on the spiritual experience of wilderness, and the spiritual experience associated with entheogens (psychedelic drugs). He compares the locations of these “inner and outer adventures,” using his powerful personal experiences to illustrate. We conclude with Steve considering the theological and political implications of psychedelic spiritual experience. Steve McIntosh is the author of several books on Integral theory, including The Presence of the Infinite. You can find out more about Steve at stevemcintosh.com, and at the Institute for Cultural Evolution.

Mayor Pete’s X-Factor - Could it be Integral consciousness?

Sat, 06 Apr 2019 00:05:35 +0000

In less than three months, Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend Indiana, (population 102,000), has gone from political anonymity to the top tier of candidates in the Democratic race for president of the United States. What accounts for Mayor Pete’s blast out of the political gate? His resume certainly ticks the boxes: Harvard graduate, Rhodes scholar, McKinsey consultant, and Afghanistan war veteran. And his performance as mayor of South Bend is by all accounts successful; he won 80% of the vote in his reelection campaign – months after coming out as gay. As the first prominent millennial candidate for president, Mayor Pete embodies his slogan, “It’s time for a new generation of American leadership.” And with his nerdy, earnest, shirt-sleeve persona he is the polar opposite of Donald Trump. But I would argue that Mayor Pete has an X-factor that is greater than the sum of those parts: an Integral sensibility. Evident in his campaign biography, Shortest Way Home, as well as his recent media appearances, is a big-hearted, deeply perceptive, flex-flow mind that is able to hold multiple perspectives and to authentically respect the people advocating for them. I hope you enjoy this analysis of America’s newest political star, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and his impact on our presidential politics.

Integral Meets the Intellectual Dark Web - Guest: David Fuller, founder, Rebel Wisdom

Thu, 28 Mar 2019 22:36:21 +0000

First of all, let me say that “intellectual dark web“ is the worst name I can imagine for a movement that seeks to illuminate our cultural moment. But, okay, nobody asked me and it appears they’re doing quite well anyway: the intellectual dark web (IDW) has coalesced into a vibrant group of intellectuals, most prominently Jordan Peterson, who are sparking a new international counter-culture known mostly for goring the sacred cows of far left postmodernism (Green altitude). Today’s guest, David Fuller, is at the center of the intellectual Dark Web (IDW) having founded Rebel Wisdom, a YouTube station that has attracted over 60,000 subscribers in less than two years. A veteran producer from BBC News, David made the first documentary on Jordan Peterson, “Truth in the Time of Chaos”, which helped launch Peterson into intellectual stardom. David is also interested in integral theory, and last November he traveled to Denver to interview Ken Wilber for Rebel Wisdom, from which he has recently released the following two videos: Ken Wilber: ‘Jordan Peterson and the evolution of thought’ Ken Wilber: The Intellectual Dark Web, an Integral Conversation? In these interviews Ken is brilliant in appreciating the evolutionary power of the IDW while inviting its audience to the larger, more inclusive integral vision, and the videos have made a powerful impact on the Rebel Wisdom site. One of the top viewer comments sums up the potential that many fans of the IDW see in integral theory: As much as I like Jordan Peterson (and I do very much!), I think Wilber’s Integral Theory is waaaaaay more sophisticated and compelling. It is not full of self-contradictions and cul de sacs. It is not tied to Christianity or the West. It does not demonize Post Modernity and toss it out. I couldn’t agree more, and make a similar case in a two-part series I published on Jordan Peterson last spring, as well as a Rebel Wisdom video where David and his partner Alexander Beiner interviewed me: Part 1: What Jordan Peterson (and His Friends and Foes) Can Learn from Integral Theory Part 2: What Jordan Peterson (and His Friends and Foes) Can Learn from Integral Theory “Is Jordan Peterson Integral?” with Jeff Salzman David Fuller is committed to the further evolution of the intellectual dark web and enthusiastic, as I am, about what integral theory can bring to that project. I hope you enjoy our conversation!

The Beauty of Evolved Conflict - Guest: Dr. Keith Witt, Integral Psychotherapist

Sat, 16 Mar 2019 17:53:04 +0000

Nature is, as poet Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote, “red in tooth and claw.” Human nature is too, so far at least, but a counter-trend is emerging: as evolution progresses, conflict overall becomes less violent and more complex. Complexity arises out of the evolutionary process of differentiating (conflictual) and integrating (fun!). In this episode of The Shrink and the Pundit, integral psychotherapist Keith Witt and I discuss the evolution of human conflict, how it is manifesting in today’s world and what might be next as emerges into integral (second tier) consciousness. The integral awakening is bringing a deeper awareness of interiors, natural hierarchies and flex/flow power dynamics to all human functioning. The result, as Dr Keith says, is that conflict resolution at the cutting edge doesn’t even look like conflict: Second-tier conflicts keep pumping compassion, love, and play into the fractal interface between order and chaos, until it transforms into warmth and intimacy, the gold standards of interpersonal repair. See why I love this guy? I hope you enjoy this edition of The Shrink and the Pundit!

Dispatch from the Sexual Evolution - Reading the New York Times’ Sunday Review

Tue, 12 Mar 2019 23:34:20 +0000

This week I take a look at a recent issue of New York Times’ Sunday Review (2/24), where seven of eighteen articles focus on the real-time evolution of sex and gender relations. The Sunday Review is a quality barometer of the cultural weather in America and is must reading for me each week. In this podcast I endeavor to bring some integral perspective to the following selection of articles: Stop Counting Women: Quotas and tallies won’t bring real progress on gender parity Not the Fun Kind of Feminist: How Trump helped make Andrea Dworkin relevant again What Formula Does for Dads. A young father finds bliss in bottle feeding It’s Not That Men Don’t Know What Consent Is Why the Priesthood Needs Women Why Celibacy Matters. How the critique of Catholicism changes and yet remains the same Just another week in the Culture War. Enjoy! Please forgive the three short sections of defective video

Experiments in Integral Dharma - Guest: Vince Horn, Co-founder of Buddhist Geeks

Fri, 08 Mar 2019 20:32:35 +0000

Today my guest is Vince Horn, integrally-informed Dharma teacher and co-founder of the popular podcast, Buddhist Geeks, who discusses how the Buddhist Dharma (teaching) and Sangha (community) are being reimagined for contemporary life. How does a lineage founded on traditional concepts of renunciation, surrender and obedience to a teacher get transmitted into a modern and postmodern culture — without losing its potency? Can awakening itself be practiced in a way that recognizes the integral distinction between waking up (horizontal state development) and growing up (vertical stage development)? These are messy propositions, as is evolution in general, and Vince shares his thinking on how they are emerging. He also explains how his own practice community, Pragmatic Dharma, is experimenting with new forms of Sangha such as virtual networking, transparency and naturally flowing hierarchy. As Vince says “When everyone in a community is more empowered to learn and share it creates an incredible positive feedback loop.”

Holacracy: A Killer App of Integral - Guest: Brian Robertson, founder, HolacracyOne

Fri, 01 Mar 2019 06:52:45 +0000

Every stage of human development creates radical new ways to organize work. The holy grail for today’s companies is to function so that everybody has a real chance to contribute their gifts. Instead of operating top-down, more power must be distributed throughout the organization, giving individuals and teams freedom to self-manage, while staying aligned to the organization’s purpose. Achieving this is the promise of Holacracy, a self-management practice for organizations, developed by my guest Brian Robertson using explicitly integral principles. Over 1000 companies utilize Holacracy today – in healthcare, insurance, banking, retail, technology, nonprofit and government sectors; and in places as diverse as Dubai, Shanghai, Amsterdam, London, Berlin, New York, Bangalore, Las Vegas and rural Africa. Holacracy enables employees to act more like entrepreneurs and self-direct their work instead of reporting to a manager who tells them what to do.”

Expressing the Heart of Motherhood - Guest, Brooke McNamara, poet and integral teacher

Wed, 27 Feb 2019 17:11:02 +0000

I invited Brooke McNamara to the Daily Evolver to talk about a project she is launching that I think represents a new way of building creative we-spaces. It’s a 6-week virtual course that provides inspiration, community and an opportunity for creative self-expression to a select group of people who are living in a unique crucible: mothers. Brooke developed the course, Write to the Heart of Motherhood* because, as a poet, she knows writing to be a flexible and potent way for mothers to “connect to our true voice in the middle of our messy lives.” She explains: “The practice of writing is not something I do, but somewhere I go. When I give myself fully to whole-bodied listening for poems, I am never disappointed. Even if nothing comes, the tuning itself creates a presence and vitality in my being that support me profoundly in living and mothering. Poetry, for me, is language that carries both meaning, imagery and story, AND, more importantly, life force itself.” Brooke McNamara is the author of “Feed Your Vow, Poems for Falling into Fullness.” She is also a performing artist, Zen monk and mama to two small boys. She lives in Boulder, Colorado with her husband, Rob. * I occasionally feature offerings that I find interesting and which further human development. I have no financial interest in them.

Taking Aliens Seriously - Guest: Sean Esbjorn-Hargens, Institute of Exo Studies

Fri, 22 Feb 2019 01:59:45 +0000

Is there intelligent life beyond Earth? Have alien beings contacted us? What do we make of the thousands of testimonials of human-alien contact, including from scientists, diplomats and astronauts? Yet … where’s the proof? And if there is proof, why is alien contact not the biggest story of the millennia? “It is arguably the most intellectually credible topic on the planet with the most cultural taboo surrounding it.” So says my guest, Sean Esbjorn-Hargens. Many of you know Sean as a leader in the integral community, as producer of three hugely successful Integral Theory Conferences, a respected consultant (founder of MetaIntegral) and author (Metatheory for the 21st Century). Well, it turns out there is another side to Sean. Here’s how he describes it: “For over a decade I’ve been a closeted UFO/ET geek – reading 100s of books and watching 1000s of hours of videos (interviews, documentaries, movies) – all in an attempt to make sense of my own experiences and intuitions around this fascinating and confusing topic. If there is ever a place where multiple perspectives run amuck, bumping into each other and in general creating chaos, it is around aliens and the craft they pilot. Over the last few years, I’ve begun to talk with ‘integralists’ about these topics and I’ve been continually surprised to discover many of them have had their own powerful and evocative experiences with UFOs, ETs, and paranormal realities.” Sean is throwing himself fully into the arena. This year he founded the Institute for Exo Studies (IES), and this fall he debuts the Exo Studies Master Course, a three-month online course “exploring the psychological, sociological, and scientific implications of living in a multidimensional multiverse.” I’ve never met an alien (that I know of) but I jumped at the chance to talk about them with someone whose intelligence and judgment I respect. As I expected, I found our conversation to be quite mind-expanding. I hope you do as well!

Movie Review: “They Shall Not Grow Old” - Jaunty, savage, then quiet on the western front

Sat, 16 Feb 2019 01:05:48 +0000

It has been a hundred years since humanity spun into the chaos of the First World War. Peter Jackson’s acclaimed new documentary, “They Shall Not Grow Old,” brings vivid new life to the experience of British soldiers fighting on the western front. Using newly released footage from the Imperial War Museum, Jackson and his team worked four years to digitally restore, smooth, colorize and convert the film into 3D. The narration is told completely by former soldiers, in their own voices, from interviews recorded by the BBC in the 1960s and 1970s. WWI is a case study of human evolution. Britain entered the war as a traditional culture (amber altitude), full of romantic visions of honor, duty and the glories of war. Young men, thrilled by the promise of adventure, clamored to answer the call. Once at the front, they soon realized that they were in a meat-grinder, beset not only by age-old battle curses like hunger, cold, mud, sickness, rats and lice, but also the emergent features of modern weaponry: aerial bombs, poison gas, machine guns, flame-throwers and tanks. Yet the men endured, no longer sustained by romance or politics, but like warriors of all time, by the dense connection created between men whose next breaths depend on each other (red altitude). Those who survived returned to a country that in the meantime had largely modernized both in structure and thought (orange altitude), a country more interested in looking forward than past. The soldiers found themselves out of work, invisible and misunderstood by all but their fellow fighters. Jackson leaves it there, but the developmental story continues, with a new postmodern view (green altitude) arising in Germany out of the rubble of defeat. This is exemplified by the classic war novel All Quiet on the Western Front. Also told from the point of view of the soldier – this time a German soldier – it is a scathing condemnation of a civilization that could create such suffering. The book was an immediate international sensation, translated into 22 languages, and brought a potent blast of green consciousness to the world (and into my life fifty years later). But alas, it was soon to be banned by the Nazis … humanity had more of the lesson to learn, and still has.

Growing into Childlike Love - The role of conscious regression in intimacy

Mon, 11 Feb 2019 17:21:19 +0000

For Valentine’s Day, integral couples therapist Tom Habib returns to share his insights into what he calls the “couples’ line of development.” In previous episodes he laid out the trajectory most couples take — from initial attraction, to role-partnering, to mutual respect, to what he calls first love, where intimacy begins to blossom into an exciting new we-space that transcends (while including) the stages that came before. Today Tom returns to focus on an essential yet surprising requirement of the first love stage, which guides his therapy with couples: relationships reach first love when each person is free to safely and consciously express their inner child. Neediness, hurt, joy, tantrums — all are welcome as long as they are held within clear boundaries (four minutes for a tantrum, for instance) and attended by a caring, nurturing partner in the adult role. One of the most beautiful integral projects is to reach back to reclaim the juice and enchantment of our childhood stages. In this episode, Tom shares insights and methods that show us how to do it in the delicious context of couple love. Tom Habib joins us from his home in San Juan Capistrano, California. You can find more of his work at drtomhabib.com.

Progress and Chaos - The pendulum swings but the clock moves forward

Sat, 09 Feb 2019 22:27:52 +0000

The idea of human progress has been widely discredited since the wars and genocides of the mid-20th-century. But what if the 20th century also featured the largest (and largest percentage) of people living in peace and prosperity, eclipsed only by the 21st century so far, which is dramatically even more peaceful and prosperous? This argument is made by Steve Pinker, author of “Enlightenment Now” and leading rehabilitator of progress in the mainstream intelligentsia. His nemesis, historian Niall Ferguson (“The Square and the Tower”), thinks Pinker stands a good chance of becoming a historical joke, like author Norman Angell, who predicted in 1911 that war would soon be a thing of the past. In this episode I attempt to bring some integral thinking to a debate between Pinker and Ferguson hosted by Fareed Zakaria in his GPS Sunday show on CNN. Plus! You’ll get to swoon over Bradley Cooper in real time, just like Lady Gaga …

Does Space Create Distance? - How expanding consciousness brings us closer to everything

Fri, 01 Feb 2019 18:35:09 +0000

Integral practitioners talk a lot about creating a more spacious consciousness, one that includes more of reality. To that end we do things like place people and cultures on maps. We tease apart distinctions, we “transcend and include” and “differentiate and integrate” — all in an effort to increase the resolution of our worldview, as one would zoom into a google map to reveal more of what is already there. But does creating more space mean we’re creating more distance? Is the process of making distinctions also exacerbating differences? Might all our maps just be holding us in place? This is the jist of a thoughtful question I received from a listener, Kc Daugirdas in LA. He asks: “This space versus distance thing has been bothering me in all the domains that integral claims to integrate. I’m haunted by the suspicion that in the process of ‘transcending and including,’ we lose something. I’m farther from this, I’m farther from that. So where am I? What am I close to now?” Ultimately this is a spiritual inquiry and is found at the center of many great religious traditions as the paradox of One and the Many, or the Creator and the Creation, or Emptiness and Form. The teaching calls on us to identify with both the wave and the ocean. As the wave we are a momentary manifestation unique in all of time and space. As the ocean we are all waves simultaneously, as well as the infinite potentiality of waves. And since we contain everything, whatever we need is already just right there. We differentiate, God integrates. Part of our evolutionary journey is to have a progressively deeper realization of this great, paradoxical truth. Like all spiritual teachings, it can be absorbed in three ways: it can be understood by the mind (the outer teaching), it can be experienced in the physical and energy bodies (the inner teaching) and then … it can blow you away and deliver you into a re-enchanted world (the secret teaching). Go for the goosebumps! I end with a tribute to Mary Oliver, a well-loved American poet who died on January 17. She was often heard at integral events I attended, and I came to appreciate her own unique way of capturing the interpenetration of the One in the Many. Here I share a reading of one of her most popular poems, The Summer Day.

Is Masculinity Toxic? - Thoughts on the Gillette ad and new APA Guidelines

Sun, 27 Jan 2019 01:29:15 +0000

The culture wars heated up last week with two new skirmishes. One was the release of the American Psychological Association’s new Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Boys and Men. The other is a new ad released by the Gillette razor company: The Best a Man Can Get. Both explicitly criticize traditional views of masculinity; as the APA Guidelines states, “traditional masculinity — marked by stoicism, competitiveness, dominance and aggression — is, on the whole, harmful.” And both encourage men to be more sensitive, cooperative and revealing. Predictably, the new ad and report created blowback from people who see them as part of a postmodern project to neuter men by damning masculinity itself as toxic. They maintain that traditional masculine qualities are innate to men and essential to a healthy culture. Could both sides have a point? In this podcast Jeff talks with Dr. Keith Witt about an evolutionary approach that liberates masculinity and femininity into a new integration that features the best of both and makes them available to all.

Angry and Vulgar - The fruits of incivility

Thu, 10 Jan 2019 18:28:30 +0000

Donald Trump’s coarseness has proven to be more powerful than most people thought possible. In act two of his presidency he is being met with reciprocal incivility from his opposition, exemplified by newly-elected Congressperson Rashida Tlabid, who promised at a rally to “impeach the motherf*****”. In this episode I explore where and how this “new incivility” is arising, its evolutionary potency, and how it can be – and is being – engaged with more wisdom and intention.

Awaken the Wisdom Body - Guest: Shane McDermott, Integral Coach

Sun, 02 Dec 2018 16:56:17 +0000

According to Shane McDermott, my guest today, the biggest challenge of being human is living in a body. At every stage of development we are in conflict with how we look, feel or function. Shane approaches whole-person development through the portal of physicality. In our discussion he shares his methods for freeing up life force and releasing patterns that constrict us without our being fully aware of them, including how to: Identify and heal past traumas at the source Embrace a deep self acceptance of your body exactly as it is The wisdom drives of the body – with a special emphasis on relating to nature How to attend to issues of chronic pain, injury and illness Shane MeDermott is a Master Integral Coach (through Integral Coaching Canada), with additional certification in Structural Integration Bodywork, Yoga, Feldenkrias, Intuitive Energy Medicine, and Corrective and Holistic Exercise Kinesiology. You can contact him at shanemcdermottcoaching@gmail.com or at his website mindbodybeing.org

Light & Shadow at Higher Stages - Guest: Kim Barta, Developmental Psychotherapist

Sat, 01 Dec 2018 16:34:46 +0000

On the Daily Evolver we often explore the downsides of various stages of human development, such as warrior violence, traditional fundamentalism, modern materialsm and postmodern relativism. But what are the blind and stuck spots characteristic of the post-postmodern stages of development? In this episode I am joined by development psychotherapist Kim Barta for a discussion of both the light and shadow sides of integral consciousness. Kim Barta is a practicing psychotherapist for many years, and a collaborator with Terri O’Fallen in the application of her STAGES model of human development.

Trump’s True Fantasy - And how it will make America greater

Sat, 24 Nov 2018 17:11:48 +0000

Donald Trump at midterm is poised to be one of the most consequential presidents in modern history. Not necessarily for his policies, many of them odious (like his character), but for leading a frontal charge against the worldviews of modern globalism and postmodern multiculturalism. Drawing on the latest headlines, I examine Trump and the Trump phenomenon in the light of cultural evolution. Can a government built on enlightenment principles of shared power contain an autocratic head of state? Plus, how has Trump’s vision of American greatness inspired so many people? How may his disruption of norms create positive results? What new opportunities are arising for those on the left and right to create a “new patriotism” that inspires both sides? Cultural differentiation isn’t for the faint of heart, but integration makes it all worthwhile. I hope you enjoy the episode!

Post-Election Peptalk - Jeff consoles a dejected Dr. Keith

Sat, 10 Nov 2018 06:09:15 +0000

The morning after this week’s US midterm election I got a note from Dr. Keith Witt, my Shrink and the Pundit podcast partner, suggesting we do an episode on the voting results. “I’m a little let down by the election,” he confessed. “I’m uncharacteristically at a loss around understanding this situation culturally and politically, and have some questions I’d like to explore with you around it.” “Oh goody,” I thought, “this time I get to be the shrink!” What a fun and fruitful session we had. Dr. Keith’s condition mirrors that of many in the integral community: grateful for the new Democratic House of Representative which will put a check on President Trump, but also dismayed at the continued strength of what many see as destructive and regressive political forces. Not to mention the general mendacity and nastiness that attends so much of today’s politics. So what does an evolutionary pundit masquerading as a therapist have to say to that? Tune in and find out!

More Than an Infomercial: What’s New at Integral Life

Thu, 08 Nov 2018 18:11:00 +0000

Today I’m joined by Corey DeVos, editor-in-chief of Integral Life. I invited him on because my job is highlighting the emergence of integral consciousness, and I have been really impressed with the stuff Corey and company are putting out these days. (Plus they host my live show twice a week, and I want them to know I love them!) In our conversation I asked Corey about three recent offerings that particularly touched and edified me: A memorial to Father Thomas Keating, who passed away in October and who developed the practice of Centering Prayer, a contemplative, post-mythic portal to the spiritual heart of Christianity. Corey and I commemorate Father Thomas’s contribution to each of us and to the field of Integral Christianity, not just with his teachings but also through his personal transmission. The Ken Show, where Corey hosts Ken Wilber in a series of video conversations using integral thinking to illuminate some of today’s hot philosophical topics. Their latest, “Is Free Will an Illusion?”, really hit the sweet spot for me, explaining how determinism and free will work together to create the universe – and us. It really expanded my understanding, and reminded me of the explanatory power of integral theory, especially as applied by Ken. Ginny Whitelaw’s new webinar, Lead with Purpose. As a long-time producer of professional development training I have to say Ginny is terrific – and integral! She’s a Zen Master, a NASA trained executive, has a PhD in biophysics and a fifth degree black belt in Akido – and brings it all to a course in personal effectiveness that features the full power of integral consciousness.

The Integral Practice of Pizza - Authenticity and creativity meld in Ugly Delicious from Netflix

Tue, 30 Oct 2018 07:07:24 +0000

Celebrity chef David Chang’s irreverent new series on Netflix, Ugly Delicious, illuminates the developmental arc of some of the world’s favorite foods. Each of eight episodes highlights one dish or concept, such as BBQ, fried rice or home cooking, and explores its roots in different regions and how it has evolved. Today I’m reviewing the first episode, which follows Chang and his gang as they seek the soul of pizza, from the 300-year-old classic Neopolitan Margherita, to a sushi and ginger pizza in Tokyo, to Wolfgang Puck’s California reinventions, to a Dominos delivery shop in New Jersey. Ugly Delicious imparts a distinct integral flavor as Chang concludes his exploration by legitimizing all claims of pizza purity. As he puts it, “authenticity is something that has been overvalued, but which really has not been scrutinized enough.”

The Presence of the Future - Jean Gebser’s gift to Integral consciousness, with Jeremy Johnson

Sat, 27 Oct 2018 23:35:05 +0000

by Jeff Salzman Today I’m joined by one of our most impressive young integral thinkers, Jeremy Johnson. Jeremy is a scholar of the 20th century poet/philosopher Jean Gebser, and is currently president of the international Jean Gebser Society. Gebser is a major (if eccentric) figure in the integral lineage, most famous for describing the structures of human consciousness as archaic, magic, mythic, mental and integral. Surprisingly (to me at least) Gebser did not see these structures as evolutionarily continuous, but as “mutations” which are all online now in various states of “efficiency” and “deficiency”. Further, not only are the structures of history online, but so are the structures of the future – and they are calling to us right here and now. This presents a terrific koan to the integral practitioner, and Jeremy Johnson transmits it in a way that left me inspired and the world reenchanted. May he – and Gebser – do the same for you! “What is gaining importance now is the spiritual light reigning between objects – the tension and the relation between them.” – Jean Gebser Jeremy Johnson has a degree in sociology from Fordham University, the Jesuit College in Manhattan, and a Masters in Consciousness Studies from Goddard College. Jeremy is the founder of Nura Learning, a conscious media learning platform, and is an editor and writer for numerous publications. He is currently working on his first book, Seeing Through the World: Jean Gebser and Integral Consciousness, from Revelore Press.

America’s Mass Sensitivity Training - What we’re learning from Megyn Kelly and Dr. Phil

Sat, 27 Oct 2018 06:03:12 +0000

Another week of cultural evolution at warp speed was brought on by a real-life daytime TV drama. It started on Tuesday, with NBC morning host Megyn Kelly defending blackface as a Halloween costume choice. She apologized and had her consciousness raised live on her Wednesday show, and was fired from the network on Friday. In this episode I use an integral lens to tease apart some of the cultural forces at play in this story. Plus, I take a look at another daytime tv show that also powerfully moved the ball in race relations this week: Dr. Phil’s “What You Need to Know About White Privilege”.

Forgiving Humanity - An evolutionary call for collective self-love

Fri, 19 Oct 2018 20:44:38 +0000

People often call me an optimist, a term I’ve never felt quite comfortable with. Is it optimistic to notice that humanity – and humans – fight our way forward? Is it optimistic to see that the catastrophes of history, while dwindling, are far from over? I prefer the term evolutionary, someone who sees how the upward draft of Eros creates beauty through means that are often not pretty, and that it is animating everything, for worse then better, including us. In this episode, I make the case that humanity is not fallen but rising, and that what matters more than our sinful nature is our basic goodness and the goodness of a kosmos that has destined us to grow.

The Higher Stages of Couple Love - Guest: Dr. Tom Habib

Thu, 18 Oct 2018 20:57:39 +0000

This is a sequel to last year’s popular Valentine episode featuring Dr. Tom Habib. An integrally-inspired clinical psychologist specializing in couples therapy, Tom has mapped what he calls the “couple’s line of development,” which describes the predictable stages a couple typically grows through — and where they may get stalled. The adventure of love generally starts with sexual chemistry and illusions of safety, an intoxicating stage that some people replay through multiple partners. At the next stage a more committed couple seeks to build a life together by assuming roles such as mother/father or provider/supporter. If they are able grow into the third stage, it will be into some form of relational partnership based on a flexible roles and mutual respect. In this episode Tom focuses on top two stages of couple development, which he calls first love and spiritual love. First love corresponds with integral development and is created by an active appreciation of one’s partner, as well as the intentional development of a we-space in which more aspects of each person are embraced. Spiritual love emerges as we grow together beyond personal indentification and find within each other the eternal Beloved. Tom’s vision is both beautiful and instructive in helping us to grow in mutuality with our intimate partners. Tom Habib joins us from his home in San Juan Capistrano, California. You can find more of his work at drtomhabib.com.

Real-Time Consciousness Raising - Listeners respond to Kavanaugh and #MeToo

Mon, 15 Oct 2018 16:01:39 +0000

The drama surrounding the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court is proving to be a seismic event in cultural and consciousness evolution. This week Jeff shares and reflects on listeners’ response to last week’s episode: Judging Kavanaugh. Like his listeners, Jeff focuses on the emerging recognition shared by many of gender dynamics that had previously remained unseen. A common trajectory: New sensitivity to our historical traumas creates a larger worldview – which can extend to embrace the pain of others. Softening one’s identification with that worldview liberates it (and us) into integral consciousness … … which is able to also hold the unique truths of previous worldviews which have not become sensitive, making us far more effective in nurturing the evolution of a new culture that can integrate the gifts of all. Plus: Why it had to be Kavanaugh. And a modest proposal for evolving the Court.

Today’s Next-Stage Organizations - Guest: Frederic Laloux

Thu, 04 Oct 2018 23:09:31 +0000

Each stage of human development features a unique way of organizing work. From hunting and gathering, to agriculture, to industry, to the Information Age, each emergent represents a radical evolutionary expansion of capacity, and each remakes the world in its turn. So what’s next? Frederic Laloux‘s blockbuster book, Reinventing Organizations, offers compelling answers to that question. A McKinsey consultant for many years, Fred has identified and researched what he calls “next stage“ organizations, and identifies the specific features that set them apart. The key emergent of next-stage organizations harkens back to early human history: small bands of people on a mission, each deeply seen and valued by the others, responding together to changing conditions and making their way forward. Today’s cutting-edge version of archaic bands are self-managed teams, which have become the building blocks of companies of all types and sizes. It’s a fascinating (and explicitly integral!) thesis whose success is demonstrated in organizations all over the world. In this conversation with Jeff Salzman, Frederic Laloux unpacks his key ideas and lays out some of the new rules of the road ahead.

