Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
AGRADECIMIENTOS
FORMULACIN DEL VIABLE SYSTEM MODEL (MODELO DE LOS SISTEMAS VIABLES), HOY
UTILIZADO EN TODO EL MUNDO.
TAMBIN CORRESPONDE A ESTA ETAPA LA INVENCIN DE DIVERSAS MQUINAS PARA EL
ESTUDIO DE LOS PROCESOS DE ADAPTACIN, HOMEOSTASIS Y APRENDIZAJE HUMANO.
EL ENFOQUE CIBERNTICO SUPONE UNA CONCEPCIN GLOBAL E INTERACTUANTE DEL
UNIVERSO, EN DONDE LA ACCIN ES CONSECUENCIA DE LA PROPIA REALIDAD.
DE ESTA FORMA, SE HA PRESENTADO UN ENFOQUE QUE SE ADECUA CON MAYOR
PERFECCIN A LA COMPRENSIN DEL FENMENO HUMANO, SIENDO MUY TIL EN
PARTICULAR PARA EL ESTUDIO DE SISTEMAS DE ACTIVIDADES HUMANAS DENTRO DE
LOS CUALES SE PUEDEN ENTENDER LAS EMPRESAS.
MODELO DE SISTEMA VIABLE
LOS PRIMEROS PLANTEAMIENTOS DE JAY FORRESTER CON SU "INDUSTRIAL DYNAMICS"
QUIEN MODEL LA EMPRESA CON UN ENFOQUE DE PROCESOS SOBRE LA BASE DE
BUCLES DE RETROALIMENTACIN INTERCONECTADOS EN LOS QUE SE IDENTIFICAN
FLUJOS (DE MATERIALES, PAPELES, ETC.), DEPSITOS, VLVULAS Y DEMORAS.
LO LOGRADO IMPULS A FORRESTER A MODELAR SISTEMAS MAYORES TALES COMO
"URBAN DYNAMICS" Y "WORLD DYNAMICS". POR SU PARTE, STAFFORD BEER GENER UN
MODELO CIBERNTICO DE LA EMPRESA DISTINGUIENDO NIVELES DE CONTROL Y
REGULACIN, CONECTADOS ENTRE S POR BUCLES DE RETROALIMENTACIN, QUE
MANEJAN OPERACIONES REFERIDAS MAYORMENTE A ASPECTOS DE PRODUCCIN.
CONSTRUCTIONISM
[CONSULTA:27
DE
JUNIO
DE
2009].
ORGANIZACIONAL
[CONSULTA:23
DE
JULIO
DE
DEL
2010]
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Regenerativity in the Human Hive is a quality shared by everyone not just a special
Creative Class. The first day of Spring (in the northern hemisphere) or Fall (in the southern
hemisphere) can especially remind us of how the power of creativity is regenerative for all the
roles in the human hive.
It is interesting that the critique of the Creative Class has prompted its author Richard Florida
to admit that focusing on a cluster of artistic, technologically, educated elite in cities has not led
to whole city regeneration. His analysis now shows that this strategy seems to benefit only the
elites themselves in terms of wages and quality of life. (Read Floridas analysis here.) Florida
notes that this condition is not just a vicious cycle but an unsustainable one economically,
politically, and morally.
If we were going to seek some lessons on Regenerativity from the natural systems, suggested
by Pattern Dynamics(tm) we might consider how the Pattern of Creativity, intersects with all
the other Primary Patterns. This path seems to lead to the qualities of Regenerativity that
emerge in both the Growing Season of Spring and the Harvesting Season of Fall. Lets consider
how these qualities of Regenerativity show up in the Integral City Maps.
The Autopoeisis Pattern makes itself from combining Source with Creativity. Building on
Transformity and Power, Self-making that is adaptive drives the emergence of the nested
holarchy of city systems in Map 2, the emergent capacities in Map 3 and the increased
complexity of organizations in Map 4. This pattern recognizes how the city as a human system is
constantly making and re-making itself through the grand cycles of Spiritual Sourcing and ReSourcing in Map 5.
The intersection of Creativity and Dynamics gives us Spontaneity. Spontaneity occurs in the
moment as a creative impulse. It arises in more complex form than the more simple pattern of
Synchronization in the Rhythm Pattern (discussed below). But often because Synchronization
has occurred, the conditions for Spontaneity arise. Spontaneity arises from the trust to openness
and exudes freedom and flow with the zest of excitement. It transcends the Past, springboards
from the Present and propels the system into the Future. In the city because there are so many
opportunities for Synchronization and Emergence Patterns, the potential for Spontaneity is everpresent. For many people coming from more traditional structures (as mapped in Map 4) the
Spontaneity of the city, is (almost) like an addicting state of creative arousal.
The intersection of Creativity with Creativity (a double reinforcing loop) gives
usEmergence. Emergence in Map 2 suggests that the interaction and interconnections
amongst the different wholes (or holons) of the city will cause emergence i.e., the creation of
something new that has not existed before. (This is also powerfully conveyed in Map 3.)
Emerence is a quality of complex-adaptive, self-organizing living systems which is exactly what
a city is and why it can be so regenerative.
The intersection of Creativity with Exchange gives us Uniqueness. Uniqueness in Map 3
implies that the collective human systems of team, organization, community and city are
inevitably unique because no two people express their competencies, capacities or talents in the
same way as any other. Thus both the combination of structures, and the emergence of selforganizing creativity can produce uniqueness that offers selling propositions and values
exchanges that can only be discovered through trade and exchange.
The intersection of Creativity with Structure gives us Complexity. Map 4 shows a step-by-step
emergence of Complexity as each organizational pattern integrates more complex goals, roles
and capacities into its structures. With each new layer of complexity the organization (and
eventually the city) can impact greater spans of space, time and moral influence.
The intersection of Creativity with Polarity gives us Order/Chaos. Map 1 appears very ordered
and one has to assume that chaos is ever-present as an invisible quality of this map (and be
comforted by the discovery in complexity theory, that we get order for free as systems do selforganize). We explored this quality when we looked at Map 3, but for the purposes of
considering its impact on regenerativity, we can see the alternating cycles of order and chaos are
built into the city as an ecology of living systems.
The intersection of Creativity with Rhythm gives usSynchronization. Synchronization: As the
magic of synchronization arises, in the city, this enables human systems at all scales to start to
notice the metabolic patterns that link them and bring about fortuitous and regenerative
synchronicities and exchanges. Strangers discover common ancestors. Co-workers discover they
live on the same street. Politicians with apparently opposing views discover common ground.
Synchronization is implicit in all the maps of the city as it contributes to the emergence of
meta-patterns that set up new levels of coordination.
