Murray, T. (2010). On the development of beliefs vs. capacities: A post-metaphysical view of second tier skillfulness. Presented at the 2nd Biannual Integral Theory Conference, John F. Kennedy University. Pleasant Hill, CA, July, 2010.

1. 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

2. 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 2

3. 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…? Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 3

4. Portability of integral ideas 4 THEM Beliefs, values?? US (integralists) beliefs, knowledge, values… Skills??

5. 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… Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 5

6. 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? 6

7. Some New Age vs. Integral Beliefs Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 7 mythical, magical or metaphysical thinking??

9. The universe is evolving – through us

10. All objects/events/perspectives fit in 4 quadrants

11. The True, the Good, the Beautiful..

12. Gross, Subtle, Causal, Non-dual states

13. Subtle energies and chakras. Synchronicities

14. Over-soul; Spirit; Authentic Self; Omega Point

15. Collective consciousness? Intuition? Flow? Morphogenetic field? Ground of Being? Involution?

16. Higher meditative states/truths (oneness, wholeness, light, love, emptiness…)Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | May 2010 8

17. 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?) Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 9

18. 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 Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | May 2010 10

19. Second tier transcends & includesmagical, mythical, conventional, modern modes of justification Q is when and how to we use these modes? Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 11

20. 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) Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | May 2010 12

21. 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 Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | May 2010 13

22. 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 Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | May 2010 14

24. Orange meme: systematic, possibilities/probabilities, logic; rigor, efficiency & perfection drives

25. Differentiating/discriminating:

26. Feelings vs. thoughts

27. Interiors vs. exteriors (self reflection)

28. True / Good / Beautiful (scientific method) (what is vs. what should be)

29. Self vs. group/culture

30. Belief vs. truthTom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | May 2010 15

31. Integral/Second Tier thinking? …more exploration later… Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 16

32. Theories/narratives of human development As shared and promoted within the integral community… 17

33. A heuristic spectrumof developmental narratives Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 18 WHAT one believes HOW one believes/thinks What on does/can DO Skills &Capacities Beliefs &World Views (Virtues, Habits) (Values, Identity,)

34. “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) Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 19

35. 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 Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 20

36. 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 Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 21

37. 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" Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 22

38. Kosmos Journal(Nancy Roof, Ed.) Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 23

39. 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" Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 24

40. 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 Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 25

41. 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 Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 26

43. Thinking skills & social/emotional skills:

44. Communication & Collaboration

45. Leadership & Conflict resolution & Parenting

46. Knowledge building & Systems design

47. Self-awareness & self-directed learning

48. Epistemology—one’s relationship to belief

49. Wisdom skills — relates belief to action Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 27

50. 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) Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 28

51. 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 Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | May 2010 29

52. 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) Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 30

53. 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 Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 31

54. 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” Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 32

55. A post-metaphysical approach to belief – holding? Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 33

56. 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?? Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 34

57. 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… Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 35

58. …some useful distinctions… Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 36

59. Further deconstructing my argument Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 37 Skills &Capacities Beliefs &World Views Models & Theories (Values, Identity, Virtues, Habits) Facts &Knowledge

60. 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] Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 38

61. 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, …. Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 39 Non/pre-Linguistic: Experience Statements Model/Theory

62. 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 Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 40

63. 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 Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | May 2010 41

64. Model/Theory indeterminacy/fallibility Kuhn… Lakatos… Latour… Meta-theorists… (Rob Smith: “integral is the mother of all escapes”) Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 42

66. Involution

67. UR, LL, …quadrants

68. The green (any) meme

69. Non-duality or ND states

70. Spirit/soul/reincarnation

71. (Collective) consciousness

72. HolonDoes 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? Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 43

73. 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) Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 44

75. No view from nowhere (privileged perspective), beyond myth of the given; map is not territory;

76. Perspectival: all truths/experiences come from a perspective and are partialThere 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) Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | May 2010 45

77. 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] Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 46

78. 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) Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 47 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”

80. 2. Experience —Beyond concepts/words.

81. 2.5 Conceptualize, Infer, & Communicate —A “truth” from the experience & everything else you know.

83. Describe alternatives; limitations; fallibilities…

84. What is the knowledge for and what level of certainty is needed/called for?

87. Knowledge is socially constructed

88. All abstract concepts are “graded” (fuzzy) and metaphorical

89. Rationality is “bounded” & embodied

90. Concepts and language are indeterminate

91. …Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 50

93. Fixed, external (objective)

94. Solid conceptual boundariesPsychology: MP is not just an avoidable error: its hard-wired in embodied cognition Subject / “Object” development Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 51

96. The economy

97. Green meme

98. Eros

100. 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 Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 54

101. 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 Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 55 Espoused fallibility vs. Stylistic (or illocutionary/enacted) fallibility

102. 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) Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 56

103. 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 Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 57

104. 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) Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 58

105. Statements:A 4th Validity Type True Good/Right/Just Beautiful (sincerity/authenticity) & Meaning-generative Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 59

106. 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” Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 60

107. Certainty & Commitment in Belief & Action Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 61

109. Ontological humility => epistemic wisdomCompensate for fallibility Expect and forgive fallibility Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 62

110. End Tom Murray – tommurray.us@gmail.com

111. Extra slides Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 64

112. 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) Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010

113. 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” Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 66

114. 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 Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com | August 2010 67