Occupy Integral Interview (Part 2)

03.11.2012 By
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"Occupy Integral!" was originally published in the online magazine Beams & Struts by my friends Terry Patten and Marco Morelli.  In Part 1 of the interview I asked them to describe what’s really happening to our world from an integral perspective.  Here in Part 2 of the interview, I ask them to elaborate on how the Integral Movement might have a greater impact for positive change during this time of significant transformation. Brett: Historically, the "integral movement" has been largely characterized by people interested in spiritual/philosophical/psychological theories, maps and models, along with a large focus on personal development. Your blog at IntegralRevolution.com suggests that integralists might play a significant role in the changes we are seeing on the planet. What mental or attitudinal shift, or what realization do you think integralists need to make in order to move from "watching from the sidelines" to getting "out onto the field" and into the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community, Culture and Society, Current Events, Integral Movement, Leadership, Worldviews Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Occupy Integral (Interview)

03.11.2012 By
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In this two-part interview, Brett Thomas asks the authors of Occupy Integral to explain what’s really happening to our world from an integral perspective and how the Integral Movement can have a greater impact for positive change. [Occupy Integral! was originally published in the online magazine Beams & Struts by Terry Patten and Marco Morelli.] In Occupy Integral! Terry and Marco write : We post this manifesto in what feels like a moment of calm before the storm... it seems to be the quiescence or exhaustion following a complicated year. From revolutions in the Middle East to the Occupy protests in the US and globally, there is an upheaval brewing . . . and spilling over. We are four years into the global economic crisis, yet the fundamental issues relating to sustainability, debt, inequality, and so on have not been truly addressed, let alone resolved. Our political systems are in stalemate. Environmental signals are growing more distressing. Not only melting ice … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community, Culture and Society, Current Events, Integral Movement, Integral Theory and Methodology, Leadership, Worldviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Modern Sports and Premodern Worldviews

01.15.2012 By
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Christ! Where was God when Tim Tebow and the Broncos lost so badly? Did Jesus take the night off or has he forsaken poor devoted Tebow! USA Today asks, "When Tebow loses, does God too?"  I'm so confused! For some, the answer to this question lies in the now-famous Saturday Night Live Skit featuring Tim Tebow and Jesus Christ.  If you haven't seen it, it is highly recommended. Perhaps my favorite is this recent national poll of over 1,000 registered U.S. voters that reveals that 43 percent of people polled think Tim Tebow’s success is due to divine intervention… including 54 percent of Republicans. We have written extensively here at Integral Thinkers, and in other publications, about the power of worldviews. There are four primary worldviews in the developed world: Modern, Postmodern, Traditional and Imperial. Tim Tebow's biblical worldview seems at odds with modern sports in a postmodern media environment. Why is it so fascinating?  The answer to that question is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture and Society, Current Events, Religion, Worldviews

New and Improved Worldview Lenses

11.25.2011 By
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  Worldviews can be thought of as lenses through which we perceive and interpret our subjective experience. This "worldview contact lens" advertisement spoof highlights how worldviews color our interpretation of reality. For readers less familiar with the concept of worldviews... a handy worldview primer is offered below that correlates them with the style of leadership each prefers. This is a central aspect of Integral Leadership. These crucial lenses are a primary way human beings filter subjective experience (of objective reality) and interpret those experiences in terms of: how things appear to be; how things should be; what's right and wrong with how things are, and what, if anything, should be done about it. Clearly then, this is of paramount importance if we are interested in understanding how people make sense of the world we share, and especially as leaders, how we can better understand what people care about, their priorities, their motivations, and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Culture and Society, Featured, Leadership, Psychology, Worldviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Integral Reflection on Occupy Wall Street Protests