Judging Kavanaugh - by Jeff Salzman

Wed, 03 Oct 2018 00:12:06 +0000

The political firestorm surrounding the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is a juicy case for an integral analysis. Today Jeff shares his insights into the testimony presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee by both Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing him of attacking her as a teenager. He considers: How do we process two perspectives that are in diametric opposition? Why and how we should “take it personally.” How to navigate the predictable political polarization. The cultural forces at play in this case and how they are moving us forward. You can access the video or audio below …

An Integral Understanding of Suicide - A conversation with Dr. Keith Witt

Wed, 08 Aug 2018 16:19:49 +0000

by Dr. Keith Witt Suicide has been in existence as long as self-aware consciousness has been in existence. The gift of self-aware consciousness included the capacity for humans to anticipate and understand the inevitability of their own deaths, and all gifts come with a price. One price of awareness of death is the capacity to choose it. In some tribal cultures, the choice of suicide was considered moral for the aged and infirm. Rather than be a drain on precious resources, people would walk into the blizzard, or be ritually executed by friends. In Classical Greek societies, suicide was considered a right by many; though Aristotle was quite critical of the choice (Socrates had no problem with it obviously). Christian cultures have pathologized and punished suicide. In medieval times in Paris, suicides’ bodies were dragged through the streets and thrown on refuse heaps. The Catholic Church relegated suicides to Hell, and made it a sin to choose one’s own death. Japanese samurai culture glorified seppuku (known more commonly in the west as harakiri) in men and women–suicide to avoid dishonor. In modern America, suicide has increased 24% nationally since 1999, and much more in the intermountain red states of Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, North and South Dakota, Kansas, Minnesota, as well as in Vermont, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. In the 23 poorest states, the rates have gone up 38% to 58%. Previously from 1970 to 2000, suicide also increased dramatically in most demographics, so this is a definite trend in American culture for the last fifty years. 54% of suicides don’t have a psychiatric diagnosis, probably reflecting the resistance to treatment in many groups. I think by definition suicide attempts are reflections of at least temporary insanity—one study of people who had survived jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge reported that, on the way down, all of them thought some version of, “This is worst idea I ever had!” Some studies show that for every completed suicide, there are 25 attempts, so there are over a million suicide attempts each year in the U.S. The most vulnerable to suicide statistically are 45 to 64 year olds, and suicide in women has increased 80%, narrowing the historic gender gap between sexes. Native American suicide has also increased enormously, and suicide by teens is on the rise. Suicide is contagious. One study from the fifties and sixties showed an average of 58 extra suicide deaths for every front page story of suicide. There were 10% to 12% increases in national suicide figures the weeks after Marilyn Monroe’s and Robin William’s deaths. Even more chillingly, in the weeks after a front page suicide story of an individual there are increased fatal single car accidents, three times more fatalities in car accidents in general, and similar figures for plane accidents. Are these conscious or unconscious suicide attempts triggered by the news stories? If it’s young person suicide, the increase is mostly in young drivers. If it’s an older person suicide, the increase is mostly in older drivers. Weeks after murder/suicides, there are increases in multiple deaths in car and plane accidents. WTF?!!! Something is wrong with American culture and getting worse, but what’s wrong, and what should we do? Like most social issues, suicide is a wicked problem with multiple components. Suicide is not one thing but many things. Suicide does not have one cause, but many causes. There is not one solution but many solutions. That being said, there are some social forces that clearly are contributing to the problem that are either invisible to many or resistant to change. More medication is not the answer. 1 in 10 Americans are on psychotropic medications, and antidepressants are so widely used that they are a significant pollutant in fish from America’s oceans. Kelly Brogan, a psychiatrist who’s dedicated her life to helping people get off antidepressants, says that 30% of her patients are suicidal, and quotes studies suggesting that the combination of dissociative experiences and frustrated disappointment involved in many people’s experiences with modern antidepressants are actually increasing suicide rates. The CDC, in analyzing the problem, made some interesting suggestions. They said the most afflicted 23 states (the poorest in the country) needed increased access to mental health services, financial support, stabilization of housing, and increased programs for problem solving and coping skills. These are all social care, communitarian suggestions. Why are such suggestions resisted, even ridiculed as “nanny state” excesses by some dominant conservative ideologies in these regions? One researcher suggested that in most of these states, especially in the intermountain red states, the “frontier spirit” is to be a rugged individualist and solve your own problems. What this can mean for the individual is that, if life is overwhelming and I feel like a loser, it is my fault and my weakness. In a recent conversation I had with Beena Sharma and Suzanne Cook-Greuter, we discussed a developmental level between amber conformist and orange rationalist (they call it the 3/4 stage between amber 3 and orange 4). In this level, people don’t identify primarily with the mythic membership like Christianity, but more with their professional identity and skill sets. Suzanne said that over 50% of the people she works with are at this stage. One significant variable that distinguishes this stage from rationalist orange is an inherent resistance to new ideas, techniques, and change. This 3/4 stage believes somewhat in science, but uses studies to confirm their personal traditional ways of working and problem solving. They suffer from extreme confirmation bias in their processing of data. They resist change in their personal traditions of how they live and work rather than the amber resistance to cultural traditions of mythic membership. How might people at this stage react when they are fired, disabled, abandoned, treated unfairly, or presented with data that their personal approach to work or life has failed? Grinding stress increases addiction, despair, and sometimes suicidal despair, but probably more is at work in increasing suicide than stress. If it violates my worldview to consider my current understanding of the world is flawed, then I look for solutions within my current value systems. In many conformist (level 3 in Suzanne’s and Beena’s system) and 3/4 worldviews (not yet rationalist 4 who can adjust more easily to new input and influence), suicide fits as an acceptable option more than reevaluating the merits of an individualistic, counterdependent approach to life. Suicide is more understandable and morally preferable than, “I have to ask for and receive caring influence so I can grow.” Much suicidality is people coming to the limit of their worldview, needing to recognize their current way of being—such as rugged individualism, resistance to interpersonal support, or contempt for seeking help and especially psychotherapy—is inadequate in dealing with the world they find themselves in. Who are some of these people? 45 to 64 year olds, many on disability or who have lost jobs (a catastrophe for 3/4 stage people who identify with jobs and skills), or who’ve suffered other recent painful events or losses. Single mothers (the poorest demographic in our country) who literally can’t adequately care for their children in this economy, but have been raised in conformist and 3/4 worldviews that tell them this is a personal failure. The socially isolated and undereducated abandoned by cultures that view them as losers. The frustrated, depressed, and wounded individuals who have been taught that psychotherapy is for crazies and the weak. Psychotherapy does threaten rigid and hopeless worldviews because psychotherapy is a container within which people can be reborn into greater complexity, where people can discover that interdependence is what humans are programmed to live in and wither without. Psychotherapy challenges people to understand their pain in wider contexts within the crucible of an intimate relationship with someone who cares personally about you, and recognizes the power and worth inherent in your precious human consciousness. This is why Kelly Brogan doesn’t worry about her suicidal patients any more than I worry about mine. We know that in the container of at least one interdependent, open, caring relationship people hardly ever die by suicide. But, as the CDC asserts, therapy is not enough. Without social support, without the haves feeling responsibility to create community and opportunity for the have nots, without all of us (including wildly successful people like Anthony Bourdain and Kate Slade) accepting that we need each other and have responsibilities to everyone to ask for and receive help when we are in pain, suicide will remain epidemic in this country, and continue to increase along with the other two top 10 causes of death which are increasing, Alzheimer’s disease and drug overdoses. Of course there are many other contributors to suicide. Relationship breakups, loss of home, job, or personal relationships, bipolar disease (which usually requires medication as opposed to many anxiety and depressive disorders), addiction, and alcoholism all increase suicidality and the likelihood of death–especially in the months following a crisis. Crises are often decision points and turning points. They reflect decision points where we can choose: Isolation versus community. Continuing a downward spiral or asking for and receiving help. Blaming self despairingly or understanding that longing for death often means yearning for rebirth into a larger and more loving self. Integral understanding looks at what’s possible and practical, and in this current political climate there will be little systemic change from the federal level to help the poor, disconnected, and disenfranchised. I believe we can all contribute to growing realizations that isolated human beings are at risk, and that reaching out personally with love addresses many issues. One pilot project for helping opiate addicts after an arrest or overdose sent people to their homes to see if they were OK, which was mind blowing to some users. This power of loving contact and community support could be operationalized in programs to identify isolated individuals and offer them connection and care. I’m hoping counties and states will increasingly organize to provide more mental health services to rural areas, where 70% of children report at least one category of abuse or neglect on the ACE (Adverse Childhood Events) test. People who report four or more categories are 4 to 12 times more likely to commit suicide. A rising tide floats all boats, and increasing consciousness of the devastations of social isolation, income inequality, resistance to change, compromised education systems, inadequate access to and embrace of mental health services, and lack of opportunity for millions seems to be expanding in the American zeitgeist, even as we observe increasing authoritarian dysfunction at the national level. I believe this increasing consciousness needs a direction to serve, not merely opposition to cruelty and lies–a focus Bernie Sanders offered in the last presidential campaign. I’m inspired by local programs I read about in the Christian Science Monitor and other news sources trying to reach people at risk sooner, younger, and in more supportive rather than punitive ways. With suicide, as well as a host of other social pathologies, making regular, personal, caring contact with at risk individuals reduces harm and supports development. An Integral understanding of suicide includes all these contexts and more. Just as the increasing suicide rate is a reflection of cultural pathology, when rates begin diminishing it will reflect cultural upleveling. Our job is to understand, care, and contribute where we have opportunity and desire to help. Two organizing principles that can guide all of us are that love heals, and compassionate understanding is love in action.

What’s Next in Human Relations - Jeff talks with Lloyd Fickett about The Collaborative Way

Tue, 10 Jul 2018 00:05:38 +0000

Today many pioneers of consciousness are experimenting with new ways for people to form more powerful, fulfilling relationships with each other. Some are focused on mutual spiritual growth while others are more interested in practices and processes that help people in workgroups be more effective together. Today’s guest, Llyod Fickett, is dedicated to the latter. Through his company, The Collaborative Way, he has developed, in his words, “an intentional way of working together that harnesses the collective intelligence, imagination and spirit of a company’s workforce.” The five-point method is simple: 1) be for each other, 2) listen generously, 3) speak straight, 4) honor commitments and 5) acknowledge and appreciate each other. But Lloyd, a long time student of integral theory, has elevated them to what I consider a second-tier level. In this conversation, he shares his insights from over three decades of work in organizational development, and how his methods can be applied to create healthy, fruitful relationships in all areas of life.

The Power to Serve - with Dr. Keith Witt

Fri, 29 Jun 2018 14:14:27 +0000

Dr. Keith talks to Jeff Salzman about Integral Life’s recent “Tap Your Power” event in Denver, CO, which featured exquisite teachings from himself, Ginny Whitelaw, Beena Sharma, and Ken Wilber on the many facets of power in today’s world — interior and exterior, individual and collective, all the way up and down the spiral of human development.

The New Authoritarians: This is Progress? - Jeff visits Tom Steinenger on Germany’s Radio Evolve

Thu, 31 May 2018 21:50:20 +0000

Today I’m sharing my I my guest appearance on Radio Evolve, a German podcast hosted by Tom Steininger. We talked world politics, and focused on neoauthoritarian movements that are challenging the neoliberal systems that have been in place for decades. Are they entirely regressive? Or are they also doing the work of progressive emergence? Join Tom and me as we try to sort it out.

Burning the Karmas of Jim Crow - The Power of America’s New Peace and Justice Memorial

Fri, 25 May 2018 23:14:22 +0000

Today we take a look at a significant new installation in the American cultural landscape: The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which opened in Montgomery, Alabama on April 23. The museum memorializes the legacy of America’s Jim Crow era, where black people were systematically oppressed and often terrorized, most tragically in over 4400 public lynchings. Our guide is Curtis Mitchelson, a Daily Evolver listener who suggested I look into the Memorial, the creation of which he has supported as part of his decades of work for social justice. Curtis attended last month’s opening ceremonies, and offered a first-hand account so vivid and integrally-informed that I invited him on the show to share it with you.

Notes From My Five-Day Fast - by Jeff Salzman

Fri, 25 May 2018 22:39:53 +0000

It seems that last week, during my “staycation,” I wandered my way into a five-day food fast. What started as a low-commitment experiment on Monday morning ended on Saturday with me in appreciation of some surprising and powerful results. I was inspired by friends and motivated by a book they recommended, The Complete Guide to Fasting, by John Fung, MD. The book focuses on the physiological benefits of fasting; it turns out our evolutionary history of often involuntary fasting means we’re built for it. But I was most amazed by the psychological and ”subtle body” effects I experienced. My hunger, which throughout my life has often been gripping in ways I can’t (or don’t) control, is for now relaxed. A week past the fast I still feel in a place of choice with food. The ten pounds of belly fat I lost is still gone, and I feel better all around. I’m on an extended state experience, no doubt, and state experiences are temporary. But when practiced and made conscious states create traits. So in fasting I feel that I have found a potent new (yet ancient) tool for growth and health. And it was actually fun! Here’s the story ….

The Roots of Integral Theory - A Conversation with Steve McIntosh

Wed, 23 May 2018 06:45:59 +0000

In this episode integral philosopher Steve McIntosh takes us on a tour through the origins of integral theory, starting with Georg Friedrich Hegel, who first explained the mechanisms of evolution in human history, and on through a stream of philosophers who unified the evolution of matter, consciousness and spirit. He also considers a line of developmental psychologists, such as Jean Piaget and Clare Graves, who defined the distinct stages of human growth including the emerging integral stage. Bringing us to the present, Steve appreciates and critiques leading contemporary integral philosopher Ken Wilber, whose AQAL Model is the touchstone of current integral thought. He concludes by sharing what he considers to be his own contributions to integral theory, as well as ideas from other new thinkers who are adding to the canon. Understanding the history of integral thought helps us to situate ourselves in a lineage of philosophy that has itself evolved – and continues to with our participation. Steve McIntosh is author of Integral Consciousness, Evolution’s Purpose, and The Presence of the Infinite. He is co-founder of The Institute for Cultural Evolution.

When People – and Cultures – Grow Too Fast

Fri, 11 May 2018 22:36:50 +0000

It is an ironclad principle of human development: you can’t skip stages. Each stage of development builds upon the gains of the previous stages, and if the previous stages are not well installed things don’t work right. Unstable and uneven growth is a feature of today’s world, where four or five stages of development are online competing for dominance. In some places we see people with traditional identities trying to function in modern economies while watching their children be enticed by a globalized, postmodern culture. We may see in ourselves that we do not have some traditional qualities, such as self-discipline, well installed. Or maybe we are weak on modern qualities such as ambition. Environmental factors may be that we were raised in a chaotic, pre-traditional environment, or by postmodern parents who were themselves polarized against earlier value sets. Many forms of bypassing can occur in individuals and cultures today. That’s why integral practice includes a form of reclamation, where we identify and rehabilitate skills from previous stages that are absent or unstable in ourselves, our families and our communities. In this podcast Jeff explains with examples.

Postmodern Beauty: From Cirque To Seinfeld To Saatchi

Thu, 10 May 2018 16:26:07 +0000

In this episode Jeff takes a look at three towering examples of postmodern art, and how they can aesthetically “move us” forward. Cirque de Soleil – a thrilling display of surface without depth The Seinfeld TV Show – a show not “about nothing”, just nothing meaningful The Saatchi Gallery in London — fine art that dares us to say it’s not fine art One is pretty, one is aggressively ugly and one doesn’t care one way or the other. But all are beautiful in the way they move the aesthetic line of development forward by liberating us from ideas of what art should be or do. Featuring a couple dozen images, this episode is best watched as a video.

Helping Kids Grow Strong: A Conversation with Dr. Keith Witt

Sat, 05 May 2018 01:47:35 +0000

In this episode of The Shrink and Pundit, Dr Keith Witt talks with Jeff about how to better support children’s development. Dr. Keith argues that the healthy expression of a person’s type (their preferences, gifts and built-in challenges) is based largely on their early relationships. The earlier in development we go, the more impactful the biological and social factors are in determining a child’s personality and typology. Before conception and during gestation, variables in parents will determine who their babies will become. Birth and bonding in the first year have huge impacts with multiple critical periods. This continues throughout childhood, with typological variables forming, being interactively reinforced, and then self-amplifying in personality development. Abuse and neglect are catastrophic to the developing child, increasing the odds of every form of psychological, relational, and physical problem. The less trauma we absorb the healthier the expression of our natural type. We can all get involved in preventing and remediating childhood traumas by providing more attuned care to children of all ages, as well as by supporting their mothers, fathers and the creation of a healthy environment.

Postmodern Values We Can’t Evolve Without

Thu, 03 May 2018 19:33:06 +0000

Today Jeff is the guest for another in a series of “Integral Chats” with Stephen T Harper, creator of the What’s Your Theory podcast. In this conversation, Steve and Jeff discuss the enduring values of postmodernity (the green altitude of development). Postmodern thought gained traction after World War II and achieved fruition in the 1960’s, as a counter-culture arose to challenge the grand narratives of the previous stages of history, including the religiosity of traditionalism (amber altitude) and the rationality of modernity (orange altitude). Postmodernity called for a sensitivity to the plight of those who had been left out of the march of history thus far, and gave rise to the great movements of civil rights, feminism, gay rights, animal rights and environmentalism. The postmodern altitude of development is widely criticized for its excesses and political correctness (every stage has them), but as developmental theorist Clare Graves said, it also provides the values that “make us worthy” for the momentous leap into second tier integral consciousness.

How Do We Change Our Hearts and Minds? A Visit with Stephanie Lepp

Wed, 02 May 2018 18:40:59 +0000

Today Jeff talks with Stephanie Lepp, creator of one of his favorite new podcasts, Reckonings, which explores the evolutionarily-charged question: “how do we change our hearts and minds?” Stephanie’s guests are people who have shifted their political worldviews, overcome bigotry, and make other kinds of transformative change. In every case these folks have come to some sort of reckoning, a stuck point which required an expanded worldview and change of position. This fulcrum of change is where Stephanie focuses, creating powerful vignettes of evolution-in-action in the lives of people with extraordinary stories. In this conversation with Jeff, Stephanie shares her inspiration, as well as highlights from a few of her favorite episodes.

What’s Emerging in Spiritual Practice: A Conversation with Diane Musho Hamilton

Fri, 27 Apr 2018 17:48:07 +0000

Today Jeff is joined by his dear friend and colleague Diane Musho Hamilton for a fascinating conversation about the changing nature of spiritual practice. Together they look at what is emerging in terms of: 1st person practices: how spiritual and psychological methods have integrated to boost the power of both 2nd person practices: the creation of a committed sanga that can move beyond pseudo-community to authentic connection and mutual awakening 3rd person practices: the forms of heirarchy and tradition that carry forward the power of lineage, yet must be translated for contemporary practitioners who are self-responsible instead of submissive Interested? You can join Diane and an international sanga of practitioners for a 10-week inquiry into this important topic, in “The Future of Zen Practice: Exploring the Encounter of Tradition and Innovation”, presented via the Zoom video platform. Diane Musho Hamilton is a leading integral teacher and also a Zen Sensei whose sanga, Two Arrows Zen, operates out of a urban Zendo in Salt Lake City and a beautiful new Mountain Zendo in the red rocks country of Southern Utah.

Darwin on The Evolutionary Engine of Love: A Conversation with David Loye and Rianne Eisler

Thu, 26 Apr 2018 17:37:18 +0000

“Looking to Future Generations, there is no cause to fear that the social instincts will grow weaker, and we may expect that virtuous habits will grow stronger. In this case the struggle between our higher and lower impulses will be less severe and virtue will be triumphant.” — Charles Darwin Today Jeff talks with Dr. David Loye about his new book, Rediscovering Darwin: The Rest of Darwin’s Theory and Why We Need It Today. In his book David reveals a set of fundamental teachings clearly presented by Charles Darwin, but which have been virtually ignored by his followers for over 100 years. In short Darwin identified two drivers of evolution: competition (“survival of the fittest“), but also and equally what he unabashedly called love, and which he elucidated in terms of compassion, moral sense, appreciation of beauty and even spirit. Scientists built the evolutionary edifice exclusively on the first half of Darwin’s teachings, creating what David calls “the hole in the modern mind” and providing justification for a selfish and disenchanted view of humanity. David argues that re-integrating the second half of Darwin’s teachings is the palliative humanity needs today, and necessary to create a more humane and sustainable world. At age 93, David Loye personifies an important era in the history of evolutionary thought. His extraordinary journey starts with a historic, secret meeting in cold war Budapest among a select group of evolutionary scientists from both sides of the iron curtain. It led not just to his discoveries about Darwin, but to his own evolutionary thinking laid out in 30 books, including insights into “self-organization,” which Ken Wilber calls “one of the most important topics alive today.“ David is joined in this interview by his wife Rianne Eisler, herself a formidable evolutionary thinker and writer. Her most famous book, The Chalice and the Blade, is in its 56th printing. David Loye is a psychologist, evolutionary systems scientist and a former member of the faculty at both the Princeton and UCLA Schools of Medicine. He is a co-founder of two international organizations for updating and expanding evolutionary studies: The General Evolution Research Group, and The Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology and the Life Sciences.

Starfleet Values Are Integral Values

Thu, 26 Apr 2018 00:58:57 +0000

“Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end.”Mr. Spock, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Today Jeff is joined by fellow integral nerds Cindy Wigglesworth and Corey deVos in this warmhearted appreciation of the venerable Star Trek franchise, one of the oldest and most robust pop culture franchises in existence. Spanning more than 50 years, 741 episodes across six different series (The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space 9, Voyager, Enterprise, and now Discovery), and 14 feature films, the lore and philosophy of Star Trek runs incredibly deep, making it incredibly ripe for an integral voyage into its most significant themes and messages. At its heart, Star Trek is a show about our own evolving morality. The very best episodes across its numerous series are often about how to make the most difficult ethical choices when no easy solutions can be found. But the ethics of Star Trek are not mere dogmatic values floating in some idealistic interstellar vacuum — these values are enacted and renewed time and time again every time they intersect different civilizations and different conflicting notions of “the greater good”. “Universal law is for lackeys; context is for kings.”Captain Lorca, Star Trek: Discovery In other words, Starfleet values are not mere codes of conduct to be memorized and executed. These are not black-and-white values. As Corey says in his review, Star Trek: Discovery and the Moral Arc of the Universe, “it’s about having a very strict Prime Directive, and understanding why it must never ever be broken — and then knowing exactly when you need to break it.” Starfleet values are not inert, they are more like hyper-objects that, when enacted, actually pull the characters (and the audience, and the writers, and the showrunners…) into higher, deeper, more evolved waves of being, inviting all of us to explore more subtle, more sensible, and more sophisticated considerations in our own moment-to-moment ethical algorithms. In this respect, when it comes to its morality, its humanitarianism, its underlying philosophies, and its capacity to activate the better angels of our being, the Star Trek franchise more or less stands alone in our increasingly dystopian media landscape, and continues to offer us an aspirational roadmap to help us climb our way out of the bizarro mirror universe we currently seem to be inhabiting. “Our species can only survive if we have obstacles to overcome. You remove those obstacles. Without them to strengthen us, we will weaken and die.”James T. Kirk, Metamorphosis We often talk about the difference between “integral art” (artworks that are created from an integral consciousness) versus “enacting art integrally” (engaging any given work of art from an integral point of view). Every now and again, we get the rare opportunity to do both simultaneously, as we do here in this integral celebration (and integral enactment) of the Star Trek franchise. So open hailing frequencies, set phasers to stun, and prepare to boldly go where no Star Trek review has gone before. Written by Corey deVos “Live now; make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.”Jean-Luc Picard, Inner Light

The Boy Crisis: A conversation with Dr Warren Farrell

Fri, 20 Apr 2018 06:55:35 +0000

Today Jeff is joined by Dr. Warren Farrell, who has co-authored (with John Gray) a new book, The Boy Crisis: Why Our Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It. The book illustrates how boys are falling behind girls in crucial metrics of well-being: in academics (61% of college degrees will go to females by 2020), in mental and physical health (boys commit suicide at six times the rate of girls), in behavioral problems, career prospects, even life expectancy. Warren brings an integral sensibility to the situation by advocating a path forward that expands options for boys to find purpose and meaning, much as girls are able to do as a result of the feminist revolution. He also emphases the role of fathers and postive male role models for boys. As Gail Sheehy, author of Passages, writes of The Boy Crisis: “As an activist in the women’s movement, I’m proud of expanding life choices for our daughters. But no one did the same for our sons—until now.” Warren will help you think differently about the issues of sexual dynamics, and how we can move forward into a future where there are more ways to be human and fulfilled for all sexes. Dr. Warren Farrell is the author the the bestseller, The Myth of Male Power, and is the only man in the U.S. to have been elected three times to the Board of the National Organization for Women (NOW) in New York City.

Beyond Excellence in Sports: Flow by Choice Not Chance

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 06:13:56 +0000

Today Jeff talks with Scott Ford, author of Integral Consciousness in Sport: Unifying Body, Mind and Spirit Through Flow. Scott, an elite tennis coach for decades, is at the leading edge of thinking and practices for enhancing athletic performance. He has mapped out a five-stage developmental sequence of athletic performance, the first three of which are familiar: Learn the rules, tools and techniques Strategies and tactic for winning Mental/emotional training for self-excellence Stage 3, online for less than 50 years, is where many elite athletes function today. But it is at stage 4 and 5 that things get more interesting. At these higher stages we are working with flow or the zone, that elusive state where the player and the game merge. This “subject / object collapse” is what Scott calls “flowing presence” and is the gateway not just to greater performance, but to a profound enjoyment and fulfillment in the act itself. Scott is also a founding member of the Sports, Energy and Consciousness Group, a collective of doctors, psychologists, scientists, world-class athletes and leading-edge coaching, which is having its third annual conference in San Rafael this July. In this podcast Scott offers a specific practice for entering flow, which is applicable for “in the zone” performance in all aspects of life.

New Structures to Drain the Swamp

Sat, 14 Apr 2018 01:18:10 +0000

Today Jeff visits with integralist Tom Curren, who has launched a new non-profit initiative with the goal to Change the Rules of the American political system. Tom has identified four structural problems in American politics that exacerbate the electorate’s most tribal impulses: How the election system sorts for a “lesser of two evils” choice Why the most extreme ideologues have disproportionate power The big money machine that is successfully enriching its clients Barriers to large scale citizen participation Our political system seems to be carved in constitutional stone, but actually many of its most dysfunctional rules are not in the constitution, and have been built up to support the business of politics. Listen as Tom explains a series of non-flashy, non-partisan strategies (ballot initiatives, legal challenges and legislative pressures) that are already proving to drain the swamps in states and municipalities across the nation.. While The Daily Evolver usually focuses on integrating the polarities arising in consciousness and culture, this episode offers exciting, third-person structural solutions with high leverage. Tom also offers listeners an efficient way to participate personally on-the-ground in their communities. Tom Curren is founder of Hawthorne Consultants, a firm specialized in the integration of strategy and organization change. Find out more about his new non-profit, Change The Rules.

The War Among Progressives

Thu, 12 Apr 2018 01:04:29 +0000

Today Jeff and Corey take a close look at an fascinating new article by Valerie Tarico, published on Alternet with the title “Here’s Why Some Progressives Are Tearing Each Other Apart”. In the article Tarico argues that today’s political left is largely split into two major conflicting factions, each of whom are operating with two very different narratives around social progress. The first of these narratives she calls The Social Liberal Story, which proclaims universal values and seeks to expand the circle of people who benefit from them. Tarico contrasts this narrative against that of the The Structural Oppression Story, which views history as the continuing struggle of certain groups being oppressed by certain others — and if you aren’t being oppressed, it can only mean that you are one of the oppressors, whether you are conscious of perpetuating oppression or not. Both of these narratives are alive and well among liberals — and predictably, we integralists believe both contain true-but-partial wisdom that needs to be woven into a more mature framework for the political left (which, by the way, the author completely agrees with, and even offers her own integrative insight to this end). And to go a step further, both of these leftist views need to be integrated with the various wisdoms found on the political right in order to achieve a more healthy and functional body politic. Listen as Jeff and Corey try to navigate the inherent truths and limitations of each of these views, and enfold them into a bigger and bolder vision of our ongoing political evolution.

Integral European Conference: A Preview from Bence Ganti

Wed, 11 Apr 2018 02:38:14 +0000

Today Jeff’s guest is Bence Ganti, the creator of the 3rd Integral European Conference, which will commence on May 22nd at the Azur Resort at Lake Balaton in Hungary. This third biennial conference will be the biggest and most comprehensive yet, with over 600 participants from 50 countries. Titled Allies of Evolution, the conference will offer 250 programs on a wide range of integral issues, from contemporary politics to organizational development to art, culture and spirituality, in a mix of academic presentations and experiential processes. It features an optional pre-conference certification course with Dr. Susanne Cook-Greuter, and a Spiral Dynamics Level II Workshop, as well as a post-conference 3-day sightseeing tour by bus. Plus lots of fun, community, music, dance and an open-air goulash bonfire dinner and dance in the beautiful Hungarian countryside. You can find out more about the Integral European Conference here …

Integral Liftoff – Listeners Share the View from Second Tier

Thu, 05 Apr 2018 22:33:58 +0000

The Integral stage of human development reveals a thrilling new view of reality. It starts at the Teal altitude where we are able to see and map the movement of evolution in history and in our own lives. We develop the ability to hold paradox and appreciate the beauty of all previous stages who have been so long at war. It matures into the Turquoise altitude, where we experience a more unified kosmos, one that is animated with a loving intelligence which each of us, in our own way, is both expressing and creating. Our thanks to those of you who have written and sent voicemails to share your adventures in integral emergence. In today’s episode Jeff uses your reflections to chart some of the landmarks of the new integral territory, as well as characteristics of the pioneers who seek to inhabit it.

The Care and Feeding of the Brain

Fri, 30 Mar 2018 16:06:26 +0000

Today integral psychotherapist Dr Keith Witt joins Jeff for a look at the human brain. Dr Keith shares new research about brain health and specific actions we can take to maintain cognitive capacities into elderhood. They discuss the various types of dementia and Alzheimer’s, the most current understandings of their causes, as well as some surprising and simple ways we can keep our brains operating efficiently and adaptively.

Trump’s War Cabinet Drops a Developmental Level

Wed, 28 Mar 2018 15:56:41 +0000

Today Jeff and Corey consider the choice of John Bolton to become Donald Trump’s national security advisor (replacing Gen. H.R. McMaster), as well as the promotion of Mike Pompeo to be Secretary of State (replacing Rex Tillerson). The shakeup represents a major worldview shift from orange modernity to amber traditionalism in the war cabinet of a President who often operates from the red power stage. So long status quo, which has avoided nuclear war for 75 years and brought about significant disarmament in the last 25. The upside: a grand bargain. Kim Jong Un, knowing we really do have a bigger nuclear button, doesn’t trust Trump and Bolton not to use it any more than the rest of us do. Therefore he will be pliable in negotiations that eliminate missiles that could hit the US, and perhaps even more in return for decreasing the American military presence in South Korea, which Donald Trump would like to do anyway. The downside: war. Bolton means what he says about the necessity of a first strike, and Trump goes along for the ratings. Can we trust Donald Trump, who has consistently decried the folly of “stupid” wars, to not get us into another one? The appointment of John Bolton radically recasts the odds.

What Jordan Peterson (and His Fans and Foes) Can Learn from Integral Theory – PART 2

Fri, 23 Mar 2018 20:27:06 +0000

Public intellectuals don’t get any hotter than Jordan Peterson. Virtually unknown 18 months ago, he has today amassed over a million subscribers to his YouTube channels and countless millions of views. His new book “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos” is an international bestseller, nearing the million copy milestone. Peterson, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, sparked his fame by posting a lecture announcing his refusal to abide by a new civil rights code in Canada that appeared to legally require the use of gender-neutral pronouns with people who prefer them. Through subsequent postings critical of the political and cultural left, he has become a hero for advocates of free speech, and a idol to people who are opposed to the postmodern promulgation of multiculturalism and gender fluidity. So where does Jordan Peterson fit in the integral schema? In these two episodes of the Daily Evolver Jeff examines Peterson’s message as expressed through his book and his most popular lectures and interviews. In Part One Jeff made the case that Peterson is tantalizingly close to integral thinking, and is making a potent contribution to a large population of primarily (but by no means exclusively) young men, who are inspired by his transmission of traditional values, starting with his exhortation to “stand up straight with your shoulders back.” In this episode, Part Two, Jeff points how Peterson misses the integral mark by seeing postmodernity as a poisonous political ideology rather than a fully fleshed out stage in human evolutionary development, which, like all stages has its gifts and baggage. This misreading kicks off a cascade of conflict and consternation that, while stoking the culture wars, does not provide an authentic evolutionary path forward. Enjoy the episodes and let us know what you think!

What Jordan Peterson (and His Fans and Foes) Can Learn from Integral Theory – PART 1

Fri, 23 Mar 2018 20:20:28 +0000

Public intellectuals don’t get any hotter than Jordan Peterson. Virtually unknown 18 months ago, he has today amassed over a million subscribers to his YouTube channels and countless millions of views. His new book “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos” is an international bestseller, nearing the million copy milestone. Peterson, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, sparked his fame by posting a lecture announcing his refusal to abide by a new civil rights code in Canada that appeared to legally require the use of gender-neutral pronouns with people who prefer them. Through subsequent postings critical of the political and cultural left, he has become a hero for advocates of free speech, and a idol to people who are opposed to the postmodern promulgation of multiculturalism and gender fluidity. So where does Jordan Peterson fit in the integral schema? In these two episodes of the Daily Evolver Jeff examines Peterson’s message as expressed through his book and his most popular lectures and interviews. In Part One Jeff makes the case that Peterson is tantalizingly close to integral thinking, and is making a great contribution to a large population of primarily (but by no means exclusively) young men, who are inspired by his transmission of traditional values, starting with his exhortation to “stand up straight with your shoulders back.” Check out Part Two as well, where Jeff points how Peterson misses the integral mark by seeing postmodernity as a poisonous political ideology rather than a fully fleshed out stage in human evolutionary development which, like all stages, has its gifts and baggage. This misreading kicks off a cascade of conflict and consternation that, while stoking the culture wars, does not provide an authentic evolutionary path forward. Enjoy the episodes and let us know what you think!

