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On Monday the Washington DC-based Nation Journal published an extensive article on the “polarization movement” entitled: The War On Partisanship, How fighting polarization became its own cause. The article describes the efforts of a wide variety of nonprofits who are working to overcome hyper-partisan polarization and gives special attention to the work of The Institute for Cultural Evolution. Here are the paragraphs in which ICE president Steve McIntosh is quoted:
“The Boulder-based Institute for Cultural Evolution is taking a more philosophical approach to polarization. The group is publishing papers, such as one called “Depolarizing the American Mind,” and holding conclaves with “influencers” to brainstorm solutions for what Steve McIntosh, the group’s president, describes as a cultural problem. “Our technique is to find existential problems that can’t be solved at the level of thinking that created them—Einstein’s famous quote,” he says. “Those existential problems are where openings for new ways of thinking exist. …
“Other anti-polarization activists are gauging success differently. At the Bipartisan Policy Center, Jason Grumet cited the group’s recommendations for health care reform that ended up in the bipartisan-supported doc-fix deal earlier this year. At the Institute for Cultural Evolution, the focus is more on “influencing the influencers,” according to president Steve McIntosh. The group recently put on a political polarization conclave at Esalen, the storied spiritual resort in Big Sur that offers renowned massages and nude hot springs, footing all the expenses for the two dozen participants—including Blades, Joyner, Blankenhorn, and Civil Politics executive director Ravi Iyer. For them, success means launching their philosophy of depolarization “into the national mind, into what’s being discussed by pundits, and what’s being tracked by the media,” McIntosh says. “We’d like David Brooks to be able to say, ‘Here’s this interesting idea about a future left and a future right that’s a fresh way of thinking about the problem of polarization.’ ” (The fact that I wrote a story about one of their conferences a few months ago in National Journal makes a difference, too, he says.)”
We invite you to read the entire article at this link: http://www.nationaljournal.com/s/91684/war-partisanship?mref=home
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Institute for Cultural Evolution
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Steve McIntosh & Jeff Salzman visit with two young leaders, Gary Sheng & Zoë Jenkins, who are activating higher consciousness in Generation Z through their organization Civics Unplugged.#CivicsUnplugged #GarySheng #ZoëJenkins #JeffSalzman #SteveMcIntosh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q0gFqJ6vFY
I’m excited to announce my new 9-week online course on post-progressive politics. It’s being produced in partnership with The Aligned Center: https://thealignedcenter.com/institute/becoming-part-of-the-solution/
At last we turn the page on an ugly chapter in our history. While Biden faces difficult challenges, and while his presidency will inevitably have shortcomings, I’m rooting for his success. Biden is poised to take the first steps toward the higher cultural ground our nation needs.
https://www.dailyevolver.com/2021/01/leading-leaders-to-higher-ground/ If you are interested in executive leader development or leadership in general, here's a great episode just for that! Enjoy!
My article just published in Integral Leadership Review: "Why Centrism Fails and How to Overcome Hyperpolarization"
http://integralleadershipreview.com/17747-12-21-why-centrism-fails-and-how-to-overcome-hyperpolarization/?fbclid=IwAR03NT_o57_1aK71EhK7OPy0q0rMv_-C4GtpbCmZeC9eMxHqPZujO58PzaY
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What Does “Transcendence” Mean?
“Transcendence” or “the transcendent” generally refers to the people and things that are ultimately more important than yourself or your perceived self-interest. For example, that which is transcendent for you could include: Your family, humanity, your deepest convictions, the environment, God, Oneness, your country, animals, freedom, adventure, art, science, a better world, or anything you consider authentically “higher.” Your personal ideals of transcendence are grounded in the people and things that you’re dedicated to, and might even lay down your life for, if it became necessary. Your ideals of transcendence therefore help define your life’s higher purposes.
The word transcendence is used in this exercise as an umbrella term that is friendly to both spiritual and secular notions of transcendent higher purposes. In other words, you don’t have to be religious to recognize the significance of transcendent ideals. Our attraction to a greater good that lies beyond ourselves—our ceaseless striving to serve something higher and create something better—is a fundamental part of what makes us human.
The connection between your ideals of transcendence, your virtues, and your basic moral obligations—to self, to others, and to the transcendent—is illustrated by the graphic below. The specific virtues shown in this graphic are the 7 fundamental virtues, but the specific 7 virtues you choose in this exercise may differ from these classical 7.
For more on virtues and their relationship with transcendence, see the book Developmental Politics, by this exercise’s author, Steve McIntosh.
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