These qualities are all embedded in our understanding of Regenerativity in the city. They
enable the conditions for new growth to emerge in Spring. And they are equally responsible for
the harvest that we can gather in Fall. Certainly they belong to everyone and are not restricted
to an elite group in the city.
I have continuously rediscovered this fact, when I meet my audiences and ask them to tell me
about a time when you created something new by combining two ingredients (people, ideas,
organizations, etc.). When the audience shares their stories with each other an explosion of
self-discovery occurs and a release of creative energy that regenerates spirits, inspires action,
intitiates new relationships and develops new systems. It is the nature of cities to be
Regenerative and it is a quality that is sharable by all classes not to mention being
sustainable, economically, politically and morally.
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The Key to decoding the Integral City Maps is the Master Code:
This Key is symbolized with the Integral City Compass which decodes the 12 Intelligences we
need to explore Integral City Maps with ever-increasing circles of care.
Each of the five Maps for the Integral City, gives the Map Reader a different territory to explore.
Because all the territories are interconnected, the Maps shape-shift from one form to another,
leading the Reader through a labyrinth of city patterns, that taken together with the Master Code
Compass, cohere into a whole.
City explorers who have taken journeys with the Principles of Living Systems and/or
the language of PatternDynamics(TM) start to notice that Integral City Maps and Intelligences
belong to this cluster of systems that decode patterns of life.
In the last six blogs, we have explored the language of PatternDynamics(PD) in order to
translate its symbols into the language of Integral City Maps. In many ways we could say PD
provides six archways (marked by a PD symbol) to the different territories of the city.
In this last blog (of this PD series) we enter the archway to the heart of the city its Source.
Here we recognize the territory of City Spirit which we explored in Map 5.
The Source Pattern is foundational to all the other patterns, emerging from evolutionary
consciousness: order, identity and purpose.
Like the other PD patterns, the Source Pattern has seven qualities, but as a meta-meta-pattern
each of these qualities derives from a marriage of Source with the other 6 PD meta-patterns plus
Source itself.
Energy: The Energy Pattern emerges from the conjunction of Source with Rhythm. The Energy
Pattern is foundational to the citys many ways of moving, expressing and evolving. It is evident
in the exchanges of Map 3 and the involutionary, evolutionary cycle of Map 5. Energy appears as
first cause for the Evolutionary, Integral and Living Intelligences and Emergent result in the
experience of Love.
Resource: The Resource pattern is the child of Source and Polarity. In Map 5Resource is the
centre of the citys Grace, Place and Space and the emergent quality of core values, Beauty,
Goodness and Truth. The Resource Pattern reminds us that the city as Gaias Reflective
Organ adds value to our planets evolutionary journey.
Transformity: The Transformity emerges naturally when Source inspiresStructure. It is clearly
the pattern of Map 4s spiral of complex organizational structures. Transfomity is a source of
hope, reminding us that evolution has been experimenting with 14 billion years of complex
transformations, to which human systems, including the city, belong.
Power: The Power Pattern, emanating from the collision of Source and Exchange, represents
the Big Bang on Earth. As such it lies in the centre of Map 1 and drives the prime directive
behind all the cycles in all the other Maps. While Energy is multi-directional, Power is multicyclical with a central purpose or centered focus (like the beehives 40 pounds of honey). The
Power Pattern of the Integral City will eventually produce the citys purpose. And when 10% of
Gaias cities discover and start to live into their purpose, we will have a Planet of Cities in service
to all life on Earth.
Autopoeisis: The Autopoeisis Pattern makes itself from combining Source withCreativity.
Building on Transformity and Power, Self-making that is adaptive drives the emergence of the
nested holarchy of city systems in Map 2, the emergent capacities in Map 3 and the increased
complexity of organizations in Map 4. This pattern recognizes how the city as a human system is
constantly making and re-making itself through the grand cycles of Spiritual Sourcing and ReSourcing inMap 5.
Pattern: The Pattern Pattern is Sources grand Dynamic Dance with itself on the Universes
dance floor. We notice the choreography of patterns in each of Integral Citys Maps. Tracing the
Patterns reinforces our appreciation of the miracle that we get order for free (1). The PD Book
of Patterns, records how Life has chosen to repeat its most productive Patterns at every level of
scale in the human systems of the city.
Void: The Void Pattern is Source reflecting on Source. As Source we discover this empty fullness
through our meditations, contemplations and other spiritual practices that remind us that we
have all evolved from the same Source and will return to the same Source. There is nowhere
else to go. Map 5 is a busy expression of discovering the Void Pattern in the centre of our
Fields of Coherence.
Decoding Integral City Maps, is as simple as accessing the Void through the Source of Source.
And as we practise living with the Patterns of Aliveness that dynamically run through the
territories of our bio-psycho-cultural-social lives in the Integral City, we expand our Practise of
the Master Code, so that we can evolve to be stewards of a fully conscious, sustainable and
resilient Planet of Cities.
Reference:
1. Kauffman, S. A. (1993). The Origins of Order: Self-Organization and Selection in Evolution.
New York: Oxford Press.
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Integral City how do we map the rhythms and dynamics of your life?
In the last five posts we have explored the five Maps of Integral City. Each reveals new territory.
I have described the merits of Maps 1,2,3 and 4 (borrowing from the organizational icons in the
book Spiral Dynamics) in the audio (and printed) book, Integral City: Evolutionary
Intelligences in the Human Hive . I also discussed it with Ken Wilber during our Integral City
2.0 Online Conference (and Integral Life) Interview. Map 5 has been explored in a published
article. Taken as a set, the five maps reveal the 12 Evolutionary Intelligences of the city as cityscale patterns.
And of course we fully acknowledge that none of the maps IS the territory. But we believe each
offers a kind of blueprint for seeing the city in its many expressions of aliveness. We could even
suggest that together the five maps provide a Meta-Map for the voices of the Human Hive.
Map 1 is a Meta of the voices of City-zens
Map 2 is a Meta of the voices of Civil Society
Map 3 is a Meta of the voices of Innovators/Private Sector
Map 4 is a Meta of the voices of City Managers
Map 5 is a Meta of the voice of the City Soul
As two-dimensional maps these are freeze-frame Metas whose value would be enormously
increased if we could see them in three or four dimensions as moving, dynamic, rhythmic
holographic videos. In the not too distant future, those will come. In the mean time, we want to
borrow from Pattern Dynamics(TM) (PD) to show how the Patterns
of Rhythm and Dynamics allow us to create a storyboard of the city in motion.
As noted in earlier blogs, the Integral City demonstrates strong patterns that relate to the 7
primary sets of natural designs in Tim Wintons Pattern Dynamics (TM) . Two of these patterns
describe the qualities of change in our five maps of the city: the Pattern of Rhythm and the
Pattern of Dynamics.
