On the development of beliefs vs. capacities: A post-metaphysical view of second tier skillfulness.

On the development of beliefs vs. capacities: A post-metaphysical view of Second tier skillfulness
Tom Murray
Integral Theory Conference
August 2010, JFK University
1

Integral as EpistemicsMethodolgcl. Pluralism | Perspectives | Post-metaphysics
Integral theory (esp. “Wilber-5”) is fundamentally about Epistemology and Method
How do we know? What can we know is true/real?
How do we discover and justify what we think is true or good?
Epistemics: knowledge, belief, method, certainty, theories, concepts…
Includes emotional, social, ethical: uncertainty, unknowing, assumptions & worldviews, communication, decision making…
Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010
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An inquiry into belief-holding
Exploring what an integral or second tier approach to belief and knowledge could mean
…what integralists believe (and don’t believe)
What do we think it is important for others to believe/know/do based on integral theories?
Our relationship to what we believe:
How certain can we be?
How do we explain, promote, critique, justify?
How do we respond to other belief systems?
Epistemological and ethical implications…?
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Portability of integral ideas
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THEM
Beliefs, values??
US (integralists)
beliefs, knowledge, values…
Skills??

Overview
Development described in terms ofbeliefs and world views vs. skills and capacitates
Post-metaphysicsas part of second-tier enacting & skill
Positive & Negative Capability(and ethical implications)
…Audience deliberation…
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In groups of 3 or 4 (10 min.)
Reflect on an idea or “truth” from integral theory/practice or evolutionary spirituality that you have tried to explain to friends/colleagues (with limited success!).
How do you know/explain it is true or valid?
How certain were/are you?
Why did you want them to understand it?
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Some New Age vs. Integral Beliefs
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mythical, magical or metaphysical thinking??

Integral/Evolutionary Beliefs and Concepts
How do we know/prove what is true/”real”? How sure can we be?
Eros & Agape influence (or cause) evolution
The universe is evolving – through us
All objects/events/perspectives fit in 4 quadrants
The True, the Good, the Beautiful..
Gross, Subtle, Causal, Non-dual states
Subtle energies and chakras. Synchronicities
Over-soul; Spirit; Authentic Self; Omega Point
Collective consciousness? Intuition? Flow? Morphogenetic field? Ground of Being? Involution?
Higher meditative states/truths (oneness, wholeness, light, love, emptiness…)
Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | May 2010
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Belief and certainty/commitment
We take integral ideas seriously — believe they are useful to us and to others
What exists (metaphysics) vs. what is true
Habermas: to believe an idea is to be prepared to justify it
But belief has a spectrum of certainty/commitment
What is most important to commit to? Vs. be laissez-faire or hypothetical about? (why?)
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Interdependent modes of justification/critique— which did you use/observe? —
First hand experience
Deep intuition (or gut feeling)
Reasonable assumptions/bases/premises
Logical inference (supporting truth)
It is ethically right
It is pragmatically useful (it works)
Consistent with other knowledge
Support of experts/authorities
Trusted sources (journal, NPR, etc.)
Someone I know and trust believes it
Most people (peers in my group) believe it
I used a trusted method
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Second tier transcends & includesmagical, mythical, conventional, modern modes of justification
Q is when and how to we use these modes?
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Magical thinking
All is one; there are no boundaries; we are all connected
Nonliving things have an animate life force; intentions, can hurt & bless
Powerful beings (gods, spirits…) can punish or reward; we are vulnerable
I have the psychic power to effect the world; bless or curse; pray, manifest; (omnipotency)
I hear inner messages; I use special objects and rituals to access divinations
Impulses and emotions and power dynamics determine my actions (not abstract ideas or plans)
Wishful thinking (the unwanted is unreal)
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Magical/mythical thinking
How do we know: What to believe or do?
-- same criteria for the true and the good: --
Authority figures and charismatics
Magical or sacred books and objects
Social norms, habit, they way it has been
Peer pressure; what everyone else does
My own experience
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Magical/mythical thinking (2)
Little differentiation between:
Inner vs. outer (ideas & imaginings vs. reality)
The true and the good/right
Thoughts and feelings
Self and group
Past, present, future
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Then comes Blue/Amber, Orange…
Blue meme: ideals, rules, principles, predictable patterns
Orange meme: systematic, possibilities/probabilities, logic; rigor, efficiency & perfection drives
Differentiating/discriminating:
Feelings vs. thoughts
Interiors vs. exteriors (self reflection)
True / Good / Beautiful (scientific method) (what is vs. what should be)
Self vs. group/culture
Belief vs. truth
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Integral/Second Tier thinking?
…more exploration later…
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Theories/narratives of human development
As shared and promoted within the integral community…
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A heuristic spectrumof developmental narratives
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WHAT one believes
HOW one believes/thinks
What on does/can DO
Skills &Capacities
Beliefs &World Views
(Virtues, Habits)
(Values, Identity,)

