Universifying Meta crisis

How Do We Transcend the Meta-Crisis and Transition to a Regenerative World?

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Humans are facing a convergence of global crises — genocide, wars, climate change, economic breakdown, fake news, AI disruption, pollution, deforestation, mental health epidemics, inequality, political polarization, poverty, species extinction — the list goes on, and on. 

We are witnessing not just the unfolding of a number of converging crises, but a crisis of crises — a meta-crisis (Norgaard, 2022; Rowson, 2021; Johnson, 2020). This meta-crisis spans the physical (deforestation) to the mental (mental-illness) to the transpersonal (sensemaking), with each specific crisis inter-connected with each other in evolving ways.

The novel solutions we create to solve these crises lead to new challenges that require a more complex order of consciousness to solve, with progress leading to exponentially increasing complexity as we create existential problems for ourselves to match the level of our development (Graves, 1981). 

So how do we deal with this run-away train of developmental complexity? As Daniel Schmachtenberger and the team at the Consilience Project explain in this article, “Developing a more mature approach to our idea of progress holds the key to a viable, long-term future for humanity.” I’ve written the article you are reading to invite you into a collective exploration of a more mature approach to the meta-crisis which can support us to transition to a regenerative world.

How do We Deal with Rising Complexity?

There is no one simple answer to the meta-crisis, and yet there is an emerging class of intellectuals (Cooper, 2019), a meta-tribe (Alterman, 2020), rising to meet the emerging challenges of the meta-crisis, often interacting through a variety of forms through the internet through what has become known as the Intellectual Dark Web, Liminal Web (Lightfoot, 2022) or Sense-making Web (Leong, 2021). 

As these individuals come into contact, memetic tribes, and movements are arising to meet these challenges, from those oriented towards regeneration, metamodernism, complexity, wholeness, vertical leadership development, teal organizations, sensemaking, presencing, integral theory, noetic science, collective trauma, transpersonal psychology, conscious evolution, and nondual philosophy, to name a few. 

Nora Bateson (2022) shares in a documentary about growing up with her father Gregory Bateson, that he said, “The major problems in the world are the result of the difference between how nature works and the way people think.”

Great Simplification Podcast with Nate Hagens in conversation with Nora Bateson, Daniel Schmachtenberger, Vannessa Andreotti, and Rex Weyler on how we communicate about our current global predicament.

How Does Nature Work?

In my attempt to understand how nature works in order to help solve the increasingly complex problems of the world that require a more mature approach, it seems I have stumbled on a pattern that connects all things – a metapattern. (Bateson, 1979) 

Elements of this metapattern have been known to humanity for thousands of years, (Cheng, 2019b; Capra, 2010) and other elements are being revealed to us thanks to the latest discoveries in scientific fields from quantum physics (Hameroff & Penrose, 2014; Radin, 2018; Capra, 2010) to developmental psychology (O’Fallon, 2020b; Kegan, 2010; Ross, 2013). 

From this metapattern, I have developed ‘Universifying’ through an integration of this ancient wisdom and leading-edge scientific discoveries for use in our modern context. Universifying is a meta-theory, model and practice based on this metapattern that can support us to meet the challenges of the meta-crisis of our times.

How Can We Evolve Our Models of Reality as Reality Evolves?

Rather than a model, theory or practice that claims to have ‘the answers’, it is a meta-model-theory-practice which has completeness, yet is continually evolving – absorbing, diversifying, connecting and unifying all past, present and future models, theories, practices, systems, structures and forms of consciousness. 

As the fluid within and between cells in our body facilitates nutrients to be ‘absorbed’ into a cell, supports cellular ‘division’, ‘connects’ cells together and ‘unifies’ them as a greater multicellular organism, ‘Universifying’ acts like a supportive fluid for individuals and collectives to emerge, unfold, manifest and evolve by ‘absorbing’ that which we need, ‘diversifying’ our uniqueness, ‘connecting’ us with others and ‘unifying’ us as a greater whole. 

The core intention of Universifying at this moment in history is to unify us all through our diversity to birth our emerging world through the meta-crisis.