The Pattern of Rhythm reflects temporal change at the holonic scale. Rhythmic qualities
convey change that is basic, ordered and seemingly simple. If we looked at the rhythm of life at
the microscopic scale wed be impressed by the miracle of life that the dance of stillness and
motion produce. When we zoom out to the scale of the city we can appreciate how Rhythm
regulates flow and form, as foundational to the patterns of the whole PD language.
The Pattern of Rhythm in the city shows us how human systems develop the first order dance
steps that evolve into a whole choreography of Dynamics in the city. The Pattern of
Dynamics represents second order change where the Rhythm of Rhythms moves through chaos
on the way to becoming more complex and syncopated.
First lets explore the Rhythm Pattern. At its core it gives city systems the pulses of life that
regulates its use of energy, information and matter. Temporal patterns give the city the vibration
of regularity like the heartbeat of waking and sleeping cycles; or the ring of city streetcars; or
the dependability of the call to prayer throughout the day.
The Pattern of Rhythm gives the city a distinctive music that is marked by seven qualities.
Repetition: All patterns in the city depend on the Repetition of behaviours, thoughts, meetings
and outcomes. Every aspect of life starts with one activity or motion but unless it is repeated,
the intelligence in the system will not lock in. Repetition indicates that resources are worth
expending until life conditions prove otherwise. Just like a baby who learns to walk and talk
through repeating what it sees and hears, repetition at the city scale, provides both playful trial
and error and eventually dependable performance like the free cycling jitney as well as the
subway schedule. Repetition is what sets up the patterns of Map 3.
Swing: The city is full of many pendulums that swing back and forth with the regularity of day
and night. The swings come from the natural systems developing and maintaining homeostases
like the temperature of the train station self-regulating as people stream through its halls.
Swings arise from the system testing its boundaries and regularities to find the value of selfcorrections that remain in the zone of available resources. Every city has its metaphorical
version(s) of El Nino and La Nina that set the norms of public conduct (loud voices or soft?);
generational variations (short hair or long?); and election results (politicians of the left or the
right?). Swing is what emerges the holarchies in Map 2.
Cadence: From Repetitions and Swings, Cadence can emerge that marks the beat of the city.
Every city has an audible cadence from its transportation systems moving people and goods
throughout its arteries. You can close your eyes and hear the cadence of New York (steady
heartbeat); or Hong Kong (super-fast escalators); or London (the whoosh of the tube). Cadence
is almost a felt sense of rhythm that resonates with our own internal beats (of heart, breath,
walking). Cadence is what flows through the structures of Map 4 and keeps them aligned.
Pulse: With Cadence and Swing, the city develops a Pulse that is not only palpable, but
regulating. Once repetition, and cadence emerge, the pulse of living cycles moves through the
city in many ways. It could be the rush hours in morning or evening: or the lineups on payday at
the bank; or the parking lot battles at the mall during Christmas shopping. When the citys pulse
emerges, dependability and predictability contribute to decision-making and anticipation. Maps
2, 3 and 4 all contain the pulses of human interaction.
Synchronization: As the preceding characteristics of Rhythm emerge, the magic of
synchronization arises. In the city, this enables human systems at all scales to start to notice the
metabolic patterns that link them and bring about fortuitous exchanges. Strangers discover
common ancestors. Co-workers discover they live on the same street. Politicians with apparently
opposing views discover common ground. Synchronization is implicit in all the maps of the city
as it contributes to the emergence of meta-patterns that set up new levels of coordination.
Enantiodromia: This is a Greek word, meaning how opposites turn into each other. Its most
recognizable symbol is the Yin/Yang cycle with the drop of the dark energy in the centre of the
white energy and vice versa. In the city opposites turn into each other as the quality of
exchanges between actors in the city increase. Then it becomes possible to see the Schoolboard
Representative who argued for conservative spending, become more generous when she votes
for funds to support student art courses. Or the artist become an activist for commercial
business that funds installation artworks on city streets. When opposites turn into each other, it
becomes a sign of differences making room for difference that makes a difference.
Resonance: Finally the quality of Resonance emerges in the city when all the other qualities are
dynamically arising together with outcomes that sound like melodies instead of chaos or din.
Cities in their prime exude this quality of Resonance and it can last for many decades when the
citys economic, environmental, social and cultural realities are all sustainable. But the resonance
can be vulnerable to sudden and severe blows (like the 2008 prime mortgage shock to the
system). Resonance aligns with the Harmony of Dynamics that we discuss below and the
elegance, flow, and fields explored in Maps 2, 3 and 4.
As noted above, the Pattern of Dynamics reflects motion and change in the city at a more
complex level than the Rhythm Patterns . The Pattern of Dynamics in the city shows us how
human systems as social holons can interact intentionally and produce desired outcomes. It also
reveals how social holons interact unintentionally through the power of feedback and emerge
surprises and unexpected results. At its core the Dynamics Pattern gives city systems the
complexity of all patterns working together for emergent resilience at the systems level.
The Pattern of Dynamics has seven qualities that relate closely to the sevenRhythm
Patterns, but are like chords at a higher octave:
Iteration: A system that iterates, not only repeats behaviour on the spot, it repeats the
behaviour and moves in a cyclical direction at the same time. Thus the iteration moves the
system into new relationship with its environment. In the city, the iteration of weekly and
seasonal schedules show up in everything from school terms; to the season of sports
tournaments; to the long iterations of generational cycles, where the grandparents, parents,
youth and children co-create the conditions for each succeeding life-cycle. As we become aware
of the iterations of very long-term climate change, we get glimpses of how iterations across time
co-create internal and external life conditions for the city. This shows up in Map 2.
Agency/Communion: The greater complexity of the relationship between agency and
communion, than between the simple swing of a pendulum, reveals that a single person or
system can iterate between these two states of individual action and collective connections. In
the city a person can live or work alone in an agentic manner, and then attend church where the
fellowship and communion with others amplifies their agentic qualities in service to a greater
whole. The holarchical nature of Map 2 conveys this, as does the developmental nature of Map 3.
The many opportunities for a single person or a single organization to have experiences of both
agency and communion in the city, is one of the sources of the citys power and potential.
Synergy: At the heart of healthy systems is the capacity to synthesize the energies of many
sub-systems and create new relationships that optimize the use of energy, information and
matter for the greater good of all. Synergy and symbiosis are closely connected, where the
needs of the individual are met at the same time as the needs of the greater whole. In the city,
synergy emerges from the metabolic economy of the exchange of goods and services.
