I’ve been delving into Integral Theory for a while now, but I’ve hit a point where a lot of it feels like it’s turned into technical jargon and complex language that seems more like linguistic mental gymnastics than practical wisdom. I’m starting to wonder if I’ve gotten tangled up somewhere in my understanding.
I’m hoping to start a thread where we can all meet at the “muddy bottom” of Integral - a place where we can discuss and explore the theory from a beginner’s perspective. Let’s strip away the complexity and try to reconnect with the core ideas of Integral in a way that’s accessible and meaningful for those of us who might feel a bit lost in the advanced discussions.
If you’re new to Integral or if you’ve been around for a while but feel like you’ve lost the plot, join me here. Let’s ask the simple questions, share basic concepts, and help each other build a foundational understanding that we can all stand on.
What are your thoughts on the most basic principles of Integral Theory? How do you explain it to someone who’s never heard of it before? Let’s make this a place where we can all grow together by going back to basics.
This will likely be dismissed, but I think it’s the “Waking up” part that gets missed time and time again, and it appears that the trend will continue, the “mental gymnastics” burying deeper and deeper, the call for the essential experiential transformation before words as solid grounding to “growing up,” “cleaning up.”
The “advanced discussions” you reference are the culprit, and sadly, when pointed out, the response has been more advanced discussions.
I’d recommend a skeptic’s lens, aim for a healthy distance from the “Kool-Aid,” if it isn’t already too late …
I use the quadrants in my thinking frequently. I ask myself which one or ones an experience falls into and sometimes that makes a little more sense out of my life. Sometimes I try to map other theories onto the Integral quadrants or at least into 4 different categories. On an Everyone Is Right podcast episode, Corey and Ryan matched the 4 sections of Ikigai (What You Love, What You’re Good At, What You Can Get Paid For, What The World Needs) with the 4 quadrants. One of my personal favorite theories of Generation Theory breaks down 80 year cycles into 4 segments of generations that correspond to 4 seasons of nature and societal mood (Baby Boomers/Spring/High, Gen X/Summer/Awakening, Millennial/Fall/Unraveling, Gen Z/Winter/Crisis). I don’t know if it’s confirmation bias but I find many concepts can be broken down into categories of 4 which can then be compared to the quadrants.
Integral Theory is a map. Its a very detailed and complex map and has the potential to be very useful.
But as they say, the map is not the territory.
This website has made the descision that its goal is to describe the map in ever deeper detail and discuss its complexities.
Fair enough. I love exploring google earth as well.
The problem becomes when the community decided that describjng and discussing the map was equal to visiting the locations and they believe they are “world travellers” or modern day Lawrence of Arabia because of their knowledge of maps. They believe that knowing about third tier is the same as being third tier. They believe that being second tier is commonplace - because, well, “Ken said so”. He said 20% of the population is 2nd tier- and if you disagree with anything Ken says, the commhnity has decided not only that you are not integral, but you also must hate Ken.
So, me from my little 1st tier, Ken 'hatin perspective (sarcasm) … I very rarely encounter people who are 2nd tier in all areas. Only around 1 in a thousand have cleaned up, woken up AND grown up AND ALSO apply it in their daily lives.
Its much like when I was an expat in Eastern Europe and someone asked me “have you been to Prague” and not only had i been there, I lived there. While they only knew about it from media or perhaps a weekend drinking binge, they believed they “knew” Prague.
I havent met anyone who is Third Tier. Those who I have met claiming this had an incredible amount of cleaning up they had not done and were like spiritual wrecking balls leaving paths of financial and psychic destruction in their wake. I believe there are third tier people on earth, but I havent met them in person so I dont know if its just a media persona they show to the world, or if they actually live that way mkment to moment
If 2nd tier thinking, as described by Ken Wilber, is primarily about integrating diverse perspectives to appreciate their partial truths, then perhaps 1.6 billion people achieving this isn’t far-fetched. In an era where global communication has never been more accessible, the exposure to different cultures, ideas, and viewpoints is at an all-time high. This connectivity could foster the cognitive flexibility needed for such integration. Social media, education, and travel have democratized access to diverse thought. While not everyone might articulate it as “2nd tier,” many show this integrative thinking in their daily lives, suggesting a broader reach than we might assume.
There is a huge if with technology.
Yes, there is a huge potential - if people actually do it.
Increasingly, though, technology and now AI are being harnessed to “funnel” everyone towards sale of a product or service. 99 out of 100 people believe that they need to buy a product to wake up, clean up or grow up (without even realuzing this is their belief).
We even have a new modern term for some aspects of this - “doom scrolling”, for example. Most people just unconsciously follow AI generated tricks being played on their brains that are displayed on a computer screen
“Doom scrolling .” Thanks for that Ray. I believe you’re the one who introduced “FOMO” into my “lexicon” as well, and it’s happier sibling, “JOMO.”
I want to think people will individually learn to roll with such social media tricks, learn to view them as just the latest consensus-reality gimmicks to see through, along with all the other older cultural and personal conditioning, confirmation-bias etc.
I wonder if everybody, everywhere, all at once attained clarity, if the whole thing would just collapse. Maybe individuals, waking up incrementally, is for the best …
I have found it very easy to be annoyed at humanity, evolution, really, for its unsatisfying pace. That personal annoyance that I’ve “enjoyed” has been helpful on the one hand … on the other, kind of a self-alienating wrinkle. Always something.
I think just mathematically if 5% of the “middle class” reduced their purchases to quality products only that produce 1 small 3 gallon bag of trash a week and had zero debt - the country then the globe would spiral into a recession.
Thats why I doubt that 10% of the population is 2nd tier. I believe 2nd tier is self actualized enough to only rarely fall prey to marketing gimmicks and consumption being used to temporarily feel better.
I view 99% of humanity as I view a sibling suffering drug addiction. Its more dissapointment than anything and a sadness that i cant trust them with basic descisions.
I think the only way is for “individual realization” to occur. What is the straw that breaks the camels back? For me it was 2016 when i was in deep cc debt and my payments required me to work an extra 20 hrs per week. When the election results sunk in I just accepted this is the morality america lives in and i stopped paying. Ironically 8 years later i have a great credit rating - which i dont plan to use. After not using credit for 8 years i dont need it.
I think the most revolutionary thing a person can do these days is to just stop wasting money. So far, that is still a legal form of peaceful resistance.
I have fun with telemarketers who want me to buy some product that will supposedly make me more money. They might ask me - dont you want to blah blah blah. And i say “No, i dont want that”. Its hilarious to hear silence on the other side for 5 seconds as all their sales training goes out the window. And perhaps they get a moment of revelation.
For the past 6 months, after utilities, thr bulk of my income goes directly to building supplies that build my “equity” but most importantly not rent or mortgage. Im not putting thousands of dollars a month into funding other peoples consumption (landlords and bankers). At least building supply companies produce tangible products that are usually good quality - if you are careful. For yhe year prior to that i was preparing for a sensible transition with a finacial buffer by living the “van life”. No rent or mortgage.
If just 5% of America did something similar to this and opted out of the rental / mortgage economy, the economy would slide into recession. If 10% did it, it would collapse
It is just a Map. The minute I think I am lost, I immediately must wake up to the fact that there is no right or wrong, no goal, never lost. And have a nice laugh. The ego was raised on rationality. I really enjoy the 5 ups as a teaching tool to enlighten people to the different versions of truth when we self-realize that there is an I,WE, IT, and ITS in Life. The more one Wakes Up, the more we understand the complexity and are able to settle in to our role as practitioner, teacher, and student. Amen.
