The Daily Evolver

It has been a hundred years since humanity spun into the chaos of the First World War. Peter Jackson’s acclaimed new documentary, “They Shall Not Grow Old,” brings vivid new life to the experience of British soldiers fighting on the western front. Using newly released footage from the Imperial War Museum, Jackson and his team worked four years to digitally restore, smooth, colorize and convert the film into 3D. The narration is told completely by former soldiers, in their own voices, from interviews recorded by the BBC in the 1960s and 1970s. WWI is a case study of human evolution. Britain entered the war as a traditional culture (amber altitude), full of romantic visions of honor, duty and the glories of war. Young men, thrilled by the promise of adventure, clamored to answer the call. Once at the front, they soon realized that they were in a meat-grinder, beset not only by age-old battle curses like hunger, cold, mud, sickness, rats and lice, but also the emergent features of modern weaponry: aerial bombs, poison gas, machine guns, flame-throwers and tanks. Yet the men endured, no longer sustained by romance or politics, but like warriors of all time, by the dense connection created between men whose next breaths depend on each other (red altitude). Those who survived returned to a country that in the meantime had largely modernized both in structure and thought (orange altitude), a country more interested in looking forward than past. The soldiers found themselves out of work, invisible and misunderstood by all but their fellow fighters. Jackson leaves it there, but the developmental story continues, with a new postmodern view (green altitude) arising in Germany out of the rubble of defeat. This is exemplified by the classic war novel All Quiet on the Western Front. Also told from the point of view of the soldier – this time a German soldier – it is a scathing condemnation of a civilization that could create such suffering. The book was an immediate international sensation, translated into 22 languages, and brought a potent blast of green consciousness to the world (and into my life fifty years later). But alas, it was soon to be banned by the Nazis … humanity had more of the lesson to learn, and still has.

For Valentine’s Day, integral couples therapist Tom Habib returns to share his insights into what he calls the “couples’ line of development.” In previous episodes he laid out the trajectory most couples take — from initial attraction, to role-partnering, to mutual respect, to what he calls first love, where intimacy begins to blossom into an exciting new we-space that transcends (while including) the stages that came before. Today Tom returns to focus on an essential yet surprising requirement of the first love stage, which guides his therapy with couples: relationships reach first love when each person is free to safely and consciously express their inner child. Neediness, hurt, joy, tantrums — all are welcome as long as they are held within clear boundaries (four minutes for a tantrum, for instance) and attended by a caring, nurturing partner in the adult role. One of the most beautiful integral projects is to reach back to reclaim the juice and enchantment of our childhood stages. In this episode, Tom shares insights and methods that show us how to do it in the delicious context of couple love. Tom Habib joins us from his home in San Juan Capistrano, California. You can find more of his work at drtomhabib.com.

The idea of human progress has been widely discredited since the wars and genocides of the mid-20th-century. But what if the 20th century also featured the largest (and largest percentage) of people living in peace and prosperity, eclipsed only by the 21st century so far, which is dramatically even more peaceful and prosperous? This argument is made by Steve Pinker, author of “Enlightenment Now” and leading rehabilitator of progress in the mainstream intelligentsia. His nemesis, historian Niall Ferguson (“The Square and the Tower”), thinks Pinker stands a good chance of becoming a historical joke, like author Norman Angell, who predicted in 1911 that war would soon be a thing of the past. In this episode I attempt to bring some integral thinking to a debate between Pinker and Ferguson hosted by Fareed Zakaria in his GPS Sunday show on CNN. Plus! You’ll get to swoon over Bradley Cooper in real time, just like Lady Gaga …

Integral practitioners talk a lot about creating a more spacious consciousness, one that includes more of reality. To that end we do things like place people and cultures on maps. We tease apart distinctions, we “transcend and include” and “differentiate and integrate” — all in an effort to increase the resolution of our worldview, as one would zoom into a google map to reveal more of what is already there. But does creating more space mean we’re creating more distance? Is the process of making distinctions also exacerbating differences? Might all our maps just be holding us in place? This is the jist of a thoughtful question I received from a listener, Kc Daugirdas in LA. He asks: “This space versus distance thing has been bothering me in all the domains that integral claims to integrate. I’m haunted by the suspicion that in the process of ‘transcending and including,’ we lose something. I’m farther from this, I’m farther from that. So where am I? What am I close to now?” Ultimately this is a spiritual inquiry and is found at the center of many great religious traditions as the paradox of One and the Many, or the Creator and the Creation, or Emptiness and Form. The teaching calls on us to identify with both the wave and the ocean. As the wave we are a momentary manifestation unique in all of time and space. As the ocean we are all waves simultaneously, as well as the infinite potentiality of waves. And since we contain everything, whatever we need is already just right there. We differentiate, God integrates. Part of our evolutionary journey is to have a progressively deeper realization of this great, paradoxical truth. Like all spiritual teachings, it can be absorbed in three ways: it can be understood by the mind (the outer teaching), it can be experienced in the physical and energy bodies (the inner teaching) and then … it can blow you away and deliver you into a re-enchanted world (the secret teaching). Go for the goosebumps! I end with a tribute to Mary Oliver, a well-loved American poet who died on January 17. She was often heard at integral events I attended, and I came to appreciate her own unique way of capturing the interpenetration of the One in the Many. Here I share a reading of one of her most popular poems, The Summer Day.