Theoretically, if this were balanced in a sustainable way with the eco-region of the city, this
would result in a synergistic cycle of mutual benefit like the synergy the honey-bees have
created through pollination of renewable energy sources in their eco-region. This synergy is
most deeply reflected at the spiritual level in Map 5, but it is also implicit in Maps 3 and 4.
Feedback: The iterative exchange of information, energy and matter in any system creates
feedback indicators that tells the system it can sustain itself by continuing the same activity; or
that it is endangered if it continues and therefore it must take corrective action. Positive and
negative feedback are operating continuously in the city, particularly in the marketplace, where
suppliers and purchasers speak with their money. But the feedback also occurs during
unconscious and embodied states that show up as intuition for individuals and collective
consciousness for groups. Feedback is evident from the exchanges occurring in Map 3 and the
awareness of gross, subtle and causal states in Map 5.
Spontaneity: In Dynamic Patterns, spontaneity occurs in the moment as a creative impulse.
It arises in more complex form than the more simple pattern of Synchronization in the Rhythm
Pattern. But often because Synchronization has occurred, the conditions for Spontaneity arise.
Spontaneity arises from the trust to openness and exudes freedom and flow with the zest of
excitement. It transcends the Past, springboards from the Present and propels the system into
the Future. In the city because there are so many opportunities for Synchronization
andEmergence Patterns, the potential for Spontaneity is ever-present. For many people coming
from more traditional structures (as mapped in Map 4) the Spontaneity of the city, is (almost)
like an addicting state of creative arousal.
System: Every holon or social holon is a system in itself. But in a living system like the city,
what characterizes the system is its ability to survive, adapt to its environment and re-generate.
The city, as the most complex human system, includes the whole holarchy of systems from Map
2. Map 1 represents the fractal nature of all the survival scales of human systems in the city.
Map 3 reveals the adaptive interchanges of the citys many systems and Map 4 traces the
complex adaptiveness and regeneration of organizational systems in the city. From the Godseye view of Map 2 and 4 we can see the Planet of Cities from space, as a living system (first
described as the Gaian system by James Lovelock). Map 5shows us the city as a Spiritual
system. Thus the System Pattern captures the metabolic cycle of all life at all scales in the city.
Harmony: While the System Pattern is so quintessential to appreciating the city, the Harmony
Pattern may seem to be the most elusive one. For with the unceasing Dynamics of the city,
Harmony is often overlooked or obscured. But we can appreciate the very (Map 1) fractalness of
city Patterns as a form of Harmony in and of itself. As a pattern in the city, Harmony may be a
potential that city evolutionists can explore from the perspective of the citys purpose. If
Harmony were captured by the experience of coherence perhaps the Harmony or Coherence of
the Human Hive would arise if we found the answer to the question that the honey-bees have
discovered. Harmony may arise, in answering the question, What is the equivalent for the
Human Hive, of the beehives thrival goal of producing 40 pounds of honey annually? (In effect
this probably looks and sounds a lot like the symbiosis of the Master Code.) In seeking the
answer we must work together, and that process in itself will move us from chaos into the
freedom of harmonious order.
Integral City how do we map the rhythms and dynamics of your life? With the
exploration of the Dynamics and Rhythm Patterns, we appreciate how you are always
reflecting simple and complex changes going on around us, with us and as us. Noticing the
sounds, tones and music of change opens us to how Rhythm underlies all patterns and Dynamics
emerges from them and feeds back into them. Is it possible to capture the Alpha Rhythm and
the Omega Dynamics of the Spiral of City life? Only if we move and evolve with and as these
patterns.
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Integral City how do we honor the many systems, structures and infrastructures that
have emerged to shape you ? Map 4 offers us a cartography of organizational forms so we
can appreciate how many functions serve the complexity of city life.
The built structures of the city are often the first boundaries that an observer remarks upon.
These external expressions are artefacts of the internal structures in the brain/minds of city
inhabitants that have now become visible (e.g. through fMRI scans). Both inner and outer
structures of human systems arise from the adaptive process of people responding to life
conditions (across all scales from global climatic-geological to local micro-biotic).
Map 4 is something like an archeological cross-section of the organizations that have emerged in
the city over the last 5000 years. Map 4 discloses the shapes of organizations as they have
complexified from family hearth, to clan circle, to territorial castle, to bureaucratic hierarchy, to
industrial grid, to social network, to systemic ecology, to global noosphere.
And while all these organizational forms can be identified discretely, in fact they are now
interconnected and cross-linked just like the organelles within a cell. Moreover, we know that the
living system in each organization processes energy, matter and information through 19 subsystems just like all the living systems that make it up (including cells, organs, bodies, groups
and sub-organizations). In fact Map 4 reveals that the organizations in the city, are moving
towards further complexity, operating in the city just like the organs in a whole living systems.
It is not difficult for us to imagine that soon individual cities will be operating as organs in a
planet of cities, where cities will create the 19 global systems required to exist as a planet of
living cities.
I have described the merits of this map (borrowing from the organizational icons in the
book Spiral Dynamics) in the audio (and printed) book, Integral City: Evolutionary
Intelligences in the Human Hive . I also discussed it with Ken Wilber during our Integral City
2.0 Online Conference (and Integral Life) Interview. Map 4 as a whole captures
the Integral Intelligences of the city with special focus on the Structural Intelligences , as well
as Living, Emergence, Meshworking andNavigating Intelligences).
Map 4 in the Integral City demonstrates strong patterns that relate to the natural designs in Tim
Wintons Pattern Dynamics (TM) Structure and Dynamics Patterns. But the Pattern of
Structure reflects very similar patterns of boundaries, networks, complexity and emergence as
in Map 4. The Pattern of Structure in the city shows us how human systems shape-shift
boundaries, internal patterns and purposes to strategically survive and thrive. At its core the
Structure Pattern gives systems their frameworks for enabling processes to be replicated into
energy-efficient activity.
Map 4 brings into focus the levels of complexity that are embedded into the strata of Map 1. Map
4 reveals the organizational structures that are nested as holons into the holarchy of Map 2.
Finally the structural patterns of Map 4 show the organizational contexts within which the
relationship exchanges of Map 3 both normalize and emerge from. Ultimately without the
structures in Map 4, a city would not be able to sustain its economy, social, institutional or
cultural life.
Map 4 reveals aspects of the Pattern of Structure because it reveals seven qualities identified
by the language of Pattern Dynamics (TM):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Field: Map 4 only hints at the field of connections that emerge from the
structures of the city. However, the field can be thought of as a non-linear,
energetic set of connections that can be as intangible as the spirit of the city
(which we explore in Map 5)- or as visible as the skyline of the city which
depicts its core values in built form.
