Integral Theory - A Model For The Totality of Human Knowledge And Experience

[lacsativ]

Category: Systems Thinking, Models

Largely developed by American philosopher Ken Wilber, the Integral Theory aims to integrate diverse subjects, such as psychology, spirituality, sociology, politics, ecology, self-actualization and so on, within a single open model in order to explain and make a better sense of the totality of human knowledge and experience. 

Reasons for this request:

First of all, I think a fair amount of individuals would benefit from being exposed to the Integral approach. A possible list of benefits for learning about and understanding this model:

• Exercising the ability to think in systems - one of the main characteristics of the second tier of psyche development (specifically, stage yellow) as described by the model of Spiral Dynamics. 
  • You will become less judgemental because you can empathize with different viewpoints and idea because you understand why they exist, what led to their development and spread (or lack thereof), and how they are influenced by and influence each other. 
  • You will develop your Map of Reality a you understand that the external world is comprised of systems within systems that work in tandem with each other and are, in turn, influenced by the internal world
  • As a result, you will increasingly be able to understand a bigger, long-term context in different circumstances and situations within a very complex world 
• Understanding how different areas of human knowledge and experience have value and address different facets of the human experience
• Understanding how often contradictory areas of knowledge and experience interconnect with one another and how integrating all of them could lead to beneficial outcomes and a complex understanding of humanity and reality - Eastern Spirituality and Western Psychology, for example
• Developing a better sense and understanding of your own journey, be it spiritual, intellectual, success-oriented, etc, a combination of those or even all of them:
  • You will understand how your life journey can consist of smaller journeys which influence and complement one another 
  • This will also help you overcome and prevent certain traps - becoming a 'Zen Devil', for example
• A bigger open-mindedness
  • Being open to new perspectives
  • Seeing the value in each perspective and integrating the good parts
• Healthy critical thinking
  • The ability to entertain viewpoints you don't agree with
  • The ability to apply critical thinking to your own critical thinking
  • The ability to offer constructive criticism and opinions
• A better world and self understanding
• Getting a better sense of the areas of your growth  
  • You might be unaware that a certain area holds you back simply because you are innocently ignorant of it (you might not even know it is related to your growth process)

Second of all, a video about the Integral Theory would be a nice complement to Leo's 'intellectual knowledge'/systems thinking category of videos, especially to his Spiral Dynamics series. It could further his viewership's understanding of systems thinking and enable them too see stronger connections, larger patterns as well as subtler ones. From my own experience, I had already been acquainted with Spiral Dynamics (largely thanks to Actualized.org) when I began looking into Integral theory and the latter added a new dimension to my understanding of the former. Lots of "Aha" moments. 

Third of all, I genuinely think it would help individuals understand spirituality and their own journey/growing/development process better. Many of us come from a rationalist/atheistic background and a materialist metaphysics. Discovering spirituality opens up a new universe of meaning and possibilities, but it can become overwhelming. From my experience, I struggled for quite a while to understand and make sense of all the new viewpoints and perspectives I was being exposed to. There is indeed a learning curve. Some people will tell you to stop trying, because 'you are already enlightened', others will tell you to be very serious about your practice and devotion to this path, and it takes time, research, practice, failure and motivation to understand that both of these viewpoints are true in a sense, although not in the way you expected. Add to this the idea of multiple awakening experiences, the idea of The Map vs The Territory (intellectual understanding vs direct experience), paradox, the same terms being used in different, sometimes even contradicting ways by different spiritual teachers, understanding the tricky nature of the ego - it can get clusterfucky. Growing spiritually certainly involves some emotional distress and confusion. Integral theory helped me make a better sense of "all this" and gave me some very much needed direction - maybe not necessarily 'direction' but the ability 'to navigate' without feeling lost. 

Last of all, I'm making this request for the sake of availability. There certainly are resources out there on the web if you wish to learn about integral but much of it is just not very accessible/approachable. There certainly are good videos of Wilber explaining the model that you can find on Youtube, but, depending on the context of the video, he tends to focus on certain aspects of the model in particular. There are also articles and essays that do a good job but can be intimidating at first glance. My point is that there isn't yet a video that does a good job introducing this model in an approachable yet not limiting way with a good production value. Actualized.org is a great channel for passing on such interesting ideas. We have seen it with topics such as Spiral Dynamics, Quantum Mechanics, Psychedelics, and more. Integral theory is a good complement to these subjects and could offer a greater context for all of them. 

@Leo Gura Thank you for the consistently good content and good luck on your retreat! Looking forward to hearing the insights you will have had and the new direction of Actualized.org.