The culture wars heated up last week with two new skirmishes. One was the release of the American Psychological Association’s new Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Boys and Men. The other is a new ad released by the Gillette razor company: The Best a Man Can Get. Both explicitly criticize traditional views of masculinity; as the APA Guidelines states, “traditional masculinity — marked by stoicism, competitiveness, dominance and aggression — is, on the whole, harmful.” And both encourage men to be more sensitive, cooperative and revealing. Predictably, the new ad and report created blowback from people who see them as part of a postmodern project to neuter men by damning masculinity itself as toxic. They maintain that traditional masculine qualities are innate to men and essential to a healthy culture. Could both sides have a point? In this podcast Jeff talks with Dr. Keith Witt about an evolutionary approach that liberates masculinity and femininity into a new integration that features the best of both and makes them available to all.

Donald Trump’s coarseness has proven to be more powerful than most people thought possible. In act two of his presidency he is being met with reciprocal incivility from his opposition, exemplified by newly-elected Congressperson Rashida Tlabid, who promised at a rally to “impeach the motherf*****”. In this episode I explore where and how this “new incivility” is arising, its evolutionary potency, and how it can be – and is being – engaged with more wisdom and intention.

According to Shane McDermott, my guest today, the biggest challenge of being human is living in a body. At every stage of development we are in conflict with how we look, feel or function. Shane approaches whole-person development through the portal of physicality. In our discussion he shares his methods for freeing up life force and releasing patterns that constrict us without our being fully aware of them, including how to: Identify and heal past traumas at the source Embrace a deep self acceptance of your body exactly as it is The wisdom drives of the body – with a special emphasis on relating to nature How to attend to issues of chronic pain, injury and illness Shane MeDermott is a Master Integral Coach (through Integral Coaching Canada), with additional certification in Structural Integration Bodywork, Yoga, Feldenkrias, Intuitive Energy Medicine, and Corrective and Holistic Exercise Kinesiology. You can contact him at shanemcdermottcoaching@gmail.com or at his website mindbodybeing.org

On the Daily Evolver we often explore the downsides of various stages of human development, such as warrior violence, traditional fundamentalism, modern materialsm and postmodern relativism. But what are the blind and stuck spots characteristic of the post-postmodern stages of development? In this episode I am joined by development psychotherapist Kim Barta for a discussion of both the light and shadow sides of integral consciousness. Kim Barta is a practicing psychotherapist for many years, and a collaborator with Terri O’Fallen in the application of her STAGES model of human development. How the STAGES Model lines up with Integral Theory

Donald Trump at midterm is poised to be one of the most consequential presidents in modern history. Not necessarily for his policies, many of them odious (like his character), but for leading a frontal charge against the worldviews of modern globalism and postmodern multiculturalism. Drawing on the latest headlines, I examine Trump and the Trump phenomenon in the light of cultural evolution. Can a government built on enlightenment principles of shared power contain an autocratic head of state? Plus, how has Trump’s vision of American greatness inspired so many people? How may his disruption of norms create positive results? What new opportunities are arising for those on the left and right to create a “new patriotism” that inspires both sides? Cultural differentiation isn’t for the faint of heart, but integration makes it all worthwhile. I hope you enjoy the episode!

The morning after this week’s US midterm election I got a note from Dr. Keith Witt, my Shrink and the Pundit podcast partner, suggesting we do an episode on the voting results. “I’m a little let down by the election,” he confessed. “I’m uncharacteristically at a loss around understanding this situation culturally and politically, and have some questions I’d like to explore with you around it.” “Oh goody,” I thought, “this time I get to be the shrink!” What a fun and fruitful session we had. Dr. Keith’s condition mirrors that of many in the integral community: grateful for the new Democratic House of Representative which will put a check on President Trump, but also dismayed at the continued strength of what many see as destructive and regressive political forces. Not to mention the general mendacity and nastiness that attends so much of today’s politics. So what does an evolutionary pundit masquerading as a therapist have to say to that? Tune in and find out!