The Daily Evolver

Hey folks, As integral practitioners, we have insights that help us harmonize cultural polarities, which is why it’s too bad Bill Maher didn’t invite me on his recent show with Elon Musk where they decried the “woke mind virus”. Woke is the activist/fanatic arm of the emerging mass culture of postmodernity. Every stage of human development has activists and fanatics whose job is to fully bring forth the worldview (call it the “mind virus”) of their age. Our job is to see what they so desperately want us to see and to critically consider what they want us to do. We do the same with their opponents, cultivating the integrated wisdom that arises when one is able to hold multiple perspectives. I hope you enjoy the episode, edited from the ‘fireside chat” I hold regularly with the Integral Life Practice Community. Next chat is June 7th at 1 pm Pacific Time, Zoom link here. Join us!

A brand new iteration of “This Week in the News”. Ankur Delight, who hosts one of my favorite podcasts, 10,000 Heroes, joins me to bring an integral take to the headlines of the week. This week, we look at the big shakeup in the mainstream news media. Days ago, and within an hour of each other, Fox News and CNN fired two of their biggest stars: Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon. What does this say about the modern news business, the evolution of our culture … and the possibility of a President Carlson? Hope you enjoy.

Hey folks, This week I look at a rising star in the mainstream commentariat: Peter Zeihan. To me he is a good example of a proto-integral thinker in that he is a master synthesizer, weaving compelling narratives about our world that include economics, demography, geography, politics and history. He gives me a far more integrated understanding of a variety of issues from the Russia / Ukraine war to the workings of the drug cartels, to “Is it Oklahoma’s time to shine?” Yet, as with so many contemporary thinkers, his analysis misses the core value of integral thinking: that human consciousness and cultures have evolved and that they continue to. In this episode, I look at this missing piece that integral thinking offers, and which adds an invaluable element to any analysis of human events. I hope you enjoy the episode! – Jeff Salzman

This week I look at the hubbub surrounding the introduction of large language chatbots, the latest evolutionarily-potent development in artificial intelligence. A long-time listener asked ChatGPT to write a poem expressing Ken Wilber’s developmental stages. The result (below) is mind-blowing. How is it possible for a machine to create three verses that capture the essence of developmental theory so well? Mind-blowing, yes, but is it beautiful? Can it be beautiful when it was written by a machine? Welcome to humanity’s next stage of understanding itself and our place in the cosmos. ALSO, it’s Trump’s turn in the dock with his indictment in Manhattan. Is this good or bad for democracy? For the answer, we look to the old Chinese farmer … I hope you enjoy the episode! – Jeff Salzman PS – This is an edited version of a live “Fireside Chat” I do with the Integral Life Practice Community every first and third Wednesday of the month. Join me this Wednesday, April 19, at 1 pm Pacific Time (Zoom link).   On Ken Wilber’s Developmental Theory by ChatGPT Ascending the steps, we embark, On a journey through levels so stark, Wilber’s wisdom reveals, That development heals, As we climb, a new consciousness sparks. In the spiral of growth, we find, Our perceptions and thoughts intertwined, With each stage that we pass, A more intricate grasp, Of the depths of humanity’s mind. From the shadows to radiant light, Through these stages our souls take flight, In a dance of ascent, Where our hearts find content, In the wisdom that guides us to unite.

The DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) movement is one of the leading edges of cultural evolution, installing green postmodern values which in part seek to correct hidden power imbalances regarding race, gender and identity in American institutions. My guest today is Diane Musho Hamilton, who has been on the front lines of the DEI movement for over two decades, starting as a diversity trainer in the Utah Supreme Court. Diane is also a transmitted Zen teacher in the White Plum Tradition, and a highly respected leader in the integral community. Diane’s specialty is working with groups under stress, of which there is no shortage when it comes to DEI initiatives. She is a master of metabolizing group energies and emotions thereby making space for new levels of collaboration and community to emerge. Diane is currently enrolling a new cohort in her Real LIFE Facilitator Program, a seven-month training in leadership, Integral theory, facilitation skills and the dynamics of working groups. It focuses on how to engage conflict, polarities and group shadow, as well as how to work creatively with them. We start our conversation by looking at the Integral movement in general and the unique perspectives it brings to the project of diversity, equity and inclusion. I hope you enjoy! – Jeff Salzman