An Ethos for Revolutionaries: Terry Patten on Activism at the Integral Stage

Sat, 17 Mar 2018 03:32:56 +0000

Today Jeff talks with integral teacher Terry Patten about his latest book, A New Republic of the Heart: An Ethos for Revolutionaries. Patten is pioneering a robust and dynamic new form of activism that fuses the “inner work” of personal transformation and awakening with the “outer work” of service and commitment to social justice. He calls this evolutionary activism. Such activism can include social entrepreneurship, conscious business, community building, lifestyle innovation, and much more. It interweaves spiritual evolution with social and political engagement and recognizes that the two are interdependent. The purpose of evolutionary activism is to create whole system change. That means transforming everything from our economic system to how we have conversations. “Changes in consciousness and culture may be as essential to our shared future as reducing our dependence on fossil fuels,” says Patten. It is with integral evolutionary activism that we can bring about the profound transformation of self and world that our era requires. Get your copy of “A New Republic of the Heart” here.

From F#@king up to Waking Up: Chris Grosso on Addiction and Liberation

Tue, 13 Mar 2018 03:08:37 +0000

Today Jeff and Corey talk to integral author Chris Grosso about his new book, Dead Set on Living: Making the Difficult but Beautiful Journey from F#@king Up to Waking Up, which features a number of deeply insightful encounters between Chris and various spiritual and cultural luminaries, including Ken Wilber, Ram Dass, Sharon Salzberg, Noah Levine, JP Sears, and many others. The book pivots around Chris’s provocative journey out of the shadows of addiction and the endless empty parade of substitute gratifications, and into the light of spiritual awakening and healthy living. Most importantly, Chris offers the reader a breadcrumb trail of practices and insights to help illuminate their own path to recovery, an invaluable resource for anyone who is struggling with any sort of addiction — whether drugs, alcohol, sex, video games, or any other fixation we use to avoid the inevitable pains and sorrows of our lives. Get your copy of “Dead Set on Living” here.

Ken Wilber on Practicing the Religion of Tomorrow

Sat, 10 Mar 2018 00:13:36 +0000

This week I am happy to share an interview with leading integral philosopher Ken Wilber where he discusses his new book, The Religion of Tomorrow: A Vision for the Future of the Great Traditions. Ken talked for well over an hour about the evolution of human spirituality from its roots in magic and myth and into modernity and postmodernity where, as Ken puts it, “we went from a world where God is everywhere to one where God is nowhere.” But evolution does not stop there, and Ken lays out what we can expect as we continue to wake up and grow up to higher stages: an ever great sense of wholeness, and the dawning of an identity that expands beyond our temporal minds and bodies. Enjoy the episode!

Elderhood – The Age of ‘Life-Giving Joy’

Fri, 02 Mar 2018 23:50:35 +0000

Today Jeff talks with John Mariner, who at the age of 78 is a practicing psychotherapist and writer focusing in the area of elderhood from an integral perspective. As John writes: There have always been Elders at every stage of humanity’s development. They were the wise and compassionate older men and women, never very many, and not always honored and revered during their lifetimes, who lived for the good of this world. John describes elderhood as a stage of development that includes – and transcends – adulthood. He describes his own experience entering this new territory: From age 70 until about 74 the question of ‘who am I?’, ‘who am I now?’ was constantly on my mind. At first I didn’t know I was growing out of Adulthood. At first I was an elder masquerading as an adult, carrying on my adult commitments, many of which I have continued into Elderhood. Gradually, I began to recognize the contours of my new home in Elderhood, the smell and the taste and the feel of this new stage of development. I have been transcending and including Adulthood for several years now. It is both joyful and life giving for me to do so, and I hope it may be useful to you. You can find more of John Mariner’s insights into elderhood, including his beautiful letter to the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school, here.

Can Virtual Reality Create a More Virtuous Reality?

Wed, 28 Feb 2018 23:30:13 +0000

In this episode Jeff talks with Corey DeVos of Integral Life about the exhilarating emergence of virtual reality technology and the far-reaching implications it has across the full spectrum of human experience, from entertainment to education, to medicine, art, journalism, spiritual practice, sexuality, communication, and any number of other exciting and potentially groundbreaking applications.

Peering into the Post-Privacy World

Sat, 24 Feb 2018 05:00:01 +0000

Today Jeff talks with integral psychotherapist Dr. Keith Witt about the arising of big data and its effect on our individual and collective psyches. They share their insights on the fascinating new book, Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are. Keith and Jeff discuss: How technology (LR quadrant) and culture (LL quadrant) power evolve in tandem How we deceive ourselves and each other about about sex and self-image – and how we get real How transparency normalizes previously marginalized behavior, in a good way (as Dr. Keith says, “The standard of, ‘Would I do this act if everyone was watching?’ adds a whole new dimension to moral development.”). How to bring discriminating wisdom to today’s world of fake (and true) news

The Black Panther: A Hero for Humanity

Fri, 23 Feb 2018 00:56:30 +0000

The Black Panther, Marvel Studios new blockbuster movie, is the story of a black superhero, written and directed by a black man, Ryan Coogler, with a largely black cast. The overt African lineage is significant and a worthy cultural touchstone. But what is more significant is that these folks have made a movie for all people. The Black Panther presents a vision of a hidden African land and culture, Wakanda, which harmonizes the spiral of human development — magic (magenta altitude), myth (amber altitude), hypermodernity (orange altitude) and world-centric political ideals (green altitude) — in a way that expresses a true integral sensibility. As Magnola Dargis writes in the New York Times: “Part of the movie’s pleasure and its ethos … is how it dispenses with familiar either/or divides, including the binary opposition that tends to shape our discourse on race. Life in Wakanda is at once urban and rural, futuristic and traditional, technological and mystical. Spaceships zoom over soaring buildings with thatched tops; a hover train zips over a market with hanging woven baskets.” This sense of integration is extended to the story as well, which illuminates the struggle of growing beyond a retributionist victim identity to a larger sense of responsibility for one’s self, one’s people, and the whole of the world. It’s a transmission of eros that as Jeff says, “left me giddy with uplift.” In this episode, Jeff is the guest of Steven T Harper, on his podcast, “What’s Your Theory?”. Steve, a sci-fi author himself, (Kings X Saga) shares his abiding love for the genre, situates The Black Panther in the superhero pantheon, and shows how it is moving the evolutionary ball.

Integral Eggheads (Try To) Watch the Olympics

Tue, 20 Feb 2018 04:09:10 +0000

Today Jeff and Corey take a look at the Olympics – anthropologically. They address: How the Olympics express multiple stages of human development Emergent sports that harmonize competition with inclusion How one’s type and kosmic address influences how you experience sports The agony and ecstasy: transmitting mass state experience through athletics Revisiting The Transpersonal Workout

The Roots of Mass Shootings

Sat, 17 Feb 2018 01:09:39 +0000

Is America’s rate of gun violence, which multiplies that of other developed countries, an immutable part of our character and culture? How do we respond to the steady news of mass shootings and the senseless killing of innocent people? And how about the perpetrators: are they mentally ill or just plain evil? Today Jeff and Corey consider the shooting at the high school in Parkland, Florida, and what integral thinking can reveal about this tragedy.

The Predictable Stages of Growth in Couples

Thu, 15 Feb 2018 00:38:30 +0000

Today, in honor of Valentine’s Day, Jeff talks with Dr. Tom Habib about the affairs of the heart. An integrally-inspired clinical psychologist specializing in couples therapy, Tom has mapped what he calls the “couple’s line of development,” which describes the predictable stages of growth that a couple can grow through — and where they may get stalled. The adventure of love generally starts with sexual chemistry and illusions of safety, an intoxicating stage that some people replay through multiple partners. At the next stage a more committed couple seeks to build a life together by assuming roles such as mother/father or provider/supporter. If they are able grow into the third stage, it will be into some form of relational partnership based on a flexible roles and mutual respect. Tom calls the fourth stage “first love” which is new territory for most couples. “First love” corresponds with integral development and is created by an active appreciation of one’s partner as well as the intentional development of a we-space in which more aspects of each person is mutually embraced. Tom’s vision is both beautiful and instructive in helping us to grow in mutuality with our intimate partners. Tom Habib joins us from his home in San Juan Capistrano, California. You can find more of his work at drtomhabib.com.

The Art of Evolving: What We Carry with Us, What We Leave Behind

Tue, 13 Feb 2018 01:13:49 +0000

Today Jeff and Corey respond to listener feedback, focused on how we evolve (both as individuals and as cultures) by “transcending and including” our previous stages of development. But, practically speaking, how do we know what to include and what to transcend? Kristina from Idaho writes: “I’m asking myself how to discern what cannot or should not be included in the movement toward an integral perspective. Can you give any kind of guideline or perhaps qualities of previous levels that should NOT be brought forward?” Durwin from Canada provides a good explanation using the example of traditionalism (Amber Altitude): “We need to affirm the healthy expression of amber/traditionalism collectively, while personally, the goal is to heal any remaining amber sub-personalities, so that we can experience the “mini-transformation” that comes from no longer having any of our subjectivity stuck there.” And, Mimi K. writes: “Red, amber. orange, green and integral seem to be all alive and well on this planet. Earlier stages used to last for millennia before a new one emerged. How can we keep red, amber orange and green from destroying each other before Integral can embrace and contain them?” Being conscious of our own development allows us to deliberately participate in it. Here are some insights to help guide the way.

How to be the hero of your own life story

Sat, 10 Feb 2018 00:57:09 +0000

Today we share Jeff’s guest appearance on the episode We can’t evolve without these traditional values from Steve Harper‘s “What’s Your Theory?“ webcast. Steve and Jeff explore the interior qualities of traditionalism (amber altitude), and how to recognize, respect and nurture their power in one’s self and others. The conversation is organized around three touchstones: Joseph Campbell, whose insights into “the hero’s journey“ reveal the deep structures of myths throughout history, and their value in giving our lives direction and meaning. “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” the classic Frank Capra film where an idealistic young Senator (Jimmy Stewart) champions honor and sacrifice over the interests of money. Jordan Peterson, whose wildly popular YouTube videos and new bestseller “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos“ seek to reanimate a heroic traditionalism, particularly for young people who are deficient. This podcast is a companion piece with the episode, “The Beauty (and Baggage) of Traditionalism,” where Jeff provides a more theoretical context for the amber altitude of development. Stephen T. Harper is the host of the “What’s Your Theory” podcast, where he and Jeff have a regular series of “Integral Chats.” Steve is also the author of the Kings X Saga, a series of novels blending contemporary fantasy and world history.

The Beauty (and Baggage) of Traditionalism

Fri, 09 Feb 2018 00:22:38 +0000

Today, in a more theoretical turn, Jeff looks at key principles of Integral theory that illuminate the traditional stage of development (amber altitude) and how it arises both within human culture and in each individual human being. The goal of traditionalism is to civilize the chaos of the previous warrior stage (red altitude). “Might is right” becomes “right is right,” as we enter a world of meaning and purpose oriented toward a transcendent God or Pureland. One goal of integralism (teal and turquoise altitudes) is to reclaim what is good, true and beautiful from all previous stages. In this episode, Jeff looks at the deep structures of traditionalism and how we can nurture its most healthy expression in our culture, and in our own minds and hearts.

Are We Seeing the End of American Football?

Mon, 05 Feb 2018 07:48:48 +0000

It was Super Bowl Sunday last week, America’s great secular holiday where the nation’s top two football teams go to battle to prove who is the ultimate champion. All the attention and hoopla do not, however, hide the fact that football’s popularity is waning in American culture. Attendance has been down steadily (yesterday’s Super Bowl continued an eight-year decline in viewership), as has participation in football programs in communities, schools and colleges across the country. . The main reason? The awareness of the effects of head trauma caused by the violent contact that is central to the game. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that 110 of 111 brains of NFL players had chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Hundreds of personal stories are also being told, exemplified by a major article in yesterday’s New York Times describing the sad decline of 43 year old Rob Kelly, who left major league football 15 years ago and whose mind, as described by his wife, Emily, is now “destroyed.” Sports represent healthy “red altitude” developmental energy in our culture, the progressive civilization of blood sports that seeks to express physical aggression and competition in ever more benign forms. Football is still with us, but its popularity is undermined with every new case of the tragic personal price paid by so many of our heroes who play it.

A fix for immigration and infrastructure?

Thu, 01 Feb 2018 04:19:11 +0000

Today we look at President Trump’s State of the Union address, where he made opening moves toward a grand bargain to overhaul the U.S. immigration system and rebuild the nation’s infrastructure. What are the policy and political ramifications? Can we trust the guy who brought us birtherism? Are Democrats willing to give Trump victories they themselves want (and Republicans would never give them)? In this episode we deploy integral thinking to shed some new light on these two issues so crucial to America’s future.

Ralph Ellison’s integral insight into race and culture

Tue, 30 Jan 2018 07:26:36 +0000

Today Jeff continues his ongoing conversation with Greg Thomas, an integral thinker who is pioneering a new way forward in race relations in the U.S. Greg advocates transcending the postmodern emphasis on racial identity in favor or embracing what is a broader American cultural identity, of which all Americans are an inextricable part. Greg advances a rich lineage of Black intellectual thought that includes Albert Murray and Ralph Ellison. Today Greg and Jeff discuss Ellison’s famous essay, “The Little Man at Chehaw Station: The American Artist and His Audience”. The title character, the “little man,” stands in for any person of any station who wholeheartedly participates in the American culture. As Ellison writes, “[The Little Man] demands that the relationship between his own condition and that of the more highly placed be recognized. He senses that American experience is of a whole, and he wants the interconnections revealed. And not out of a penchant for protest, nor out of petulant vanity, but because he sees his own condition as an Inseparable part of a larger truth in which the high and the lowly, the known and the unrecognized, the comic and a tragic, are woven into the Americans skein.”

Star Wars: The Force Evolves

Mon, 29 Jan 2018 21:14:43 +0000

Star Wars is one of the most treasured film franchises in history, and one of the very few that is enjoyed by such a massive and cross-generational audience. The original trilogy is often collectively referred to as a pop culture masterpiece, and even the less-renowned prequel trilogy has earned its place in the hearts of fans around the world. Now we are in the midst of the third trilogy in the franchise, inspiring yet another generation of young padawans across the galaxy — well, across the planet at least. Today Jeff is joined by Cindy Wigglesworth and Corey deVos, and together they dive deeply into the rich mythology and mysticism of the Star Wars universe — sharing their personal connection to Star Wars, their integral appreciation of its central themes and allegories, and their best guesses as to where the Force may be taking us next. *SPOILER WARNING* Cindy, Corey, and Jeff get into some of the plot details of The Last Jedi, so enter at your own risk!

A spiritual vision with evolution at its core: - Jeff talks to Byron Belitsos about Urantia

Sat, 27 Jan 2018 02:33:48 +0000

Imagine a world that is lit up with the loving intelligence of the Divine. Where spiritual practitioners realize their identity as evolving beings in an evolving kosmos, a kosmos that is teeming with life including all sorts of of celestial beings, angels, seraphim, and extraterrestrials from billions of inhabited worlds like ours. And that these beings love us, communicate with us, and guide us as we grow toward ever-greater expressions of goodness, truth and beauty. Welcome to The Urantia Book, a spiritual revelation that came into being in the early 20th Century and has inspired generations of adherents since. Today Jeff talks with Byron Belitsos, author of the new book, Your Evolving Soul: The Cosmic Spirituality of the Urantia Revelation, about the principles of these deep and beautiful (and controversial!) teachings, and how they can illuminate our spiritual development.

When the world’s largest investor wakes up - The power of green emergence in finance

Fri, 26 Jan 2018 01:26:42 +0000

In this episode we look at the continued emergence of postmodern consciousness (green altitude), using a current example from the U.S. financial sector. Last week Laurence D. Fink, founder and chief executive of BlackRock, the world’s largest investor fund, informed business leaders that if they want any of the the $6 trillion he invests they are going to have to serve a social purpose. “To prosper over time,” he said, “every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society.” This is a sentiment that was anathema to the business community a generation ago, and actually opposed as counterproductive by respected economists such as Milton Friedman. But yesterday’s financial heresy is going mainstream today. What’s up? Emergence, the one thing we can count on…

Trump’s first year - Worse than I hoped, better than I feared

Tue, 23 Jan 2018 21:59:43 +0000

Donald Trump has just completed the first year of the most unlikely, outrageous presidency in modern history. What do we make of it? In this episode Jeff looks at Trump’s impact on the exterior aspects of American life (actual policies and their effects on people) as well as his impact on the interior aspects (the culture and individual consciousness).

Is Integral arrogant? - Jeff responds to listeners

Sat, 20 Jan 2018 19:50:08 +0000

Today Jeff responds to Harry, a listener who offers a critique often heard within and about the integral world. Harry writes: There’s an unspoken, and unconscious, assumption that integral was just invented a few years ago by Wilber, Gebser, et al., and that anyone exhibiting similar insights and behaviors earlier, or anyone currently exploring similar turf who languages it differently, is “proto-integral.” I believe there have been integral (and beyond) sages since time immemorial. Jesus, Gautama Buddha, Lao-Tzu, the list goes on. I think there’s a shadow of hubris that dogs the integral narrative that’s worth dragging into the light. So is integral arrogant? Jeff explains how integral theory itself helps to answer the question. Illustration: After Hubris Comes Nemesis by Theodore Gericault

The #MeToo Reckoning - A conversation with Diane Musho Hamilton

Thu, 18 Jan 2018 17:39:18 +0000

Today Jeff welcomes his friend Diane Musho Hamilton to discuss the latest turnings in the #MeToo movement and the cultural education we’re all receiving regarding sex and power. Diane and Jeff look at the upside of the movement, as well as its inevitable overreach. They look at how it heals historic patterns of abuse, and what it is blind and hostile too. And they look to integral consciousness, the ability to hold multiple perspectives, as a way forward. Diane Musho Hamilton is a teacher of Integral Spirituality and Zen, as well as a mediator, facilitator and author. Her latest book is The Zen of You and Me. See her new blog post: #MeToo: On Perspectives, Listening, and Risk Taking.

Renewing our faith in progress

Tue, 16 Jan 2018 22:59:55 +0000

Let’s welcome 2018 with the recognition that in terms of human flourishing – nutrition, health, lifespan, peace, freedom – we are living in the best of times. Acknowledging this fact is not to turn away from the suffering of the world or to minimize the dangers we face. The integral move is to include all of it, and to take heart even in the midst of a cultural narrative of anger and despair. Jeff notes that more people seem to be able to hold both perspectives more fully, including thought leaders like Nicholas Kristof and Andrew Sullivan. It is a quality of integral consciousness worthy of practice and development.

Growing Beyond Green - How the Limits of Postmodernity Point the Way to Integral Consciousness

Thu, 11 Jan 2018 02:29:38 +0000

A conversation with Doshin Michael Nelson, founder of Integral Zen. The upside of the Green postmodern stage of development is astonishing. After countless centuries of brutality, culminating in the horrors of World War II, this new leading edge of consciousness emerged with an ethos of sensitivity and a mission to rehabilitate the victims of history, including the slaves of the Red power stage, the sinners of the Amber traditional stage and the losers of the Orange modern stage, as well as to grant a new moral status to the domains of animals and nature. The downside of the Green altitude is that it has lost faith in humanity. It is allergic to truth claims, it ridicules convention and is deeply suspicious of power. It’s role is deconstructive, which it often plays so thoroughly that there is nothing left for its adherents to hold on to. Welcome to the cutting edge of human evolution in the 21st-century! In this episode Jeff is interviewed by Doshin Michael Nelson, founder of Integral Zen, about the nature of Green and the Integral way forward.

Deepening Christmas - A conversation with Father John Forman

Tue, 19 Dec 2017 00:09:10 +0000

In this episode I talk with Corey deVos of Integral Life, and Episcopal priest Fr. John Forman about the message of Christmas and how we can enjoy a deeper experience of the season. Father John Forman answered the call to priesthood in mid-life, after a career in business (he was a co-creator of the original Integral Institute business seminars) and is now Rector of the Episcopal Church in Burion, Washington. He was drawn to the Episcopal / Anglican lineage for its commitment to, as he puts it, “the protection of the mystery of God”, and his teaching emphasizes direct experience over belief. I love visiting with my old friend Father John and am grateful to join with him as we celebrate the birth of Christ and the perpetual rebirth of love in the world.

New Senator in Alabama; New Thinking in Puerto Rico

Sat, 16 Dec 2017 01:05:50 +0000

In this episode Jeff looks at yesterday’s victory of Democrat Doug Jones over Republican Roy Moore in the special U.S. Senate election in Alabama. It is a vivid show of integral stage theory and represents the waning of the state’s Old Testament and Old Confederacy identity, as more Alabamans resonate with modern values that demand respect for minorities and women. Though the election was state-wide the implications are national — and ominous for President Trump. As the Wall Street Journal writes, “The GOP voters who ignored Mr. Trump and rejected Mr. Moore also want a President who acts presidential.” Jeff starts the episode by checking in on Puerto Rico, as political and business forces align to create a state-of-the-art, low-carbon power grid.

When a Cake is Too Gay

Tue, 12 Dec 2017 01:07:26 +0000

Today we look at the case, heard last week in the U.S. Supreme Court, of the Colorado baker who refuses to bake a cake for a gay couple’s wedding. The case pits competing American values of freedom of speech (and freedom from compelled speech) and the principle of tolerance and equal access in the public spheres of life. It’s a very significant case, the first to deal with on-the-ground ramifications of the 2015 ruling that legalized gay marriage nationwide, and it will lay out a powerful precedence going forward. Jeff and Corey have a split decision. What do you think?

The Shadow Side of Technology

Sat, 09 Dec 2017 00:48:58 +0000

The emergence of the internet and social media has been spectacularly fruitful for the evolution of humanity. They connect the world, put all information at our fingertips and provide endless opportunities for self-expression, community and creativity. In recent times, however, we have seen the dark side of technology arise: customized newsfeeds that seal us off from opposing world views, stoking our tribal identities. Data collection systems that compromise our privacy in ways we not may not understand. Sophisticated feedback loops that keep us hooked and threaten our peace of mind. In this episode Jeff talks with David Riordan, Vice President of Media for Integral Life, about some of the ways we can inhabit the virtual world more safely and intelligently.

The Last Gasp of Late Stage Capitalism - An integral look at the new tax law

Thu, 07 Dec 2017 01:04:26 +0000

The rise of capitalism, starting a couple hundred years ago, has been a spectacularly positive development for humanity, creating enormous material wealth that raised billions of people out of poverty. In the last 40 years, however, it has been gamed so that the vast majority of economic growth flows to the elites who own and manage the systems of wealth creation. The Republican tax plan doubles down on that trend, reducing taxes for corporations and the rich at the expense of social programs that help the poor. Jeff and Corey discuss the ramifications.

The Future of Sex: More Fun, Less Creepy - Guest: Keith Witt, Psychotherapist

Mon, 04 Dec 2017 17:40:24 +0000

Jeff talks with Dr. Keith Witt about the great consciousness raising our culture is going through regarding sexual harassment. Dr Keith’s prescription for a healthier, safer future: more sex! He advocates for a pro-sex culture where sexuality is normalized from childhood, where power dynamics are above board, and where sexual polarity is given its full, juicy expression in a container of mutual adult consent.

Artificial Intelligence vs. Artificial Consciousness - Guest: Michael Zimmerman, Philosophy of Technology

Thu, 30 Nov 2017 17:42:43 +0000

The hopes and fears surrounding the advent of artificial intelligence are fantastical, from Ray Kurzweil’s promise of spiritual machines to Elon Musk’s warnings of killer robots. And yes, some version of that future is barreling toward us at an ever-increasing speed, says philosopher of technology professor Michael Zimmerman, who is Jeff’s guest today. In this episode Michael and Jeff make important distinctions between artificial intelligence and consciousness itself. Machines have become proficient at handling information (e.g. the phone in your pocket), they are learning how to self-observe and learn, and they may soon be able to “present” as human. But will they ever hope and dream – or plot and scheme? Jeff argues that a system of material components, however complex, will never create a shred of interiority. Michael is not so sure, and offers a couple scenarios that give Jeff a scare!

The Energetic Properties of Beauty, Truth, and Goodness - A conversation with Steve McIntosh

Thu, 30 Nov 2017 01:09:47 +0000

Steve McIntosh joins Jeff and Corey for an in-depth exploration into the energetic qualities of the three primary virtues of Goodness, Beauty, and Truth. Steve describes how these virtues can both enrich our cognitive understanding of the universe around us, while also deepening and reinvigorating our own ongoing spiritual practice. If you’d like to go deeper into Steve’s work, you should pick up his wonderful book, THE PRESENCE OF THE INFINITE: The Spiritual Experience of Beauty, Truth, and Goodness. For a brief synopsis of the Good, the Beautiful, and the True, be sure to check out this video by Ken Wilber, as well as the written text by Corey deVos.

Are Women More Bound to be Good?

Wed, 29 Nov 2017 00:59:33 +0000

Today Jeff considers comments from “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski which imply that women have an extra responsibility to resist Donald Trump. He also quotes former first lady Michelle Obama saying that if a woman voted for Trump it is because “[you] don’t like your [own] voice. You like the thing you’re told to like.” This is a projection of progressive (green altitude) values on all women, and is rightly seen as disrespectful by women who don’t share those values. But as a feature of culture it is nothing new. It turns out that women have long been held to higher ideals of moral development, a history that Jeff sketches starting with the famous frontier story of Cynthia Ann Parker, who was kidnapped by the Comanche Indians for 24 years — and refused to be rescued.

Ann Coulter’s Piece of the Truth: Critiquing Trump from the Right

Tue, 28 Nov 2017 01:02:20 +0000

Ann Coulter’s provocative personality often obscures two aspects of her that are far more important: she is a devoted Christian and committed nationalist. She thinks multiculturalism is dangerous and that Western culture rooted in a Judeo-Christian tradition creates superior societies. She advocated for Trump enthusiastically, and wrote a popular book In Trump We Trust, E Pluribus Awesome! to support his election. So how is she feeling a year in to Trump’s presidency? Not altogether happy, considering her recent column, Headlines From an Administration That is Not Putting American First. In this episode Jeff contemplates the views of Coulter and her nationalist comrades on the right.

The Gift of Gratitude

Fri, 17 Nov 2017 05:36:52 +0000

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday: few obligations, a nice dinner and a reminder to be grateful for life’s blessings – and the blessing of life itself! Gratitude is itself a practice in many spiritual traditions and it is a worthy part of an integral practice. In this episode I take a look at the power of gratitude through an integral lens. Happy Thanksgiving!

Cultivating an Integral American Identity

Thu, 16 Nov 2017 06:43:20 +0000

In this episode I reflect on a conversation Corey DeVos and I had with African American scholar Greg Thomas, where we explored what a more integral approach to race relations might look like. Greg is influenced by his mentor, Albert Murray, who, writing in the 60’s challenged the postmodern narrative that reduced race (and much of human relations in general) to hard constructs of victim and oppressor. A more adequate view includes human interiority, the making of meaning, and the lived experience of people who are fully inhabiting their lives and culture. It includes a connection to the land and all the flavors of heritage that make up what Murray called the Omni-Americans, who have been given the best of culture from all times and places. I further consider these insights in light of a column, “This American Land”, written by David Brooks and published in the New York Times a few months ago. In it Brooks seeks to soothe our cultural polarization by finding a common identity in the American land. He offers three character types drawn from the ways Americans have related to our nation’s natural bounty: the Steward, the Pioneer and the Elevated Spirit. Each offers us a piece of what is needed to “create a revival of values, fraternity and a binding American story.” The postmodern critique of Brooks’ thesis is that while these archetypes may provide a national ethos for white people, they do not capture the experience of America’s oppressed minorities. I propose that an emerging integral view can include the truth of both perspectives, and thus offer a larger ethos for us all.

Roy Moore Wants to Date Your Daughter

Wed, 15 Nov 2017 06:54:33 +0000

American politics is riveted on bombshell accusations involving Judge Roy Moore, who is running for U.S. Senate from the state of Alabama. In a story reported in the Washington Post, he is accused by five women of molesting them when they were 14 – 16 years old. He proclaims his innocence, claims he always “got their mother’s permission” when dating young girls, and calls the charges a political smear. Regardless of the political outcome, our culture is getting a lesson in moral development in real time. Old Testament values that accept older men being with adolescent girls is today seen as creepy and abusive. Childhood itself has become reified as a stage of development that is sacred and in need of protection. Are children safer today than in 1970’s Alabama? Yes, and ever more so as stories such as Judge Moore’s spur us forward (but don’t tell that to Mike Barnacle, Maureen Dowd and the other wailers of woe).

Beyond Race and Victimhood

Tue, 14 Nov 2017 01:24:04 +0000

Today we are joined by Greg Thomas, who has thought and written extensively on one of the most vexing conundrums in our culture: race relations. Greg attempts to chart a new course, one that includes the postmodern insight into oppression and its effects, but challenges its fixation on racial and victim identity. He appeals to us to appreciate the lived history of black folk and how traditional black expressions of the values of family and character provide a foundation for present day excellence. Ultimately Greg challenges the very concept of race itself, inviting us into a deeper transracial human identity, one that is being revealed by genetic science and which allows us to embrace the good, bad, ugly, and beautiful roles that all peoples have played in the history of humanity.

Our Postmodern Personality

Fri, 10 Nov 2017 01:30:39 +0000

Most integralists are waist to neck deep in the postmodern world view, which we refer to as the Green altitude of development. Our emerging Integral sensibility chafes against the limits of Green, yet we remain deeply identified in ways that are worth carrying forward. The upsides of Green are astonishing: after countless centuries of brutality, culminating in the horrors of World War II, a new leading edge of humanity emerges whose ethos is sensitivity and whose mission is to rehabilitate the victims of history: the slaves, the sinners and the losers, as well as to grant a new moral status to the domains of animals and nature. The downside of the Green altitude is that it has lost faith in humanity. It is allergic to truth claims, it ridicules convention and is deeply suspicious of power. It’s role is deconstructive, which it often plays so thoroughly that there is nothing left for its adherents to hold on to. Welcome to the cutting edge of human evolution in the 21st-century! In this episode Jeff is interviewed by Doshin Michael Nelson, founder of Integral Zen, about the nature of Green and the Integral way forward.

Finding Greater Resilience in the Trump Era

Thu, 09 Nov 2017 01:40:18 +0000

Dr. Keith Witt talks to Jeff Salzman about the negative effects today’s polarized politics are having upon people’s psychological health, and the strategies you need to become more resilient — and less reactive — to the many stresses of our time. Topics include: The psychological effects of Donald Trump’s “bully” style of leadership, and how to counter those effects. Clearing up the confusion between the notions of resilience and of sensitization. How to create and play with polarity, without allowing yourself to become politically polarized. Caution against slipping into the sort of leftist overreach that is largely responsible for the rise of Trump in the first place. Encouragement to become more civically engaged in our political systems.

The Daily Evolver Q&A: Deep Listening, Helping People Grow, and Geopolitical Shades of Grey

Wed, 08 Nov 2017 01:20:40 +0000

Jeff and Corey answer some questions from our listeners in this special Q&A episode of The Daily Evolver. Comment #1 from Michael, who recommended that when we have difficult conversations with other people to not just “be willing to be influenced” (an upper left quadrant activity) but to “pay attention to your nervous system” (an upper right quadrant activity). Question #2 from Howie: how do we talk to non world-centric people about climate change in a way that is meaningful to them? Question #3 from Jennifer: doesn’t Trump’s (and Jared Kushner’s) association with Saudi Arabia raise more red flags over the Crown Prince’s weekend purge?

The Mean Green Fever Dream Climate Urgency vs Alarmism

Thu, 02 Nov 2017 06:02:30 +0000

Climate change is one of the most difficult and complex problems the globe is facing right now — one that requires a certain degree of development to even perceive, yet poses a potential existential threat to billions of people across the planet. And yet, it has proven very difficult to create the political will within the United States to actually do something about it — largely because of the ways many environmentalists try to bring attention to the issue, which often comes across more like an apocalyptic religion than a still-maturing science. When trying to communicate about climate change and sustainable initiatives, how can we find a way to convey the tremendous urgency of the problem without falling into the sort of overwrought alarmism that only ends up tuning people out of the conversation?