Here a Keynote Presentation on Universifying at the Integral Conference in Sedona.

Who is Lighting the Way?

Universifying Influences

Standing on the shoulders of giants, it feels resonant to start by acknowledging the contributions of those whose work and presence have been most influential in supporting Universifying to come into being.

Theoretical Influences

Modular Influences

Practical Influences

How Can We Unify in Diversity?

How could anyone possibly unify the vast work of all of those while maintaining the diverse integrity of each? Given that many on these lists above have meta-theories (theories of theories) or meta-models (models of models) of their own, it’s been a complex and humbling undertaking to attempt to distill and unify elements of each to create another meta-theory and meta-model that can be applied practically, while honoring the diversity of each, as well as the uniqueness of that which is unfolding from my own consciousness in reflection of how I make meaning of each of their unique contributions. 

It’s also not always clear which specific aspects of the model-theory-practice comes from who. It has not been a linear journey of integration, and there have been times where insights solidified in consciousness months or even years after my original experience of their work. 

Having said that, while universal wisdom is owned by none and accessible to all, through what Rupert Sheldrake (2009) might call the ‘Morphic Field’ or Ervin Laszlo (2017) the ‘Akashic Field’, I’ll do what I can to respectfully acknowledge each individual’s influence where that seems most relevant.

What Can the Emerging Generation Birth Together?

Universifying Emergent

As a millennial born in 1990, having lived a quarter of my life in Europe, a quarter in Africa, a quarter in Asia and a quarter in North America, I have an embodied sense of a stretch of time ahead of me to witness and influence the evolution of our planet for decades to come. There is an urge in me to open up and learn from those giants who have come before me, and reiterate what is potentially useful for the emerging generation. 

But I am not anticipating walking this journey alone; there is a collective of young, yet increasingly mature, individuals emerging who are developing the capacities to steward our world through the meta-crisis. It is with this collective that I anticipate birthing a regenerative world. 

How Do We Evolve Together?

Universifying can be used as a language, model and practice for us to lean on, to come into unity in our diversity. As we lean into the unknown together, delicately interdependent on one another, trusting our path to unfold before us, our collective intelligence (Roy, 2019) can act as a guiding light giving us just enough certainty to take the next step forward. I aim for the model I share to be of value to a future emergent generation, who can then utilize, deconstruct, and build upon what I have created in a similar manner to how I have integrated learnings from those above.

The world is evolving seemingly exponentially, with emerging technologies transforming our intersubjective experiences and entirely new structures unfolding before our eyes. There are many models; some are useful, some not. 

In appreciation of Zach Stein’s (2019) work which advocates for an “integral and problem-solving metrological pluralism” (p. 25) and Dillard’s (2019) Multiperspectivalism, my aim is not to create a model that dominates or pretends to be above or superior to other models, but a model among many that may have usefulness in particular emerging contexts and can aid in the integration and support of other models. 

How Do We Practically Apply a Meta-Model?

As a coach, this model is particularly useful to me in the coaching context. As a father and husband, it also seems to be useful to me in a co-parenting context. As an entrepreneur, it informs my business decisions. As a human, it is useful to me in virtually all contexts I inhabit. 

I see the potential for applicability in a variety of contexts, but whether or not it will be useful in those contexts, for others, remains to be seen. The intent is to bring those on the leading edge of this exploration into unity in our diversity, holding space for what can emerge in a time between worlds. (Stein, 2019)

Interview by Layman Pascal on Universifying, see here for the written peer-review.

How Do We Hit the Global Acupuncture Points of Consciousness?

My hope is to support the diverse unification of the emerging collective effort so that we can co-create in unison. 

Some of us have resources that would be useful to others — from funding to networks to technologies to models to capacities to perspectives to support in various forms. Together we are a force the likes of which the world has never seen. We live in a world of potential abundance. 

We have value to bring and whatever we need exists, we may just not have access to it yet. Universifying aims to open up doorways of access for us all to bring our unique individual value to the greater collective, hitting the acupuncture points of global consciousness, expressing our own unique conscious footprints upon reality. 

