At last, a writer has helped me clarify what it means to be a political and religious moderate—as well as why “moderate” isn’t quite as accurate a term as “integral,” and why liberals and conservatives are both wrong and yet both correct in certain ways.
The writer is
Ken Wilber, and the book is
A Theory of Everything. In the text, Wilber builds on Clare Graves’
“spiral dynamics” work by focusing on eight major color-coded “waves” (or “memes”) of human existence and adding his own ninth wave. The spiral of waves represents an unfolding, evolving increase in human consciousness with a good deal of overlap (and roughly parallels Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, in my opinion):
Beige: “Survival Sense”; instinctive and innate behaviors (prehistoric times)
Purple: “Kin Spirits”; people seeking harmony and safety in a mysterious world (ethnic tribes)
Red: “Power Gods”; impulsive expressions, desire to break free and be strong (mythical gods, feudalism)
Blue: “Truth Force”; yearning to find purpose, bring order, ensure future (religious fundamentalism)
Orange: “Strive Drive”; analyze and strategize to prosper (scientific rationalism)
Green: “Human Bond”; explore inner self, equalize others (modern-day liberalism and relativism, political correctness)
Yellow: “Flex Flow”; integrate and align systems (interdependence)
Turquoise: “Whole View”; synthesize and macromanage
Coral: “Integral-Holonic”; slowly emerging
Wilber calls the entire spiral a “holonic” model (a “holon” being a whole that incorporates other wholes, such as a whole atom being part of a whole particle, which is part of a whole cell, which is part of a whole organism), because each wave incorporates the previous one. “Each and every individual has all of these memes potentially available to them,” he asserts; the lower waves are fundamental or essential, and the higher waves are of the greatest significance toward changing the world. (Again, this parallel’s Maslow in that you cannot become consistent in your world-changing self-actualization needs being met unless you have nailed the basic, safety and psychological needs.)
The author spends a significant portion of the book noting how people often get stuck at the “blue” wave (i.e. political or religious conservatives), “orange” wave (scientific materialism, ushered in by the Enlightenment/Age of Reason/modernism) or the most recent “green” wave (i.e. liberals)—and spend lots of narcissistic energy trying to eradicate one or the other wave’s influence and institutions. Hence, our divisive climate in 21st Century America that keeps much needed change at bay. When you’re intensely immersed in any particular wave, you think you have all the answers and then others are either idiots, misled or simply evil.
And yet, Wilber notes, each of the waves makes significant contributions that must be acknowledged and incorporated as we move up the dynamic model of human progress and awareness. The goal is for a larger percentage of the world population to gradually move into the highest waves, where true collaboration can take place to address real human needs. (Wilber calls this movement an embrace of “second tier thinking.”) These are the waves where political discord, nationalism, racism, religious bigotry, etc., have been transcended and what is common to the human experience matters more than our differences. It is not just a flat or digital or wired world; it is an integral world.
This perspective is definitely helping me make sense of my own journey. Growing up, I had a lot of “green” wave mentalities, often not supported by rational fact-finding and openness to others’ perspectives. At some point in the early 1990s I moved into the “blue” wave as my religious faith progressed and embodied a significant amount of theoretical structure and institutional identity, and I also tapped into more of the “orange” influence as I dissected political, theological and economic notions and movements.
The past several years, one book after another has seemed to lead me slowly but certainly into the “yellow” and “turquoise” space; and yet I still identify and emote a lot of my “blue,” “orange” and “green” perspectives and instincts.
My life’s direction has become more and more characterized by a desire to grow in consciousness, and I expect that I shall continue to read books and write pieces that reflect this trajectory toward “coral.” My hope is that, in this process, I will judge others less and seek more to understand (and include) as I execute my own take on an integral “theory of everything.”