“Skill” =
Higher order skills, capacities, capabilities, "skillful means"
Cognitive, social/ethical/emotional skills
E.g. systemic thinking, ego awareness, construct awareness, leadership, communication, empathy
The beliefs in focus are meaning-generative:cultural, metaphysical, spiritual, philosophical… (not concrete facts)
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Tentative Assumptions
Value of stage-based theories of development for (is and ought):
Descriptive models of human development
Prescriptive:
“Health of the spiral”; “Greatest depth for greatest span”
More “second tier” capacity in general
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E.G. belief & world-view basedNarratives of human development
Cohen & Hamilton’s Evolutionary Enlightenment
Kosmos Journal
McIntosh’s Integral Consciousness
Beck & Cohen’s Spiral Dynamics
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Belief & World-view basedNarratives of human develpment
Cohen & Hamilton’s Evolutionary Enlightenment:
An "evolutionary context" in which "who and what God is can no longer be taken as fixed—that from a developmental perspective, God is also evolving, just as we are"
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Kosmos Journal(Nancy Roof, Ed.)
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McIntosh’s Integral Consciousness
Promotes an "integral worldview" and
“Integral consciousness [that is] a new perspective on the world that expands our perception of reality and provides fresh motivation…arises from and enlarged set of values framed by an expanded understanding of cultural evolution"
"[if] you read and consider the ideas in this book, they will literally raise your consciousness"
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Beck & Cohen’s Spiral Dynamics (text)
A sequence of core intelligences or memes, that each "reflects a worldview, a valuing system…a belief structure, an organizing principle, a way of thinking or mode of adjustment"
But: talks about and around skills without getting sufficiently specific about exactly what they are, and focus more on human drives, needs, motivation, and values
Skills implied but not fleshed out in a teachable or measurable way
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Skill & Capacity approaches to development
Action Logics (Cook-Greuter & Torbert)
Kegan’s Subject/Object Theory
Skill Theory & Hierarchical Complexity Theory (Fischer, Commons, Dawson, Stein)
Many “developmentalists” past and present
(Wilber – covers both ‘sides of the fence’)
Psychologists/sociologists focusing on describing, understanding, measuring, supporting human capacity
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Second Tier Skills/Capacities(integral, post-formal, post-post-modern)
What does it look and feel like to be in a second tier collaboration, inquiry, deliberation, or organization?
Thinking skills & social/emotional skills:
Communication & Collaboration
Leadership & Conflict resolution & Parenting
Knowledge building & Systems design
Self-awareness & self-directed learning
Epistemology—one’s relationship to belief
Wisdom skills — relates belief to action
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Wisdom Skills
Egoawareness (self/ego/will and being/spirit/essence; "I" dimension)
Relationalawareness (emotional/social/ethical/interpersonal intelligence; "We" dimension)
Constructawareness(cognitive; "It" dimension)
Systemsawareness ("Its" dimension; also a cognitive capacity, but reflecting on dynamic systems and networks of relationships as opposed to mental constructs)
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Memes as Beliefs vs. Skills
Critical mass to establish a meme
Then people from any level can be attracted to it
“Mean Green Meme” is actually a cultural identity grouping that does not reflect green skill development
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Some Problems with Development as a Worldview or Belief System
Beliefs: perspectival, culturally bound, fallible
Attached to identity and support in/out group
Beliefs can “clash” in struggles of power and identity; skills are “cognitive tools”
Beliefs-systems can be ideologies/dogmas (manipulation/misconception/misuse)
Charismatic propaganda, peer pressure (inculcation/adoption vs. teaching/learning)
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Supporting Belief vs. Skill
Design of skill/capacity support is more difficult
Persuasion/argumentation are ancient arts
Articulating & supporting skills is new
Requires special knowledge; more precision
Skill acquisition:
Instruct, model, practice (practice!), feedback
Support and challenge
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The value of belief systems
Motivation, intention, vision!
…when and why to USE skills/capacities
Power of story, myth, narrative
Shared world-view 
Synergetic action, solidarity, meaning-generation
Stable base for new levels of cultural evolution
Need shared beliefs (community) to create skills?
“Beliefs” can be stable useable knowledge of “how things work”
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A post-metaphysical approach to belief – holding?
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Integral & post-metaphysical injunctions
Don’t confuse map with territory
Avoid the Myth of the Given
Take a post-metaphysical perspective
Good goals – but can we enact them??
34

