The Daily Evolver

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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, 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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!

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.

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…

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).

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 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.

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.

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!

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.

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 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.

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!

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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?

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?

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?

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!

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.

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.