Integral City how do we honor the many systems, structures and infrastructures that
have emerged to shape you ? Map 4 reveals the historical lineage of organizational structures
in the city. And although not every city has all these organizations or patterns at a fully mature
stage, most major cities in the world have the organizations at least to the bureacratic and
industrial levels of complexity and in small experiments the social networks, systems ecologies
and innovation ecosystems are beginning to sprout. No matter how many layers of
organizational complexity a city currently nurtures, they all co-exist in complex networks (and
sometimes meshworks), that (like the brains they reflect) enable the production of all the goods
and services necessary to support the life of the holarchy of Map 2, the relationships of Map
3 and the human systems potential represented in Map 1.
In other blogs we have explored of Integral City Maps Maps 1 , 2 and 3. In a future blog
we add the spiritual insights from Map 5.
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Integral City how do we relate to your constant changes and exchanges?Map 3 reveals
the cycles that flow through and around your prolific eco-system.
Integral City Map 3: The Scalar Fractal Relationship of Micro, Meso and Macro Human Systems
In the city, as individuals we grow our capacities. When life conditions trigger us to change, our
lifes journey adds new layers of values, worldviews and competencies. Like tree rings we can
symbolically map how a person grows capacities that expand from ego-centric to ethnocentric to
system-centric to world-centric (Cluster 1 on Map 3).
I have been fortunate enough, teaching at Royal Roads University, to co-create the conditions
where individual leaders become high performance teams, where each team member challenges
the others to draw on these full set of capacities. This gives them capacities to impact spheres
of influence that can grow to global-size, making impacts on and for future generations. This
team capacity is represented in Cluster 2 on Map 3.
When these leaders and teams return, with advanced capacities, to their organizations and
communities, they encounter other people and groups who do not have the same breadth or
depth of competency. In this respect, their capacity becomes diluted (and explains the challenge
all high performance teams have interacting with those outside such teams). On the other hand,
the advanced capacities of these individuals bring new skills and perspectives to their
organizations and communities, positively infecting their social and cultural environments, with
change. (Cluster 3, in Map 3).
We can see the same paradoxical effects (of dilution and infection) when the high performers
interact in even larger scales at nation or global contexts. (Cluster 4, in Map 4).
Integral City Map 3, shows how the human systems are constantly interacting in exchanges that
emerge from natural cycles, values exchanges, and complex processes. We can see the role of
both agents and collectives and the mesmerizing outcomes of interactions in self-organizing
systems of exchange.
I have described the merits of this map in the audio (and printed) book, Integral City:
Evolutionary Intelligences in the Human Hive . I also discussed it with Ken Wilber during
our Integral City 2.0 Online Conference (and Integral Life) Interview. Map 3 as a whole captures
the Integral Intelligences of the city: Inner,Outer, Cultural and Social, as well
as Living and Ecosphere Intelligences).
Map 3 in the Integral City demonstrates strong patterns that relate to the natural designs in Tim
Wintons Pattern Dynamics (TM) Structure , Creativity and DynamicPatterns. But the Pattern of
Exchange seems to capture best the flow of interaction that influences interlocking human
systems at micro, meso and macros scales inherent in Map 3. The Pattern of Exchange in the
city shows us how human systems produce capacity both for the benefit of themselves and for
the benefit of the systems with whom they trade. At its core the Exchange Pattern is the pattern
that drives economics, sustainable growth and eco-system balance.
Map 3 captures the relationship patterns of the city at a much more granular level of the city
than Map 2s nested holarchy of holons. It adds to Map 1 the path of emergence and the
interrelationship of multiple scales of human systems. Map 3 allows us to peer more closely into
the inner life of individuals and the dynamic characteristics of the social holons they belong to.
The conditions for generative trade between systems is reinforced, because inequities exist
between different individuals and organizations.
1.
Cycle: Map 3 shows how individuals grow in natural cycles. Also it implicitly
suggests the generational cycles where individuals and groups learn from older
more experienced people. Thus a cycle of knowledge exchange occurs.
2.
Balance: Map 3 conveys how the encounter of team members with differing
skills but equally matured capacities creates well-balanced teams, able to give
and take as they engage to produce results.
3.
Capture: Map 3 shows the scales of human systems, that capture within
their boundaries the skills and competencies needed for their team or
organizational system to achieve their goals.
4.
Trade: Map 3 implies that the reason human systems prosper in the city is
because humans trade bio-psycho-cultural-social information, matter and
energy. In a healthy economy, such trades improve the life conditions of both
traders and provide positive feedback for repeat performances.
5.
6.
Process: Map 3 hides the processes that are better expressed in Map 4
(explained in a future blog). Nevertheless the basic systems frame of input
process- output is essential to the operation of any productive exchange. That
can be as intangible as a creative thinking brainstorm that results in new
ideas for a whole new industry (e.g. the concept of music distribution on the
internet); or it can be as tangible as publishing and selling newspapers on the
street corner.
7.
Flow: Map 3 clearly shows the flow of the exchange of the neural network
within individual minds (Cluster 1) and the flow between people in teams,
organizations, communities and the city (Clusters 2, 3, 4).
Integral City how do we relate to your constant changes and exchanges?Map 3 shows
that exchange of energy, information and matter flow through the neural network, of the brain,
economy and ecology of human systems. The key to city sustainability is that these exchanges
between the human hive and its environment flow in renewing cycles which creates a
metabolism where exchanges continuously flow through the entire system.
In future blogs we continue the exploration of Integral City Maps 4 and 5 and show how each
adds further depth to Maps 1 , 2 and 3.
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Every relationship we belong to in the city, offers us a new garden of possibilities for discovering,
growing and expanding our sense of wholeness in the city. And because we live in an era when
the rate of emergence (in all earth systems) is increasing, our survival depends on our agility to
be inspired by the abundance of creative potential in all these gardens.
Integral City Map 2, shows how the human systems in the city nest into a series of relationship
gardens or pools that cascade into one another (that we call a natural holarchy of
complexity). This series of gardens or pools includes a landscape of relationships that is
more complex than the one before. The landscape of the whole city creates the habitat for the
cascading gardens of communities, organizations, groups, families and individuals.
From a design perspective, each one of these gardens, calls forth a centre that creates strength
for all the other gardens connected to it. Architect Christopher Alexander observed that all living
systems have strong centres that interconnect and support one another (as we discussed in Map
1). In this way a kind of symbiosis evolves where multiple centres of different sizes actually
serve each other in a complementary way, creating natural ecosystems that support wellbeing in
each garden at the same time as they create wellbeing in the whole cascade of relationships in
the cit.y
I have described the merits of this map in the audio (and printed) book, Integral City:
Evolutionary Intelligences in the Human Hive . I also discussed it with Ken Wilber during
our Integral City 2.0 Online Conference (and Integral Life) Interview. Map 2 as a whole captures
the Contexting Intelligences of the city:Evolutionary, Living and Ecosphere (with strong links
to Individual, Collective andStructural Intelligences).