An Integral Response to Terror in the 21st Century

Thu, 02 Nov 2017 03:53:50 +0000

The end of ISIS as an occupying army is official with the fall of Raqqa, Syria two weeks ago. ISIS’s defeat was never in question: holy warriors led by God were never a match for the Goliath of modernity. But ISIS lives on in the minds and hearts of its true believers, some of whom would be oh so happy to take jihad to the Great Satan using modern weapons they could never themselves create. This time in New York it was a truck. Next time it could be much, much worse. How should modernity fight back now?

The Art of Being Unique (But Not Special)

Wed, 01 Nov 2017 04:02:32 +0000

In this episode I take a look at a paradoxical move in vertical development: where we embrace our own radical uniqueness and express it in relation to other beings who are also utterly unique. It’s a new and more vivid integration of the individual and collective realms of reality, and out of it emerges a possibility for a more fruitful, happy and fulfilling life. Once again we are helped out by Sarah Silverman!

Mueller, Trump & Collusion: The Rule of Law Pushes Back

Tue, 31 Oct 2017 00:45:54 +0000

The gradual breakdown and reorganization of the prevailing world order–“the great release”–continues. In today’s Daily Evolver Jeff, Corey and Robb look at today’s groundbreaking headlines to explain how Red and Amber-centered populism, led by President Trump, gained power in order to combat the stagnation brought on by too much cultural and economic power consolidated in too few hands. Today, with indictments being leveled at three people working for the Trump campaign (one of which confirmed collusion with the Russian government), the Orange, Constitutionally-centered rule of law fought back. Orange is beginning to combat the hijacking of the national power by tribalist elements. What’s ahead? More fighting, or the beginning of a new integration of both sets of value? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Building Bridges: How to Talk to Trump Supporters

Fri, 27 Oct 2017 05:36:52 +0000

In the wake of the Trump election, many progressives are realizing that one way forward is to reach out to their political opponents, at least to establish a basic human connection. Today Jeff looks at four recent attempts to do that: by comedian Sarah Silverman, philosopher George Lakoff, Vox political correspondent Liz Plank and New York Times columnist David Brooks. Corey also adds some of his own integral tips for good interpersonal hygiene.

The Witch and the Evolution of Horror

Wed, 25 Oct 2017 06:14:58 +0000

In this segment I review my new favorite horror film: “The Witch: A New England Folktale”. Created by young filmmaker Robert Eggers, it feels like something new in the genre, no only in how it was made, but it also in terms of where it takes the viewer. I nominate it for consideration as a work of integral art — as well as for your Halloween horror movie weekend (but watch it with the subtitles).

How to Vote Integral

Tue, 24 Oct 2017 05:48:54 +0000

In a political system that is so polarized and seemingly rife with conflict between irreconcilable views, how do we make the best and most integrally-informed choices possible?

“DUNKIRK” Rescues Heroism From Postmodernity - And stands as a work of Integral art ...

Thu, 19 Oct 2017 00:16:36 +0000

In this episode I review the movie “Dunkirk”, a wonderful new film by Christopher Nolan which I offer for consideration as a work of lntegral art. As I say in the podcast (and accompanying transcript), “Dunkirk” expresses traditional values in a postmodern voice. The resulting integration is both cool and drenched with meaning. The effect is that we lower our guard to become directly vulnerable to the predicament of the soldiers fighting the battle onscreen. I was thrilled by the movie and left feeling enlarged, as if I had experienced not just the suffering and heroism of the characters, but the suffering and heroism of humanity. Thus inspired, I offer this review to propose that “Dunkirk” achieves and transmits an emergent, post postmodern aesthetic. And to encourage you to see it!

Trump-Sick? Try This.

Wed, 18 Oct 2017 06:25:46 +0000

In this segment I respond to a listener who makes a urgent request for relief from a bad case of “Trumpinosis” (fear and loathing of our President). I end the episode by sharing 15 minutes of a video of spiritual teacher Byron Katie as she helps a woman metabolize her distress at Trump. It’s a brilliant integral transmission. You can see the whole thing at “I’m Afraid of Trump – The Work of Byron Katie”

When Buddhists Go Bad: The Tragedy in Myanmar (And Why Development Trumps Doctrine)

Tue, 17 Oct 2017 06:20:56 +0000

If Buddhism is a religion of peace, what explains the ethnic cleansing in Myanmar, where the Rohingya Muslims minority is being killed and driven out by Buddhist militias, incited by Buddhist monks?

The Transpersonal Workout Less Pain, More Gain

Mon, 16 Oct 2017 06:10:37 +0000

The Transpersonal Workout — I think I have stumbled upon a way to transform my morning workout from something I dread and suffer through, to something that has become quite meaningful and rewarding. In the process I have upped my weights, reps and results – and leave not just physically but spiritually strengthened.

Harvey Weinstein and the Fall of the Patriarchy

Wed, 11 Oct 2017 06:32:27 +0000

Male domination of women is nothing new. Though modernity and postmodernity seek to dismantled it, pockets of patriarchy continue to flourish in the strangest places, even liberal Hollywood. Till last week …

The Republic Fights Back (And Even Some Republicans!)

Wed, 11 Oct 2017 03:46:06 +0000

The Power of Mutual Awakening - My conversation with Patricia Albere

Wed, 04 Oct 2017 23:48:44 +0000

Hey Folks, Today I’d like to share a conversation I had with one of my favorite evolutionary teachers, Patricia Albere, about her beautiful new book: Evolutionary Relationships: Unleashing the Power of Mutual Awakening. Patricia is the founder of The Evolutionary Collective, a group of committed integral practitioners who are investigating relationship itself as a means of spiritual awakening. I hosted Patricia as she started the Collective several years ago at Boulder Integral. I loved working with her; Patricia has a special, right-on-schedule realization, and the gift of real spiritual leadership in sharing it with others. Here’s the blurb I wrote for her book: “Patricia Albere has been conducting basic research into what it is to evolve in mutuality with other people. This book is a report from the frontiers of her explorations. What she has discovered is that love is not just an emotion but an evolutionary force, a force that drives all the fragments of the universe – including us – toward greater connection and wholeness.” You can find out more about Patricia’s new book Evolutionary Relationships here. And if you are seriously interested in the practice of mutual awakening, consider buying the book by Sunday, 10/8/17 and you’ll get complimentary tuition to her four-part course, Mutual Trust.

Donald Trump Has A Very Small Amygdala - New research into people who lack empathy, and how to deal with them

Mon, 02 Oct 2017 15:37:38 +0000

In this episode I attempt once again to plumb the shallows of Donald Trump's mind. I was spurred by an article in The Atlantic magazine about children who have been diagnosed with “callous and unempathetic traits.” In many ways Trump fits the profile of these children, who to a surprising degree do not respond to disapproval or punishments, but do respond to praise and rewards. The article reports on interesting new treatments that are helping these kids grow into better adults. Unfortunately, at age 71 Trump may be a lost cause. In the last part of the podcast I look at some of the ramifications of his psychological profile, specifically as it relates to North Korea.

The Morality of Meat

Sat, 30 Sep 2017 00:53:40 +0000

If God didn’t want us to eat animals, why did He make them out of meat?

Monkey Mind (And Other Kinds of Animal Intelligence)

Fri, 29 Sep 2017 01:03:00 +0000

How much consciousness do animals possess?

Do Rivers Have Rights?

Mon, 18 Sep 2017 01:07:04 +0000

Rivers are people, my friend. And they’ve lawyered up.

Is Climate Changing Us? - Hurricanes Harvey and Irma heat up the debate

Fri, 15 Sep 2017 17:43:00 +0000

This week the topic was obvious: Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, the dual storms that battered Texas and Florida in the last couple weeks. In this episode we look at how the climate debate has exacerbated the polarization of our culture, particularly between traditionalists and postmodernists. How is it that the political right and left can have such radically different views of what’s happening with our global climate, and what, if anything, should be done about it? Are we deadlocked? Can we fight our way forward? And why can't science just settle things? As always integral theory helps us sort things out. I hope you enjoy the podcast!

The 50,000 Year Culture War - My appearance on “What’s Your Theory?” podcast

Mon, 11 Sep 2017 16:48:17 +0000

In today’s episode I am the guest of Stephen T. Harper as he kicks off his new podcast, “What’s Your Theory?”, where he interviews people who have “good answers to big questions about how the world works.” And do I have a theory for him! One of the key tenets of integral theory is that human consciousness and culture evolve, and that’s where Steve and I focus. With his enthusiastic curiosity and flex-flow mind, Steve helps me map the “evolution of the interior” from the dawn of humanity to the present day where integral theory is so helpful for making sense of our world. While this podcast is an introduction to integral theory, we use plenty of up-to-the minute topics and headlines to tell the story. Established students of integral theory will get an overview and refresher, and newbies will get a good basic understanding of a foundational integral principle. If you have friends who are interested in an integral on-ramp, this is a conversation you might consider sharing with them as well.

Intimacy, Longevity, and Happiness

Thu, 27 Jul 2017 22:05:27 +0000

In this episode of Shrink and Pundit, integral psychotherapist Dr Keith Witt and I talk about how intimacy, longevity and happiness are programmed into the human genome, and accessible to all of us. But at a cost.

Keith recently participated in an extraordinary conference called Plenitude near Sintra, Portugal. The conference brought together experts from around the world to explore a multidimensional approach to aging well.

Join us in our discussion of some surprising and not so surprising data about the current state of longevity research and how it relates to intimacy and happiness from an AQAL perspective.

The Trump Era, Month Five

Mon, 26 Jun 2017 18:40:34 +0000

In this podcast we’ve spliced together the audio from three Facebook Live videos I’ve done over the last couple weeks. I’m really liking these quickie videos as they are giving me a chance to comment on current events in real time, which is particularly handy now that the news is coming at us so fast. Here are the three topics I explore in this podcast: 02:36 Trump is Irredeemably Red 19:18 Loyalty vs Law 37:53 The Uncivil War

Facilitating Vertical Development – A Conversation with Beena Sharma

Sat, 17 Jun 2017 00:03:47 +0000

In this podcast, Beena and I discuss what she and her team are learning about how adults grow through the predictable stages of adult development while still remaining true to their own journey. We examine how we can consciously participate in our own evolution and growth in a way that creates a more fulfilling, healthy, conscious and fruitful life.

Flying At Integral - A conversation with Jason Lange

Thu, 08 Jun 2017 18:56:00 +0000

In this episode I am the guest of my longtime friend and integral comrade, Jason Lange, on his new podcast Do The Evolution. We hit some juicy territory in our conversation so I’m sharing it with you here on The Daily Evolver. There are certain questions that evolutionary thinkers ask themselves and each other constantly: What does integral consciousness feel like? How is it different from the postmodern worldview? Can we develop integral capacities through intention and practice? How does integral thinking apply to everyday life and of course … sigh … Trump? Having a good conversation on topics like these is itself a form of integral practice, and I felt literally expanded by this one with Jason. I hope you do too!

Irritation as a Spiritual Practice – A conversation with Diane Musho Hamilton

Sat, 06 May 2017 16:43:42 +0000

Diane Musho Hamilton is at the forefront of one of the most significant spiritual emergents in contemporary culture: the realization of the power of our everyday relationships, even troubled ones, as a means of awakening. For many progressive spiritual practitioners it no longer feels like enough to merely follow an individual meditation practice, as valuable as that is. We want to apply our enlarged selves, skillfully and in real time, to the circumstances of our complex lives, and particularly to our relationships with others. The spiritual potency of relationship is a subject Diane Musho Hamilton explores in her new book, The Zen of You and Me: A Guide to Getting Along with Just About Anyone. Diane grounds her teaching in the enduring cosmic polarity between difference and sameness. It is the sameness we share with others that provides comfort and safety, and the differences we have with them that bring liveliness and creativity. As integralists we are called to integrate these polarities into a deeper mutuality. Diane’s approach is particularly relevant to the contemporary social challenge of relating to our American family as it continues to polarize both culturally and politically. I always feel a little bit wiser after a conversation with my dear friend Diane. I hope you do too!

Transforming Trauma Into Power – A two-part conversation with Dr. Keith Witt

Tue, 04 Apr 2017 23:21:30 +0000

Life is wounding. For some of us our wounds are inflicted in the form of major traumas such as a serious injury, painful divorce, career failure or act of abuse or violence. More often, however, we are merely called on to suffer the slings and arrows of everyday life, which can also leave their mark. Contemporary psychology has revealed two major insights into trauma. One is that trauma is pervasive: two-thirds of Americans report experiencing a major trauma in their lives. The other is that trauma is toxic, often kicking off lifetime patterns of depression, anxiety and addiction. One study showed that people who suffer six or more of ten different categories of adverse events lived on average twenty years less that people who had had experienced none of those categories of adverse events. Whether large or little, some trauma is inevitable and necessary for healthy development. Shocks and setbacks shape who we are and can provide the opportunity to develop resilience and a larger perspective.

Can Globalists Be Nationalists? An interview with Steve McIntosh…

Mon, 20 Mar 2017 19:19:13 +0000

In this podcast I ask Integral philosopher Steve McIntosh a question on the mind of many integral practitioners: how do we relate to the nationalist passions that are arising in many developed countries around the globe? Nationalism is often expressed as “love it or leave it” nativism, or in the case of the election of Donald Trump as a promise to take America back to an era of perceived past greatness. On the other hand many Green-stage postmodernists reject patriotism entirely. As Steve says, “it is like nails on a chalkboard for people of postmodern consciousness to contemplate the good that America has done in its history.”

The Bannon Doctrine: Demolition Ahead

Sat, 11 Mar 2017 00:46:07 +0000

Steve Bannon is Donald Trump’s favorite philosopher. Trump sometimes jokes that he doesn't know “whether Bannon is alt-right or alt-left,” but either way Bannon has given voice to the visceral impulse of populist nationalism that Donald Trump has expressed for decades. So what does Bannon believe? A pillar of his worldview is contained in a school of history called Strauss-Howe generational theory, developed by William Strauss and Neil Howe, which states that human events can be loosely organized in terms of recurring eighty year cycles, or saecula, which unfold in four twenty year turnings.

Trump: the Anti-Green Backlash Begins - An interview with Ken Wilber

Sat, 11 Feb 2017 02:47:26 +0000

The Trump Presidency is an evolutionary correction for a culture whose leading edge “is in a 50-car pileup.” This is the thesis of Ken Wilber’s excellent new eBook, Trump and a Post-Truth World, and the kickoff point of a wide ranging conversation I had with Ken last week. Here's Ken's argument: Every now and then, evolution itself has to adjust course, in light of new information on how its path is unfolding, and it starts (apparently spontaneously but with this deeper morphic field actually operating) by making various moves that are, in effect, self-correcting evolutionary realignments. The leading-edge of cultural evolution is today—and has been for four or five decades—the green wave (“green” meaning the basic stage of human development known to various developmental models as pluralistic, postmodern, relativistic, individualistic, beginning self-actualization, human-bond, multicultural, etc.—and generically referred to as “postmodern”).

Pre-Truth, Post-Truth and Beyond - How Integral thinking helps us transcend the turmoil

Thu, 02 Feb 2017 20:59:05 +0000

Inaugurated with bogus crowd claims and tales of voter fraud, the post-truth presidency of Donald Trump is upon us. Trump lives in a Red “warrior” worldspace alive with apparitions, rumors, conspiracies, and above all, scheming enemies. Placed in the context of cultural evolution Trump’s view actually represent a pre-truth mentality, typical of the world prior to modernity where warlords and monarchs ruled unconstrained by the divisions of power. This is a world where “might is right”, a world of plunder where the goal not just to defeat the enemy but to take their oil. A world where we don’t just build a wall, we make the Mexicans pay for it. (Take heart though; in an actual Red world Trump would not just make them pay for it, he would make them build it, as slaves. So there is that.) Modernity is fighting back against pre-truth thinking with objective facts, evidence and a plea for regular order, but it has been hobbled by the post-truth worldview of postmodernity, where all truth claims are suspect and feelings are privileged over facts. For a brilliant analysis of this phenomenon, check out Ken Wilber’s new essay Trump and a Post-Truth World on Integral Life. Also, look for my interview with Ken on the topic which will be posted in the coming days. The Trump presidency begs a crucial question: can a government that has evolved beyond Red consciousness contain a leader who hasn’t? If so, Trump may be the disruptive force we need to break up some calcified habits and thinking. If not … well, there are only 206 weeks left in his first term! In this podcast I look at how integralists can understand and relate to the fight over pre-modern, modern and postmodern conceptions of truth, and how a new integration of the three can help us build a more authentically inclusive world.

The Trump Era: Day 45 – Prepare for Impact

Thu, 22 Dec 2016 16:53:10 +0000

Ok, folks, we’ve had 45 consecutive mornings of waking up and wrapping our heads around the fact that Donald J. Trump is going to be the next president of the United States of America. What do we know now that we didn’t know before? To the degree that we can discern a pattern, we see that Trump will govern the same way he campaigned: as a disrupter. And he is doubling down on that approach with a team and cabinet of disrupters. What will happen? Here is where I’m grateful for my Buddhist training in “don’t know mind,” a practice of watching one’s mind try to make sense of something that is unknown. The fruit of the practice is the realization that you are more happy and effective, and life is more rich and vivid, when you recognize that every moment is unknowable and thus full of possibility.

Self-Love: Feeling whole in our incompleteness

Tue, 06 Dec 2016 17:24:31 +0000

The Shrink and the Pundit is an ongoing discussion between Jeff and his longtime friend, Dr. Keith Witt, a leading Integral psychotherapist. In this podcast they explore the topic of self-love. Dr. Keith traces the relationship that each of us has with our own “self-sense” from birth (actually gestation), when we fall from the paradise of the womb and begin the process of growth into ever new worlds of conditional love. That pattern continues until we reach higher stages of development, where a more integrated sense of self is able to love what has previously been in shadow. Listen in as Jeff and Dr. Keith discuss how to cultivate “a warm sense of oneness with yourself as being good, caring and beautiful.”

The Trump Era: Day 1 | Three integrally-informed friends attempt to face reality

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 00:34:02 +0000

My colleagues Diane Hamilton and Terry Patten are here at my home, preparing for the Integral Living Room gathering which begins tomorrow. They arrived a day early, yesterday (November 8), so we could celebrate Hillary Clinton's victory together. Ha ha! Instead we, like millions of people, are trying to come to terms with the victory of Donald Trump. Suddenly we are embarking on a new adventure together -- one that Diane, Terry and I, at least, would never have chosen. We recorded a conversation of our process to share with you, in case it might help you make sense of things as well.

Trump the Terrible: an Integral Look at the Boy who Would be King

Thu, 27 Oct 2016 23:40:20 +0000

Defeat Trump! Not because he is a big alpha figure who would bust up the establishment. Not because he's vulgar. Not because lacks a coherent policy vision. Those things can actually be evolutionarily potent in their proper measure. No, the real problem with Donald Trump is that in important lines of development he is arrested at the level of a five-year-old. Keep nukes out of the hands of children. Make sure to vote!

Our Nutty and Fruitful Election – A conversation with Jeff Salzman, Diane Musho Hamilton & Terry Patten

Thu, 13 Oct 2016 05:31:50 +0000

This episode was recorded on Monday, October 10th, the day after the second Presidential debate (the debate preceded by Trump’s press conference with four women who accuse Bill and Hillary Clinton of abuse). In it Jeff chats with Integral besties Diane Musho Hamilton and Terry Patten and test drives his theory that this campaign, as appalling as it is, is a powerful engine of cultural evolution and is moving us to a more intelligent and humane place.

Is the System Rigged? Yes, and it’s coming along nicely …

Wed, 07 Sep 2016 16:12:13 +0000

If there's one thing that people on both ends of the political spectrum can agree on, it's this: the system is rigged. But an integral view asks, “which system?” A historical survey reveals that over time humanity has created a series of political/economic systems, each designed to right the wrongs of the previous system. Essentially, the workings of any system is seen as corruption by people at the next stage of development. This bigger “System” of cultural evolution continues to create “systems” that are ever more equitable and humane. In this podcast Jeff explores what corruption looks like now, and how it relates to the US presidential election.

The Democrats’ Integral Convention — And glimmers of hope on the right

Fri, 05 Aug 2016 03:42:20 +0000

Hey gang, I couldn't stay away another minute. There's just too much happening with this crazy, mixed up election. So here is a new Daily Evolver podcast I recorded over last couple days, to share some of the evolutionary impulses I see arising out of this astonishing play of events. I focus on a new Integral sensibility that I see emerging among the Democrats. Their convention in Philadelphia was a beautiful example of a Green multicultural gathering, with every creed, color and progressive identity well-represented, including the first woman presidential nominee of a major party. I expected all that. What I didn’t expect was a gathering that was also lit up by Amber traditionalist values, old-fashioned values such as patriotism, humility, faith and optimism. But there they were: the flags, the prayers, and the sense of promise, even progress — all Integrated into a green, postmodern worldview that used to have antibodies to each of these things.

The practice of mutual awakening: a conversation with Patricia Albere

Sat, 04 Jun 2016 17:28:29 +0000

Years ago, a love relationship changed the course of Patricia Albere's life. "We entered into a very intensive awakening that we shared…and together we were being purified and processed by whatever this thing was." The Sufis refer to it, she says, as red sulfur, an intense awakening that can't be stopped. "It's like an orgasm that just keep going and going."

Peter, her lover, died suddenly in a car accident, but Patricia was forever changed and her curiosity about this experience of mutual awakening has just kept growing. Can it be practiced with groups? Can it be cultivated? Yes, and yes.

For the past several years Patricia's been at the helm of an extraordinary spiritual experiment called the Evolutionary Collective, which is asking these questions and exploring the territory of a post-autonomous enlightenment, transcendence in the interpersonal realm.

Patricia has brought many years of spiritual practice into her facilitation, from the years she spent with Werner Erhard to her studies with A.H. Almaas and years spent in the Rajneesh community.

Jeff's and Patricia's relationship goes way back to the early days of Boulder Integral, and it's a pleasure to eavesdrop on their conversation. Sometimes Patricia seems to emanate the sacred feminine, in the space between the words. So listen with your heart.

We hope you enjoy it. You can find more about Patricia Albere and her work at mutual-awakening.com and evolutionarycollective.com.

Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.

Sanders’ amazing race • Policing Trump-speak • An unlikely source of Muslim rage

Sat, 28 May 2016 15:26:18 +0000

Jeff begins this episode with a heartfelt reminder of just how valuable integral theory is for opening our hearts and understanding our world. It helps us to see and accommodate more of reality, to make sense of competing worldviews and conflicting truth claims. "All schools of human wisdom find their place in the bigger integral view," he says.

Jeff invited special guest Theo Horesh on to the show to talk about candidate Bernie Sanders and the progressive movement he's leading. Theo is an integrally-informed author and thought leader. He’s been a political activist since the days of Ralph Nader and the Green Party, and is especially savvy about using social media to organize (check him out on Facebook).

Jeff and Theo talk about:

-Money in politics and income inequality: Sander's message of a moral economy
-Sander's policy proposals are not radical or untested: the European model of socialism
-The critique of Sanders: he's not integral
-Bernie or bust: supporting Sanders as a referendum on Hillary Clinton
-Are the two parties obsolete? What does the future of American democracy look like?

Also in this podcast:

-Pre-trans fallacy: a conservative Muslim scholar condemns America with help from the classic song "Baby, It’s Cold Outside"

-The perfect example of two first tier stages talking at each other: Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski confronts Donald Trump about his careless use of words

Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.

The practice of integrating God and Emptiness: a conversation with Steve McIntosh

Sat, 21 May 2016 19:11:11 +0000

For many of us in progressive, postmodern cultures, our spiritual evolution follows a similar trajectory: we move from the conventional religion of our childhood (which in the West is theistic) to secular humanism, which eventually gives way to postmodern explorations of Eastern philosophy and practice (which tend to be nondual in nature). From a developmental perspective, this journey represents movement through the traditional, modern and postmodern stages.

For some the journey continues with a new receptivity to God's love—a welcome next step to a post-postconventional relationship with the divine. Steve explores this idea in depth in his 2015 book The Presence of the Infinite.

This upwards spiral is fueled by what Steve calls an interdependent existential polarity – between the nondual and the theistic – and he wants to teach us how to consciously use it to deepen our relationship to Ultimate Reality: to God and to Emptiness.

Listen as Jeff and Steve discuss how this formulation of an integral, evolutionary spirituality lends itself to a method, a practice that can evolve consciousness.

Steve and Jeff will be exploring the nondual/theistic spiritual path at an upcoming gathering, The Integral Incubator, taking place this August at The Integral Center in Boulder. Check it out if you're interested in deepening your spiritual insight and practice.

Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.

Trump versus Clinton: the roller derby begins

Sun, 15 May 2016 20:16:32 +0000

Jeff begins the podcast by playing an excerpt from a commencement speech given by President Obama at Howard University recently, which had a distinctly integral feeling to it. Before challenging the graduates, Obama puts their place in history in context:

"If you had to choose one moment in history in which you could be born, and you didn't know ahead of time who you were going to be ... What nationality, what gender, what race, whether you'd be rich or poor, gay or straight, what faith you'd be born into ... You wouldn't choose 100 years ago. You wouldn't choose the '50s, or the '60s or the '70s. You'd choose right now."

It's an uplifting introduction based on the big picture, the arc of history, so often lost to us amid our daily toils as the cable news hijacks our amygdalae. "People realize," says Jeff, "that for all of our problems, that this is indeed the best time to be alive and that it's getting better."

Such a vision of progress is a stark contrast to the everyday attitude of first tier consciousness, which is predominantly motivated by fear and lack, or "a sense of not being enough, as sense that something went wrong," Jeff says. "Human beings drove this thing into a ditch and now we need to fix it or we're doomed."

Which brings us to our main story: a fresh look at Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in their respective roles as the presumptive nominees of their parties. While Clinton still has Sanders breathing down her neck and nudging her left, she has begun to reach out to his supporters. Alas, so has Trump, who may or may not go out of his way to unite the GOP but will definitely try to scoop up as many of those Sanders supporters as he can. Not an entirely mad plan, Jeff thinks.

We'll be spending a lot of time with these people in the coming months, these out-sized figures in the collective American psyche—each loved and reviled passionately by factions of the population. What are their values, their developmental centers-of-gravity? Can they still surprise us? Jeff looks at the criticism and praise heaped on each of them, and puts their candidacies in the context of the giant moneyed machine that is Washington D.C.

You'll also hear another familiar voice in the podcast–a certain conservative hockey mom from Wasilla that has a way with words, and she's talking up Trump!

Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.

Insect consciousness • Saving the elephants • The Witch: movie review • Plus, Trump’s the one!

Sat, 07 May 2016 23:44:57 +0000

As humans evolve we are able to empathize with more and more life forms, beginning with other people and eventually extending to other species that may be very different from us–from elephants to insects.

Jeff talks about new research into the interiors of tiny critters and explores the idea that consciousness is an irreducible aspect of reality. The Wilberian notion that consciousness extends all the way up and all the way down, from humans to atoms, is rich for exploration.

Jeff is joined by a special guest who is working to implement basic rights for the elephants that have been held captive in temples and zoos and ill-treated for generations. Due to the controversial nature of her activism she has requested to remain anonymous. We’ve called her Annie.

When we reach a green, postmodern consciousness, the idea of stealing a baby animal from its family and training it for our own amusement–a process called phajaan–literally "crushing"–is abhorrent. Thank God for green!

Working only through social media, Annie has already begun to make an impact by educating people and encouraging her followers to write and take videos of elephant abuse.

Also, Jeff reviews the movie "The Witch", which he likes. It tells the story of a family dealing with an evil force in God-fearing New England decades before the 1692 Salem witch trials.

Plus, Trump has clinched the GOP nomination for president and Jeff wonders what exactly he's tapping into. Is Trump's populist brand of politics post-ideological or pre-ideological?

Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.

The psychology of politics: a conversation with Dr. Keith Witt

Wed, 04 May 2016 22:18:56 +0000

Carl von Clausewitz famously said “war is the continuation of politics by other means.” From a developmental standpoint, Dr. Keith points out, it’s the other way around: politics is actually war by other means. The 1800 election between Adams and Jefferson was the first ever peaceful transition...

“I, my brother and my cousin against the stranger.” The soul of Saudi Arabia. Plus Bence Ganti on IEC 2016

Sat, 30 Apr 2016 20:18:05 +0000

In this week's Daily Evolver live Jeff takes an in-depth look at the beautiful and mysterious desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which he refers to as "our Arab frenemy". President Obama spent several days there last week—his 4th visit, more than any sitting president.

Saudi Arabia is our biggest customer in terms of arms sales, and we rely heavily on their oil. And yet, recent legislation would provide U.S. citizens with recourse to sue Saudi Arabia for culpability in the September 11 attacks (Obama says he'll veto it). There is also a growing chorus of voices demanding the US government declassify 28 pages of a congressional investigation said to detail Saudi relations with, and support for, the Al Qaeda terrorist network before September 2001. Most Americans know that of the 19 hijackers who carried out the 9/11 attacks, 15 were citizens of Saudi Arabia.

Needless to say, the relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia is complicated.

The Saudi peninsula was populated by Bedouin nomads for thousands of years. Jeff takes us through some history of how these people went from humble nomadic goat herders to the richest per-capita nation on the face of the earth. Obviously, oil plays a starring role in that story.

So what happens when a Red, warrior people suddenly have such wealth and power to wield in the world? Well for one thing, it creates a struggle between their red, warrior values such as ethnocentrism, patriarchy, and jihad, and the new, modern cultural values like science, commerce, and individual freedoms that want to come online. Jeff uses integral theory to shed some light.

Jeff also speaks with Bence Ganti about the 2nd Integral European Conference taking place in Hungary this week. Bence explains the multiple wisdom streams that will be converging: Ken Wilber's AQAL Theory, Don Beck's Spiral Dynamics, the "Teal movement" inspired by Frederick Laloux, circling practice, and Stan Grof's transpersonal psychology.

As the refugee crisis continues, it's a particularly poignant time to think about what it means to be a European. Bence and Jeff talk about how integral theory can help illuminate, and maybe even ameliorate, the humanitarian crisis engulfing the continent.

Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.

Jeff speaks with Bence Ganti about “Reinventing Europe”, IEC 2016

Fri, 29 Apr 2016 21:20:47 +0000

In this short episode, Jeff speaks with Bence Ganti about the 2nd Integral European Conference taking place in Hungary next week, at beautiful Lake Balaton. Bence explains the multiple wisdom streams converging at this event: Wilberian integral theory, Don Beck's Spiral Dynamics, the teal movement inspired by Frederick Laloux, circling practitioners, and Stan Grof's transpersonal psychology.

As the refugee crisis continues, it's a particularly poignant time to think about what it means to be a European. Bence and Jeff talk about how integral theory can help illuminate, and maybe even ameliorate, the humanitarian crisis engulfing the continent.

Tickets are still available for IEC 2016, "Reinventing Europe". Find out more at http://integraleuropeanconference.com/.

"Mutuality and love...that's the essence of Integral." –Bence Ganti

Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.

First tier food fight: Red Trump to Green Sanders

Sat, 23 Apr 2016 21:13:56 +0000

Jeff often talks about how politics offers us opportunities to do integral practice, because politics has a lot of juice. "It really reaches down to our lower strata of development, down to our power and security chakras, which determine how we see the world," he says.

Interestingly, and perhaps for the first time ever, we have presidential candidates whose developmental centers-of-gravity span four entire stages of development. Hence, they each speak to different parts of ourselves.

