The Daily Evolver

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

by Dr. Keith Witt Suicide has been in existence as long as self-aware consciousness has been in existence. The gift of self-aware consciousness included the capacity for humans to anticipate and understand the inevitability of their own deaths, and all gifts come with a price. One price of awareness of death is the capacity to choose it. In some tribal cultures, the choice of suicide was considered moral for the aged and infirm. Rather than be a drain on precious resources, people would walk into the blizzard, or be ritually executed by friends. In Classical Greek societies, suicide was considered a right by many; though Aristotle was quite critical of the choice (Socrates had no problem with it obviously). Christian cultures have pathologized and punished suicide. In medieval times in Paris, suicides’ bodies were dragged through the streets and thrown on refuse heaps. The Catholic Church relegated suicides to Hell, and made it a sin to choose one’s own death. Japanese samurai culture glorified seppuku (known more commonly in the west as harakiri) in men and women–suicide to avoid dishonor. In modern America, suicide has increased 24% nationally since 1999, and much more in the intermountain red states of Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado,­­­­ Idaho, North and South Dakota, Kansas, Minnesota, as well as in Vermont, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. In the 23 poorest states, the rates have gone up 38% to 58%. Previously from 1970 to 2000, suicide also increased dramatically in most demographics, so this is a definite trend in American culture for the last fifty years. 54% of suicides don’t have a psychiatric diagnosis, probably reflecting the resistance to treatment in many groups. I think by definition suicide attempts are reflections of at least temporary insanity—one study of people who had survived jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge reported that, on the way down, all of them thought some version of, “This is worst idea I ever had!” Some studies show that for every completed suicide, there are 25 attempts, so there are over a million suicide attempts each year in the U.S. The most vulnerable to suicide statistically are 45 to 64 year olds, and suicide in women has increased 80%, narrowing the historic gender gap between sexes. Native American suicide has also increased enormously, and suicide by teens is on the rise. Suicide is contagious. One study from the fifties and sixties showed an average of 58 extra suicide deaths for every front page story of suicide. There were 10% to 12% increases in national suicide figures the weeks after Marilyn Monroe’s and Robin William’s deaths. Even more chillingly, in the weeks after a front page suicide story of an individual there are increased fatal single car accidents, three times more fatalities in car accidents in general, and similar figures for plane accidents. Are these conscious or unconscious suicide attempts triggered by the news stories? If it’s young person suicide, the increase is mostly in young drivers. If it’s an older person suicide, the increase is mostly in older drivers. Weeks after murder/suicides, there are increases in multiple deaths in car and plane accidents. WTF?!!! Something is wrong with American culture and getting worse, but what’s wrong, and what should we do? Like most social issues, suicide is a wicked problem with multiple components. Suicide is not one thing but many things. Suicide does not have one cause, but many causes. There is not one solution but many solutions. That being said, there are some social forces that clearly are contributing to the problem that are either invisible to many or resistant to change. More medication is not the answer. 1 in 10 Americans are on psychotropic medications, and antidepressants are so widely used that they are a significant pollutant in fish from America’s oceans. Kelly Brogan,

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

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

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

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

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

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