How Do We Nurture The Emerging Generation?

This generation – our generation – is developing faster than any we have in recorded history. We have younger and younger leaders popping up into mature consciousness. For the first time in history, given that there are so many evolving so rapidly simultaneously, we don’t have to work in lonely silos, as did the sages of the past. 

We have the potential to unify as a meta-collective and transform the planet through the diverse consciousness we manifest. How does our perspective shift if we see, feel and experience the meta-crisis as the natural birth canal through which we birth a regenerative world?

How Do We Consciously Choose Our Collective Orientation?

There are plenty of ways we could wipe ourselves out — nuclear war, global warming, or super-intelligent AI to name a few. Should we be worried if we will make the transition beyond this crisis of crises? 

What happens if we take the perspective, holding the immense suffering with compassion, that it’s all happening perfectly? What phenomenological experience does that invite? And if we find ourselves falling into complacency, how do we both notice the perfection as well as hold space for greater, wider, deeper forms of perfection? 

Who Are We Consciously Evolving to Become?

There are those who transcend the social constructions of our time, bringing into being entirely new forms of consciousness, and laying the path for others to do the same. The founders of the great religions did it; the revolutionaries that created the social constructions we now sit upon did it. 

Each era has its own individuals and collectives that rise up and challenge the status quo, redefining what it means to be human.

History puts them on a pedestal — Gandhi, Rosa Parks, Mandela, Jane Goodall, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa — and while we may all have the potential to do this, it seems to have historically been the select few that did it in a way that has significantly impacted the trajectory of collective consciousness on planet earth. 

There are those on the leading edge in our emerging era, forging the path ahead, opening up new possibilities for humanity. The purpose of this writing is beyond showcasing their individual work, to open up the possibility for collective unification to bring into being not just a new era, or world, but potentially a new form of humanity. 

These people I mention are leaders who give me hope for the future of humanity, taking responsibility for our collective future into their own hands and building a foundation for The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible (Eisenstein, 2013). 

We hold in our hands the possibility of collectively extending the frontier of human possibility over the next few decades. We are the seeds of the future, the cells in the disintegrating cocoon of modern humanity, that are supporting our conscious evolution (Brennan, 1998) and metamorphosis into a beautiful ‘regenerative world’.

Charles Eisenstein discusses human cultural evolution with Oprah Winfrey

How Do We Repair the Damage Humanity has Done (and continues to do)?

We have grown fat from pillaging the resources of the earth, a necessary period of intense growth that has brought us science, technology, democracy, and wealth. But it has also ravaged our planet, our societies, our minds and our bodies — global warming, the atom bomb, mass mental illness, and global pandemics. The list goes on. 

Our education system was built to produce factory workers, and it now attempts to churn out cogs for the corporate machine. 

For many of us, it never feels quite right, with a growing undercurrent of discomfort and dissatisfaction with what is, but there doesn’t seem to be any clear viable alternative. But there is a growing awareness that more consumption will kill us.

How Do We Transcend the Urge to Fight Back?

So we fight the system, condemning corporations, blaming nation states, trying to pull down what has been built to stop it from causing more harm. This is a natural reaction, justified even, and while destruction can make way and create space for what comes next, it does not necessarily put a sustainable, or regenerative, system back in its place. 

We will struggle to replace what is, until it is readily apparent on a collective level that what is, is not working. We cling to the global illusions of modernity; science will fix global warming; robots will make life easier; the free market will spread wealth to the poorest; democracy will give us capable leaders. 

How does the parent logging in the Amazon forest feed their children if we forbid them to cut down trees? How do we get paid if robots take our jobs? 

Why does the gap between rich and poor continue to widen? Why are so many of our political leaders unable to see to the bigger picture?

What’s Going on at a Deeper Level?

Are these the source of our problems or are they just symptoms of a deeper problem? Is our whole worldview in need of an update? Do we need to relook at whether the way we practice capitalism, democracy, science and education are fundamentally flawed? 