10.22.2011 By
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As I sit typing on my iPhone from my seventh floor apartment overlooking the Amstel river, embedded in one of the most sustainable and beautiful cities in the world, with the sun gently caressing my face and a full tummy from my delicious gourmet musleix, the souls of 3,000 people are readying themselves to be released from their bodies today due to malaria ravaging their body, two billion people will scramble to earn their average one to two dollars in earnings today, another long-term unemployed person will just turn over in bed using sleep as an escape from their brutal reality, a trillion dollars in US student debt will remind its owners of its presence, and many millions of people will physically or emotionally suffer from the reactions of a contracted, under-resourced individual in their lives who is struggling just to live a dignified life. How do I respond? I see the foundations of our economic and political systems crumbling. The faint signals that portend significant … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture and Society, Current Events, Home, Worldviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Reaction to Gay Marriage = Litmus Test for Worldview

06.25.2011 By
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In what Mayor Michael Bloomberg called "a historic triumph for equality and freedom," New York joined the growing number of states that have legalized gay marriage, including: Massachusetts (2004), Connecticut (2008), Iowa (2009), Vermont (2009), New Hampshire (2010), and Washington, D.C. (2010). Modern, postmodern and integral thinkers nationwide celebrate New York's decision to take its place on the "right side of history." Traditional thinkers obviously don't agree with this view—which I will elaborate on below. Bloomberg also offered support to the Republicans who voted for the measure, stating that he believetheir actions were consistent with GOP ideals of liberty and freedom, "The Republicans who stood up today for those principles I think will long be remembered for their courage, foresight and wisdom" He added, "Ten, 20, 30 years from now, I believe they will look back on this vote as one of the finest and most proud moments in their life." Indeed. The Human … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community, Culture and Society, Current Events, Home, Integral Theory and Methodology, Leadership, Morality, Politics, Psychology, Religion, Worldviews

The End of the World May 21, 2011

05.11.2011 By
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Judgment Day is May 21, 2011.  This is the day that Jesus will claim his true believers and everyone else will be cast into hell. Don't believe me? Well the Bible guarantees it. Quite a few news stories have shown up in several news outlets over the past week about, as the Associated Press says, "a movement of Christians loosely organized by radio broadcasts and websites, independent of churches and convinced by their reading of the Bible that the end of the world will begin May 21, 2011." End of Days in May (MSNBC) Apocalypse Soon: Christian Movement Says 5/21/11 (CBS News) Hundreds of Google News articles on End of World in May 2011 (Google News) I love the NPR.com article by Barbara Hagerty "Is The End Nigh? We'll Know Soon Enough." She interviews several true believers and reports on the mega-million-dollar Family Radio network, one of the many "news" outlets we have to thank for providing us such valuable interpretations of the 2,000-year-old text. "People need to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture and Society, Current Events, Religion, Worldviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Gaddafi’s son warns: “We will fight to the last Bullet”

02.21.2011 By
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Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif Gaddafi warns protesters of "rivers of blood" in live televised broadcast, stating: "Libya is not Egypt, it is not Tunisia... Muammar Gaddafi will remain and things will go back to the way they were by using any means possible... We will fight to the last Bullet". Wow, the Gaddafi's are giving Autocratic Leadership a bad name! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture and Society, Current Events, Worldviews

Internet-Fueled Revolutions in 12 Countries… and Counting

02.21.2011 By
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Have you been following the articles about how these young, new-breed leaders are using modern technology, especially social media, to start movements and transform their communities and countries? Inspired by Tunisia, Egyptian youth, armed only with internet skills, planned, executed, and succeeded in starting a revolution that ousted a 30-year authoritarian regime. And if you've been following the headlines, their success has inspired courageous groups across the Middle East and into North Africa. What began in Tunisia spread to Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, Algeria, Bahrain, and now Libya, Morocco, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Pictured on the right is Ahmed al-Omran, a 22-year-old Saudi university student, checks his Internet blog on his laptop computer at a cafe in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He represents tens of thousands of young people in the Middle East and North Africa that are active on Facebook, Twitter and Google. Technology poses big threats for autocratic and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture and Society, Current Events, Leadership Tagged With: , , ,

Egypt’s Stage of Development (Modern lens)