Trump, for instance, has classic Red (warrior) tendencies. Red is chaotic, unpredictable, and often sees the world as divided into predator and prey, perpetrators and victims. Trump doesn’t talk about policy ideas or his vision for the country. He brags, and postures, and says "I'm going to be the best jobs president God ever created." No need to explain how. When asked why he would torture, he replied they did it to us first. Which is perfectly reasonable to an eight year old.

Senator Ted Cruz represents the traditional, Amber stage of development. "This is a strata that is well occupied by candidates in history. This is Republican territory. This is social conservatives, religious, nationalistic, pro-American to the point of being anti-immigrant." Traditional is an absolutistic mindset—you're either on the side of God, or the side of the devil. There’s no middle ground.

Kasich most likely represents the modern, Orange stage of development. These are not the die-hard believers. It's harder to get people fired up at this stage—they're just so rational. Which may explain why Kasich is losing (though polls say he would give Clinton and Sanders a run for their money in a national election). Hillary may even be a modernist, with post-modern and even integral tendencies. It's a bit harder to pin her down.

Jeff brings integral author and teacher Terry Patten on to the show to talk about the Clinton/Sanders race. Terry is one of the few people in the integral/evolutionary world that is an activist in the political realm, (in 2012 he created a PAC to raise money for Obama in the integral community). With Hillary’s victory in New York, Jeff wonders if we can begin to look past the Bernie-Hillary rivalry and embrace the Bernie-Hillary reconciliation.

Sanders has brought a challenge from the progressive wing (Green altitude) of the Democratic Party that is akin to a political revolution. The Democratic Party cannot unite behind Hillary without Hillary embracing some essence of Bernie's message. He has to be reckoned with, says Terry. "I have hopes that a Clinton presidency can actually be a unifying force in the nation, but she's not going to get there unless she first acknowledges and really validates this revolution that Bernie has fought and won."

All that, plus your comments and questions.

Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.

Can integral theory solve climate change and save democracy? A conversation with Alan Watkins

Fri, 15 Apr 2016 23:13:28 +0000

In "Wicked and Wise", Alan and Ken use climate change as an example of a wicked problem. “Integral coherence”, or applying the integral map in a coherent fashion, is the essence of the solution. In the podcast, Jeff and Alan discuss climate change, the problems of globalization and democracy, getting CEO’s to do the right thing, and even Donald Trump!

The Warrior and the Man of Wisdom: Jeff and Dr. Keith on the nature of masculinity

Sat, 09 Apr 2016 18:43:31 +0000

Dr. Keith has been working with men for decades as a psychotherapist. When he talks about masculinity, he focuses on the Warrior archetype, and beyond that, what he calls the “Man of Wisdom”. The Warrior is that part of us that is willing to...

The Mormon faith crisis: can integral thinking help? A conversation with author Thomas McConkie

Sat, 26 Mar 2016 16:57:15 +0000

Activity in the Mormon church seems to be declining – particularly in the West – and Thomas McConkie is witnessing what he calls a "faith crisis."

Many people are questioning the stories being passed down to them, especially Millennials, who are effortlessly modern or even postmodern. Gold plates with Egyptian writing on them? Lost tribes of Israel in the Americas? Where is the proof? (And what about the sexism, racism and homophobia?)

Thomas, who was born and raised in the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City and comes from pioneer ancestors, left the church at thirteen. This was unprecedented in his family at the time – a major transgression.

When he returned to the Mormon church twenty years later, he brought an awareness of Buddhism, integral theory and adult development with him. It became clear that this faith crisis was systemic, and not just isolated to the individual. He was moved to find a way to re-integrate his Mormonism, perhaps providing a bridge for a new generation of Latter-day Saints to authentic worship.

"A faith crisis might just be a developmental shift gone unrecognized," he tells Jeff. "I hope that we can normalize this process of falling apart and coming back together again as new beings that see and experience the world in a new way."

The Mormon church has a strong amber (traditional) base, but developmentally, a lot of orange, modern consciousness has emerged and is looking for evidence of the religion's supernatural claims. Is there a way of going through this stage without completely leaving your religion behind? It's unclear. Why do some people stay and some people go?

"Someone who has more of an atheistic bent, how can we honor their Mormonism?" Thomas asks. "What does a 'strategist' or a teal Mormonism look like? Someone who's into turquoise, indigo and beyond, what is that experience – to relate to this tradition from those levels?"

Some of the things Thomas and Jeff discuss include:

• The center of gravity of Mormon culture, and how to honor those who are different
• The Mormon practice of "ongoing revelation"—receiving inspiration from God
• The Mormon doctrine of "eternal progression" as an early evolutionary viewpoint
• What happens after we die. Does any part of us go on?
• Allowing a faith crisis to be an opportunity

Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.

Dr. Keith Witt on how to regulate anxiety

Sat, 19 Mar 2016 23:11:39 +0000

The ability to remember the past and to imagine the future sets us apart from other animals. A zebra doesn't worry about the lion until the lion is upon it, at which time it reacts. If it escapes it will shake for hours afterwards to release the trauma, and then it's free. But humans have the special ability to imagine that lion attacking over and over again. It must give us some kind of evolutionary advantage or else we wouldn’t have developed this ability. Anxiety is part of the price we pay for our imaginations, and a self-aware consciousness.

This subject is close to Jeff's heart. He describes a four-year period in which he suffered debilitating anxiety as "a black hole of self-focused rumination". He tells Dr. Keith about the medications, the treatments, screaming his head off, and what finally drew him out of that terrible place.

Chögyam Trungpa used to say that anxiety is just the feeling of being a separate self. Research has shown that when we’re connected to each other our anxiety goes way down. Other things that help are assertive action and deep relaxation.

Regardless, all emotions have relevance to our lives and we want to act on them in a healthy, functional way. We can begin by looking at anxiety itself with compassion, acceptance and caring intent.

Some of the things that Jeff and Dr. Keith talk about in the podcast:

• The different types of anxiety disorders and especially the difference between anxiety, fear, and panic
• Alleviating anxiety at difference stages of development
• How our culture supports dissociation in the face of unpleasant emotions
• Turning toward anxiety and coming into the present moment
• The two best anxiety regulating techniques ever developed

We hope you enjoy The Shrink & The Pundit series. Send your questions and feedback using the orange Speakpipe button to the right, or send an email to jeff@dailyevolver.com.

Steve McIntosh on polarity theory and a path forward in US politics, (plus Donald Trump!)

Fri, 11 Mar 2016 23:25:50 +0000

In this conversation, Steve talks to Jeff about the new paper he released through the Institute for Cultural Evolution, titled "Overcoming Polarization by Evolving Both Right and Left: How Polarity Theory Provides a Path to Political Progress."

Looking at the current political climate in America, Steve writes, "Polarization now extends far beyond the uncompromising logjam in the legislature. Numerous studies have shown that much of the American public is afflicted by 'affective polarization' wherein opposing political camps increasingly dislike, and even loathe, their opponents."

The American political landscape is a big polar contest between the political left and right, and inside these polarities exist other, more refined polarities with values that tug and pull at each other—a "dialectic fractal". Realizing that these naturally-occurring polarities exist, and that they’re meant to be there, can make the whole system friendlier and open up space for greater cooperation.

The ideas that Jeff and Steve explore in this podcast include:

Why we should we care about political polarization
Why centrism doesn't work
How Spiral Dynamics and polarity theory shed light on the challenge
How suppressing one side of a polarity empowers its shadow
How the upside of one pole checks the downside of the other
The practice: increasing the scope of what we are able to value

Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.

Validation for Einstein; Funeral for Scalia. Plus, America’s gun-love

Sun, 21 Feb 2016 00:49:33 +0000

Einstein's general theory of relativity got its final proof this month as scientists detected the bending of space and time that he predicted one hundred years ago.

The world that Einstein showed us is so much stranger than what we could have imagined. It blew up our safe perceptions about time and space and light and gravity. But the mechanistic universe we inhabited until then wasn't wrong, it was just partial. General relativity includes and transcends Newtonian physics.

So what effect does a four-dimensional reality, one that is interpenetrated with time, have on our view of the world? Is everything that has ever happened still reverberating in this very moment? Jeff looks at general relativity through the lens of integral theory and considers the implications.

In the second segment Jeff is joined live in the studio by Steve McIntosh, integral author and president of the non-profit Institute for Cultural Evolution (ICE). It's a perfect time to discuss Steve's new paper "Overcoming Polarization by Evolving Both Right and Left: How Polarity Theory Provides a Path to Political Progress".

Within a hour of the announcement of the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia last week, the Republican leadership announced they would not even consider a nominee put up by President Obama to replace the conservative icon. This is an illustration of just how divided and dysfunctional our political process has become. Is it any wonder that the two "revolution" candidates, Trump and Sanders, the ones that want to blow up the system, are surging in the polls?

Steve and Jeff talk about progressive and conservative as indestructible polarities that need each other to grow and become better – like the poles of masculine and feminine—they'll never merge, but they do change over time, taking on the best aspects of each other. So how do we help the left and the right evolve on their own terms? Listen to the podcast, and for those that want a deeper dive, you can find Steve’s new paper here.

Lastly, Jeff takes a question from a listener, Marilyn, who lives in Canada and works in Oklahoma, and is wondering if she’s taking her life in her hands every time she has a layover in Dallas.

"...I find the apparent strengthening of the gun lobby, very, very troubling. I am looking for an integrally informed point of view…and some hope. Thanks for any insights you can offer on this particularly American dilemma of the Second Amendment."

Why are we so different in this regard to every other advanced Western nation, including our gentle neighbors to the north? Jeff explains the American psychograph to Marilyn, and why guns are still such an important part of our identity.

Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.

Trumping the Republicans: Donald Trump projects red consciousness, but is that who he is?

Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:58:38 +0000

With Donald Trump currently leading the Republican presidential field, the race is finally getting interesting. Few people think he will ultimately prevail, but Trump can absolutely affect the outcome...

Integral political practice: How to endure Ted Cruz. Plus, the Mormon faith crisis

Sat, 13 Feb 2016 21:03:16 +0000

There are good reasons why, traditionally, politics and religion are not discussed in polite company. "It's because they express very deep patterns of our thinking and feeling," Jeff says, "if you start screwing with my spiritual beliefs and my politics, you're screwing with me and my whole sense of identity."

In the podcast, Jeff talks about what he calls "integral political practice," the act of observing our attractions and aversions to different political ideas and even to particular candidates. In so doing we are engaging in the most potent practice of consciousness evolution: turning subject into object. He describes what he calls "the remote control test", which is noticing his instant compulsion to change the channel when Ted Cruz appears on the TV.

What exactly is happening there, and more importantly, what's underneath it? Jeff plumbs the depths of his revulsion and finds some surprising truths!

Also in the podcast Jeff talks to author Thomas McConkie about his new book, Navigating Mormon Faith Crisis. Tom was born and raised in the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City and comes from pioneer ancestry. He describes his own crisis of faith and the falling out with his family. "That set me on my path in Buddhism and eventually integral adult development. It was just in the last few years that it felt like a deep soul urge of mine to really, on a personal level, integrate my own Mormon identity."

If you think you know about Mormonism, you might be really surprised by Jeff's conversation with Tom. Find out more about Navigating Mormon Faith Crisis here.

Lastly, Jeff addresses a listener's frustration with the Big History Project, which seems to be trying to answer a lot of the same questions as integral theory, but with much less explanatory power. So why is it so successful in spreading its message to the public?

"I'm a little frustrated about the inability of integral theory...to penetrate public discourse in a similar way," the caller says. So are we! In the podcast, Jeff talks about the strengths of the Big History Project, it's shortcomings, and why, for the time being, books on integral theory are still relegated to the New Age ghetto.

Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.

Integral sex therapy with Dr. Keith Witt

Fri, 05 Feb 2016 23:05:46 +0000

In a healthy intimate relationship, the partners don't have to be turned on by each other all the time, says Dr. Keith, "but they do need to be turned on by each other regularly." Every couple has a balance of how much sex is needed to keep things vibrant, and it's the responsibility of each partner to make it happen.

For many couples, this is something that must be learned and practiced.

In the days of our grandparents, there wasn't much need for sex therapy. Sexual fulfillment was not an expectation for a traditional marriage; it was how you made babies. The dawn of modernity (orange) brought with it a value structure that focused more on the individual. With changing morals and the advent of birth control, the focus of sex became less about procreation and more about pleasure. Our personal sexual fulfillment took priority over social convention, and divorce began to skyrocket.

With the dawn of the postmodern age, couples are faced with additional challenges. The main challenge is how to keep the erotic energy alive when couples are focused on minimizing male/female differences and elevating equality. 'These couples need to practice taking and being taken," says Dr. Keith, "where one person's masculine really focuses on the other person's feminine. One person leads the other person—and the other person allows themselves to be led—into the dance of eroticism."

In some relationships, such as with many gay couples, the roles of masculine and feminine can even be exchanged.

Some of the main topics that Jeff and Dr. Keith discuss in the podcast: The predictors of happy relationships and how to turn those into practices, the energetics of arousal: Giving masculine direction to feminine radiance, the kind of fantasizing that is productive and the kind that isn't, the relationship between sex and shadow, how to raise our children to be sexually healthy adults.

Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.

Bernie Sanders: Catalyzing the politics of Green

Sat, 30 Jan 2016 07:30:25 +0000

Bernie Sanders started his campaign to be the Democratic nominee for president back in April, "as a 74-year old rumpled, grumpy, self-described old school democratic socialist," says Jeff. "Today he has included and transcended those qualities to transform himself into a sleek political populist taking on a system that he sees as rigged against the people."

Jeff puts Bernie's extraordinary rise into a larger evolutionary context that includes culture, politics and economics. He draws on the work of integral economist Said Dawlabani to describe the way value systems of different developmental stages oscillate between a focus on the individual and a focus on the collective. "The polarity is indestructible," says Jeff, "but as the clock moves forward, these values are expressed in newly emerging ways."

Sanders is an authentic, committed expression of the green, postmodern value system. With its emphasis on the collective, green is a proponent for a strong safety net, highly subsidized or even centralized health care, and education. "It's just generally a move to a social contract that distributes more of the pie to more people," Jeff says.

Is it our destiny in the U.S. to move toward democratic socialism á la Northern Europe? Should we get behind the true believer and take our chances on Bernie's crusade? Or ought we opt for Hillary Clinton's incremental approach, which she describes as "sensible and achievable"? And how about the perennial Republican model of private enterprise, smaller government and lower taxes? Is there an integral approach that might honor the best of what each of these worldviews has to offer?

Also in the podcast: A viral video of a wedding in Auckland, New Zealand, where a newlywed husband and wife watch their family members perform the Haka, a dance from the Maori tradition. "This is an example of the power of integrating developmental levels in a healthy way, as a work of creative expression and performance art," says Jeff.

Plus, Jeff recommends a new series on PBS called "First Peoples", which hits two bullseyes for integralists. First, it unfolds a beautiful narrative of the evolution of early humanity, showing how we arose out of Africa 200,000 years ago to take over the world. Second, it reveals how contemporary scientists are incorporating non-rational ways of knowing, featuring Arturo Gonzales, the celebrated Mexican paleontologist, who discovered Eva de Navarone, the oldest skeleton ever found in the Americas, with the aid of a shaman and a psychedelic drug made from the glands of a Mexican toad.

Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.

The soul of jazz part 2: A conversation with integral music critic Greg Thomas

Fri, 22 Jan 2016 05:11:50 +0000

As we see with integral theory, art is often the leading edge of cultural and consciousness evolution, and jazz today continues to lead the way. In this two-part series, "The soul of jazz", Greg takes us through the history of jazz from its roots in the magic, mythic and traditional interiors of African Americans at the turn of the last century, through the modern and postmodern strains of the mid and late 20th Century, to the more wild wooly contemporary scene. He points out the evolutionarily potent and ultimately integral qualities jazz conveys as it confronts enduring human polarities such as the individual vs the group, tragedy vs comedy, competition vs cooperation, and structure vs freedom.

This is part two of a two-part series.

Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on DailyEvolver.com.

Political correctness and the evolution of culture

Mon, 18 Jan 2016 05:55:05 +0000

There is political correctness, it turns out, at every stage of development, from the capitol crime of blasphemy at the traditional/amber stage to the prejudices and microaggressions you may not even know you’ve inflicted at the postmodern/green stage. Jeff shows how they are pushing humanity into new, ever more humane and compassionate territory. Also, Obama’s last State of the Union address.

The soul of jazz part 1: A conversation with integral music critic Greg Thomas

Tue, 05 Jan 2016 22:01:07 +0000

By Jeff Salzman

I’ve long enjoyed music critic Greg Thomas's insightful posts on Integral Life, where he write about jazz.

Not that I like jazz music. Truth is, I've always found jazz to be annoying. I can't tap my foot to it. I can't sing it in the shower. Like a lot of artforms, when we don't understand them, jazz has shown up to me as noise.

Of course like all good integral practitioners, I want to turn toward the object of my annoyance. I know it's not the fault of jazz that I don’t get it. Millions of people are ecstatic over it, and I want to have what they're having.

So I was thrilled when Greg came to one of my programs at the Integral Center last summer, and I invited him to stay with me. During downtimes we had some great one-on-ones where Greg did his best to initiate me into the jazz idiom. He explained how jazz expresses American culture. He told stories of various artists and songs. He played some of his favorite pieces and schooled me in what was going on. He turned out to be just the teacher I was looking for, and I began to get the beat.

Greg's mastery is obvious, and he is indeed one of the nation's leading experts on jazz. For several years Greg was a jazz columnist for the New York Daily News. He's a consultant with the National Jazz Museum in Harlem and with Jazz at Lincoln Center, the largest organization in the world dedicated to the preservation and perpetuation of jazz.

As we see with integral theory, art is often the leading edge of cultural and consciousness evolution, and jazz today continues to lead the way.

In this two-part series on the soul of jazz, Greg takes us through the history of jazz from its roots in the magic, mythic and traditional interiors of African Americans at the turn of the last century, through the modern and postmodern strains of the mid and late 20th Century, to the more wild wooly contemporary scene. He points out the evolutionarily potent and ultimately integral qualities jazz conveys as it confronts enduring human polarities such as the individual vs the group, tragedy vs comedy, competition vs cooperation, and structure vs freedom.

This is part one of our conversation...

Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on DailyEvolver.com.

The practice of miracles: A brief holiday message from Jeff

Thu, 24 Dec 2015 04:24:32 +0000

One of the blessings of an integral consciousness is the ability to embrace the gifts of earlier stages of development. In this short holiday message, Jeff encourages us to practice being enchanted, once again, by the beauty and goodness of the world.

From midlife crisis to a deeper sense of self, with Dr. Keith Witt

Sun, 20 Dec 2015 01:15:11 +0000

The popular picture of the midlife crisis is the man in his 40's or 50's who's lost his job, his wife or his health. He's dyed his hair, bought a Porsche and is dating a much younger woman. We feel sorry for him, maybe in the same way we would feel sorry for an active alcoholic, a mentally ill person or anyone who is out of touch with reality.

Losing your job or your partner, having major health issues or just the general feeling of existential ennui can be terrible and even traumatic, but they are not necessarily unique to midlife. The midlife crisis has a flavor all its own. It kicks in with the realization that you’ve crossed the halfway point of your life and are on the downward slope. To make it worse, you may discover that the things most important to you -- your relationships, your career, your purpose in life -- have begun fraying around the edges if you haven’t put in the effort to sustain them.

We negotiate one transformation after another during our lifetimes, beginning with birth and extending into old age. How we learn to handle them is what shapes us as people and fashions our fate. "The difference between a crisis that makes us stronger or one that makes us weaker and diminishes us is how we resolve it," says Dr. Keith.

In the podcast, Jeff and Dr. Keith discuss:

-The history of the midlife crisis, from Freud and Jung to our current integral understanding that takes into account adult development

-The feeling of loneliness and separation that can characterize this time for people, and how healing it will need to be accomplished in relationship

-The resolution of the crisis at a mature age is likely not quantitative (doing more of this or less of that) but instead will require a qualitative shift, a shift in consciousness

-How to get the support you need to cultivate resilience and find out how you can be of better service to the world

Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on DailyEvolver.com.

Terror and backlash in America: The San Bernardino attack and its effect on US politics

Sun, 13 Dec 2015 20:54:50 +0000

In a world in which there are no mess-free options, says Jeff, "I'm so happy to have an evolutionary view" when trying to make sense of things like the killings in San Bernardino, the first terror attack on American soil with the fingerprints of ISIS.

While it's objectively true that violent deaths in the U.S. (and the world) are declining steadily, public shootings have become horrifyingly common here (26 mass shootings just during Obama's two terms in office). These create a special kind of anxiety and terror, one that we are evolutionarily programmed to pay outsized attention to.

In this podcast Jeff looks at the range of responses that we've seen in the weeks following this most recent attack--responses that tell us a lot about our country, our candidates and ourselves. A predictable (and evolutionary potent) controversy is underway as to what the U.S. role should be in responding to ISIS, and how we should fight back militarily, culturally, even in cyberspace.

Donald Trump called for a halt to Muslims entering the country, apparently determined to keep anyone from getting to the right of him on issues of national security. He taps a long history of xenophobia when Americans have felt threatened, from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 to the Japanese internments during WW2, to Operation Wetback in the 1950's. But America was a center-of-gravity traditional (amber altitude) country then; we are a center-of-gravity modern (orange altitude) country now. Those of us in the modern majority look back on these historical acts with regret. But the minority of people who are traditionalists feel little misgiving and believe that tough times call for tough measures. These folks now have an unambiguous, unapologetic, tough-guy champion in Donald Trump, to whom they can hitch their wagon...and ride with him to abject defeat. Which will create more modernists (defeated people usually grow). Isn't cultural evolution wonderful?

Speaking of which, President Obama has taken a lot of criticism for his nuanced, Jeff argues integral approach to dealing with ISIS. Jeff offers his analysis of Obama’s style.

The perennial foreign policy question facing integralists is how to help guide premodern cultures into modernity—a crucially important fulcrum, as violence drops dramatically at this developmental milestone. Jeff advocates an approach similar to that of a parent. "I wish I could think of a better analogy than parenting," he says. "It feels like it's condescending. It makes my green alarms go off that one country could presume to be a parent to another. But from an integral perspective, it's literally true." He explains in the podcast.

Jeff also touches on gun control, the polarity between security and freedom, and how it is we allow ISIS to use the most powerful tool conceived by modernity: the internet.

Plus, a seasonal message of love and renewal.

Have a wonderful holiday and we look forward to seeing you when the Daily Evolver live returns January 5th.

Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on DailyEvolver.com.

The integral guide to divorce, with Dr. Keith Witt

Tue, 08 Dec 2015 20:00:40 +0000

The higher divorce rate likely indicates our changing expectations of a primary partnership. We’re living twice as long as we did a hundred years ago, women have more power, and the standard of marriage is a fulfillment standard now more than a stability standard, which is more demanding.

The practice of the marital love affair, with Dr. Keith Witt

Sun, 29 Nov 2015 05:20:36 +0000

In this conversation on marriage, Dr. Keith shares intimate insights on topics such as what questions to ask as you consider marriage, how to deal with conflict and infidelity, progressive bonding, passion and friendship, and above all, the challenge of supporting each other’s mutual development.

The holy war on modernity: An integral analysis of the Paris attacks

Sun, 22 Nov 2015 01:10:10 +0000

The recent terror attacks in Paris brought to light, once again, the difficulty in reconciling the values of modern, secular societies like France and premodern societies such as those in much of the Arab world. This relationship is complicated by the past sins of the West, from the Crusades all the way up to the wars after 9/11, which, Jeff explains, "took the lid off Iraq, which has put the Muslim world in arrested development and even in a functional regression since".

It may be tricky to claim the moral high ground when you've been alternately toppling and propping up regimes to further your own ends for decades, but between the attacks on Paris and the stream of refugees into Europe, the West cannot ignore what’s happening. Jeff sorts out the cacophony of voices and gives us some perspective.

The practice that's available to us is to put ourselves in the shoes of "the other," the hawks and the doves, the refugees and the terrorists. ISIS is not just a pack of psychopaths that want to see the world burn, (dubious consolation though it may be). They have strict beliefs and the'’re recruiting young people who are actually living nihilistic lives in their host countries, where they’re second-class citizens, says Jeff. "There’s no place for them or their God, the animating principle of their lives." This call to wake up and fight is very alluring, even romantic to young men at this stage of development. Jeff offers some insight into how modern and postmodern societies might offer them a path forward that is meaningful and healthy.

The media is worked up into a frenzy, as usual, ("I wonder how CNN would've covered D-Day" Jeff says). But welcome to modernity, where ever smaller dangers trigger ever greater responses. While it's progress, to be sure, Jeff qualifies his optimism and reveals the one thing that would completely change the game … and not for the better.

Also in the episode, Jeff answers a question from a listener regarding our recent podcast on soul. "If you believe in the unity of everything since the Big Bang, why do you still speak of soul as if it were a separate entity?"

Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on DailyEvolver.com.

Conversation with Amma Thanasanti: A celibate mendicant talks about sex and money

Sat, 14 Nov 2015 19:32:52 +0000

How does a nice Jewish girl from Burbank, California become a Buddhist mendicant nun -- with integral proclivities? Listen in as Jeff talks with with Amma Thanasanti, a Buddhist teacher in the Ajahn Chah Forest Tradition, who has been deeply influenced by Ken WIlber and integral theory. Amma was traveling through Boulder a couple weeks ago, and stopped by for a spot of tea and a chat about her unusual life and her beautiful, integrally-informed teachings on love, sex and awakening.

Amma is conducting a virtual retreat (you attend via skype or phone), over Thanksgiving weekend, 11/27 - 11/29. The topic, appropriately, is gratitude. Find out more at awakeningtruth.org.

Some highlights from Amma:

"It's not fashionable right now to live a life of alms mendicancy, or renunciation, or a life of simplicity. But in terms of their potency as a tool for clarity I have not seen anything that comes anywhere close. Once I became a celibate my understanding about sex and sexuality increased logarithmically."

"One of my lifelong journeys has been to understand the energies of love and sex and to use them in the process of awakening. This is not the languaging that comes through the tradition that I ordained into. That languaging is mostly about restraint, so that one can access and cultivate other qualities of mind. But my experience has been a long process of learning how these energies actually can be transformed and utilized for heart opening and mind opening…and how they can take us to states that are really, really peaceful, very blissful, and very useful for practice."

"I teach in a way that speaks to all of the different quadrants, and to making sure that we have lines of intelligence that are developing in many different areas. What I think is imperative is that as many people as possible are in the process of waking up to the highest level of consciousness they have access to."

Towards a trans-rational theory of the soul

Sat, 07 Nov 2015 22:07:10 +0000

Is there any part of us that survives this life? Ken offers an argument for the affirmative, and Jeff shares how experimenting with that idea illuminates his own developmental path. Plus, the soul of conservatism.

Clinton, Carson, and the American political landscape

Sun, 01 Nov 2015 01:21:03 +0000

This week, the sudden animation of Hillary Clinton and the ascendency of Ben Carson, what their presence tells us about the deeper currents flowing under the surface of culture. Also, the poetry of Brooke McNamara, from her new book "Feed Your Vow: Poems for Falling into Fullness".

The hidden power of political polarization: Relax, everybody, gridlock is a stage on the path

Sun, 25 Oct 2015 04:31:08 +0000

Jeff takes us on a brief tour of the history of polarization in the US as far back as the Revolutionary War, and describes the silver lining to the conflict and legislative gridlock. Also, Full Spectrum Mindfulness and the practice of evolutionary spirituality with Steve McIntosh.

The emergence of the postmodern economy: An encore conversation with economic theorist Said Dawlabani

Sat, 17 Oct 2015 16:20:54 +0000

Today we’re reposting a conversation that I had last year with Said Dawlabani (author of MEMEnomics: The Next Generation Economic System) about integral economics. I think his ideas are more relevant today than ever, with even Republicans decrying the disproportionate flow of money to the top 1%. And Democrats, through the candidacy of Bernie Sanders, are challenging the very foundations of capitalism in favor of democratic socialism as we see practiced in Northern Europe. This is all right on schedule. In terms of social evolution, economics is a lagging emergent, one of the last things to transform as cultures move forward. Â According to Dawlabani we are just now moving from the orange modern economy to the green postmodern economy, a move where the pendulum swings from a focus on individual freedom to one of collective responsibility. (And remember, as the pendulum swings the clock moves forward.) As I wrote at the time: “I like Dawlabani’s thinking because it helps us understand that despite the endless real-time political battles over economic ideology, larger evolutionary forces are at work, and if evolutionary theory is correct the transformations they will bring are inevitable.” Read the full essay here.

The emergence of evolutionary spirituality: A conversation with Steve McIntosh - A conversation with integral philosopher Steve McIntosh

Fri, 09 Oct 2015 18:56:21 +0000

Steve McIntosh’s new book explores evolutionary spirituality as a distinct emergent that includes the great scientific truths of our age. In this conversation, Jeff and Steve discuss the nature of spiritual experience and a cultural analysis of the different kinds of spirituality.

Is the Pope integral?

Sun, 04 Oct 2015 01:43:39 +0000

The recent supermoon/lunar eclipse gave Jeff a chance to wonder about the way we interpret such events at different stages of development.

When the world was alive with spirits and omens a total lunar eclipse would be a sign saturated in meaning and mystery. We leave this behind as we embrace a logical, scientific worldview.

"Then there's a stage that's post or trans-rational," Jeff says, "where that enchantment can be brought back into a new, sacred world that is not limited by a magic or mythic belief system. It's also not limited by the modern scientistic worldview that says if something can't be sensed and measured it doesn't exist."

Here we open up once again to dimensions of life which are beyond our full comprehension and explanation, a place of enchantment that includes and transcends reason.

Speaking of including and transcending, Pope Francis has been traveling around the world, defying expectations. There is a sense that he is touching people across party lines and ideologies—not an easy thing to do— which has Jeff wondering, is he integral? Jeff's special guest on the podcast, Fr. David McCallum, a Jesuit priest and friend of the integral community, says there are telltale signs.

"Pope Francis is able to transcend people's projections of him and continue to stay fresh. He's got this spontaneity that you’d expect from a post-conventional person."

In addition, he lives in a kind of simplicity that takes a high degree of inner freedom, and has integrated the forces of power and love to become incredibly effective inside and outside of the church. "This is very, very sophisticated," says Fr. David, "It's not that you have to be always in the later stages to do so but the ability to wield so much influence and to do it in a way that's not authoritarian or autocratic, that is truly empowering."

Fr. David and Jeff also discuss aspects of the Jesuit order that shed more light on who Pope Francis is, like their great history of scholarship. For example, a passage inside Pope Francis's Evangelii Gaudium (Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis, 2013), makes a modern, rational argument against abortion, emphasizing the sovereignty of the individual. It's pretty amazing.

Enjoy the podcast, and a big "thank you" to Fr. David McCallum for sharing his insights.

The drama and karma of refugees in Europe - How do postmodern cultures integrate premodern cultures?

Sun, 27 Sep 2015 06:14:21 +0000

The refugee crisis in Europe, Africa and the Middle East is testing the status quo between the so-called first, second and third worlds. Jeff looks at the policy arguments being made on the liberal and conservative sides of the issue, and we get a first hand report from our friend Bence Ganti in Hungary.

Firsthand report from Hungary on the refugee crisis: A conversation with Bence Ganti - A conversation with Bence Ganti

Sun, 27 Sep 2015 05:45:13 +0000

Since Hungary is at the epicenter of the refugee crisis currently engulfing Europe, we called our friend Bence Ganti to get an integral, European perspective. In his conversation he highlights the differences between the response of the Hungarian government versus the general populace.