Post-metaphysics
How we hold or beliefs
Level/type of certainty & importance (emotional)
How we explain or promote beliefs (cognitive)
Who should believe them and to what ends? (ethical)
Involves second tier skills/knowledge of “how the mind/ideas work”
concepts, models, communication, ego…
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…some useful distinctions…
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Further deconstructing my argument
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Skills &Capacities
Beliefs &World Views
Models & Theories
(Values, Identity, Virtues, Habits)
Facts &Knowledge

Belief/knowledge structuresa useful framework
Non/pre-Linguistic:
Experience (phenomena; what happens)
Linguistic / symbolic
Concepts (categories; what exists; is real)
(concrete … > … abstract)
Statements (propositions; what is true/right)
Model/Theory (system of related beliefs)
[World-view]
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Belief/knowledge structures (2)
Linguistic / symbolic
Concepts
Examples
Taste of chocolate; gut certainty;
meditative state; being a parent;
a baseball game; (intuitions…)
Tree, democracy, interior, consciousness…
Trees are…; We should…; the cognitive line leads…
AQAL, SD, Einstein’s, ….
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Non/pre-Linguistic:
Experience
Statements
Model/Theory

Concept Indeterminacy(Lakoff)
Abstract Concepts:
Graded (fuzzy)
Metaphorical (limited by embodiment)
Have “metaphorical pluralism”
Generate polarities, paradoxes
A fragile house of cards used to build up (abstract) statements
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Interdependent modes of statement justification/critique— (revisited) —
First hand experience
Deep intuition (or gut feeling)
Reasonable assumptions/bases/premises
Logical inference (supporting truth)
It is ethically right
It is pragmatically useful (it works)
Consistent with other knowledge
Support of experts/authorities
Trusted sources (journal, NPR, etc.)
Someone I know and trust believes it
Most people (peers in my group) believe it
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Model/Theory indeterminacy/fallibility
Kuhn…
Lakatos…
Latour…
Meta-theorists…
(Rob Smith: “integral is the mother of all escapes”)
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Group reflections onthings said to Exist (concepts)
OBJECTS / Concepts
QUESTIONS
Eros
Involution
UR, LL, …quadrants
The green (any) meme
Non-duality or ND states
Spirit/soul/reincarnation
(Collective) consciousness
Holon
Does it exist?
In what way?
How sure are you? (sure enough to commit to…)
How would I explain/argue for (against) it?
Who should believe me?
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Perspectives on “Post-metaphysics”
When something exists metaphysically, it claims freedom from rational justification and dialog.
(it is beyond both physical and neural/psycho/social laws)
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Post-metaphysics (1)
Is not anti-metaphysics (there are non-physical ‘things’)
No view from nowhere (privileged perspective), beyond myth of the given; map is not territory;
Perspectival: all truths/experiences come from a perspective and are partial
There are no fixed eternal forms, structures, or archetypes, because everything is evolving
Phenomena are enacted/co-constructed (makes no sense to say things exists(ed) unless (until) perceived)