Map 2 in the Integral City demonstrates strong patterns that relate to the natural designs in Tim
Wintons Pattern Dynamics (TM) Structure and Exchange Patterns. But the Pattern of
Creativity seems to capture best the elegance of evolutionary, living eco-systems inherent in
Map 2. The Creativity Pattern in the city shows us how adaptation and novelty in the city arise
from the the natural emergence of life, like an apple seed growing into a sapling, that becomes
part of an orchard, that evolves a whole new species of apple.
Map 2 captures the patterns of the city as they relate to key conditions for innovation
and creativity. They reflect how, like a garden, innovation in the city is planted, matures, cross
pollinates and adaptively responds to life conditions.
Map 2 reveals aspects of the Pattern of Creativity because it reveals seven qualities identified
by the language of Pattern Dynamics (TM):
1.
Seed: Map 2 starts with the individual as the core seed of intelligence in the
city. In the modern city the seeds come from many cultures (like species) so
that the family gardens from say the Punjab culture are distinctively the Dutch
culture.
2.
3.
4.
Growth: Map 2 conveys the natural holarchy of nested systems in the city
through which an individual can grow over a lifetime. Each system represents
a garden of experience that expands the habitat of relationships for the
individual. Each expansion offers the opportunity for more exchanges between
individuals and collectives with possibilities for innovative production,
financing and integration of services.
5.
6.
7.
Integral City how do I create thee? Map 2 suggests that the simple unfolding of the pattern
of relationships that naturally emerge across a life time in the city, will create the complex
adaptive conditions for creativity. As we have explored withIntegral Architect Mark DeKay, the
vibrancy of life in the city depends on creating the conditions for humans to emerge solutions
that improve the wellbeing of self, culture and nature in the whole city.
In future blogs we continue the exploration of Integral City Maps 3, 4 and 5and show how
each adds further depth to Maps 1 and 2.
MARK EDWARDS
INTRODUCTION
Ken Wilber's propositions on the acquisition of
scientific, cultural and spiritual kinds of
knowledge form a major component in his
writings. Chapters on epistemological issues
appear regularly through his writings and do so
for very good reason. The famous aphorism of
Anselm, "Faith seeks understanding", seems
relevant here. One of the core motivations behind
Wilber's program is to show how extremely
reasonable and healthy it is to be engaged in an
authentic contemplative practice (Anselm's
Structuralism,
Kuhn
Apprehensi Empiricism,
ve strand
Carnap, Ayer
understanding
Validative
strand
on
the
knowledge
acquisition
process.
Consequently, it will not be possible to
incorporate fully into Integral Philosophy's
analysis
of
knowledge
development
postmodernism's concerns with cultural bias,
interpretive factors, and so on. Similarly, Integral
Philosophy's discussion of scientific approaches to
knowledge will also suffer without further
development of the knowledge strands. One
outcome of this differentiation will be the
possibility for integrating the processes of
knowledge acquisition with the consciousness
and world quadrant structures themselves. Just as
modernism is characterized by a differentiation of
the
value
spheres
so
modern
scientific
methodology needs to recognise the part played
by each of the quadrants in the pursuit of valid
knowledge.
The above position begs the question of why the
strands of a epistemological process should need
to match up with the 4-quadrants model anyway. I
hope to offer several lines of support for the
position that the epistemological strands should
coincide with the 4 quadrants through the course
of this essay. For the moment I simply make the
point that the path to valid knowledge comes out
of the dynamic involvement of all worldview
quadrants and consequently this dynamic should
be evidenced in the epistemological cycle that
operates within these different contexts. This
issue will be explored more in a later section
which looks at evidence from other theorists
whose worldview structures and epistemological
models where fully integrated to form coherent
understandings of knowledge growth in various
sphere of activity.
Corresponding
Corresponding
Components of
Scientific
Reporting
Strands in the
Integral Cycle
World
Quadrant
1. Introduction &
Literature
Review The
current state of
social knowledge
in the field is
explicated &
analysed
The
Communal/Validative
Strand - What is the
accepted shared
knowledge of the
particular scientific
community
The Social
Quadrant
(Lower
Right) The
collective &
objective world
of knowledge
2. Method The
essential
procedural steps
are described
The Behavioural
Quadrant
(Upper
Right)The
individual world
of external
action
3. Results The
data and
observations, test
results are
reported
The Apprehensive
Strand-Experiences
had, observations
made, encounters with
the data
The Intentional
Quadrant
(Upper Left)The
inner
experiential
world of the
individual
The Interpretive
4. Discussion
Strand - The data is
- The
interpreted out of
interpretations of
culturally mediated
the results are
frameworks (e.g.
presented
language)
The Cultural
Quadrant
(Lower Left) The
inner life of the
collective world
5. Conclusion
- The impact of
the new
information on
current
knowledge is
presented
The Social
Quadrant
(Lower
Right) The
collective &
objective world
of knowledge
The
Communal/Validative
Strand - Return to the
restatement of
knowledge
incorporating new
findings
evolution of our planet earth. Evolution theory links knowledge, and with it
ourselves, to the cosmos and so the problem of knowledge becomes a problem
of
cosmology."
Karl Popper - "A World of Propensities (1990, p.39)
The above quote from one of the great figures in
20th century philosophy of science goes to the
core of the relationship between macro-world
models (Integral Philosophy's 4-quadrants) and
evolutionary structures (Integral Philosophy's
spectrum of ontological levels) and the "problem"
of knowledge (Integral Philosophy's "strands" of
valid knowledge). If the dynamics of knowledge
growth and the world quadrants are so deeply
bonded, it would be expected that other
epistemological
models
and
theories
of
knowledge
would
exhibit
such
a
close
relationship. The following is a rather random
selection of current models of knowledge
acquisition and their correspondence with
worldview structures. The point behind presenting
these macro-models is to emphasise that all of
these philosophers and theorists have arrived at
their structural models, not through the analysis
of developmental hierarchies, as Wilber did, but
through epistemological conceptualisations. All
these knowledge cycles are focused on world
dimensions as opposed to ontological levels. All
these models show how closely epistemologies
are connected with meta-systems and with how
the basic domains of knowledge relate to one
another. Wilber's structural program and his
epistemological model need to be consolidated in
a similar way to bring about a fully integrated
philosophy. I am presenting several such
examples to:
an
individual
thing.
Are
all
reflected
And
this
full
clarity
is
-- Dogen Zenji, Shodoka
in
beyond
the
inner
and
mind,
outer.
