Pulling The Thread with Elise Loehnen

To Transcend and Include (Ken Wilber)

Jun 13, 2024

Philosopher Ken Wilber discusses human development stages, religious beliefs, cultural evolution, and equality values. The conversation explores the integration of different perspectives, pay gaps based on gender and race, levels of consciousness, psychedelic experiences, trauma healing, and multiple intelligences.

01:20:47

Episode guests

Ken Wilber

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Ken Wilber's synthesis of psychological models reveals common growth patterns.

Good sleep is vital for health; ChiliPad system aids in achieving deep sleep.

Recognizing and integrating waking up and growing up processes fosters personal development.

Deep dives

Podcast Background and Introduction of Ken Wilber

The podcast episode features Elise Lunan, discussing a meeting with Ken Wilber, a visionary thinker. Ken Wilber, known for his synthesis of psychological models, has authored various books, including 'A Brief History of Everything.' The discussion delves into Ken Wilber's work on developmental psychology, emphasizing the distinction between waking up and growing up processes.

Intro

3min

Exploring Human Development Through Waking Up and Growing Up

22min

Evolution of Religious Beliefs and Spiritual Growth

6min

Stages of Development and Cultural Evolution

15min

Exploration of Human Development Stages and Green Values Paradox

3min

Exploring Equality, Inclusivity, and Truth in a Divided World

18min

Exploring Pay Gaps Based on Gender and Race

4min

Levels of Consciousness and Psychedelic Experiences

10min

Exploring Trauma, Integration, and Multiple Intelligences

6min

Ken Wilber's work and intellect is difficult to describe. Throughout a long career—and the authoring of 20 books, including A Brief History of Everything, Grace and Grit, Sex, Ecology, Spirituality, and The Religion of Tomorrow, Wilber has put together what is essentially a synthesis of every psychological model of development. In fact, he locked himself away for years, writing every model down on pieces of yellow legal paper, and then knit them all together. I’ve written about Wilber’s work at length in my newsletter, which is also called Pulling the Thread—I’ll put links in the show notes—and I talk about his work on this show as well. Most recently, I talked about Ken Wilber with Nicole Churchill in our conversation about Spiral Dynamics. Wilber is a Spiral Dynamics wizard, though he uses it in aggregate with the work of other developmental thinkers, integrating the work of luminaries like Carol Gilligan, Robert Kegan, and others.

In today’s conversation, we talk about Wilber’s brand new book, Finding Radical Wholeness, which explores the five big processes we all undertake in our lives. In today’s conversation, we mostly talked about two: Waking Up and Growing Up, which are often conflated. Wilber makes the case for why they are unrelated processes—and the essential nature of the latter. While Waking Up, or having a Satori experience is wonderful—and something that 60% of people report—we all need to grow up. Wilber and I spend most of today’s conversation talking about our political environment from the standpoint of developmental psychology: Why we’re so fractured, and what it will look like when the Integral Stage becomes the leading edge of culture and we learn how to include and transcend. I think this is fascinating, and reassuring, and excellent context for a moment that feels so out-of-control.

MORE FROM KEN WILBER:

Finding Radical Wholeness

A Brief History of Everything

Sex, Ecology Spirituality

Trump and a Post-Truth World

The Religion of Tomorrow

Grace and Grit

More books from Ken Wilber

More from Pulling the Thread Podcast:

“The Basics of Spiral Dynamics” with Nicole Churchill

“Our Collective Psychological Development” with John Churchill

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