02.11.2011 By
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Speaking about the need for a leader popularly elected in free and fair elections, former U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski states, "Egypt is now at a stage of development in which it is reasonable and expected by the population.” The term "development" means many things to many people, and it is — as Ken Wilber has suggested — the "backbone" of integral theory. As I blogged about in a recent posts (Worldviews in Conflict and New-Breed Leader Uses Facebook to Start Egypian Revolution), there appears to be a clear shift occurring in Egypt in particular and in this region in general as development accelerates and the Modern worldview increasingly seeps in and displaces the longstanding Traditional and Imperial worldviews so common in this region. As I often discuss with my students of Integral Leadership, there is an opportunity here for us to notice how people with different worldviews (and preferred values dialects and leadership styles) frame these … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture and Society, Current Events, Development, Economics, Integral Theory and Methodology, Leadership, Worldviews

Worldviews in Conflict: Egypt

02.08.2011 By
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Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians poured into Cairo's Tahrir Square in February calling for Hosni Mubarak's government to step down. How might we view these important events through an integral lens? Worldview – a core concept in integral theory – would be a good place to start.  In leadership theory and practice, we look closely at individual and group worldview because it is indicative of people's values and beliefs about how the world is and should be, what they care about, and what motivates them. Can an entire society change (or attempt to change) worldviews? Of course. History is full of examples and we need to look no further than the current (Feb 2011) protests and government crisis in Egypt. For generations, Egyptians were more or less accepting of government rule by leaders that used "autocratic" and "authoritarian" leadership styles. These approaches to leadership tend to work well (be resonant) with people and cultures that have predominately "Imperial" and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture and Society, Current Events, Worldviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Another Video of UFO over Jerusalem—Real or Hoax?

02.03.2011 By
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Ironically, the same week that NASA discovers six more ostensibly habitable planets in our galaxy, spectators purportedly shot video (from several different angles)  of what appears to be a UFO hovering  over Jerusalem's Temple Mount. These videos (see below) of a glowing ball hovering over the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem have been attracted hundreds of thousands of internet viewers. The videos shows a bright object slowly descending over the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem—believed to be the holiest spot on earth and sacred to three world religions. Not surprisingly, there is an ongoing debate over the legitimacy of the videos, which show objects hovering over the landmark's iconic dome before rocketing upwards. Some of the videos, which include audio of the inspired reactions of spectators, can be seen below. What should we make of this long-time trend? Are videos such as these an indication of a much larger reality we should … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture and Society, Current Events, Science

Black? White? Asian? All of the Above

02.01.2011 By
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According to the New York Times, one in seven new marriages in the United States is between spouses of different races or ethnicities. Multiracial and multiethnic Americans (usually grouped together as “mixed race”) are one of the country’s fastest-growing demographic groups. And experts expect the trend to continue and/or accelerate. (Source: Data from 2008 and 2009 that was analyzed by the Pew Research Center and U.S. Census 2010.) Many young adults of mixed backgrounds are rejecting the color lines that have defined Americans for generations in favor of a much more fluid sense of identity. No one knows quite how the growth of the multiracial population will change the country. Optimists say the blending of the races is a step toward transcending race, to a place where America is free of bigotry, prejudice and programs like affirmative action.Pessimists say that a more powerful multiracial movement will lead to more stratification and come at the expense of the number … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture and Society, Current Events Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Evolution of Civilization

11.01.2010 By
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The American archeologist Howard Winters defined civilization as “the process in which one gradually increases the number of people included in the term ‘we’ or ‘us’ and at the same time decreases those labeled ‘you’ or ‘them’ until that category has no one left in it.” Civilization today includes a rainbow of perspectives along this spectrum.  Each step along civilization’s spiraling evolution involves deeper and wider perspectives – from egocentric (“I matter”) to ethnocentric (“My group matters”) to worldcentric (“All humans matter”). To glimpse the civilization of tomorrow, one need not look further than the most comprehensive and inclusive perspectives of today.  The integral frameworks created by worldcentric pioneers foreshadow a new civilization that works for everyone, where all perspectives—though far from equal—have a right to exist. Integral mapmakers aim to find a place for the horizontal and vertical diversity that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture and Society, Development, Integral Practice Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,