Polarities, personalities, and politics: How Trump is blowing up the calcified Republican psyche

Sat, 19 Sep 2015 23:43:44 +0000

After taking the summer off from the live show, Jeff dives into the Fall season with an analysis of the American political scene, currently dominated by The Donald, of course. Could he really be president? Jeff says “no, but he is performing a great evolutionary service”. Much is made of the problem of the polarization of the left and right in American politics, and Donald Trump may be part of the solution. After all, polarization is a stage on the path of development. As Jeff says: The interesting thing about polarities is that once you get your thesis and antithesis well clarified then the next step is to create new synthesis. Thus you have Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders coming from opposite sides of the political spectrum arriving at two similar political goals. The first is a tax hike for the rich; the second is an end to cheap labor and trade deals. The other Republicans, financed by the wealthiest Americans, will not take these stands. [NOTE: since this recording, Jeb Bush has said he is open to higher taxes on the rich, strengthening the new synthesis.] One reason for Trump’s success may be that we are craving candor and authenticity in our political candidates these days–or at least someone who’s good at faking it. Hillary Clinton just wants a chance to show us her spontaneous side, her relatable personality. But is it really there? What is the “X factor” that Bill Clinton has, and even George W. Bush has, that Hillary and Jeb seem to lack? Speaking of lines of development, Ben Carson has gained a surprising lead in the polls, and many are wondering: how is it possible for a brilliant neurosurgeon to believe that the earth is 5000 years old? Integral has an answer for that. Also, a sympathetic perspective on Kim Davis, the clerk in Kansas who has become a right-wing hero for refusing to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling and issue marriage certificates to same sex couples. And we end with a three and a half minute prose poem of sorts from Hank, one half of the popular YouTube duo the Vlogbrothers, sent to us by friend of the show Max Johnson. It’s a great meditation on impermanence. Send Jeff your comments and questions for the show. Record a voice message using the orange tab to the right, or just use the voice memo function on your smart phone and send to jeff@dailyevolver.com. TRANSCRIPT

Jeff catches up with integral artist Stuart Davis

Fri, 28 Aug 2015 21:22:47 +0000

Stuart Davis has been on the integral scene since before there was an integral scene. His art and music spring from the rich realizations of integral theory with nary a line or a quadrant mentioned. Two years ago the family packed up and moved from Boulder to Amsterdam, along with Stuart’s intention to turn inward—less time touring and performing, more time gestating and writing. Jeff invited Stuart onto the podcast so we could all catch up with him and find out what’s been going on in that ingenious brain and sweet heart. It’s a fun conversation that veers between American and European culture and politics, integral art and the struggle to produce “depth-oriented” entertainment, and the blossoming of a worldwide integral community. A decade and a half after the publication of Ken Wilber’s Sex, Ecology, Spirituality, and the founding of the Integral Institute, it’s fun to listen to these two gossip, reflect, and look ahead to what’s coming. Find out more about Stuart Davis here. Stuart’s song “The Ladder” is about the evolution of consciousness. This version has lyrics and photos:

Thoughts on integral theory as a spiritual path

Fri, 14 Aug 2015 19:16:15 +0000

A while back the folks at the Integral Center here in Boulder asked me to deliver an integral sermon for a Sunday morning service they were conducting at the center. I was excited about the opportunity, as I believe that the story of evolution is not just the story of the development of matter and life, but is also the story of the development of intelligence and spirit and love. And that evolution reveals spiritual insights that not only include the inspiration of the great religious traditions, but also the hard truths of science. I truly believe that evolution will provide the basis for the spiritual practices of the sacred world to come. So here’s my stab at a little bit of integral evangelism. Have a listen and let me know what you think. I love to hear your comments and questions. You can either write a note or record a voice memo on your smartphone and email it to me at jeff@dailyevolver.com. Thanks again for listening!

Can we become more spiritually intelligent?

Fri, 07 Aug 2015 04:14:18 +0000

Today I’m sharing a conversation I had a couple years ago with my dear friend Cindy Wigglesworth, right when she released her really terrific and influential book SQ21: The 21 Skills of Spiritual Intelligence. One of the key premises of integral theory is that people evolve in multiple lines of development or what we call intelligences. We evolve in our cognitive intelligence, emotional intelligence, social intelligence and of course, spiritual intelligence. Now this last line of development, spiritual intelligence, is kind of tricky. What does it actually mean to be spiritually developed? How do spiritually developed people think, act, feel, and understand this great adventure of life? These are some of the questions I ask Cindy in this interview. I think you’ll be inspired by her answers. I certainly have been. Have a listen and let me know what you think–I love to hear your comments and questions. You can either jot a note or record a voice memo on your smartphone and email it to me at jeff@dailyevolver.com. Thanks again for listening!

Cutting through postmodern malaise: A reprise of Jeff’s keynote from the What Next Conference

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 19:15:46 +0000

Seeing the positive trajectory of history not only creates a happier life, but also empowers us to be truly helpful in solving the problems and healing the suffering that persists, because we operate less from fear and more from love. Here's how it works...

Spirituality and psychotherapy: Integrating the two great paths of development

Wed, 22 Jul 2015 16:07:34 +0000

This week, a gem from the archives: an early talk between Jeff and Dr. Keith Witt–part of a series that eventually became The Shrink and The Pundit. Dr. Keith Witt has been practicing psychotherapy in Santa Barbara for over 40 years, and is also a master martial artist and devoted spiritual practitioner with experience in many traditions. Who better to talk to about integrating psychotherapy and spirituality, the two major approaches to human development? It’s a topic that causes so much confusion and consternation among seekers of higher consciousness. Spiritual teachers and psychotherapists are often at odds and people who participate in both modalities often reflect that conflict in their own minds. Which is the best way to go? Is it more fruitful to work with our personal history and iron out the stuck points in our lives (psychotherapy) or to work to transcend them by seeking enlightenment (spirituality)? Do we work with our story or drop our story? Most spiritual traditions are rooted in pre-modern schemas that see dysfunction as a spiritual problem, whether possession by evil spirits or a separation from God. Even a non-theistic religion like Buddhism perceives the manifest world as a fallen and corrupt place that is to be transcended (and in more advanced Buddhist thought, re-embraced) through meditation. A lot of spiritual teachers, because they deal so much in metaphor, begin to think you can transcend biology, like giving up all critical judgment and stuff like that. No, we can’t give up all critical judgment, because human nervous systems are making critical judgments regularly. But we can alter the way we habitually process them, and that’s spiritual growth. ~Dr. Keith Witt Psychotherapy, on the other hand, works with the circumstances of our lives, and we are encouraged to look deeply into our own dramas and traumas, and even to re-experience them in the controlled psychotherapeutic container created with the therapist. Anyone who has practiced both systems can see the value of each, yet their trusted guides, the spiritual teachers and psychotherapists, often deny the veracity of the other approach. The integral solution, as you might expect, is to find the “piece of the truth” revealed by both spiritual practice and psychotherapy, to map the territories that each inhabit (and the territories they don’t), and to work with both in an integrated and harmonized way. That way the benefits are multiplied. I know of no more qualified (and stimulating!) guide to this endeavor than Dr. Keith Witt. Check out our conversation below, as well as an essay Keith wrote on the topic.

The sacred world to come: A conversation with Charles Eisenstein

Sun, 12 Jul 2015 01:47:24 +0000

This week we’re bringing you an episode from the archives: Jeff’s conversation with Charles Eisenstein, visionary, activist, and author of the books Sacred Economics, The Ascent of Humanity, and The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible (love that title). Charles and Jeff agree on a lot, including that a sacred world is coming and that humanity is on an ascending path. They disagree on how we got here, and that disagreement captures the difference between even leading edge progressive thinking and an integral, evolutionary perspective. Did humanity go wrong, and do we have to fix it? Or are we just growing up?

Ken Wilber on magic vs psychic

Thu, 02 Jul 2015 17:56:09 +0000

In the following excerpt Jeff asks Ken Wilber a question about magical thinking vs real psychic phenomena. Whether we’re talking about near-death experiences, precognitive dreams, telepathic communication, bizarre synchronicities…they all defy materialistic explanation, and yet they also seem to communicate deep truth and meaning. What are we to make of this when science says no, but we intuit that something more is going on here? Listen to this clip of Ken Wilber as he clarifies the difference between pre-rational magic and trans-rational subtle energies, and what he refers to as “the realm of transformation.”

The paradox inside of elegance: Exploring the higher reaches of adult development with Rob McNamara

Sat, 27 Jun 2015 22:13:42 +0000

Elegance is the word that author and coach Rob McNamara uses to refer to the experience of higher, post-autonomous stages of development, or what we might call integral consciousness. Listen as he talks to Jeff about embodying elegance in life, love and leadership. Rob stopped by a couple months ago to catch up with Jeff and tell Daily Evolver listeners about a leadership course he produced with Ten Directions called Commanding Influence. Full disclosure: Rob has alternately been my professor, trainer, therapist, sangha brother and friend over the years, and sometimes all of those things at once. I’ve experienced Rob’s loving guidance firsthand so I wasn’t surprised to find out that his conversation with Jeff went from interview to therapy session about halfway through! In Rob’s own words, the overarching purpose and trajectory of his life has been “inspiring and facilitating…and demanding more elegance in the world.” Elegance is his way of describing higher stages of development, such as Kegan’s “Self-transforming Mind” (which many of us loosely refer to as “integral” and roughly corresponds to teal/turquoise in Ken Wilber’s altitudes of development–yellow in Spiral Dynamics). Rob’s book, The Elegant Self, never explicitly defines elegance. It’s a finger pointing to the moon. That’s partly because elegance evades a fixed meaning in a developmental sense, and partly because research has demonstrated that purely conceptual narratives about development can erode happiness and well-being in the long term. So Rob shies away from conceptual teachings in favor of embodiment. Whether it’s a world-class athlete or a powerful executive, his coaching is meant to bring about a felt sense of these post-autonomous stages just beyond our habituated ways of constructing meaning. There’s a bouyancy and a vibrance that is always holding us if we can get outside of the steel trap of our more autonomous mind. ~Rob McNamara Rob is the coach’s coach. Listen as he explicates some of the core features that allow elegance to emerge in your life and relationships, and helps Jeff embrace life on the other side of laziness.

Making the move to worldcentric consciousness: A conversation with Theo Horesh

Fri, 19 Jun 2015 20:23:48 +0000

Theo Horesh is a Boulder social entrepreneur, philosopher and a familiar face in the integral community. Last year Theo published a series of insightful essays on the Middle East, inspired by his time spent with the Palestinians and the Yazidi refugees. I invited him over to talk about his travels, only to find out that he has also released a new book on a broader topic: Convergence: The Globalization of Mind. I enjoyed our conversation, and hope you do, too. Theo and I talked about his travels, and his heart-to-heart connections with people under siege, particularly with the youth in whom he finds much to admire. We talked about how these kinds of connections — in both real space and virtual space — can bring on a more worldcentric mind for all involved. Excerpt: If you see more you’ve got to be responsible for more There are many examples of how this is already happening—the internet, international agreements and cooperation, travel and communication. But in a world where entire cultures span multiple levels of development, gaining consensus about what we can create, and how, can be a tricky proposition. The feeling of being overwhelmed is prevalent, as first tier structures of consciousness are mostly motivated by fear. How does integral theory transcend this thinking, and help us think about these vastly complex systems? Listen as Theo discusses how each of us can call forth a worldcentric mind, so we can be a more awake and effective as we become more plugged-in and connected. Global consciousness did not simply arise from seeing the world from outer space or from some mass of the population attaining certain spiritual states. It has taken a long process of social evolution, which has been supported by a wide array of institutional and technological developments, to produce global consciousness. Like the nationalism of the 20th century, it is a consciousness suited to a new form of human organization. We are globally conscious because global consciousness is needed to comprehend the world in which we reside. Without it we would be lost in spaciousness. ~From “Convergence: The Globalization of Mind” by Theo Horesh

Turning destructive shadow into constructive shadow with Dr. Keith Witt

Mon, 15 Jun 2015 21:10:50 +0000

The willingness to look at the parts of ourselves that we can’t see -- or don’t want to see -- is a major milestone on the path of self-actualization. In this episode of The Shrink & The Pundit, Dr. Keith Witt tells us that the difference between a destructive shadow and a constructive shadow is our willingness to engage with it. So how do we do that?

The evolutionary function of gay men is to make you fabulous - A Conversation with Raymond Rigoglioso

Mon, 08 Jun 2015 04:20:15 +0000

Whether they’ve been closeted or out, oppressed or honored, Raymond Rigoglioso wants us to know that gay men are, and have always been, a powerful evolutionary force in society--with distinct gifts to offer the world. But with so much assimilation in recent decades, is there a future for gay male culture?

The pop culture conveyer belt: How Judge Judy, Dr.Phil, Oprah and Don Draper grow us up

Sun, 31 May 2015 06:20:07 +0000

The Information Age is putting our evolution into overdrive, and you can see it throughout the ever-growing spectrum of worldwide popular culture. Free university classes, science blogs and TED Talks may represent the high end of what’s available, but this week Jeff looks in less obvious places.

Integral environmentalism: Why the cure for development is more development - Why the cure for development is more development

Sun, 17 May 2015 19:03:10 +0000

In this podcast, Jeff looks at our relationship to the natural world and explores the significant new thinking around climate change and other environmental issues. He focuses on “An Ecomodernist Manifesto”, the newly released 25-page essay co-authored by 18 environmental scientists, activists, and scholars.

“Meditation for militants.” A conversation with Justin Miles

Sun, 10 May 2015 02:22:09 +0000

Jeff talks about integral activism with Justin Miles, founder of the Miles Center for Integral Living in Baltimore. Justin is a former member of the Black Panther party, Buddhist meditation teacher, and therapist. Jeff also looks at the role of cynicism in our political discourse, and takes a couple questions from listeners.

Protest and violence in Baltimore, an integral view

Sat, 02 May 2015 20:31:44 +0000

The long game of overcoming racism isn’t just a matter of how people are treated by the police or how the laws are written. The final piece happens in our hearts and minds. An integral take on the events in Baltimore.

What’s the deal with reptilian alien shape shifters? - And Other Things on the Minds of Listeners This Week

Sat, 18 Apr 2015 03:48:45 +0000

Is fundamentalism fundamental? How do we encourage development? And what’s up with the whole Illuminati, reptilian alien, shape shifting conspiracy anyway? Jeff responds to these and other questions on the minds of listeners this week.

The Iran deal: Traditionalists vs. modernists on both sides

Sun, 12 Apr 2015 06:14:28 +0000

The traditionalists in Iran and in the US want to dig in their heels and fight the good fight. Meanwhile, the modernists are engaging with sanctions and diplomacy. Can this deal delay Iran’s progress towards a nuclear weapon long enough for cultural evolution to deliver a decisive political tilt toward modernity?

Evolving toward God: The surprising next stage of spiritual development

Sun, 05 Apr 2015 19:46:16 +0000

Jeff investigates the return of a 2nd person relationship to Spirit. Steve McIntosh joins the conversation to talk about "evolutionary spirituality" as a dialectical step beyond the progressive spirituality of the post-modern worldview. Also, the problem of evil.

How an integral spirituality can help evolve Islam; Jeff Salzman interviews Steve McIntosh

Sat, 21 Mar 2015 23:58:26 +0000

Islamic culture in the Middle East is entrenched in a dialectical antithesis with modernity. Building on the work of moderate Muslim intellectuals, McIntosh argues that the Islamic cultural reform needed to overcome radical Islamism depends on the underlying reform of the religion of Islam itself.

What depression is trying to tell us with Dr. Keith Witt

Sun, 15 Mar 2015 00:09:44 +0000

On this episode of The Shrink & The Pundit, Jeff and Dr. Keith talk about one of the oldest and most dreaded of human afflictions. They consider not just the suffering, but also the wisdom and growth potential that depression offers. They look at the qualities of modernity that magnify the condition, the mixed blessing of pharmaceuticals and neuroscience, and how depression is experienced and best treated at different stages in the developmental journey. It seems that humanity is paying a heavy price for the “spectacularly tangible” achievements of modernity. The current generation has four times more depression than the last one, and ten times more than the one before that. Part of that story is increased self-awareness and over-diagnosis, but only part of it. Antidepressants are the most widely prescribed drugs in America. There is so much of these drugs in our waste that we’re actually poisoning the fish. What’s going on here? Generally, if you’re sufficiently bummed so that you can’t live the life you want to live, you could be depressed. But that includes a huge spectrum, says Dr. Keith. “When therapists talk about depression it’s like Eskimos talking about snow. There is a panoply of experiences that fall within the zone of depression.” All mammals have the capacity for it, but humans are particularly vulnerable because of genetic mutations that gave us an awareness of ourselves in the stream of time. The tradeoff for remembering a past and imagining a future is an increased capacity for depression and anxiety. Trusting your feelings only works when you are centered and connected with your higher self. ‘Trust your feelings’ does not work when you’re anxious, depressed or frightened. ~Dr. Keith Witt In the upper right quadrant of the AQAL maps (the physical body) there are many things that can contribute to depression—low testosterone, hyperthyroid, hypoglycemia and other endocrine imbalances, as well as chronic lack of sleep. The integral view is that there are causes of depression in each quadrant. It’s a bio-psycho-social condition, with genes, culture and individual choices all in play. Put any mammal into a situation of learned helplessness and they’ll get depressed, so groups of people with low socio-economic opportunity and a sense of oppression become very susceptible. Another way to depress people is to gradually give them more and more stuff to do so they never feel they have enough time to do what has to be done. Excerpt | Mammals have a natural capacity for depression, humans especially But the number one cause of depression is a sense of isolation. It’s an oft-remarked irony of the modern age that as connected as we are, we also experience more loneliness. With increasing numbers of the population living in urban centers, uprooted from family and culture, there is a more pronounced sense of social isolation. So what to do? One in ten people are diagnosed with major depression at some point. Only about half of them get treatment and the most common treatment is drugs. In the podcast Dr. Keith tells Jeff how the drug companies hijacked the neuroscience back in the seventies to sell us the idea that depression is a biochemical imbalance, which is a partial truth. It was an easy sell, of course, because who wouldn’t want to believe that taking a pill could make everything better? Yet, they work barely better than placebos. “In 2007 the drug companies spent 23 billion dollars promoting antidepressants and 16 billion of that were free samples that they spread to doctors around the country,” he tells Jeff. And once you’re on them, it’s not so easy to get off. Of course, occasionally they do work. And when they work, they work really well. “If you’re at a ten on a 1-10 depression scale and they can take you down to an eight so you’re functional, that’s how they should be used—only for severely depressed people,” says Dr. Keith. An integrally informed psychotherapy is becoming the standard of the 21st century. It includes the possibility of pharmaceuticals but it will look at the issue from all four quadrants, with a developmental perspective, and the realization that different types of people are coming from different states of consciousness. People at different stages of development deal with different flavors of depression and anxiety. The source and the remedy depend upon your worldview. In addition to bio-psycho-social treatments, an integral approach can reframe the issue to include a larger embrace of all the aspects of being human, of being alive in a wonderful and difficult time. “At every stage in development there is a dark night,” says Jeff, “this is well mapped in the mystical traditions … and you’re supposed to be depressed, you’re supposed to be unhappy. It’s part of the path. In some ways we need to be friendlier to that.” In this way an integral perspective not only includes more, it can completely reframe the issue. Dr. Keith says there are many different kinds of depression, but in general, “if we see depression as a sign that the current worldview is breaking down, and that we need to push through to a new worldview, then that completely reorganizes our thinking around the experience. It’s not a sign of disease under that circumstance, it’s actually a reflection of development.” If your center of gravity is at an integral altitude, and you’re depressed, either you’re in the process of resolving that depression or you’re recognizing that you’re neglecting a major personal responsibility. ~Dr. Keith Witt In more developed stages we resolve to turn toward these emotions with more consciousness and more love, while staying connected to others. This is crucial. “People who try to get happy just to get happy are rarely successful,” says Dr. Keith, “people who do their best to engage in meaningful relationships, they get happier.” Find past episodes of The Shrink & The Pundit here, and more about Dr. Keith Witt here.

Integral sniper: A conversation with Navy SEAL Jake Bullock

Sun, 08 Mar 2015 07:54:14 +0000

How does an integrally informed Navy SEAL sniper relate to the job he has to do, and the people he must engage in war? What is it like to re-enter civilian society? Jeff got to ask these questions and more in this conversation with Jake Bullock.

The story of love: David Riordan on the integral inquiry into Christ

Sat, 28 Feb 2015 08:25:00 +0000

In advance of the Return to the Heart of Christ conference, Jeff and David Riordan of Integral Life talk about the questions that arise with an integral inquiry into Jesus’s life and teachings. Also, the postmodern view of miracles, and bringing back something we thought we lost.

Fifty shades of shadow work: What happens when integral gets kinky

Sun, 22 Feb 2015 17:24:46 +0000

Fifty Shades of Grey may be a terrible movie, but its popularity is indicative of a new friendliness in our culture towards the kink community, (formerly known as perverts). Jeff talks to New York author and theater producer Robin Reinach, who is an integrally informed explorer herself in the world of BDSM, and together they unpack the evolutionary potency of kink.

The banality of ISIS: Obama, the Inquisition and Medieval brutality in our time

Sat, 14 Feb 2015 19:03:51 +0000

This week Jeff covers a range of topics, focusing on the controversy over Obama’s remarks about the historical sins of Christianity such as the Crusades, the Inquisition and slavery. Jeff also explores the mindset of the perpetrators of such brutalities, which we saw erupt anew this week with the immolation of the Jordanian pilot by ISIS. In other matters, Jeff notes the explosive growth in Chinese cinema, and it’s evolutionary power. Plus we revisit vaccines…and get to meet the Integral community’s own Navy Seal sniper. Did Obama blow it in his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast? He certainly got blow-back, especially for the following comments: Lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ. Murderous extremism is not unique to one group or one religion. There is a tendency in us, a sinful tendency that can pervert and distort our faith. I must say, when I first heard he had said this I thought, “No Barack, please! You let me say this shit, not you. You just stand up there and praise Jesus for another two years, and I’ll take care of this other stuff.” But he never listens to me, and so he has gotten creamed from pretty much all sides. Especially from the traditionalists (amber altitude) because his comments feed into their fears that this Obama, which rhymes with Osama, is not really a Christian at all and is actually tilling the land for the Enemy. But even moderates saw it as a gaffe, simply for the unfortunate timing and lack of context of larger events in the world. Indeed, his speech took place two days after the world saw a shocking demonstration of non-Christian atrocity: a thirty-minute, four-camera video edited like a video game with quick-cut graphics, sound effects and a grandiose narrative that led to a stark, brutal scene: a steel cage holding a man in an orange jumpsuit soaked in gasoline who is about to be burned alive. So two days after this, at the National Prayer Breakfast, Obama brings up Christian atrocities of a thousand years ago. Bad timing in my opinion but I will defend his comments on one count: they are 100% true. Christians did all of these things — in numbers that dwarf the deeds of today’s Muslim fanatics. But all of this is so much better understood in a developmental context — and Obama didn’t provide it. His explanation of ISIS was basically that they are evil criminals who are perverting Islam. This explanation represents the orange/green sweet spot that Obama generally tries to hit as President. I’m not sure how much he believes it versus how much he thinks espousing it is proper leadership for the country. The former view would be orange/green and the latter would be integral. Here’s how the view of ISIS evolves according to the altitudes of development: Amber traditionalists: For traditionalists, evil is evil. It’s what the Devil and his minions do in their battle with God and God’s people. For them the whole religion of Islam is evil. Conversely, for Islamic traditionalists Christianity is a religion of heresy and infidels. There’s one true faith and you’re either with us or against us. Orange modernists: ISIS is evil but Islam isn’t, and in fact ISIS is perverting a great religion. This is a more mature and complex view, but we’re still stuck with evil. Green postmodernists: This view of ISIS is that they are power-mad psychopaths. The Obama administration, for instance, is intent on identifying them by term such as “murderous extremists” not “Islamic extremists.” In this view ISIS is ultimately trying to gain power and are cynically using Muslim ideology as a veneer to do so. Thus we see headlines on progressive sites such as: “Charlie Hebdo has nothing to do with religion.” But yet the assassins didn’t shoot up a crowd of tourists at the Eiffel tower, which would have been much more effective in terrorizing the world and hurting France. Instead they took pains to hunt down cartoonists who had insulted their religion. So what’s the integral view of brutality? How does integral theory explain a rampaging mob of militants who blitz the countryside killing and crucifying people, stealing girls, beheading people and burning them alive? Integral has the most astonishing explanation of all: brutality is perfectly normal human behavior. Except, that is, for the last 0.1% of human history (a couple hundred years). Before that humans were busy with plunder, conquest, beheading and burning people alive — the whole horror show. This is simply standard-issue pre-modern behavior. But will it work for ISIS in the 21st Century? Clearly it has so far. But to be effective, terrorism has to constantly raise the shock value, and so last week we were subjected to the immolation of the pilot instead of “just another” beheading. From a military perspective, however, this latest atrocity may turn out to be a blunder on ISIS’s part. The deed — and its media dissemination — is so dastardly that it may actually galvanize the more civilized Arab world against them. Jordan for instance has been understandably ferocious in their response. This could be a turning point in the psyche of the Arab world. But whether or not it is successful actually misses the real point of ISIS’s motivation, which is: they believe in what they’re doing. They believe that Allah has sent them to rout the infidels and bring forth His kingdom on Earth. They are far less worried about being successful than they are about being faithful. We miss this point when we focus just on the brutality of ISIS and call it evil, crazy or power-mad. Because there is another feature of red/amber development that is equally significant: it is magical. Holy warriors don’t think rationally — heck, rationality is two stages in their future. They think magically. ISIS’s story goes something like this: “Look at you, you infidels, with your tanks and your planes and your bombs. You have no idea who you’re up against. We are army of Allah, the one true God. I’d much rather be on my side with Allah than on your side with your big army.” Don’t forget, this is the same God that parted the Red Sea for Moses and the ragtag Israelites, and then drowned the Pharaoh’s chariot army that was in pursuit. It’s the same God who empowered David to kill Goliath. This God, like all super-hero red/amber gods, specializes in miraculous victories against impossible odds. So ISIS warriors fight for the same reason people have always fought: because they think they will win, and gain something in the effort. History shows that people will fight against impossible odds when they think they can win. And they will only be disabused of this notion when they lose, lose, lose. And as for Obama, why did he bring up historical Christian atrocities? He had to know the reaction he was going to trigger. I think he, too, thought he was right. He was also taking into account that moderate Muslims are listening. As I said, this week’s immolation of the pilot may mark a turning point in the consciousness of moderate-leaning Muslims, and the prayer breakfast was a good setting to speak to them. It was, after all, attended by religious leaders from over 100 countries, and widely publicized throughout the Middle East. So Obama was apparently taking into account the politics of the world, not just the politics of the US, and was willing to risk the indignation of conservatives to do so. History may be kinder to this speech, and Obama’s world-centric sensibilities, than the knee-jerk reaction of the outrage industry here in the US. But still, some days it’s harder to be an Obamapologist than others. FULL PODCAST AND WRITTEN TRANSCRIPT The Daily Evolver | Episode 112 | The Banality of ISIS

Conservatives evolve: how American Sniper and Fox News integrate liberal values

Sat, 07 Feb 2015 22:06:14 +0000

This week Jeff takes a look at the movie American Sniper and Fox News’ rising star Megyn Kelly, to make the case that conservative culture is evolving by taking on the best of green altitude values. And it’s not just a one way street. The left also evolves by taking on the best values of amber altitude traditionalism, such as the gay rights movement’s argument for marriage and military service. This year’s Super Bowl commercials also moved the ball…

Obama leads from the front: an integral president promotes postmodern values to a modern nation

Sun, 25 Jan 2015 00:25:53 +0000

This weeks Jeff looks at President Obama’s annual “State of the Union” address to Congress. He makes the case that Obama is pushing for the developmental move from an Orange modern economy to a Green postmodern economy. Obama’s policies won’t prevail, at least in the short term, but they will spark the conversation (okay, fight) between the advocates of freedom vs security, right vs left and Republicans vs Democrats that will lead to more integrated solutions.

Am I Charlie Hebdo? An integralist considers the events in Paris

Sun, 18 Jan 2015 07:19:57 +0000

In this week’s podcast Jeff explores the Muslim/Western fault lines exposed in the Charlie Hebdo massacre, where twelve people were killed in an attack on the satirical magazine by Muslim extremists who were offended by their depictions of Muhammad. In the 2nd half of the show, Jeff is joined by special guest Amir Ahmad Nasr, author of The Future of Islam In the Age of New Media, and My Isl@m: How Fundamentalism Stole My Mind--And Doubt Freed My Soul.

So long turbulence, hello turbulence! An integralist greets the new year

Fri, 09 Jan 2015 23:42:34 +0000

2014 has been described as a turbulent year in the media, but there isn't really a turbulent-free option, is there? Is there anything about turbulence that is good? Also, Jeff answers a listener's question about the moral nature of red. When is violence healthy and when is it pathological?

Critic meets advocate: Jeff interviews Frank Visser of Integral World

Sun, 04 Jan 2015 08:18:11 +0000

Frank Visser is arguably the chief critic of Ken Wilber, integral theory and the integral community as a whole. Based in Amsterdam, Frank is publisher of the website INTEGRAL WORLD: An Independent Forum for a Critical Discussion of the Integral Philosophy of Ken Wilber which hosts over a thousand essays by mostly dissenting voices in the integral scene. Contrast this to Jeff Salzman and his work with the Daily Evolver. Jeff is an unabashed Wilberian and self-described integral evangelist who “sees the animating power of evolution, inside and out.” Frank and Jeff spoke by phone before the holidays while Frank was getting ready to head out to an island on the coast of the Netherlands. Visser was once an enthusiastic proponent of Ken Wilber’s AQAL model. In 2003 he wrote the book Ken Wilber: Thought as Passion (SUNY Press), a chronological overview of Ken’s life and work through 2003, and has recently released a new online chapter, “Reaching Out to the World”, covering the intervening years. This new writing is far more critical of Ken and the integral movement and has sparked new controversy, most notably a fascinating and fruitful back-and-forth between Frank and Joe Perez, creator of the outstanding Integral Blog. Joe’s first volley is entitled “Properly Integral: A Response to Frank Visser’s Three Disappointments”, and leads to the rest of the debate. In this podcast Jeff and Frank talk about their differences, which primarily boils down to the question does Spirit exist? Is there a loving intelligence at work in the kosmos? Jeff says “yes”, and Frank says “not so fast.” For Frank, the idea that there is an intelligent force driving evolution, that the substrate of existence is consciousness, or Spirit, is where the line is crossed. To make such claims requires an unhealthy mixing of science and religion. “Wilber is a complicated figure, because he argues for spirit but he includes so much scientific material to back up that case…it’s only natural for people who are in the sciences to hold him accountable for how strong is his case.” Of course, the integral project is to integrate the realms of science and mysticism, which have different injunctions and different validity claims, and which have long been estranged. But Frank is skeptical; are we integrating or are we mixing? Probably both, says Jeff, but this is how we move forward. I think you get stronger when you can engage your opposing views, there’s no way out of that. Otherwise you create a bubble and you repeat what you already think and that’s not very fruitful to me. There came a point when I was stepping over to the dark side, so to speak. I was so immersed in all this critical writing that I took up that role to become a focus for it and that’s basically how the website Integral World has received its reputation. I must say that I always am a bit surprised by people who say, well, this is just a junkyard of Wilber bashing or whatever. ~Frank Visser Part of Frank’s skepticism comes from the fact that spirituality is comforting for us. It’s always been there to explain things that we can’t otherwise understand. When the questions get too difficult, insert “God” and the equation is balanced. And isn’t it nice to know that no matter how troubled the world seems, at the end of the day it’s all okay because, after all, it’s in God’s hands. “If you feel there is a kind of spirit behind everything then of course you’re safe,” says Frank, “because then it will work out in the end. If you don’t have that drive, which is my feeling, things can still progress but you can always fuck it up mightily by depleting the world’s resources and so on.” Do we really need a spirit, an animating force in the equation, when the universe is already wonderful and mysterious beyond comprehension? What does it add? We might even understand reality better without it, says Frank. Jeff counters that such a view ignores the interior dimensions of reality, including consciousness itself. The presence of Spirit doesn’t negate the scientific view, but to take it away diminishes our experience of life because it is an intrinsic aspect of existence. To see this requires spiritual insight, which is generally the result of a spiritual practice. Science works with the principle that seeing is believing, and spirituality works with the converse: believing is seeing. On a good day I can still relate to the idea of a cosmic evolution and a spirit behind everything and the hope that it gives that things will work out and so on. On a bad day (or a good day, depending on how you look at it) I see different things and I’m not so sure anymore and I’m not necessarily unhappy with that. I’m kind of role-playing, I sometimes think. I play this role of the devil’s advocate and I still feel myself connected to the integral field. I don’t know where that ends, but it could also be that in a couple of years I’m done with this and I become more positive in my writings or in my expressions. ~Frank Visser Frank and Jeff go on to discuss the idea of free will, politics and current events, the Big Bang, and artificial intelligence. They disagree plenty, but this is how things work themselves out, says Jeff, “If you look at the history of any significant movement…we need to manage the polarities in order to provide the juice for continued evolution.” Frank adds that we should be playful with our positions and not hold them too seriously. “And of course, there’s a common ground between two positions where you want to have the best for the earth and humanity and all that lives; even a humanist can consent to that. Then you don’t even need to have a spirit behind everything. There’s a common ground for people with good intentions.” Listen or download the podcast below, and here’s to the juice of continued evolution!