The 'I', however is this initially pure unity which relates itself to itself - not
immediately, but in that it abstracts from all determinateness and content and
goes back to the freedom of its unrestricted self-equality. Thus the 'I' is
'universality',
but
it
is
individuality
just
as
immediately".
-- Martin Heidegger (1962), Being and Tine.
To carry yourself forward and experience myriad things is delusion.
That myriad things come forth and experience themselves is awakening.
-- Dogen Zenji - Genjo Koan
From
One-mind
comes
duality,
But
cling
not
even
to
this
One.
When
this
One-mind
rests
undisturbed
then
nothing
in
the
world
offends.
And
when
nothing
can
give
offence,
then
all
obstructions
cease
to
be.
If
all
thought
objects
disappear
the
thinking-subject
drops
away.
For
things
are
things
because
of
mind,
as
mind
is
mind
because
of
things.
These
two
are
merely
relative
and
both
at
source
are
Emptiness.
In
Emptiness
these
are
not
two,
Yet
in
each
are
contained
all
forms.
In
this
true
world
of
emptiness
both
self
and
other
are
no
more.
To
enter
this
true
empty
world,
Immediately
affirm
"not-two".
In
this
"not-two"
all
is
the
same,
with
nothing
separate
or
outside.
The
wise
in
all
times
and
places
awaken
to
this
primal
truth.
-- Hsin Hsin Ming - Affirming Faith in Mind
These quotes clearly show the dynamic and
seamless nature of the Integral Cycle when it is
applied to the transpersonal levels. Wilber has
goes
that
come
is
forward
delusion,
forth
INTRODUCTION
In Part 1 I have attempted to offer a revised
version of Wilber's original epistemological model
to facilitate its integration into Integral
Philosophy's
developmental
and
structural
component. This second part of the essay will
look more closely at the implications of the
revised integrated model for Wilber's discussion
of such issues as depth, reductionism, scientific
process and the dynamics of development. Much
of this second section has to do with Wilber's
treatment of interpretive and cultural issues in
knowledge development. Because there is no
overt interpretive component in the current
"three-strands" model, these key processes are
squeezed into very arbitrary and poorly suited
elements of Integral Philosophy's structural
model. To be more precise they are inserted into
the middle and upper end of the spectrum model
of consciousness development and in the interior,
left hand sections of the 4-quadrants model. First
of all, let us look at the ways interpretive
processes are inserted into parts of spectrum
model of ontological development.
Monological Science
Wilber has made the point that the basic data of
all sciences is equivalent in that they are all
empirical (in the broad sense) encounters. As
such, all scientists, no matter what the object of
Dialogical Science
Ontological
Theori
domain of
st
study
Methodol Interpretive
ogy
Framework
Reich
prepersonal
(body)
dialogical
Pavlov
prepersonal
(physiology)
monologic
physiological
al
Freud
mental/persona interpretiv
socio-biological
l
e
empirical
Bandur mental/behavio
(monologi
a
ural
cal)
transpersonal
cognitive
interpretiv
mental/persona e
Maslow
humanistic
l
(dialogical
)
Skinner
empirical
mental/behavio
(monologi
ural
cal)
Jung
transpersonal
physiological
interpretiv prepersonal/transper
e
sonal
Persing
transpersonal
er
empirical
(monologi
cal)
physiological
Grof
transpersonal
empirical
(monologi
cal)
perinatal/affective
Freud
transpersonal
interpretiv
socio-biological
e
Wasbur
transpersonal
n
interpretiv prepersonal/transper
e
sonal
prepersonal
(matter/physiology/body)
must
always be centred on the monological modes.
Clearly this is not the case. The ontological
domain is much more associated with the
explanatory model or causal framework from
which the scientist/theorist explains their findings
(taking into account the systematic bias of the
Pre/Trans Fallacy). The table shows that
mainstream monological science does validly
investigate mental and trans-mental phenomena
(I will take this point up in a latter section) and
that dialogical methods can be used to study the
body, emotions and the pre-personal levels.
An example that Wilber often gives to show that
empirical science only deals with the physical and
interpretive sciences with the mental is the task
of
disclosing
the
meaning
of Hamlet or MacBeth or to investigate personal
meaning. His contention is that the valid
investigation of "a mental production can only be
determined by interpretation". But if, for example,
(i) a standardised questionnaire is presented to a
group of participants through, (ii) an appropriate
sampling strategy, with (iii) various options
presented and rated on the meaning of the plays,
and with (iv) responses quantitatively analysed,
an accurate and valid interpretation of the
meaning of these great works of literature could
be derived purely through these very empirical
and monological means. To give a more important
example, the most respected research centre in
the world on the development of wisdom in adult
life, the Max Planck Institute for Human
Development in Berlin, carries out it's very
substantial research only by empirical means,
through the gathering of "monological" data that
is quantitatively analysed. It studies these postrational levels in their own terms without
Paradoxical Science
In his book, "Eye to Eye" Wilber deals in detail
with the issue of studying the transpersonal
layers of development from the scientific/mental
perspective. From his perspective there can be no
Paradoxical Laws/Findings/Practices
"Scientific"
Study
Contemplative
Practice
Theology
Psychology
Biology
Physiology
Physics
1. Left Hand Paths result in depth and that the Right Hand
Paths result in shallowness;
2. Right Hand Paths can never authentically uncover or
authentically investigate subjective interiors;
3. it is the absence or presence of monological or dialogical
methodologies that determines whether a theorist or a
particular discipline successfully represents the presence
of ontological depth.
4. the study of surfaces and monological data can never
result in the exploration of subjective interiors.
In summary, it is not a question of whether a
theorist or a discipline is from the Left Hand or
from the Right Hand, from a dialogical or
monological orientation, that determines its
capacity to explore interiors or a wide range of
ontological layers. The thing that counts here is
the interpretive perspective of the scientist or the
disciplinary matrix. Wilber's classification of these
capacities on the basis of his Right/Left,
mono/dialogical categories does not reflect the
actual state of scientific activity regarding of
these issues. I do not deny the existence or
conceptual importance of these categories. But it
is the interpretive strand in the Integral Cycle,
and not these categories, that determines the
assessment and inference of depth and of
interiority in the subjects being studied.
depth can be
actually exists.