(there is no ideal, transcendental, essential, or primordial in the metaphysical sense)
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Post-metaphysics (2)Habermas
Procedural/formal/method conceptions of rationality (“a rational person thinks this” to "…thinks like this")
Replaced foundationalism with fallibilism with regard to valid knowledge
Contextualized or situated reason in actual practices, historical contexts, & world views
Sees knowledge and truth as strongly related to ethics (affected by notions of rightness, sincerity, and authenticity) [and emotion]
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Post-metaphysics (3)Integral PM
Kosmic address: altitude + perspective (of S,O)
Who x How x What
Who: adequatio (developmental level(s) of perceiver)
How: method / tool; relationship of S,O; zone
What: quadrant (I,we,it,its)
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the dog, Santa Claus, √-1, Emptiness, ecosystem,…
- where/how do the referents to these signifiers exists?
- “ecosystems exist only in a worldspace of turquoise or higher”

Post-metaphysical Validation(Wilber’s “three strands” of knowledge, plus)
1. Injunction — If you want to know this, do this.
2. Experience —Beyond concepts/words.
2.5 Conceptualize, Infer, & Communicate —A “truth” from the experience & everything else you know.
3. Dialog (with a community of the adequate) — What do others who followed the injunction think?
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— and Indeterminacy Analysis —
What are my/our biases, assumptions, capacities?
Describe alternatives; limitations; fallibilities…
What is the knowledge for and what level of certainty is needed/called for?
Other perspectives to invite? New Qs? — Iterate!

Positive (epistemic) capability vs.Negative (epistemic) capability
Negative not as in destructive/deconstructive, but as awareness of limitation and fallibility
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Post-metaphysics (4)as an ‘epistemic turn’
What we now know (bio-psycho-social) about ideas, knowledge, language :
Knowledge is socially constructed
All abstract concepts are “graded” (fuzzy) and metaphorical
Rationality is “bounded” & embodied
Concepts and language are indeterminate
…
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Misplaced Concreteness(Whitehead)
Abstractions (ideas) treated like concrete/physical realities
Fixed, external (objective)
Solid conceptual boundaries
Psychology:
MP is not just an avoidable error: its hard-wired in embodied cognition
Subject / “Object” development
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Misplaced Concretenessthrough developmental levels
Magical thinking
imagination/dreams seem “real” and concrete
Mythical (and conventional) thinking
We believe the “stories” we hear/tell ourselves
Myth of the given
Rational thinking
Abstractions treated as realities
Map/territory confusion
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Freedom
The economy
Green meme
Eros
UR quadrant

“Epistemic Drives”(in beliefs, ideas, knowledge)
Concreteness/reification (of abstractions)
Seeing connections, patterns
(over-) Generalize & abstract
Attribute sharp boundaries to concepts (ignore the grey areas)
Foundationalism, essentialism, universality
Unity/oneness, totality/wholeness, integration
…proto-fascism, grandiosity, hegemony, elitism…?
53

