The Daily Evolver

In this episode, Dr. Keith and I notice a growing attempt in the culture to bring meaning and purpose into the realms of science. We focus on English scientist Rupert Sheldrake, who argues that “science should be set free” from the boundaries of mechanistic materialism. Sheldrake is well known for his theory of the morphic field, an evolving collective mind that all living beings are both accessing and creating. A spiritual practitioner, Sheldrake seeks to include subtle and spiritual dimensions to create a more integral view of reality. He also offers the best explanation yet of how the heck dogs know when their owners are coming home!

There are at least three distinct sources of human suffering, all related, and none reducible to the others. They are: Nature—the unique combinations of temperaments and constitutional strengths and weaknesses that each of us is born with. Trauma—the Big T and small t traumas that are ubiquitous in human development, and which leave us more sensitized and vulnerable rather than more resilient. Nurture—the sum total of our family, cultural, and environmental experiences that help shape who we are and how we deal with the world, for better or worse. Dr. Keith and I dive into these three sources of suffering, explaining how each contributes to the challenges of human existence. We show ways to use this knowledge to grow towards living a happy ending at the beginning of something wonderful.

Dr. Keith and I marvel at an exciting new (to us) typology system developed by Kibeom Lee and Michael Ashton: the HEXACO system. Lee and Ashton researched the popular 5-factor system and identified a new human trait, honesty/humility, which determines the adaptiveness and social worth of the other five. Briefly, the HEXACO factors are: H—honesty/humility. E—emotional resonance/empathy. X—extraversion. A—agreeableness. C—conscientiousness. O—openness to new experiences. This system raises important questions about human development, and what influences success/failure, intimacy/alienation, and happiness/misery.

In this episode, Keith introduces me to his theory of human sociability. As he sees it, human relationships can be seen on a spectrum of playing and fighting. Playing is a cooperative activity with an agreed-upon set of rules. Sometimes play is pure fun, and sometimes winning/losing dynamics are painful. But any engaged activity under an external set of rules is considered play. Fighting is trying to dominate the other, with little or no regard for a shared set of rules. Three outcomes of fighting are domination, submission, or a shift to cooperation (play). Both playing and fighting are human superpowers that can be used for better or worse. Dr Keith and I explore the play/fight current through all of humanity, delivering surprising insights into intimate relationships, politics, and evolution.

In this short episode, I am joined by Jose and Lynn Fuentes, who are producing an exciting conference for the integral community this November in Sedona, Arizona. The event is called Integral: What’s the Future and What Can We Do About It? It is designed in the spirit of a lineage of powerful gatherings that I (and perhaps you) participated in many moons ago. Jose and Lynn bring up golden memories for many of us when they write on their website: Somewhere between an Integral Living Room, an Integral Incubator, and a What Next Conference, there is a field – meet us there! Especially touching for me is that Lynn and Jose are invoking the spirit of our dear, departed Brother Terry Patten, who was integral to those historical events, and they are explicitly carrying on Terry’s transmission of joyful activism. As they write about the upcoming conference: We are gathering to consider how we can make a positive difference in the world. Come prepared with an open heart and mind, some great ideas for strategically inserting an integral consciousness into the world, and a desire to have fun doing it. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Lynn and Jose Fuentes and are inspired to check out the conference! Integral: What’s the Future and What Can We Do About It? November 3-6, 2022 Poco Diablo Resort, Sedona, Arizona $499 early bird ends August 15th

Who’s Inside Your Circle of Compassion? – A key marker of consciousness development is an ever-expanding circle of people (and other living beings) who you consider to be worthy of moral consideration. Full episode: Psychopaths are People Too.

The Left’s Split, Embracing More  – The political Left is differentiating into “woke” and “non-woke” contingents – and fitfully integrating into a larger emergent identity. Full episode is here.

Reflections on Death – An evolution-inspired contemplation on what dies and what … maybe doesn’t. Full episode here.

Do We Care More About People Who Look Like Us? – Some thoughts about moral development from my series of episodes on the war on Ukraine. Full episode is here.

This week political philosopher Steve McIntosh joins me to discuss global warming through the lens of cultural evolution. We focus on solving the “political will problem” that is currently stymying our collective response to the climate crisis. Steve argues that the progressive agenda on climate needs an upgrade: “Preserving the health of our natural environment is crucial for our collective well-being, which is why we can no longer indulge in the idealistic fantasy that America’s economy and energy systems can be immediately and radically transformed. Some prominent progressive voices are calling for the overthrow of capitalism, but this kind of absolutistic rhetoric only serves to block the formation of a larger national consensus around the most timely and realistic near-term approaches.” Steve’s ideas are fully fleshed out in the Institute for Cultural Evolution’s Policy Paper on Climate Change. It is one of a series of innovative “Win-Win-Win” policy analyses created by the think tank that address the issues of the day with the goal of providing key “wins” for each of the three major worldviews. I hope you enjoy the episode! – Jeff Salzman **** Steve McIntosh is president of the Institute for Cultural Evolution and author of Developmental Politics, How America Can Grow Into a Better Version of Itself. I am a senior fellow of the Institute and a member of its board of directors.