KEN WILBER AND CYBERSPACE
By Michel Bauwens
We had the occasion to meet Ken Wilber at his home in Boulder,
Colorado. Mostly ignored by mainstream media and the academia,
he's considered by some to be the most important living philosopher
of the day, preparing our culture for a new synthesis of cultural
and scientific understanding that combines the insights of the
sciences of the material world, with an understanding of the inner
development of human beings, based on the developmental psychologies
of both East and West. On the occasion of our meeting, an altogether
rare opportunity as Ken Wilber is rather seclusive, we especially
prodded him on how his ideas would help us understand the import
of cyberspace and the Internet. What follows then, is a mixture
of Ken Wilber's ideas, tentatively applied to cyberspace, supplemented
by some commentaries and suggestions of my own. But first, for
the uninitiated, we start with a summary of the body of his work.
Readers with a basic knowledge of his work may skip this section.
- 1. The development of civilisation according to Ken Wilber
Ken Wilber's first book was entitled 'The Spectrum of Consciousness'
and it tackled the psychological (or rather: the psycho-spiritual)
development of the individual. The first part of this 'spectrum'
offers a synthesis of developmental stages according to the western
schools of psychology both the developmental psychologies of Piaget,
the schools of depth psychology of Jung, Freud and others, the
humanistic/transpersonal schools of Maslow and Grof, and finally
the behaviourist and cognitive schools. The result of is a synthesis
of the development of the human being from birth, through childhood,
up to the basic rationality of adulthood.
Already this stage model was instrumental in understanding how
various contradictions in the theoretical models of the different
psychologists actually make sense, and can be considered complementary
(rather than antagonistic), if seen as applying to different stages
of psychological development. But it is in the second part of
the book that his spectrum of states of awareness was most innovative.
Indeed, his map did not stop at the rational level which comprises
the average achievement of our own western culture, but looked
at the further development of the psyche, into various transrational
and transpersonal stages, best described in the contemplative,
yogic and meditative texts of the East (Buddhism and Hinduism,
mostly). Out of the complex mixture of magical and mythical beliefs
that constitute most popular religions and which constitute 'pre-rational'
belief systems and ways of thinking and of conceiving the world,
Wilber extricated the 'trans'-rational core of the psycho-technologies
of awareness and attention (the contemplative and meditative practices)
and what they reveal about the development of the human psyche.
In effect, one also then gets a stage model of the transrational
phases, and how they fit together across the various spiritual
traditions. The book was instrumental in co-creating and inspiring
the new field of transpersonal psychology, the domain where the
name of Wilber is most familiar. This book in itself, which single-handedly
synthesised and rationalised' the whole body of psychological
and spiritual knowledge, and established the basic outlines of
a 'science' of the spiritual (the latter defined in this context
as the growth into the transpersonal stages), would be enough
to inscribe Wilber's name in the pantheon of great thinkers of
the century, revealing a whole new section of reality to the modern
eye, which could investigate in a rational and scientific way.
This effort of synthesis had been attempted before, but never
on such a grand and comprehensive scale, which managed to integrate
such a great scale of human thought.
His second most important work is probably 'Up from Eden' in which
he applied his insights to the evolution of human society and
civilisation. The work is based on the hypothesis, which turns
out to be extraordinarily fruitful, that socio-genesis follows
the basic outline of psycho-genesis. In other words, just as the
human embryo seems to replicate the whole of natural evolution,
so human culture seems to emulate the stages of individual growth.
There is thus a broad equivalence of the stages of human society,
to the psychological growth of the individual. Hence, Up from
Eden describes the evolution from magical societies (dominated
by magical, tribal stages of consciousness), to mythical civilisations
(the forms of society from the rise of civilisation up to the
western Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution) up to the
rise of the modern state based on instrumental rationality. The
conclusion of the book, after having convinced its readers of
the validity of the hypothesis, ponders the future, predicting
that if the hypothesis of social evolution is valid, then insight
in the next psychological stages, should provide some clues as
to how current civilisations might evolve in the near future.