We could say, ‘to each his own. Let each person, each nation have their own beliefs, their own ways.’ Isn’t it best not to judge? But the challenge is bigger than that now. It’s not national warming, it’s global warming.

The invention of a self-driving car in America or Germany or Japan, once exported, makes driving jobs everywhere obsolete. 

How can we blame China for the mass pollution when the iPhones and washing machines and toys we all use on a daily basis are made there? 

What is Our Collective Tipping Point?

Each caterpillar needs to be fed. It is easy for those who are well fed, cozy in their chrysalis, to say we should stop eating. So in a sense, we need a revolution in each realm of society, a stronger push against the prevailing norms until a realization comes, a tipping point, that a fundamental change is absolutely necessary. 

Sometimes nature needs a fire to devastate an area to make it fertile again. When the world burns to the ground we create the conditions for something new to arise from the ashes. But does it have to burn to the ground? 

Can we not use the gifts of modernity to build a stable meta-ecosystem on top of what is, so that when it inevitably does disintegrate, there is an even more beautiful form in its place?

How Do We Prepare for What is Coming?

Before everything falls apart, what structures can we put in place to catch the pieces? What can we do to be ready to make sure we don’t have to start from scratch? The butterfly emerging from this disintegrating cocoon sees from a radical new perspective. 

Taking flight and looking from above, history below reveals itself — from a hungry caterpillar to a stagnant chrysalis to a beautiful butterfly. 

Would a butterfly blame a caterpillar for being hungry or a chrysalis for its impulse to breakdown what is? What if we are all right? But only partially? What if the whole truth encompasses both opposing and conflicting worldviews, only in different times and in different contexts? 

As humanity we have the benefit of having individuals at different stages in the evolutionary process. Caterpillars are created by the butterflies, chrysalises are in transition, and butterflies illuminate a new way by finding new pastures. 

How can we take what we know from science, and from the most ancient traditions, as well as the intuition that arises within us to take this evolutionary leap?

What is Truly Embodying Our Place in the Universe?

The universe has birthed the stars. Our planet has birthed life. Life has evolved to become self-aware. We are a part of the universe evolving to be conscious of itself. 

How can we each play our role in consciously unfolding ourselves to continue the evolution of our universe? The time has come where we are at a crossroads. 

We can eat ourselves into extinction, destroy what we have built or find a way through our hunger and destruction to emerge anew — the next stage on our evolutionary path.

How Do We Generate a Regenerative World Together?

UNIVERSIFYING FULL SPECTRUM

What would a mature, universifying, evolving full-spectrum developmental meta ecosystem include?

As crisis after crisis rises to meet us, how can we work together to develop an ecosystem to meet these crises? It’s clear that it’s not about a single solution, or even a combination of solutions. As the challenges emerge, a whole spectrum of evolving forms of regeneration are needed throughout the full spectrum — from physical to subtle to transpersonal.

We have the potential to bring more beauty, truth and goodness to the world. We are the gatekeepers of a dawn of a new era, a turning point in history, an evolutionary step, where we, the incarnation of the universe itself, take hold of the reins of the future and guide ourselves into our evolutionary potential. 

The future is literally in our hands, and minds. As we break out of our chrysalis, taking the uniquely beautiful form nature has endowed us with, how will we use the shape, color and energy of our wings to fulfill our purpose? Who will we choose to flock with? How will we support the caterpillars and chrysalises on their evolutionary journey? A flap of our wings could change the world.

This metaphor of a ‘regenerative world’ is not meant to be a utopian vision, rather simply the next iteration in human evolution, which will, hopefully, move beyond the existential threat we are causing ourselves and continue to evolve. 

This regenerative world is also an illusion, a construction of my own particular conscious awareness, along with anyone else who shares that delusion, which can never fully encapsulate the reality of what is. 

The map cannot be the territory. (Korzybski, 1958) It can, however, be a useful construction, providing a common direction for us to unfold towards, realizing consciousness as we go. A regenerative world can be seen as both a destination in time and space as well a way of acting through being or being through acting in the here and now. Can we meet there in the present?

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For a full list of references see my “Universifying” Thesis.

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