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 Newsletter Nr. 661   
 Amsterdam, June 5th, 2017


IS DARWIN REALLY ‘ON OUR SIDE’? - Ken Wilber's Misreading of Neo-Darwinism - FRANK VISSER

In my opinion, the "inadequacies" of Darwinism—even if they existed—would by the same token not "prove" Wilber favorite notion that the universe is driven by a spiritual force of Eros. A lot more is needed to accomplish that, for sure. Perhaps they just form an indication that there's more going on than current science knows, but jumping to metaphysical conclusions is not really the proper approach. What is more, the supposed "acknowledged inadequacies" Wilber spots in neo-Darwinism remain to be seen. The credibility of this statement hangs on Wilber's expertise when it comes to matters of evolutionary theory, which is provably inadequate[1]. This contrasts deeply with his supercilious comment that pointing out these inadequacies "is not hard to do". He wouldn't even have to point to creationists to find support for controversies around neo-Darwinism, many renegade scientists within the wider evolutionary biology community would qualify.[2]

Read more:
http://www.integralworld.net/visser104.html


A MANDALIC APPROACH TO DEVELOPMENT - Part 3: The Collective Mandala - JIM O'CONNOR

In two previous essays in this series[1] I outlined a model of the individual psyche based upon an integration of Andy Smith's one-scale model of holarchy with the concept of the mandala. I argued that by doing so we can account for all of the Wilberian structures of consciousness while avoiding many of the problems inherent in his schema. In particular, what could loosely be termed the "non-hierarchical" nature of the centauric and pseudo-nirvanic stages can be accommodated and explained, a feat which cannot be achieved within Wilber's hierarchical model.

In this part of the series I would like to look at collective development, to see if a similar approach may offer us a new way of looking at this particular issue. I will suggest that the so-called "integral society" should also be modeled on the mandala, and that it should be seen as being similarly "non-hierarchical" and decentralised in nature. Utilising network theory I will argue that the integral society should be formed of individual centaurs engaging in meaningful communication with one another, and that this leads to it exhibiting a heterarchical structure.

Read more:
http://www.integralworld.net/oconnor10.html