In the next few books, Wilber will refine the epistemology and
the 'scientificity' of his work, focusing on validity claims and
the nature of the scientific enterprise. Outlining them would
take us to far, but basically Wilber arrives at a framework in
which reality should be looked at as a quadrant of aspects. Each
phenomenon having its interior and exterior, and individual and
collective aspects. Hence, one gets four different evolutionary
lines of development (the evolution of nature -- individual and
collective , the evolution of human societies, and the evolution
of the human individual). Each of these domains, the domains of
the It (material science and ?objective? social science), the
We (cultural studies), and the I (the development of consciousness),
requires an adapted scientific methodology, and have their own
validity claims to distinguish what is true from what is false.
This work allows us to go from a narrow empiricism, only accepting
data representing things with a location in space, to a broad
empiricism, that can accept cultural and psychological-spiritual
data; and to move from a narrow science, based on examining material
things that can be measured and quantified easily, to a broad
science, which can rationally examine the cultural and psychological
interiors as well. His range of books are dedicated to exposing
the reductionism of much of
contemporary science, which attempts
to translate everything to things without exteriors, but also
to various 'holistic'
and 'new age' attempts to return to a pre-rational
state of affairs.
These ideas constellate into a more complete philosophical system,
in his third major work, strangely titled 'Sex, Ecology, and Spirituality',
which, after explaining the basic laws of a expanded dialectic
of change (the 20 laws governing the evolution of holons, i.e.
the part-wholes that constitute our universe), goes on to dialogue
with contemporary modern and postmodern philosophy, making eminent
sense of our postmodern moment in history and where it is heading.
It is a complex work of almost 800 pages, but well worth reading
as a basic textbook on human thought. For those intimidated by
its length, Wilber has produced 'A Brief History of Everything',
which outlines, in easy to read dialogue format, the basic thrust
of this theories. This book also contains several pages with commentary
on cyberspace, the Internet, and the Information Age. His newest
publication, ?The Spirit of Ken Wilber? should fulfil the same
function.
2. The Internet as an enabling technology
A basic hypothesis of Up from Eden is the distinction of two different
evolutionary lines of development, as it pertains to the growth
of consciousness. Wilber indeed distinguishes the level of attainment
of what he calls the spiritual elite, which evolves from shamanism,
and its mastery of the causal domains of awareness, to a Buddha
(and subsequent spiritual explorers), with his discovery of the
subtle and nondual states of consciousness. It would take us to
far to detail these states, which have empirically verifiable
correlates, attending worldviews and psychologies, etc.. but suffice
it to say that there is indeed development over time. Obviously,
the 'average state of consciousness', i.e. the level of awareness
of the rest of us, does not evolve quite that fast. In fact, it
evolves terribly slowly, but also from magical to mythical to
rational, i.e. up to the present stage. Wilber notes, in accord
with Marxism, that the techno-social base of society is the key
factor determining this ?average mode of consciousness?, and notes
that communication technologies are themselves key determinants
of that techno-social base. To give some examples: it seems clear
that writing was instrumental in moving society from the magical
to the mythical state; that printing was instrumental in creating
national consciousness and the eventual dominance of rationality.
For example writing and related technologies of communication
allowed the consolidation of knowledge and hence the creation
of empires, of identification with much greater groups of human
beings (the ones who shared the founding myth of the empire),
with expanded spatial awareness (tribal consciousness was limited
in the amount of space that it could encompass), etc.. The role
of the book and printing (i.e. the Gutenberg Revolution) has been
discussed extensively by scores of historians as well. Thus we
can speak of enabling technologies, as they enable the growth
of new stage of awareness, and allow that stage to become dominant
in society. However, Wilber would stress time and again that there
is nothing deterministic or automatic about that process. That
though these technologies 'objectively' enable a spurt in civilisational
growth, the intentionality of subjects has to make this a reality
.
Enter the Internet. It is clear that the Internet, in the broader
context of information technology and worldwide networks of communication,
is precisely such a key enabling technology. Broadly stated, it
can be argued that the Internet, as a worldwide many-to-many communications
technology which extends our senses to encompass events and realities
to most of the (wired) world, objectively makes possible a new
level of awareness, in which individuals can extend their sense
of identity beyond for example identification with the nation-state.
The ?span? of our consciousness, measured in terms of ?space?,
can at least potentially become much greater. This ?cultural?
aspect of the Internet of course also has clear objective ?techno-social?
correlates that influence not only the way we see the world, but
also the way our society functions, and many commentators would
agree that we are evolving to an ?information age?, with a network-based
social structure, in which institutions such as the nation state,
are gradually eroding, as can be seen with in objective facts
such as the privatisation of many state enterprises, eroding control
of financial streams, a de-hierarchisation of administrative models
in the enterprise, etc.. Ken Wilber would broadly agree that to
a certain degree, the objective state of being, influences consciousness.