Hey Folks, In this Daily Evolver I explore a variety of topics:  A telling difference between green art and integral art  – Learn more about the Lost Birds music here. Yes, stages exist but maybe the spiral is spiked Traditionalism’s hot war on modernity in Ukraine Ghosts: an integrally-flavored tv comedy! This episode is recorded from the live “Fireside Chat” I do twice a month (1st and 3rd Wednesdays) for Integral Life.  Join us live if you can this coming Wednesday the 29th at 1 PT, 4ET.  Integral Life is building an impressive community of integral practitioners, and you can check out all the opportunities to participate here.   I hope you enjoy this episode!   Jeff Salzman

In this episode, I take a look at three cultural artifacts that present worldcentric ideals of sustainability, egalitarianism and gender fluidity through an ethnocentric lens of good versus evil: Avatar: The Way of Water – James Cameron’s latest movie in his great green myth of Pandora, a pristine planet attacked by modernity (and a few pre-trans fallacies). Bros – A gay romantic comedy produced by Judd Apatow, where the triumph of queer ideology is a moral imperative. Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race – A picture book for preschoolers that shows how we would live in a world without regard for skin color – if it weren’t for white people. All contain developmental truths enmeshed with us-versus-them resentments that power the culture wars. Welcome to the beautiful-but-not-pretty evolution of consciousness! Jeff Salzman PS: I’m posting more on Twitter these days and you can “follow” me there @dailyevolver.

In this episode, I analyze Elon Musk through the lens of developmental theory, which maps the “spiral of worldview evolution” within people and cultures. There are three major worldviews currently in contention in our culture: Traditional (order and conformity), Modern (secular and rational), Postmodern (sensitive and egalitarian). They all have goodness, truth and beauty to offer, and they all hate each other. Most people live in one worldview, can function adequately in another, and polarize against the third. If you can embrace the polarization and inhabit all three, then you are entering the next emerging worldview: Integral (evolutionary synthesis). If you can integrate all that (adequately, not perfectly) and add the lagging-edge worldview, the pre-traditional Warrior/Empire worldview, then you may be Elon Musk. In this episode, I explain. Enjoy! – Jeff Salzman PS: I’m posting more on Twitter theses days. You can “follow” my feed @dailyevolver.

Hey folks, welcome back to The Daily Evolver! It’s good to be with you again. Today’s episode was initiated by my Integral colleagues, Nomali Perera and Lee Mason of Practical Integral, who invited me to share my thoughts at the end of another year in the human adventure. The integral lens reveals a fundamental force in cultural development: the struggle between worldviews. In 2022 we saw this struggle play out in a geopolitical context, with the events in Ukraine, China and Iran. We saw it within our culture through the battles over covid, gender and race. And we can experience it individually as we grow into integral consciousness and are able to embrace multiple worldviews. Unfortunately, growth is painful and suffering seems to be a feature at every stage. That’s where this episode begins – but not where it ends. Enjoy! Jeff Salzman PS – Over my break, I got more involved in posting on Twitter, and I invite you to “follow” me there @dailyevolver. I’ve found Twitter to be quite stimulating and conducive to providing quick integral insights on current events. Indeed, my next episode will be about Twitter and its new owner, the spiral wizard Elon Musk. Stay tuned!

In this episode, Dr. Keith and I take on two hot-button issues in the culture wars, each of us coming up on different sides of key issues. Hopefully our disagreements will be as illuminating to you as they were to us. Transgenderism: The ever-increasing awareness and practice of gender fluidity, particularly among young people, is fueling the culture war. Does it represent cultural evolution? Yes, we agree. If so, what are we learning and how can we bring more wisdom and compassion to the struggle? Here we differ. Abortion: The US Supreme Court’s revocation of the right to an abortion has thrown jurisdiction to the states, many of which are racing to legislate the agenda of their dominant worldview. Is this progress? Keith argues the negative and I take the affirmative.