More pain, less suffering

Tue, 16 Dec 2014 21:02:45 +0000

In this thirteen minute excerpt of a conversation from September, Jeff speaks with Ken Wilber about the pain and suffering inherent in a human life, which begins with the nature of emergence itself. The more we develop, the more aware we are, and the more capacity we have to feel pain. If you go back thousands of years, Ken says, a person just had to get from infrared (Archaic) altitude to magenta (Indigenous) altitude. There are a limited number of things that can go wrong there. But as time goes on: Our own history gets thicker and thicker. There are more and more levels to us, there are also therefore more and more things that can break down, more and more things that can go wrong.That’s why if you look at the whole 14 billion years as a one year calendar, humans appear in the last few minutes of the last hour of the last day, because we had to transcend and include everything that came before. And all of those things that can go wrong involve pain — but not necessarily suffering. Wherever there is an other, there is fear, so the more we are able to transcend our individual selves the better things get. Pain still happens, of course–in fact we’re even more sensitive to everything–but we’re less identified with it.

Dr. Keith on loving completely

Wed, 03 Dec 2014 02:10:16 +0000

In this episode of The Shrink & The Pundit, Dr. Keith reveals what he’s learned in over forty years as a psychotherapist about cultivating integral love relationships, what the shift to a 2nd tier “love operating system” looks and feels like, and how you go about teaching couples to love completely. Everything is relationship. Only a small sliver of our brains has to do with our sense of individual self—we’re designed to be social, to interact. We’re designed to love. Our development depends upon it. And yet, it isn’t always easy. Lofty concepts aside, what is the most practical way to teach people how to love and be loved? In this conversation with Jeff Salzman, Dr. Keith Witt–our Doctor of Love himself–shares some of what he’s learned in over forty years as a psychologist and therapist, where, he says, “it’s always about teaching people how to love more completely.” So what does an integral view show us about love? In first tier structures of consciousness we tend to focus on what’s broken. The orienting question is how do I fix it? This extends to our relationships with our families, therapists, friends and lovers, and of course ourselves. We are biased towards looking for problems. There is a wisdom in that orientation, naturally—it will help you—but only up to a point. And then it will hold you back. On the other hand, if we enter into relationship with a bias towards showing up and seeing what arises, more often than not what arises are our strengths and virtues. The orientation here is not fixing what is broken, but asking instead what can we create? Dr. Keith calls this a positive, flex-flow approach. The bridge from a fear-based operating system to a love-based operating system is built by fostering a dialectic between these polarities. As aspiring integralists, growing into second tier structures of consciousness, we want to expand our natural curiosity into those places that keep us from loving completely and welcome the conversation between fear and love. “In higher stages of development you want to turn towards your pain, to deconstruct it until it turns into love,” says Dr. Keith, “and then you have to embody it. It takes courage, and usually a lot of help.” Freud’s seminal idea of the unconscious reveals a rich field of practice in intentional development. A hundred years ago people didn’t get that our psyches are influenced by forces outside of our awareness. But now most of us do, so much so that as Jeff says, “by the time we reach the postmodern stage we can’t stand the idea that there’s a place inside of ourselves that we can’t see.” So we get more and more interested in our shadows. The most difficult type of shadow is the kind that we resist. Defensive states cut us off from our sense of self-reflection and are the main impediment to investigating parts of ourselves that may be fragmented and unloved. Changing our defensive states into states of healthy response is one of the main areas that Dr. Keith covers in his teaching because it’s so crucial to loving completely. To learn about defensive states, Dr. Keith suggests you write down the last time you felt threatened. “What was your amplified or numbed emotion, distorted perspective, destructive impulse? Where was your empathy and self-reflection?” As you write, you may notice the balance of emotions changing. Over time your mental and emotional states start to become objects in your awareness. A little bit of daylight is all you need in there to begin making adjustments from a defensive response to a healthy response. People bridging into 2nd tier structures of consciousness begin to do this instinctively—the noticing, the turning-towards. When we think about markers or qualities of 2nd tier consciousness, we think of a radical acceptance of the human condition and an affection for all of its craziness, including our own. Turning towards awareness of self and embodying a change will put your attention less on fixing yourself or a partner and more on appreciating and cultivating both of your strengths. Like the simple Buddhist practice of noticing, it can transmute your suffering into wisdom and love. Listen to this episode of The Shrink & The Pundit podcast below. Click here to find out more about Dr. Keith’s new self-directed web course, Loving Completely, 5 Ways Relationships Work…or Don’t.

Love is as real as a rock

Tue, 25 Nov 2014 21:21:16 +0000

This week Jeff looks at Interstellar, the new movie from Christopher Nolan that explores love as a force in the kosmos akin to the force of gravity. Bringing love to Earth, Jeff comments on the spirit of the holiday season, and how we may be able to create a more generous and meaningful experience.

Gay pride, white privilege

Sun, 16 Nov 2014 04:46:33 +0000

This week Jeff looks at the process by which historically oppressed people, such as women, racial minorities and gays gain full acceptance in the culture. It’s not just a matter of changing laws, but hearts and minds. This process starts in modernity and becomes one of the main projects of post-modernity. What is the integral view?

The mother of First World problems: an integral look at capitalism

Sun, 09 Nov 2014 08:48:34 +0000

In this week’s podcast, recorded on election night in the U.S., we explore some thoughts on the big Republican gains in Congress and what might be next. Also, Jeff responds to Joe Corbett, a critic who published an essay making the case that Jeff, Ken WIlber and the integral community in general lack an appreciation for social justice.

The perks of post-modernity

Sun, 02 Nov 2014 07:26:11 +0000

With all the attention on the war and pestilence within trailing-edge cultures around the world, it’s easy to miss what is happening on the leading edge, as developed cultures move deeper into post-modernity (green altitude). This week’s Daily Evolver Live tours a few stories that show how we are creating a more safe, peaceful, reliable, fair and sensitive world.

Ebola. How can we help?

Sun, 26 Oct 2014 06:48:01 +0000

This week Jeff takes a look at the Ebola crisis and how an integral view can help us relate and respond. He explores the function of fear and a time honored way that it can be transmuted into real helpfulness. The second half of the podcast is a conversation with Steve McIntosh, who is bringing an integral sensibility to the problem of political polarization in America, through his foundation the Institute for Cultural Evolution.

Dog and god: How we relate to animals, ideas, and each other at different stages of development

Sat, 18 Oct 2014 20:05:51 +0000

This week Jeff shares some evolutionary insights and encounters he had on his few weeks of hiatus. He starts with a personal story of his own development regarding communion with animals. He also examines a common sticking point for liberals, exemplified by a widely noted public argument between Bill Maher, Sam Harris and Ben Affleck regarding Islamic violence and Islamophobia.

On human memory and trauma, with Dr. Keith Witt

Sun, 05 Oct 2014 19:33:53 +0000

Human beings are memory machines, for better or for worse. There is an autobiographical narrative that is alive inside all of us, and just as individual memories seem to create me, memories in the morphogenetic field create the collective culture of my family, my society. Most people are familiar with the effects that major trauma like car accidents, sexual abuse and so on, can have on a person. But our sense of self is also formed by the “little 't' traumas”, the small humiliations.

The world according to Wilber

Thu, 18 Sep 2014 19:02:59 +0000

Ken Wilber is my hero. I mean that quite literally because Ken rescued me from a life of confusion, fear and frustration as I tried to make sense of our crazy, mixed up world. Ken’s insights organized life on Planet Earth from a disjointed mess into an elegant whole.

The brutal & the sweet: Twee culture, the Obama Doctrine, & fractures in Ferguson

Sat, 23 Aug 2014 19:00:40 +0000

In a week that has featured an appalling display of the trailing edge of consciousness development -- the ISIS beheadings -- Jeff starts by highlighting a new, more encouraging emergent that is arising on humanity’s leading edge. It’s called being nice. Also, a good week for the Obama Doctrine?

The next economy: A conversation with Szandra Köves

Fri, 15 Aug 2014 22:20:42 +0000

In the vision of a future economy the motto is to think globally and act locally. Eco-localization refers to local production and consumption imbued with an awareness of how one’s actions may impact other communities. This includes global trade between local economies (hence the word “glocalization”), which means you don't import things that can be made locally but you may still share culture and “perhaps even have bananas in Hungary,” Szandra says.

The new autocrats

Sun, 10 Aug 2014 03:24:35 +0000

This week Jeff looks at a new model of autocratic modernity that is gaining traction particularly among developing countries with weak histories of democracy, such as Russia and China. With the economically and politically stumbling West no longer held up an the inevitable example, we can see the appeal -- and even some of the intelligence -- behind this rising brand of development without liberalism.

Israel and Gaza – relating to the suffering of others

Sun, 03 Aug 2014 18:17:53 +0000

The many crises of the world, most prominently the war in Israel and Gaza, evoke important questions for those of us who are not directly involved. What can we do about the suffering? What are we supposed to feel and think? How are we to relate and respond? This week Jeff explores aspects of the interior spaces of integral consciousness, especially those we experience in the face of suffering. But first he looks at a significant new work of integral art: the movie Boyhood.

Plane crashes in Ukraine, rockets fly in Gaza

Sat, 26 Jul 2014 04:33:36 +0000

The two global hot spots this week are, once again, Ukraine, where Russian separatists have shot down a passenger jet from Amsterdam, killing 300 people, and Israel/Gaza, where longstanding tensions have flared into a new intifada. What do these conflicts have in common and how can integral consciousness help us understand them more deeply?

As muslims move into modernity: A conversation with Aftab Omer

Fri, 18 Jul 2014 18:29:24 +0000

The struggle between the Muslim and Western worlds is not only a clash of civilizations, but also a clash of development. I had a good conversation on this subject with Dr. Aftab Omer, a sociologist, psychologist and integralist who was raised in Pakistan, India and Turkey, and who has lived in the US for much of his life.

From The Big Bang to Big Brother; The Evolution of Sex

Sun, 13 Jul 2014 18:46:33 +0000

Sex evolves like everything else, so what's next? This week Jeff looks at the amazing, creative, pervasive phenomena of sex and how it's evolving in all four quadrants. What are the roots of our sexuality, where are we now and what is emerging? He starts with a shout out to his favorite new art form and inspiration for this week’s topic: reality TV.

Brazil Plays, Ukraine Fights

Fri, 04 Jul 2014 22:06:27 +0000

In this week’s call Jeff explores the issue of cultural identity from an evolutionary point of view. He uses the examples of the World Cup and the story told about Brazil by the international media leading up to it, as well as the continuing drama in Ukraine to illuminate how, even in our globalized world, culture has a unique power to move events. His special guest is Ukrainian integralist Oleg Linetsky.

The End of Iraq?

Fri, 27 Jun 2014 20:36:13 +0000

This week Jeff focuses on the situation in Iraq, where the jihadi group ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham) has taken over the Sunni area of the country. Their aim is to install a medieval caliphate throughout the Middle East (“we know no borders,” they say). What does integral theory tell us about these fighters and how to deal with their threat to the country America misguidedly attempted to liberate into modernity?

On the front lines of the postmodern revolution with Graham Hill

Sun, 22 Jun 2014 19:20:21 +0000

I met Graham back in the nineties when he ran a web design firm in Seattle. He’s always been on the emerging edge of culture and technology and is one of those people that has an integral mind whether or not they ever use the vocabulary or reference the maps. He has a developmental view and doesn’t see modernity as the enemy, necessarily, but as the foundation upon which a thriving postmodern culture can be built. He founded the popular Treehugger.com and is now focusing his attention on LifeEdited, which designed and built this amazing apartment in Brooklyn — just 420 square feet in size — that is an example of how we can use smart design to cut down on energy, space and resources and still create more health and happiness in our lives. Graham is a pragmatist. His TED talk Why I’m a Weekday Vegetarian, demonstrates an integral way of leading the culture forward through a change that needs to happen. Everyone on the planet can’t eat meat three times a day, but “people don’t want to have their last hamburger.” He advocates important incremental changes using education and the power of good design. Graham had just arrived to his rustic cabin in Maui when Jeff reached him last winter to talk about the view from the front lines. “America has super sized itself over the last sixty years,” he says. “We have about three times the space per person of any other Western country, and it gives us giant environmental footprints. We’re routinely living beyond our means and racking up tons of debt. “We have a twenty-two billion dollar personal storage industry just to keep all the stuff we collect. It would all make some sense if we were happier, but we’re not.” There is a name for this uniquely modern affliction: affluenza, and Graham knows it well. When he wrote an op-ed in the NYTimes called Living With Less, A Lot Less, critics pointed out that downsizing advice from a millionaire was hardly compelling when much of the world was still trying to scrape up enough calories to feed their families. But from an integral perspective, where we see all the altitudes of development online in the world at any given time, of course we’re privileged to be solving the problems of modernity, that’s what you do in postmodernity. Graham points out that in the modern age we have become so efficient at making things that hoarding doesn’t make sense anymore, though it may have at one time. “The modern mindset is a growth mindset,” Jeff reminds us, “whereas the orienting economic principle of postmodernity is sustainability.” LifeEdited is helping with that shift by building housing for singles and families that are only two-hundred to one thousand square feet, respectively, and making these units function like much larger spaces. Communal resources will include spare bedrooms that are bookable online (because you don’t always need that guest room, do you?), a “product library” for things that you may need occasionally but don’t make sense to own, communal space like professional kitchens, roof decks, fitness areas and a great room for parties and gatherings. Who needs to heat and cool a giant room in their home that gets used a few times a year? “Most design is for things that happen very rarely,” Graham explains, “like a four wheel drive truck, for instance. We’re redesigning the experience of living for what it’s like ninety percent of the time. Then you can share the things that everyone only needs once in a while.” LifeEdited are creating examples of smart communities for the future, focused in dense areas. Half of us live in cities now and that number is going up. The future is in cities, and that’s where the big changes need to happen. In this lifestyle, where your home becomes your office and the city becomes your living room, it’s an antidote to the separation and alienation of modernity in which the pendulum has swung far in favor of autonomy. Graham wonders if underneath our modern suburban lifestyles is a fear of intimacy. The modern critique: how does the economy work when we are consuming so much less? “We’re smart enough to figure that out in the time it’s going to take for these changes to take effect,” Graham says.

Lying as violence and truth as a practice, with Dr.Keith Witt

Sun, 08 Jun 2014 18:06:24 +0000

Lying is a subtle violence that we perpetrate against ourselves and others, and almost all psychotherapy is concerning where people lie to themselves about themselves. As we develop more self-awareness and transparency, lies become less tempting because they become less useful and actually just plain uninteresting.

Getting in the habit of evolution

Sun, 04 May 2014 22:01:15 +0000

Our left hemisphere learns new routines, but it is our right hemisphere where the habits are hardwired — and it changes slowly. The brain evolved to not give up habits that it has associated with a satisfactory life. We are what we repeatedly do. —Aristotle I learn the coolest stuff listening to The Shrink & The Pundit sessions. For example, as you repeat a certain action it activates a specific neuronal network in the brain. Cells go there and wrap the neurons in a myelin sheath (myelin is a white, fatty, electrically insulating substance). The myelinated nerve is up to one hundred times faster! If you practice enough those circuits become heavily myelinnated and then that action becomes habitual, like the way my fingers are hitting these keys — you don’t even need to think about it. Which is great! Until it isn’t. Habits are hard to change. We can use pain and pleasure (the proverbial vinegar and honey) but mostly it just takes time. A habit is a pattern of self-reinforcing processes. A Princeton study suggests that about forty percent of what we do during the course of each day is purely habitual. Dr. Keith thinks that’s a conservative number. In his forthcoming book, Integral Mindfulness: From Clueless to Dialed In, he explains that to change something is to first be aware of it. Observation plus compassion equals mindfulness, and that’s your primary tool for regulating existing habits and creating new ones. Keith learned from Ken Wilber that the universe is composed of habits that are including and transcending each other through the mechanism of chaos. The nature of chaos is that it seeks coherence (involution). That’s a force as powerful as gravity. Systems naturally want coherence so they create habitual ways of being. It’s life’s general shape or mode of growth. Every once in a while a stable state is disturbed, there’s a disintegration and then a re-integration into something different. The universe has reorganized and created a habit that is more complex. Those more complex habits appear simpler but they’re not. “You could say humans have a habit of self transcendence,” Dr. Keith Witt A hundred years ago, William James famously declared that it took twenty-one days to create a habit. Modern neuroscience would say he wasn’t too far off. Integrative neurons start creating hard wired circuits back to your amygdala after about thirty days of doing something different. A spiritual teacher of mine named Sylvia used to say the most powerful thing we have is our attention, and in that moment when you realize you have the power to switch the energy from point A (your habit) to point B (your new intention) it is the most powerful moment in your life. Sometimes you have to apply that attention over and over and over until it begins choosing itself. Saying no to one thing by saying yes to another is called a reciprocal inhibitor. Studies have shown that people are twenty-five times more successful if they try to cultivate a new habit rather than just resist the bad one. So instead of smoking a cigarette, do a breathing exercise. Instead of eating a bag of chips, take a walk. It’s hard work, so it helps to get excited, and have someone that inspires you and embodies where you want to go. Even better yet, get that person to coach you. If you can engage repeatedly in the process where you go to the edge of where you’re competent and you make a mistake, correct it, make a mistake, correct it…that is a growth mindset. You have to be willing to be intimate with your weakness. An integrally informed mindfulness can give you a higher quality of self-awareness. Jeff often likens it to Google Earth, where you can view the whole picture and also zoom in to a precise address. There’s just more information in that kind of granularity — lines of development, what quadrant you’re operating in, your state of consciousness. Even your typology can be likened to a bundle of habits that you’re predisposed to perform, and knowing what those are can be immensely helpful. Integral is a developmental system in four quadrants. This is where it really trumps 20th century developmental psychology. 20th century developmental psychology shifts quadrants unconsciously and it’s frankly quite confusing, but integral doesn’t do that. So you can see the healthy expression of your current developmental level and what your next developmental level is. You can adjust yourself in terms of observing your good and bad habits and start cultivating good habits that involve horizontal health, which is more healthy with your current worldview, and vertical health which encourages you to move forward. – Dr. Keith Witt That self observation, even if it has compassion in it, is still coming from a worldview, a specific perspective. But you’re aware of it and you’re aware of others that are available to you. You know what’s more healthy and less healthy and more or less what serves development. That’s a superior form of mindfulness. But then it gets really interesting. Earlier in life, when you’re in a Socialized Mind stage, the culture around you largely determines what your habits will be. As you evolve — if you evolve — you move into a Self-Authoring stage of development, where you are cultivating the ability to expand your choices and shape your own habits. People moving into second tier consciousness, or what can loosely be correlated with Kegan’s Self-Transforming stage, begin to find something very different. It feels like they start losing choice. Why? Because development goes in a particular direction and the lines converge towards service to God and service to the world. And so after a while your life starts informing you on the habits that you’re going to have to change and the habits that you’re going to have to cultivate, and that’s self-transforming mind. – Dr. Keith Witt It feels like you begin to lose choice because in a way, you do. The deeper currents become more available and conscious to us as we develop and in general they lead us to habits that are more beautiful, good and true. You’re also unlikely to be rigid about them. Jeff says that cultivating second tier consciousness often feels to him like he’s “being lived.” I can relate to that. “At this stage in the game it feels like a lot of it is just unfurling the sails, and allowing the moment to inform where I’m going and what I’m doing and what’s appropriate. What’s the best use of Jeff in this moment, in this day?” Losing choice turns out to be a higher form of liberation. So enjoy this latest installment of The Shrink & The Pundit and let us know what you think on Facebook or Twitter.

Evolution In The Age of Ecocide

Fri, 25 Apr 2014 20:08:05 +0000

This week Jeff took a look at the emergence of some radical new Green ideas in the economic conversation, with an advanced peek at the influential new book “Capital in the 21st Century”, by Thomas Piketty. He also addressed the cultural issues of climate change and a striking new way of dealing with it: give up.

When Worldview Trumps Facts

Sat, 19 Apr 2014 22:25:20 +0000

This week Jeff takes a look at new research that reveals how worldview overrides evidence in determining one’s political perspective. He also explores the conservative view of the Russian/Ukraine situation by critiquing an essay by Robert D. Kaplan, Geopolitics and the New World Order in which Kaplan argues that “in geopolitics, the past never dies and there is no modern world.”

Finding a way through to love: Dr. Keith Witt on what makes a happy marriage

Sun, 13 Apr 2014 21:03:51 +0000

If it was just the genes talking we’d have serial marriages lasting on average four or five years, and we’d cheat on each other every chance we got. ~Dr. Keith Witt Apparently we’re kind of clueless about intimate attachment in general. According to Dr. Keith we aggrandize romantic love, we’re afraid of sexual lust and we have no idea about long-term attachment. We mix them all up, basically. Ninety percent of the people and couples that come to Keith for help present with a problem in their marriage or primary partnership. That tells us a couple things. One, like many other mammals we’re drawn to pair bond. Most people who are allowed to get married, do. And two, it tells us that marriage is challenging and most of us need some help to learn how to do it well. So why aren’t we taught how to do it? Probably because your marriage is not your parent’s marriage. It’s not even the marriage that you had yesterday. As cultures change marriages must change with them, so a successful marriage fifty years ago is not the same as a successful marriage today. I’ve noticed that the marriages of my parents, my friends, and my friend’s children are all very different. Keith says when you get married you’re not just signing up for one marriage, you’re signing up for many marriages. It’s going to change from romantic infatuation to intimate bonding, to living together, to having children. It’ll change through family, through aging bodies and changing endocrine systems. Each one of those changes is associated with new structures of consciousness around how you hold yourself in the marriage, and how you hold your partner. What makes marriage so challenging is that the relationship needs to be successfully reorganized, consistently, by both people in order to keep working. Despite the constant change, studies have shown us there are specific characteristics present in successful, happy relationships. Author and researcher Nate Bagley found the following things in common: The individuals were dedicated to self care They were committed to helping each other get through anything They trusted each other They had intentionality. They didn’t take their love for granted. They did something everyday to show love for each other There is always going to be conflict though, and couples that want to be together for the long term have to know how to navigate it. Keith says there are a lot of factors, but Bagley discovered a few very important ones: Couples that stay together don’t fight to win, they fight to resolve the conflict. They focus on trying to understand each other and lastly, they really try to be nice to each other. Imagine that! Being nice… There is a way to love. If two people want to get there and they’re willing to take care of themselves and change, they can find a way through to love again and again and again. That’s really the bottom line. If you want to take it down to just one thing, the evolution of consciousness is just getting better and better at finding our way through to love. ~Dr. Keith Witt When it comes down to brass tacks, couples that can down-regulate anger and up-regulate the positive emotions are ones that are destined for the long term. Easier said than done. Of course, if you have stable access to 2nd tier consciousness then you’re really ahead of the game. People operating at the teal altitude can observe structures of consciousness in themselves and their partners, and as we know from studying development, mindful self-observation accelerates development which gives us response flexibility. In relationship, when you are responding to your partner, to their happiness and suffering, you are definitely accelerating your development. Keith says he’s never seen this researched the way that meditation and other practices have been researched (yet!) but he’s found it to be true in his own life. The relationship itself becomes a container for the updraft of development in both the partners. How inspiring!

Conscious Capitalism And Corporate Personhood

Sat, 05 Apr 2014 03:30:50 +0000

THE DAILY EVOLVER LIVE EPISODE 88 This week I focused on a topic that is always front and center in the culture wars: the role of the public sector and the private sector in our lives, and the tension between the two. One story that captures this tension in the U.S. is the Supreme Court hearing of the complaint by Hobby Lobby, a chain of retail stores, seeking an exemption from having to provide “morning after” contraceptives in its employee health care plan under the new terms of Obamacare. The founder of Hobby Lobby, David Green, is a devout Christian who donates half the company’s pre-tax earnings — $500 million so far — to evangelical ministry. An amber traditionalist at heart (though clearly an orange modernist in his ability to build a very successful business), Green specifically objects to birth-control medications such as “Plan B” that would destroy a fertilized egg. This detail is often missed in media reports which represent the company as objecting to providing any contraception whatsoever. In fact, they are objecting only to the class of “morning after” contraceptives, which they consider to be a form of abortion. As integral practitioners, let’s pause for a moment and enter the worldview of conservative Christians (amber altitude) which is radically different than the worldview of those of us who have become secular at heart. For them the world is an enchanted creation of Almighty God. Likewise, life itself is a gift from God and only God can create it. Being faithful means that we are grateful when God sparks a new life into being, and we joyfully make room. To do otherwise would be to disobey God. At the amber altitude the battle cry is “God and Country,” with God coming in first and country second. Humanity is corrupted, fallen, and although we have to “give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s,” the ultimate purpose of life is to be righteous and holy under a Law that supersedes the puny laws of man. It makes perfect sense: to whom are you going to owe your primary allegiance, the crowd in Washington or the Creator of the universe? If you are a child of God living in His enchanted creation, that decision is easy. A similar issue surfaced in a recent controversy out of Arizona, where the legislature passed a law defending the “religious freedom” of private businesses to, for instance, deny to bake a cake for a gay wedding. In this case the Republican governor vetoed the legislation. The reason? There was too much blowback from the secular business community, who feared an economic boycott of the state, particularly the upcoming Super Bowl scheduled in Phoenix next year. So it turns out that the dollar is almighty too! In fact one of the most potent evolutionary forces in modern culture is the trumping of money over traditional ideology (orange altitude over amber altitude). As a result of the Arizona outcome, similar initiatives promoting this conservative brand of religious freedom in other states have been seriously undermined. This question of corporate personhood shows up in other cases as well, most notably the Supreme Court case Citizens United, which lifted the limit corporations and labor unions can donate to independent political groups. HOW THE PRIVATE SECTOR EMERGED For most of human history, of course, there was no such thing as a private sector. The tribal elders (in the magenta altitude), the warlord (in red altitude) or the king (in the amber altitude) could control your life in whatever way they saw fit. In the middle ages, we saw the gradual emergence of charters given to various guilds who could exert some independent control over their trade: blacksmiths, farmers, weavers, barrel makers – even executioners! In the 1500s we saw the emergence of mercantilism, the creation of the first great companies including the Dutch East India Company and the British East India Company. These were important emergents in that they incorporated multiple shareholders who enjoyed a limited liability into a larger whole. It wasn’t until the late 1700s, with the emergence of mature modernist thinking (orange altitude), that Adam Smith, and other economists began laying out the theoretical justification for a completely new emergent in cultural ecology: the private sector. Fundamental to the modern private sector is the principle of the “legal person”: incorporations of people that have the right to operate in the public sphere as if they were an individual person. They have the right to own things, to buy and sell, and to enter into contracts with each other under the safeguards of a legal system that recognizes the fundamental sovereignty of the people, not the government. It’s an amazing evolutionary achievement of humanity! The history of corporations is an evolutionary tale of increasing consciousness and care. Corporations stopped selling slaves in the 1860’s, stopped working children in the 1940’s and stopped racial discrimination in the 1960’s. They have drastically increased workplace safety and reduced pollution. And in each of these cases they were forced to by the public sector. Today’s corporations are well civilized, by any historical standard. But not nearly civilized enough, according to the green, postmodern left, for whom the very idea of corporate personhood is repulsive. The green altitude’s antipathy towards big business is evolutionarily right on schedule as green is emerging out of the orange altitude, which is the home of corporate thinking. Green sees the downsides of the corporate mindset that puts money above all else. The project of green is to put the brakes on the rampant growth ethic of business, which is a threat to a finite global ecosystem, and to redistribute the wealth capitalist system to those who have been left out. In contrast, Amber traditionalists have antipathy towards big government, a position that also makes perfect sense when viewed evolutionarily. Amber traditionalism is emerging out of the brutalities of Red, where the King’s men could come and take anything they wanted, including your daughter. The project of Amber is to create order in the culture at large and in peoples’ individual psyches, a project that is articulated in documents such as the Ten Commandments and the Buddhist Eightfold Path. As integralists we want to bring forth the best of all of these worldviews, and to realize that the contention between the systems is the source of their evolutionary power. The public sector and private sector provide the two poles out of which a new synthesis emerges, a synthesis that is not a compromise or murky middle, but a new emergent that takes on the best qualities of both. We are seeing this happen as corporations begin to civilize themselves. The classic Milton Friedman definition of corporate mission being to create profits for their shareholders is becoming passé among leading edge business thinkers. Prominent among these is John Mackey, CEO and founder of Whole Foods Markets, an 11 billion-dollar company, and who with Raj Sisodia has founded Conscious Capitalism, an organization promoting evolutionary business management based on four key principles: Higher Purpose: what the company is dedicated to doing beyond just making a profit. Conscious Leadership: the leader functions as a servant of the purpose of the organization and of the people she or he is leading. Stakeholder Orientation: the organization exists not just to serve the stockholders, but all the shareholders who are essential for the company to succeed: employees, customers, suppliers, funders, supportive communities and a life-sustaining ecosystem. Conscious Culture: a focus on “we” not “I”, which builds trust between a company’s team members and its other stakeholders. In an essay in the Harvard Business Review, Mackey explains Conscious Capitalism further: The word “conscious” has many connotations for people. We define it as being mindful and awake, seeing reality as it is rather than as we wish it to be, recognizing and being accountable for all the consequences of our actions, having a better sense of what is right and what is wrong, rejecting violence as a way to solve problems and being in harmony with nature. We [therefore] hold these truths to be self-evident: business is good because it creates value, it is ethical because it is based on voluntary exchange, it is noble because it can elevate our existence and it is heroic because it lifts people out of poverty and creates prosperity. Free enterprise capitalism is the most powerful system for social cooperation and human progress ever conceived. It is one of the most compelling ideas we humans have ever had. But we can aspire to even more. On the public sector side of the street we also see a new synthesis made up of ideas and practices that have been taken from the private sector: entrepreneurship. For instance, charter schools inject a spirit of creativity, entrepreneurship and customization to an public education system that has become hidebound. We’ve discussed this in previous Daily Evolver episodes, particularly #85. So relax: the contention between the public and private sectors is supposed to be happening. Neither side is going to win or lose. Their natural struggle has brought us a long way and promises to take us further as new, more integral structures emerge. Listen or download here. Need some help to listen on your mobile device? Click here.