In ?Sex, Ecology and Spirituality? he gives his own example of
such change, when he discusses the condition of women in society.
As long as our position in society was determined to some degree
by physical strength, man could be expected to be dominant. But
the more we evolve to an information society, where such a factor
becomes irrelevant, the more patriarchal dominance becomes a contradiction
to the real needs of society, and hence it starts undermining
itself, and society becomes ready to accept new roles, in which
the social, political and sexual liberation of women become a
possibility. And this is precisely what is happening with the
women?s movement and its achievements, yet the difficulty of achieving
real equality also shows that the objective conditions by themselves,
cannot alone create this new reality.
So again and again, during our conversation, Ken Wilber would
stress that the process is not automatic. The Gutenberg revolution
was everything but smooth and had many negative consequences giving
rise to religious civil wars, the absolutist state, etc.. Ken
Wilber recurring formula was: give the Internet to fascists, and
they will turn that instrument into a tool of oppression, not
liberation. In other words, the changes in the objective material
world, the techno-scientific base of society, do not automatically
lead to changes and growth in human awareness. They create a tension
in society and the individual, which still needs to be integrated
into a higher synthesis which can make sense of the new. The cultural
world of human society, and the subjective-intentional worldview
of the individual, have to change as well. And this type of change
is not only a matter of greater ?span?, i.e. seeing the world
as a whole and choosing a more planetary identification and identity,
but also a mat
ter of depth, a reorganisation of our psyche into
something more encompassing, deeper, more integrative. And this
process is never automatic, but requires intentionality and human
effort.
Ken Wilber therefore strongly opposes any kind of naive cyber-utopianism
that promises a paradisical world in which equal disembodied minds,
dwelling in cyberspace, create a world of peace and fraternity.
Give greater power and control to human minds that are not up
to the task of integrating that responsibility into their sense
of self and their sense of duty, and you get havoc, if not regression.
As the French expression says: ?science sans conscience est derive
de l?ame?.
Indeed, one of the important concepts that one can find in Ken
Wilber?s work is what he calls the pre/trans fallacy. If you see
human development as growth (magic, mythic, rational, transrational),
then it become obvious that there are two kinds of non-rationality.
There are the pre-rational forms of thought, the magical and mythical
ways of thinking (where reason does not yet exist or is abandoned),
and there are the tra
nsrational forms (where reason stays intact,
but is transcended into transmental states). For example, in meditation
you become aware of your mental functioning, i.e. you transcend
it, but you don?t ?abandon? it, or regress to infantile stages.
According to Ken Wilber?s analysis however, much of contemporary
spirituality is precisely that: regression to the pre-rational,
where critical thought is abandoned. And obviously, the strains
induced by the changing techno-social base of society, can lead
some individuals to transcend themselves into a higher state of
awareness, but can also make other's regress, and look for solutions
in nationalism, tribalism (in the political-cultural sphere),
but also in fundamentalism and new age-ism (in the spiritual sphere).
And which observer can deny that precisely such tendencies are
taking place! The Internet itself can become a medium where that
fractured consciousness expands, that stimulates the creation
of countless sollipsistic tribal communities of interest, without
the corollary of a planetary consciousness and corresponding global
institutions. Equally, the Internet may strengthen the revival
of magical and mythical forms of religion. And finally, if we
accept that cyberspace is a cultural product that also reflects
our unconscious minds, it is bound to become the treater of all
our regressive drives and become the locus for our darker sides,
including criminal behaviour.
3. Towards Vision-logic in a network-based society
Nevertheless, despite these dangers and limitations, Internet
and cyberspace do represent that change in the techno-social base
of society, and hence, they are enabling technologies that gives
society and culture an opportunity to move to a higher plane of
integration and awareness. Of course, for Ken Wilber, this does
not mean that we all will become enlightened. To look where the
next evolutionary step of human culture may take us, we have to
look at the development of advanced individuals. We remind the
readers of our summary in the first section: according to Wilber,
socio-genesis mirrors psycho-genesis. According to Ken Wilber,
very few individuals are ready to move to the pure transrational
states, such as the psychic (characteristic of shamans), causal
(the saints), subtle (the sages) and non-dual (fully-realised
buddha-consciousness) stages, but a sizable group is ready, and
has in fact already moved, to a new boundary-state between reason
and the transrational. This state is called vision-logic and is
a deepening of the rational state of consciousness.
