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On April 23, 2015 the University of Colorado, together with The Institute for Cultural Evolution think tank (ICE), are co-hosting a discussion on the cultural challenges raised by the Islamic world’s relationship with modernity. The event includes two afternoon public lectures on campus, and an evening panel discussion off-campus at Boulder’s Integral Center. Our distinguished […]
The story of how gay marriage has gone from a political impossibility to a cultural reality offers America a practical way forward on the seemingly impossible issue of political gridlock. In his State of the Union address, the president drew a connection between the success of gay marriage and the possibility of ending gridlock in […]
According to a recent Gallup poll, Americans see “dysfunctional government” as the country’s biggest challenge.1 And there is wide agreement that our government has become dysfunctional as a result of hyper-partisan political polarization. While polarization has many causes, the root of the problem is found in our country’s simmering cultural values war that is enmeshed […]
Perched on a narrow stretch of the Big Sur Pacific coastline, Esalen Institute is about as far away as you can get from the Washington DC and still be in the same country—geographically, but also politically, culturally, and institutionally. Yet, for a few days in the first week of October, those distances were bridged, and […]
This past week I was at The Esalen Center for Theory and Research on California’s legendary Big Sur coast. I came to Esalen to participate in an event I’ve been helping to plan for close to a year: The Conclave on Political Polarization. Since December 2013, The Institute for Cultural Evolution (“ICE”) has been working […]
So far ICE has been funded by generous philanthropic contributions from our friends and associates. But now that we have officially become a 501c3 nonprofit, we are ready to try raising funds for our polarization campaign through the new medium of crowdfunding. Rather than just asking for contributions, we are tying our Indiegogo project to […]
For years, Republicans made hay by appealing to “family values.” Liberal Democrats were often at a disadvantage because many of them did not in fact adhere to such values, as Jonathan Haidt has made clear in The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion (2011). Haidt (pronounced “hite”) is a liberal […]
Over the last few days ICE’s partners and board members had a very productive strategic planning retreat. Carter and I, together with Elizabeth Debold, Michael Zimmerman, John Mackey and Jeff Salzman, made good progress in our thinking about ICE’s polarization campaign. Among other things, we narrowed down the conception of our “synthesis platform.” Instead of […]
As I picked my jaw up off the floor after hearing Rep. Todd Akin’s now infamous statement that women’s uteruses have the magical power to resist impregnation in the case of rape, I wondered, “Where could he have gotten that idea?” Laura Helmuth, writing for Salon.com’s XXfactor, noted that his “statement was a crystallization of Akin’s worldview: […]
For many years, the idea of cultural evolution was very important to me. As a teenager, I watched on TV while civil rights workers were beaten beause they demanded equal rights for blacks in the American south and elsewhere. My understanding was that those stirring and dangerous efforts represented a change in how people thought […]
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More of this, please: Very smart people, representing the best of the Modern and Progressive worldviews, respectfully debating the nuances of a primary front in the culture war.
http://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/who-gets-to-say-with-john-mcwhorter/id1382983397?i=1000514986883
Most issues, like gun control, push directly against the values of one worldview or another, but it is interesting to find a stuck issue, like campaign finance reform, that is supported by all three major worldviews:
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/inside-the-koch-backed-effort-to-block-the-largest-election-reform-bill-in-half-a-century
We’re now on week 7 of my 9-week course on Post-Progressive Politics. I’m pleased to say our 50 person group has gelled nicely—they’re asking tough questions and making great progress. It’s an honor to be with these fine folks every Wednesday night!
Wicked problems are so complex, they can’t be solved by the same level of thinking that created them. Regulating social media is a wicked problem that is begging for a post-progressive solution that can see & balance all the conflicting values involved.
https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/3/24/22349186/facebook-zuckerberg-testimony-section-230-reform-proposal
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
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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.