The attribution
in phenomena
individual
focus
Dialogical Focus
collective
focus
individual
focus
Spirit
Wisdom
Sangha
Transperson
studies &
practice & Meditation
al
Comparativ
Theological al practice
Psychology
e religion
studies
Mind
Cultural
Anthropolo Cognitive & studies,
gy &
Neuromoral
Sociology
Psychology studies &
ethics
Body/Lif Empirical
e
Ecology
Matter
Animal &
plant
sciences
AstroParticle
physics &
Physics
Astronomy Chemistry
Literature
&
Biography
Mythologic
al studies. Affective &
popular
body
and ritual therapies
culture
Pleroma
Instincts
Experien
Social
tial
Cultural
Quadra
Quadran Quadrant
nt
t
Pavlov's
physiolog
classical
y
conditioning
habituatio Genetic
social
n
adaptation instincts
instinct
Skinner's
operant
conditioning
Hull's
drive
theory,
membershi Millgram'
p/ mythos s mob
learning
psycholo
instincts
gy
emotion
Emotional
imitation/modeli
Intelligenc peer
emotional
ng, flooding,
e, familial group
learning
desensitisation.
affect
learning
patterns
role-rule
mind
self-regulated
behaviour,
Yallop's
existenti
existential
al mind
learning
ratioBandura'
Vygotsky's
hypotheti
s social
cultural
co
learning
learning
learning
theory
Basseche'
s
dialectical
learning
cultural
wisdom as
shared
inner life
Baltes'
cultural
wisdom
in social
behaviou
r
(1989,
sums
up
evolutionary
CONCLUSION
This essay has made some propositions regarding
the integration of various parts of Ken Wilber's
Integral Philosophy. Some suggestions for
consequential changes to definitive terms have
also been made. In particular certain suggestions
have been made in respect of the distinction
between monological and dialogical science. The
current misapplication of the terms does not
mean that they have no value as descriptors of
valid knowledge quests. But their value is not in
reference to particular modes of science
associated
with
corresponding
ontological
domains. Their true value lies in their vertical
application,
in
describing
the
particular
monological-empirical, dialogical-interpretive, or
paradoxical focus that science can take when it
studies any phenomenon, whether that be
physical, mental or spiritual. I have suggested
that monological sciences actually deal with the
exteriors of all levels and that the dialogical
sciences deal with the interiors of all levels.
Similarly the distinction between Left or Right
Hand Knowledge Paths is also a valuable
explanatory tool, but at the moment the meaning
REFERENCES
Baltes, P.B., & Smith J. (1990) Toward a
psychology of wisdom and its ontogenesis. In
Sternberg, R.J. (ed.) Wisdom: Its nature, origins
and development. New York : Cambridge
University Press.
SIX CRITICISMS OF
WILBER'S INTEGRAL
THEORY
JEFF MEYERHOFF
poetic
structure
romantic
formist
synecdoch
e
tragic
mechanisti radical
anarchist
metaphor
c
conservati
metonymy
ve
comic
organicist
satirical
contextuali
liberal
st
irony
history. In fundamental
synthesis is a projection.
ways
his
integral
Wilber, nor his followers, has ever dealt with the detailed
and extensive critique of his understanding of holons, the
20 tenets and the four quadrants.
Wilber, nor his followers, has ever dealt with the
detailed
and
extensive
critique
of
his
understanding of holons, the 20 tenets and the
four
quadrants
by Andrew
Smith, Mark
Edwards, Gerry Goddard and others. These
critiques cut to the heart of the entire
holarchical understanding.
examples from Andrew Smith:
Here
are
two
Individual vs. social holons a very fundamental problem with the Wilber model
is that it conflates individual and social holons with individual and social
aspects of holons. Sometimes Wilber uses the individual/social distinction in
one sense, sometimes in the other. As I point out in my most recent
article, Wilber's Eight-fold Way, I'm not the only one to notice this. Gerry
Goddard was at least close to seeing the problem several years ago, and Mark
Edwards is acutely aware of it now. Bluntly put, there isn't room in the four
quadrants for both senses. If the lower quadrants are to represent societies,
then they can't represent social aspects of individual holons. Once one sees
this problem, it is so obvious.
I point out there that the tenet is based on the premise that higher forms of life
always evolved after lower ones, and thus inevitably depended on them in the
sense that Wilber uses. But it's not true that higher always evolved after
lower. Sometimes higher and lower co-evolved; in fact, that is the normal way
evolution works within levels. Thus neurons did not evolve as freely-moving
cells, which then associated into brains. The evolution of cells into neurons,
and tissues into brains, went hand-in-hand. Thus neither can exist without the
other, a symmetric relationship. Wilber understands this in the case of humans
and societies, thus going so far as to define (or to imply a definition of) humans
as different according to the society they live in. He just doesn't see that the
same thing occurs on other levels.[17]
Wilber's most dedicated and knowledgeable
commentators continue to be ignored. And
while ignoring his best commentators and critics,
Wilber continues to reformulate his holon concept
and the four quadrants, and heralds his changes
as an improvement, without acknowledging what
was wrong with previous formulations. As Andrew
Smith has observed:
In his recent post in the Reading Room "A Suggestion for Reading the Criticisms
of My Work", Wilberquoting a phone interview he provides as an example of
direct dialogue with him--suggests he might finally have noticed this
conflationary position. As before, he describes quadrants as dimensions that
all (sentient) holons have, but he also implies (without saying so in so many
of
diversity [of relativisms] will serve both to cure anyone of the idea that
relativism can be defended or attacked briefly and easily, or on one basis
alone, and to define the complex challenge to provide an adequate exegesis
and commentary on the gamut of philosophical considerations that have or
could be adduced in defence of or attack upon this or that variety of relativism.
[21]
Their book is a condensed catalogue of the wide
variety of relativisms and their intricate
arguments with a wide variety of opposing
absolutisms. Wilber writes as if there were no
scholarly debate on the subject.
Wilber and his followers have never responded to
the most incisive criticisms of his theory found at
integralworld.net. Instead of correcting what he
says are misrepresentations of his theory, he
withdraws from debate and claims that for
someone to truly understand his theory they
must have personal contact with him and have
his validation of their interpretation. When
compared to the norm in contemporary
intellectual debate this is preposterous. Someone
like Jurgen Habermasone of Wilber's heroes
routinely debates, publicly and in writing, those
with radically different views than his. The
standard way of dealing with someone who
misrepresents your position is to correct them or
have one's supporters do it. Correcting what you
think is a misrepresentation of your intellectual
position is a routine part of what intellectual
debates are about. It isn't a matter of calling
the theorist up, getting the final word on what he
or she means and then accepting it. Again, like
his pre-Enlightenment way of arguing from
authority, Wilber sets himself up as an integral
REFERENCES
[1] Lerner, Richard M., ed., Developmental
Psychology: Historical and Philosophical
Perspectives, (Hillsdale, N.J. : L. Erlbaum
Associates, 1983), p. 235.
[2] Lerner, Developmental Psychology, pp. 235236.