Belief and Emotion(embodiment, ethics, enaction)
Certainty / importance / emotional intensity
Fear, risk, urgency, ecstasy… (states)
Risk of misplaced concreteness
Magnification of epistemic (and other) drives
Regression to
black & white (us/them; either/or)
Reliance on authority, peers & norms
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Positivism/certainty vs. fallibilism/indeterminacy
Positivist attitude: clarity, certainty, action
knowledge/meaning-generative; problem solving, theorizing
Negative capability: awe, humility, curiosity
Limits of language & knowledge & method
Tolerance for ambiguity, uncertainty, unknowing
Dealing with the above
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Espoused fallibility vs.
Stylistic (or illocutionary/enacted) fallibility

Palliatives:from “ontological humility” to “epistemic wisdom”
How do we hold beliefs post-metaphysically (with second tier epistemics)?
“I believe in reincarnation”
“Non-dual states are beyond mind, matter, time, space”
“the universe is constructed of holons” (or consists of perspectives)
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Experience (phenomena)
Continuously ground abstractions in phenomena (experience) and shared intuitions
Face it: reality and phenomena are:(infinitely?) messy, complex, codependent, deeply detailed…
ideas like to be pristine, singular….
Indeterminacy => vulnerability => ethical implications
57

Concepts:Epistemic language games
Positivist epistemics:
It IS… (foundational, essential, ultimate)
It always is/was (eternal, given, primordial,..)
Negative (epistemic) capability
It is as if ; (what if; suspension..)
“Chances are”…“as far as we can tell,”
To the extent that… (in this context)
In this sense/way… (from this perspective)
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Statements:A 4th Validity Type
True
Good/Right/Just
Beautiful (sincerity/authenticity)
&
Meaning-generative
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Models
“Indeterminacy analysis” – deliver models with a “wrapper” showing assumptions and limitations of concepts (what falls in the grey area)
Not just “Caution: this map is not the territory”
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Certainty & Commitment in Belief & Action
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In sum
Understand the mind and limits of thought/language (Epistemic-turn)
Re-integrating all developmental levels, including magical & mythical thinking
Ontological humility => epistemic wisdom
Compensate for fallibility
Expect and forgive fallibility
62

End
Tom Murray – tommurray.us@gmail.com

Extra slides
64

Second Tier - going “meta”(from ITC-2008)
Meta-cognition (thinking about thinking)
Meta-knowledge (knowledge about the nature and limitations of knowledge); META-BELIEF!
Meta-learning (learning how to learn, also called triple-loop learning)
Meta-dialog (dialog about how we engage in dialog)
Meta-decision making (making decisions about how we will go about making decisions)
Meta-affect (investigating the feeling of our feelings; somatic awareness of feeling states)
Meta-leadership (supporting leadership in others)

Calls for higher level thought
David Bohm: "underneath [humanity's dilemmas] there's something we don't understand about how thought works" and that what is needed is a "very deep [and] very subtle" awareness of thought itself.
Albert Einstein: "the significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”
Cultural development as skill of understanding mind, thought, language, knowledge, belief…=> the “post-metaphysical turn”
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Some Polarities in Epistemic Drives
Abstract (ideas) vs. concrete (tangible, sensory, real)
General (generalization) vs. specific (specialization)
Integration vs. differentiation
Universal vs. relative (or contextual)
Fundamental (essential, central, root) vs. consequential (peripheral or subordinate)
Permanent (unchanging, fixed, predictable) vs. changing (transient, unpredictable, chaotic)
Simple vs. complex
Oneness/singularity/unity vs. multiplicity (the many)
Whole (holism; integration) vs. part (differentiation)
Completeness (comprehensiveness; totality; systemic) vs. partiality (details, deconstruction)
Similarity vs. difference (diversity)
Transcendence vs. immanence
Perfection and purity vs. imperfection
67

On the development of beliefs vs. capacities: A post-metaphysical view of second tier skillfulness.

by perspegrity5 on Sep 08, 2010

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On the development of beliefs vs. capacities: A post-metaphysical view of second tier skillfulness. — Presentation Transcript