This is of course not to say that all of society and its members
have reached full stages of rationality, but on the whole, our
societies are dominated by rational modes of thinking, as expressed
by the scientific, cultural, political and business communities.
And within these circles, an important group is moving from instrumental
rationality -- a narrow view of rationality which is only capable
of viewing the interests of the individual or his own group, to
vision-logic, an expended view of reason which is capable of integrating
multiple points of view and interests. If the rational mode of
operation can explain the psychology and achievements of most
of us, it is inadequate to explain the achievements of great scientists,
philosophers, and artists. Which is why most developmental psychologists
are positing a higher stage of rationality, which by now has been
fully documented. With normal, instrumental rationality and logic,
we can take a world centric view but mostly the own personal interests
still predominate, and that perspective is privileged. Rationality
is used to attain the goals of the self. For example, most businesses
solely interested in their own profits, or politicians interested
in being elected at all cost, or individuals wishing to make a
career at all cost, will use instrumental rationality to achieve
their goals, without great concern for the effect of their actions
on others, or on the environment. Reality is mostly seen in either-or
terms, i.e. ?if this is true, then that can?t be true?. With vision-logic,
one can more easily integrate multiple perspectives, becomes more
independent of purely egocentric reasoning. Vision-logic is expressed
in for example scenario-planning, in which multiple futures are
being prepared for at the same time; it is expressed in environmental
and other ?impact? studies, in which the results of one own?s
action on others are fully taken into account; and generally in
an increasing concern for the multiple ?other?. The individual
can go more easily beyond the interests of his own self and of
the group or nation he belongs too.
From this perspective of a change in the mentalities, in fact
changes in the structures of the self, we can also see how the
Internet provides many tools and possibilities that will strengthen
such a change. It indeed offers not only a planetary perspective,
the ability to directly encounter multiple perspectives at their
very source (without the intermediation and distortion of medi
a),
and the capability to enter into a direct dialogue with these
perspectives. It creates multiple networks of relationship which
are profoundly altering the structure of society. The Internet
helps to create a ?society of minds? where a constant dialogue
can take place between equals.
On the other hand, the Internet creates a disembodied space where
one can easily lose one?s grounding into physical and bodily reality;
it creates a medium where a constant flow if mediocre information
hypnotises the user and makes him regress to purely reactive modes
of being, and, through the medium of games and pornography, it
can work directly on the instinctual-emotional levels and hyper-develop
these aspects of the psyche, to the detriment of others, and to
the detriment of a sound integration of the different aspects
of the self. The Internet, while enabling a new phase of transcendence,
can also lead to new forms of regression.
For Ken Wilber, the conclusion is therefore clear. It is not enough
to base our hopes on the objective network-logic of the material
base of the Internet, it is not enough to base ourselves on the
mere possibilities for collective dialogue, without an interior
correlate in the form of a more integrated ?vision-logic? based
self, and the attending world culture of planetary awareness and
concern, with as a result worldcentric institutions and organisations
which can deal with the current global crises, the Internet will
only be an instrument of crisis. Indeed, if the techno-social
base moves faster than the mode of awareness, a dichotomy arises,
and a cultural crisis of society. In the past, whenever this was
the case, great spiritual reforms have taken place (such as the
?axial period? of the 6th century B.C., such as the rise of Christianity
and Islam, such as the Protestant Reformation after Gutenberg)
usually painful social, economic, and political transitions which
have created great havoc in society. We are of course, precisely
in the midst of such a crisis now, as evidenced by the crisis
of science and rationality, the rise of the new age and fundamentalism
and postmodern cynicism. The more individuals that are able to
grow into a more int
egrated level of self, the more smoother the
transition can be. Which is of course why Ken Wilber?s work is
itself so important as it expresses such a new level of integration
which can serve as a model.
This article is by Michel Bauwens ([email protected]), Cyber-marketing (http://www.kyberco.com/); Tel/fax: 32+(0)2+534.37.59; GSM : 047-747.75.70 Paris office:
9, rue des Cinq Diamants / 75013 Paris / France
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