The downside of modernity and upside of millennials

Sat, 15 Mar 2014 19:38:17 +0000

I started the call this week by responding to a couple listeners who think I’ve gone a little soft on modernity (Orange altitude). The first, David O’Conner from Australia, critiqued me by saying, “you believe a little too much in the evolutionary goodness of Orange without sufficiently taking into account what is not so good about Orange.” Good point. So let me self-correct a bit. Every stage of development comes online bearing a dignity and a disaster. For instance, on the upside Red brings on the juice of individual power; on the downside it gives rise to plunder and patriarchy. Amber civilizes us, but into a conformity that ultimately becomes stultifying. Each stage experiences radical new powers that are used for both good and ill. The powers that emerge in Orange are jaw-dropping in all four quadrants: in the exterior quadrants, science and technology turn dirt into Chevys, create “the indoors” and triple life-spans. Orange becomes world-centric and modern people are able to mobilize resources from all corners of the planet. Money flows, as well as communication and travel. In the interior quadrants, humanity abandons millennia of dogma and superstition in favor of observation and reason. We wake up to our own individual sovereignty and ascribe equality of status to every citizen under the rule of law (not men). Astonishing! But the interiors and the exteriors do not always come online at the same time. People with modern exteriors often harbor pre-modern interiors that are quite provincial and even ethnocentric. This is a dangerous stage of the game: modern technology in the hands of a pre-modern mentality (think of a 12 year old with a chainsaw), and it is the source of much of the downside of Orange, particularly in its early stages: On the war front, we are able to fight at exponentially higher levels of lethality. Although genocide is old hat to us humans, modernity introduces the ability to industrialize it with gas chambers and atomic bombs. Modern economies do away with the age-old hunt for calories, but deliver this gift by means of industrial mono-farms that create disease and obesity, and meat factories where living beings are treated as units of production. Modernity does away with state-sanctioned slavery, but creates corporate fiefdoms in developing countries with little regard to the culture it is uprooting. Indeed modernity creates a new philosophy to support its new power: social darwinism, an application of the law of “survival of the fittest” to human affairs in which the exploitation (they see it as the “civilization” or “modernization”) of weaker people and cultures is justified as the march of progress. Currently, one of the most threatening downsides of our modernizing world is its global environmental impact. People have always exploited their environments to the degree that they were able. But you can only do so much damage with a digging stick or a team of horses. Bring on technology and you suddenly have hundreds and thousands of horsepower at your disposal stripping down forests, dragging mile-long fishing nets, pumping rivers dry and belching poison into the air. Modernists are able to see and rectify environmental degradation in their local environments, but they don’t see or have the will to rectify it on the global scale … until they do. Feeling into the larger global commons defines movement into the next stage: post-modernity (Green altitude). At this stage of consciousness we see that although any environmental violation may be local the larger effect is global: ocean acidification and climate change as examples. Because Green sees the finiteness of the planet system its orienting principle becomes sustainability, not growth (which is Orange’s orienting principle) and post-modernism sets out to right the wrongs of modernity. And the culture wars ensue in all their gory glory. One of the leading warriors against pernicious modernity is Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. She was recommended to me by listener Scott Bogart of Alberta, Canada as a tonic against over-valorizing modernity. Klein’s thesis is that capitalism grows by finding (or creating) social disaster then rebuilding things in an image more to their liking. In her introduction she writes, “I am writing a book about shock. About how countries are shocked—by wars, terror attacks, coups d’état and natural disasters. And then how they are shocked again—by corporations and politicians who exploit the fear and disorientation of this first shock to push through economic shock therapy. And then how people who dare to resist these shock politics are, if necessary, shocked for a third time—by police, soldiers and prison interrogators.” So far so good, and indeed all of this has happened in different proportions throughout the world as modernity has come online. But while I don’t disagree with most of her facts, I want to point out a couple things I think she misses: The modern world that is created by “disaster capitalism” is usually better than the one that was washed away. I’ll address Klein’s signature Shock Doctrine example, the one she starts with and uses to lay out her case against disaster capitalism. It is the story of the New Orleans school system after Hurricane Katrina ten years ago. The public schools were in ruins and thus education privateers, led by economist Milton Friedman, saw it as a chance to come in and install charter schools, a public/private hybrid. She writes: Milton Friedman, grand guru of the movement for unfettered capitalism and the man credited with writing the rulebook for the contemporary, hypermobile global economy. Ninety-three years old and in failing health, “Uncle Miltie,” as he was known to his followers, nonetheless found the strength to write an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal three months after the levees broke. “Most New Orleans schools are in ruins,” Friedman observed, “as are the homes of the children who have attended them. The children are now scattered all over the country. This is a tragedy. It is also an opportunity to radically reform the education system. Friedman’s radical idea was that instead of spending a portion of the billions of dollars in reconstruction money on rebuilding and improving New Orleans’ existing public school system, the government should provide families with vouchers, which they could spend at private institutions, many run at a profit, that would be subsidized by the state. It was crucial, Friedman wrote, that this fundamental change not be a stopgap but rather “a permanent reform. And that’s what happened. She goes on, apparently unaware of the positive case she is making for the privateers: In sharp contrast to the glacial pace with which the levees were repaired and the electricity grid was brought back online, the auctioning off of New Orleans’ school system took place with military speed and precision. Within nineteen months, with most of the city’s poor residents still in exile, New Orleans’ public school system had been almost completely replaced by privately run charter schools. Nobody ever said capitalism wasn’t efficient! Klein wrote her account of the New Orleans school overhaul shortly after it begun. Seven years later we have more understanding of how New Orleans is handling the shock. Last week the fair-minded Christian Science Monitor published a major article on the New Orleans school system. They report that indeed nine in ten students today attend charter schools in New Orleans, the highest percentage in the country: Gone is a traditional central district office that assigns students to schools, hires and promotes teachers in negotiation with a union, and controls everything from budgets to textbooks. Instead, families here choose among charter schools citywide that – in exchange for their autonomy – have to meet certain benchmarks in order to have their charters renewed. The results? Test scores and graduation rates have climbed steadily. And while there are fewer public school students than before the storm – 43,000, down from 65,000 – the demographics are similar: 90 percent African-American (compared with 94 percent pre-Katrina) and 82 percent low-income (up from 77 percent). A surge of extra resources has helped: In 2010-11, for instance, per-pupil spending in New Orleans was about $13,000, compared with just under $11,000 statewide. So it’s pretty promising so far, and the article goes on to point out how other communities, especially urban districts with chronically under-performing schools, are using New Orleans as an example to emulate. Obama’s education department is supporting the movement with large, high-profile grants in several test cities. I wonder how many New Orleaners, including the most disadvantaged, would choose to go back to the pre-Katrina system that existed before their exploitation by Milton Friedman and his ilk. Which brings me to another aspect of “disaster capitalism” that is surprising and certainly missed by Naomi Klein: in most cases, the majority of people affected by it support it. Let’s take another key example Klein uses to illuminate The Shock Doctrine, the rise of the oligarchs in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. Klein tells of how these feudal strong men exploited the chaos of the disintegration of the state to build vast business empires and fortunes. This is undoubtedly true, and the alpha oligarch is Vladimir Putin himself, who has wealth estimated at 40 billion dollars stashed around the world. So how do the Russians feel about that? An American president would love to be so popular with his people. Putin’s approval ratings hover around 65 – 70% (Obama is at 42%). 69% back his incursion into Ukraine. Economic optimism in Russia is over 50%; in America it’s currently at 29%. How does this happen? Ken Wilber’s AQAL altitudes of development help us understand. Most Russians, although well educated and cultured, are still largely traditional (Amber altitudes) in their view of state power. They are used to autocrats running things; that’s how it always is in Amber. They are willing to tolerate leaders skimming some cream off the top as long as the economy is growing. In Russia it is, and under Putin economic growth has been reasonably strong and steady. People at these altitudes will also tolerate some diminishment of personal freedom as long as the streets are safe, and in today’s Russia they are. So Putin has the peoples’ support, and as Moscow integralist Victor Shiryaev pointed out in my interview with him a couple weeks ago, many Russians refer to the pre-Putin 1990’s, under the regime of Boris Yeltsin, as “the dark age.” In the West, particularly the US, we have our own strata of population with Amber interiors, the social conservatives and nationalistic hawks, and they too love tough-guy leaders. A circumspect and nuanced leader like Obama actually leaves them feeling insecure and is the source of much of their reflexive antipathy towards him. Now of course, from a more developed Green perspective — where Naomi Klein is living — it is the authoritarian leader who becomes scary and repulsive. Welcome to evolutionary progress! It is this evolution that will bring on the end of Putinism, if not Putin himself, over the long run. We just don’t know how long the run is. Evolution, while beautiful, is not pretty and we have to remember that we too have had our history with crony capitalism and we’re not done yet. Evolving Russia will find its way too. All in all, what limits the value of The Shock Doctrine to me is that it is a Green critique of Orange. In Klein’s view disaster capitalists are the bad guys who exploit the innocent victims who just want to get back to their old way of life. I see it differently: that disasters are always an opportunity for radically better structures to be built, and this is true for life at any scale. At a macro scale, for instance, the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs also made room for great arising of mammals. When our house burns down we strive to build a better one. At the personal level, a divorce or job loss may be a catalyst for a much better life. The struggle between Orange and Green is a fruitful one, and we Integral practitioners want to appreciate both views of the world, as we find them in other people and as we find them struggling in our own minds. In so doing we have a better chance of bringing the gifts of each worldview to the project of building a better world. WHAT TO MAKE OF YOU, MILLENNIALS? I ended the call with a look at a major Pew study this week that seeks to reveal the soul of American Millennials, our youngest adult generation, ages 18 – 33. The upshot of the research? It turns out the youngsters are less supportive of institutions like religions, political parties, even marriage and career — and more tuned into their own networks of people and organizations, networks which are much larger than those of previous generations. They are more multicultural and less patriotic than any generation in history. These changes represent welcome evolutionary movement into world-centrism, which is less dangerous and more fertile than nation-centrism. One striking irony: Millennials are at the same time the first generation to be economically less well off than the previous generation at the same age … and the most optimistic! So human race, welcome to your future! As an evolutionary I am hooked on studying what is emergent, and am so happy to encounter this new generation, both through the Pew study and directly through my friendships with the the Millennials I know. A couple smart millennial listeners spoke up on the call, and I will be interviewing more as the world turns. Which bring me to one final quality of the Millennials that impresses me: they are actually willing to talk with the old folks. That’s more than I can say for us don’t-trust-anyone-over-thirty boomers at their age. Ah well, we’re all just right on schedule!

The neurobiology of shadow

Fri, 03 Jan 2014 19:38:30 +0000

A CONVERSATION WITH DR. KEITH WITT (AUDIO) The “shadow” is a Jungian term that means the hidden aspects of our psyche that motivate us but that we are unaware of. For instance, we may experience an anger that comes out of nowhere, an inexplicable attraction or aversion to other people, a depression that descends in times of stress. In this month’s installment of The Shrink and the Pundit, Dr. Keith Witt, integral psychotherapist extraordinaire, approaches the subject of psychological shadow from an unusual angle: neurobiology. As good integralists we’re aware that for every interior state of mind (upper left quadrant) there is an exterior neurological corollary in the brain (upper right quadrant). Whatever you’ve repressed or negated, projected or idolized, it’s likely the function of a neural network that served you at one time, but is not necessarily serving you now. This explains why psychological problems can usually be dealt with more effectively when a body-based therapy is included. “When people talk about somatic psychotherapy, to me that’s a redundancy,” says Dr. Keith. “All psychotherapy is somatic.” We’re always working with a set of values (upper left quadrant) that are neurologically programmed (upper right quadrant). “I don’t decide to get excited or angry … I discover myself in the midst of that and then have to decide what to do with it.” Keith explains. Your autonomic nervous system can be rewired by a traumatic event and stay that way until you do the necessary healing work of reintegrating that memory so it has less and less trauma associated with it. For instance, let’s say somebody insults or threatens you. Your nervous system may constellate a defensive reaction instantaneously. If your pulse goes above 100 you’re in a diffuse physiological arousal and have passed a threshold where you may lose the capacity for self-reflection and empathy. A therapist who is aware of this will help you decide how best to respond: when it’s important to stay in relation to the conflict and when it’s best to take a walk. The coping mechanisms you learn in a relaxed state are not necessarily accessible in a defensive state. All shadow work requires taking parts of yourself that have become dissociated and re-connecting to them in a safe environment with positive intent. This is the basis of many of the new and very effective therapies for trauma recovery, including PTSD. “Add compassion and let it happen,” Keith says. As always, Dr. Keith is a fascinating conversation partner. Have a listen. Listen or download below. Need some help to listen on your mobile device? Click here.

Thank you for seeing me: Debriefing The Integral Living Room

Fri, 29 Nov 2013 21:47:48 +0000

Dr. Keith Witt joined me and about 100 integralists from all over the world at The Integral Living Room gathering here in Boulder a few weeks ago, where we explored approaches to creating a higher-level interpersonal space among us. Because Keith’s ideas were so influential to the design of this event, I was interested in hearing about his experience and sharing my own. The Living Room was a sophisticated flex-flow workshop where we tried to hold a framework that was tight enough to give the gathering a structure, but loose enough that it could change as needed. We wanted information and influence to flow both ways, and for the we-space to tell us what it wanted to become. The entity created by the “we” seems to have it’s own destiny. It’s a tricky thing to pull off but we had an amazing group of people present and they were up to the task! In this episode of The Shrink & The Pundit Keith and I talk a little bit about how we felt during and after the event. We talk about the difference between trans-rhetorical practice and integral trans-rhetorical practice, how to engage with other people in looking for a deeper truth that neither side knows yet, and letting yourself be influenced and led by the power of the we-space itself. We also talked about the things that didn’t work quite as well, and what we would like to see more of in future gatherings. We both agree that one of the greatest gifts of community is its ability to reflect back to individuals the truth of who they are, and especially to help people see where they are spiking into higher levels of genius in one or more lines of development. Finding ways to evoke more of this is high on the list for future events. Keith and I were both especially inspired by the young people who attended the gathering. We both see wisdom and awareness in these young twenty-somethings that we would normally associate with elders (and which was conspicuously absent in our boomer generation when we were in our youth). Integral consciousness is indeed arising earlier in individuals than ever before. Keith and I concur that these folks provide the best evidence of all that our future is in good hands. Hear the full dialog here…

In the belly of the whale

Sun, 10 Nov 2013 21:22:42 +0000

A dialog on Joseph Campbell and the hero’s journey with Dr. Keith Witt Before I encountered the work of Ken Wilber, Joseph Campbell was lighting me up with his synthesis of the myths of all cultures. Like Ken, Campbell had a gift for the meta-narrative, for seeing patterns in seemingly disparate times and systems of thought. In this dialog with Dr. Keith Witt (who is also a huge Campbell fan), we discuss the gift of Campbell’s formulation of The Hero’s Journey, which is his name for the basic pattern of the great myths, and which turns out to be a guide for our own lives. Although told in wildly different ways throughout the world, the basic story is the same. It begins with the “call”, which is often a big blunder or a disaster that leads you to what Campbell called the belly of the whale. If you say yes to the calling you find yourself on the threshold where you have to leave the old ways behind and venture into the unknown. Guides will appear to help you on your journey, and though some may betray you, if you make it through you will be the master of two worlds. Most of all, you’ll have a gift to bring back and share with your people. When I first read about the hero’s journey in Campbell’s classic book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, I remember feeling a tremendous amount of relief. I stopped blaming myself so much for my problems. Life is supposed to be like this. It is difficult but those difficulties have meaning. Like most of us in the modern world, I was taught the opposite: that hardship and travails are to be avoided. If things are too challenging then you are doing something wrong. The hero’s journey is dangerous, but remaining where you are is no picnic either. Sometimes people just plain decline their “hero’s call”, which leads to a stunted life or even death. Even if you say yes there’s no guarantee that you’ll make it through. People get dismembered or find themselves in the land of the lotus eaters and decide they will never leave. But usually the transformation causes us to want to bring the gift back to our people, to share what we’ve learned. What a wonderful thing: your travails have meaning. I was also deeply inspired to realize that I myself am the hero of my own story, and that I am daily encountering magic and guides, if only I pay attention. I also realized that I can sprinkle a little fairy dust on other people, and be a guide for them. One of the characteristics of Integral consciousness is that magic comes back online. Not the gripped, “domination magic” of the magenta stage of development, but a recognition, scientifically vetted, that we are riding the updraft of 13.8 billion years of emergence toward ever-unfolding goodness, truth and beauty. And that as we realize this we are able to consciously influence our story, our evolution, and co-create our own heroic journeys with a loving and intelligent kosmos. Listen or download here:

Ought we be ashamed?

Sun, 06 Oct 2013 15:57:55 +0000

In this installment of The Shrink & the Pundit, Dr. Keith Witt and I discuss the emotional constellations of shame. As a therapist who has worked with thousands of clients, Keith has seen the devastating effect shame can have on psychological health. “It can literally kill us,” he explains. It can also save us. Because shame is so powerful and central to our psyches, it is a great leverage point for metabolizing our dysfunctions. Shame is a social emotion and first comes on line in small children as a response to the inevitable disapproval from authority figures. It is the prime engine behind the development of the defensive states and patterns that create amplified or numbed emotions, distorted perspectives, destructive impulses, reduced empathy and inability to self-reflect. As we let ourselves see and feel into the textures of our own shame we can begin to witness the admonitions of our “inner critic,” as well as the subtle energy and somatic patterning that keep it anchored in our psyche. This awareness itself is curative (to paraphrase Fritz Perls) and is a key to the psychotherapeutic process. It is also a worthy form of integral practice. As usual, Brother Keith has thought it through beautifully, and you can listen to him explain (below)… Dr. Keith Witt is an integral psychotherapist extraordinaire, and my conversation partner for The Shrink & the Pundit dialog series. Having practiced in Santa Barbara for nearly forty years, conducting over 50,000 therapeutic sessions, Keith knows the human animal up close and personal. Keith has written several integrally-informed books, including Waking Up: Psychotherapy as Art, Spirituality and Science, The Gift of Shame, and his latest: 100 Reasons Not to Have a Secret Affair. Listen or download here:

How to have integral sex: Conversation with Dr. Keith Witt

Sat, 20 Jul 2013 18:37:16 +0000

This month my conversation with Brother Keith is on everybody’s favorite topic: sex.It turns out that Keith is indeed the Doctor of Love! Having counseled literally thousands of people on sexual functioning, as a psychotherapist for over 40 years, Keith brings a relaxed, cut-the-bull energy to the topic. Our conversation ranged all over the place, including: How our sexuality evolves, and what emerges at the integral altitude Everyday tantra: How to have hot monogamy Moving from sexual shame to radical acceptance Genetic and cultural taboos – how to know the difference Erotic polarity: the interplay between masculine and feminine arousal An integral understanding of intimacy and relationship It’s always fun to hear Dr. Keith’s transmission, but this month it’s a real turn-on. Don’t listen alone! Dr. Keith’s more detailed written notes are posted here, and you can get his full teachings at his website, drkeithwitt.com.

We’re goodness, truth and beauty machines

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 19:05:31 +0000

My latest conversation with Dr. Keith Witt really gave me a lift! In evolutionary circles we often hear how the human brain is wired for hypervigilance. Natural selection favors people who see a saber-toothed tiger behind every bush because occasionally one is actually there. And we experience the effect of this programming today within ourselves, showing up as anxiety, worry and a bias for seeing the negative in a situation. Well it turns out that fear is not the only operating system in our brains; we humans are also programmed for love, empathy, cooperation and even spiritual growth. Yay! Brother Keith has been a practicing psychotherapist for 40 years and is an avid student of the brain sciences (the upper right quadrant in integral theory). He points out that the past couple decades have seen great discoveries in neurobiology which reveal a more complete and positive picture of the human condition. In this fun and high-energy conversation Keith and I bat around some of his key insights as to how neurobiology research is illuminating psychotherapy and spiritual practice. His more detailed written notes are also posted here. Listen Here

Spirituality and psychotherapy: Integrating the two great paths of development

Sat, 04 May 2013 20:25:27 +0000

Brother Keith has been practicing psychotherapy in Santa Barbara for over 40 years, and is also a master martial artist and devoted spiritual practitioner with experience in many traditions. Who better to talk to about integrating these two approaches to human development, a topic that causes so much confusion and consternation among seekers of higher consciousness?

The look and feel of integral consciousness

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 20:51:54 +0000

Dr. Keith Witt is one of my favorite conversation partners. He has been an integral enthusiast for decades, and a practicing psychotherapist in Santa Barbara for nearly 40 years, conducting over 50,000 therapeutic sessions. In other words he knows the human animal up close and personal.In this audio conversation, recorded earlier this morning, we talk about some of the textures and markers of integral consciousness. Get more of Keith’s expertise and insight at drkeithwitt.com. Listen on the player or download below. Need some help to listen on your mobile device? Click here. You can also find The Daily Evolver on Integral Life or iTunes. Want to comment on this post? Click here and scroll down.

Thoughts on integral theory as a spiritual path

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 17:49:36 +0000

As I write this posting I can’t help but remember an incident that happened a couple decades ago when I was working with W. Scott Peck, the author of The Road Less Traveled, one of the most popular spiritual books of the era (13 years on the NYTimes best-seller list). We became good friends over time, and I remember him once asking me “what is the profession that you would most hate to be a member of?” My answer was easy: “TV preacher,” a group of cringe-inducing hucksters who I saw as the lowest of the low. He looked back at me, took a drag on his ever-present cigarette and replied, “then that is what you shall become.” And so I kinda have, albeit the internet variety, spreading the good news not of Jesus Christ (not exclusively at least), but of Emergence Itself, the upward draft of life, the procreant urge of the world, as Whitman wrote. Here’s an audio of a sermon (oh God, really?) I presented for a group on a recent Sunday morning at the Integral Center here in Boulder. It’s a basic overview of how evolutionary theory is able to integrate essentially all human spiritual paths into a larger embrace where each can be appreciated for the gifts it brings. This is the theory behind a new, indigenous form of integral spiritual lineage. The actual practice of this lineage is currently under construction by path-breaking spiritual teachers all over the planet. Interested in a little integral evangelism? Have a listen…

Who’s Afraid of Not-So-Big, Not-So-Bad Fox News?

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 20:10:49 +0000

Fox News has itself been making news the last week or so. First was the report that their ratings have fallen, part of a two-year slide. Then a couple days ago Public Policy Polling released data showing that viewer trust in Fox News has fallen to an all-time low, down 8% in two years. This slide has been no doubt exacerbated by Fox News’ “in-the-bubble” coverage of the presidential election (culminating in the surreal, and now infamous, election night scene of Karl Rove playing the role of Republican Baghdad Bob in his refusal to believe the results coming in from Ohio). I recorded a few thoughts about Fox News and the evolving role they play in American tribal politics and culture wars. Audio is posted below…

The Loopy Path Forward - A Conversation with Jeremy Johnson

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 22:59:47 +0000

How do we wrap our heads around the idea of progress when there is still so much suffering in the world and so much obviously wrong? We look around and see the violence in the Middle East, the rising of the oceans, the precariousness of our economic systems, the hypocrisy of politics, not to mention extreme weather, epidemics and Honey Boo Boo — the list of things to worry about is long and scary. This is progress? My thesis, of course, is yes and it has stimulated many terrific conversations with evolutionary-minded people. One of them is Jeremy Johnson, a reader of the Daily Evolver out of new New York. As founder of the blog Evolutionary Landcapes, and having just finished up a degree in consciousness studies at Goddard College, Jeremy is a worthy conversation partner, so … we decided to tape a discussion we had on the topic of progress and share it with you here.

The Aftermath of Japan

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 00:58:19 +0000

With everything in flux on multiple global fronts, including events in the Middle East, the budget debate in the US, and the frenzied antics of Charlie Sheen, the continuing nuclear crisis story in Japan seems to have been pushed off the front page. We wanted to be sure not to drop the ball on this tremendously important story, so David and I take a look at how an Integral perspective can help us make sense of the ongoing aftermath of the Japanese earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis. Here we discuss: How do we keep our heads in a complex crisis situation where there is so much fear and so many unknown consequences? How do we make intelligent decisions when there is so much at stake on a personal level, a national level, and a global level? Should nuclear power still be included in our energy solutions for the future, or should the nuclear crisis in Japan be considered a deterrent against nuclear energy? So what do you think? How does an Integral perspective help you sort out your own reaction to and relationship with what we have been seeing in Japan over the past several weeks? Let us know in the comments below!

Libya, Evolving

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 04:29:37 +0000

The extraordinary events in the Middle East continue to unfold this week with the revolution in Libya. In a few short weeks, the forty-year-old reign of Muammar Qaddafi finds itself hanging by a thread in Tripoli. In this interview, David Riordan and I take a look at what’s been happening in Libya, asking the following questions: What makes Libya different than Egypt? (0:00) How does Libyan oil influence our decisions about what actions to take? (6:23) How can we help modernism arise in Libya? (11:50) What new muscles do the U.S. and western powers need to develop to support the rise of modernism in the world? (17:10) What do events in Libya mean to emerging global culture? (22:10) So what do you think? Are we currently seeing evolution, revolution, or regression taking place in Libya? Let us know in the comments below!

Making Integral Sense of Egypt

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 02:41:17 +0000

It has been an extraordinary few weeks in the life of the Egyptian people and the world as they stood up and demanded a change in leadership in their country. In this interview, David Riordan and I take a look at what’s been happening in Egypt, and where it may lead the country in the future. Join us as we try to make Integral sense of this ongoing revolution in the heart of the Arab world. So what do you think? Are we currently seeing evolution, revolution, or regression taking place in Egypt? Let us know in the comments below!

The Daily Evolver

Maher, Musk & the Woke Mind Virus

Tucker Carlson, Don Lemon & the Evolution of the News

Peter Zeihan And The Missing Piece In Public Discourse

Chatbot’s Paean to Integral & Trump Goes to Court

What Integral Brings to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion - Guest: Diane Musho Hamilton

Green Art, Stage Debate, Ukraine/Russia - Fireside Chats with Jeff Salzman

AVATAR, BROS AND OUR SKIN - Where Woke Goes Right and Wrong

Elon Musk: Spiral Wizard? - An Integral Take on the Multi-Dimensional Man

2022: An Integral Review

Transgenderism and Abortion

The Enchantment of Science

The Three Sources of Suffering

HEXACO: The Quality that Leverages All Others

Playing and Fighting: The Keys to Sociability

Integral Conference: What’s the Future (WTF?) - A visit with conference hosts Lynn and Jose Fuentes

Who is Inside Your Circle of Compassion? (10 minutes)

The Left’s Split, Embracing More (6 minutes)

Reflections on Death (5 minutes)

Do We Care More About People Who Look Like Us? (6 minutes)

A Post-Progressive Approach to Climate Change - Guest: Steve McIntosh, President, The Institute for Cultural Evolution

ARMED INSANITY: Getting real about guns and criminality

Frances Fukuyama: Trajectory Without Teleology - What’s driving the “long arc of history”?

Illuminating Our Stage Structures - Guest: Developmental Psychotherapist Kim Barta

APOCALYPSE ALWAYS - Doom, Post-Doom and Beyond

Integral Oratorio Debuts in London - Steve Banks on “Blue Pearl: A One World Oratorio”

David Fuller, Wise Rebel - A revealing visit with the founder of Rebel Wisdom

Trauma to transcendence - Using life’s wounds to grow

Gender Fluidity: Fruitful and Fanatic

Emergence Appears as Regression and Decadence - The developmental delusion we all share

“Why do I care more about people who look and think like me?” - Listeners reflect on the war in Ukraine

Ukraine: Putin‘s War on Modernity

Does Integral Help? - Conversation on Ukraine with Corey DeVos

Ukraine Through the Lens of Development

The Global Minimum Tax + Social Media on the block (18 minutes)

John McWhorter Celebrates New Gender Pronouns (15 minutes)

On David Brooks’ “When Dictators Find God” (16 minutes)

Take the Familiar and Make it Better (9 minutes)

Terry Patten, An Integral Life - Diane Musho Hamilton and I remember our beloved brother, and 20 years of Integral history

2022: New Culture Arising - Infinite dots and ways to connect them

Spielberg‘s West Side Story: An Integral Masterpiece

The Left’s Split: “Woke” and “Anti-Woke”

Preview: The Dawn of Everything - A New History of Humanity

The Great Stage-Theory Debate - “Colonial BS” or “True and Humane”?

Bite Size: Experiencing Integral – 20 minutes - Letters from Second Tier

Bite Size Evolver: Racism through the stages – 13 minutes - A integral answer to the question, "Is it racist?"

Bite Size: Everyone Has a Piece of the Truth – 3 minutes - How to integrate, not conquer, opposing worldviews

Bite Size: Quick intro to Jeff’s work on the Daily Evolver – 16 minutes - Applying integral theory to the issues of the day

Bite Size: Think Your Way Back to Religion? – 14 minutes - Considering Ross Douthat's arguments for a rational path to the Divine

Bite Size Evolver: Moral Development – 5 minutes - Animals are people too!

Post-Progressivism Meets Academic Philosophy - Guest: David Storey, Professor of Philosophy, Boston College

When Meditation Goes Wrong - Hidden dangers in Western Buddhism and the mindfulness movement - Guest, Dan Lawton

Bite Size: When Simone Biles Stepped Aside - Simone Biles exemplifies new attitudes to work

Afghanistan: An Integral Case for Staying, and Leaving

Post-Issue Relationships: Interpersonal development at teal and turquoise - Guest: Dr. Keith Witt

Why I Hated the Movie “Pig” - Give me ugliness or give me nihilism, but not both at once

Progress Denialism: Getting us Nowhere

Announcing The Post-Progressive Post! - A new web publication for the politically homeless

Triggered by Deep Disagreement - … and how “integral pluralism” breaks the deadlock

Mapping the Emerging “Integrative Meta-Perspective” - with psychiatrist and futurist Charles M. Johnston M.D.

The Meaning of It All - An integral look at grief and loss

Psychedelics go Mainstream + John McWhorter & Bill Maher on Race

More on Post-Progressive Diversity - … plus Lee Mason on Integral Flourishing

Post-Progressive Diversity - Integral Consciousness Busts Ideological Bunkers

Fighting and Friending our Way Forward - Dr. Keith Witt on the psychological mechanisms that animate evolution

Meghan and Harry, The Nobility of Green

The Maladies of Mean Modernity - Anxiety and depression ravage a world of plenty

Empathy and Friendliness at Integral - Joe Biden and a New Generation Lead the Way

The Next Economy with Pia Malaney - Senior Economist at the Institute for New Economic Thinking

Impeachment Hits Bedrock, Cancel Culture Evolves

Marjorie Taylor Greene is Optional - Integral observations on life in times of war

Gen Z at Second Tier - Guests: Gary Sheng and Zoë Jenkins of Civics Unplugged

The Inauguration of Relief - Biden and Harris are new but normal

Leading Leaders to Higher Ground - Rand Stagen on what’s next in executive development

PUKE HIM OUT! - Mean Red Trump is Poison

The Light and Shadow of Integral Consciousness - Guest: Nomali Perera, Integral Coach, Facilitator, Trainer

Letters from Listeners and My Favorite Things

The Evangelical Schism - “Jericho politics” causes Christians to choose

A Call To Further Becoming for Women Over 50 - Guest: Sue Brightman

Newsmax – Righter Than Fox - Trumpers making sense of the world