067 Jonathan Rowson – Tasting the Pickle: A Personal Relationship with the Meta-Crisis
Release Date: 04/03/2021
074 Jeremy Lent – Welcome Each Moment as a Sacred Treasure
State of Emergence
Philosopher, pro-activist and author Jeremy Lent explores the underlying nature of our civilizational crises and how a greater understanding of the physical, biological, noetic & cultural interconnectedness of reality can inspire us into a new level of devotion to life itself. Jeremy’s book The Patterning Instinct traced patterns of thought that led human civilization to its sustainability crisis and his new book, The Web of Meaning offers an integrative worldview for a sustainable, flourishing future.
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073 Fred LaMotte – From the Temple to the Wilderness of Now
State of Emergence
Poet, teacher and interfaith chaplain Fred LaMotte shares the inner processes and revelations from which his luminous poetry arises and explores a place beyond words and beliefs where there is simply presence and dwelling in the tender receptivity of the miracle of each moment. Fred is an author, a graduate of Yale and Princeton Theological Seminary, a director of Religious Studies and Community Service, a college instructor in World Religions, an interfaith chaplain and a meditation teacher.
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072 Peter Russell – Letting Go of Nothing
State of Emergence
Futurist, teacher, and author Peter Russell explores how the exponential acceleration of complexity in our civilization may exceed our capacities as a species, and how a radical letting-go of our efforts to counteract that destiny can dissolve whatever gets in the way of us showing up fully, sanely, and gratefully. Peter is a leading thinker and writer on consciousness and spirituality, he is on the faculty of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, and his beautiful new book is Letting Go of Nothing.
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071 Indra Adnan – The Politics of Waking Up
State of Emergence
Social psychotherapist and political entrepreneur Indra Adnan explores the politics and power dynamics of “waking up” to our meta-crisis and to one another. She shares her pioneering work as Founder of The Alternative UK creating “community agency networks” and considers how we can shift from narratives of trauma, disconnection and collapse into a radical certainty of our solutions. Indra has consulted to the World Economic Forum, Indian and Danish governments and NATO, amongst others. Her new book
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070 David Sloan Wilson – Evolution's Key Practices and Design Principles
State of Emergence
In a new and unedited conversation with evolutionary biologist and social theorist David Sloan Wilson, Terry and David continue to explore evolution’s design principles and practices that can enable social experiments and cooperative communities to succeed and grow. They consider the virtues and exploitations of competition, multiple layers of competition, genetic vs. cultural steams of evolution, the role of symbols in evolving our cultural narratives, and the political economist Elinor Ostrom’s eight
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069 David Sloan Wilson – A Human Superorganism: The Higher Potentials of Cooperation
State of Emergence
Evolutionary biologist & social theorist David Sloan Wilson clarifies the science of “multi-level selection” and how interpersonal cooperation and altruism are central to evolution. He shares the specific conditions that are required to nurture prosocial behavior in groups, as well as those that would qualify humans as a “superorganism” that prioritizes the wellbeing of the whole. David is the author of several books including a new novel, Atlas Hugged. He teaches at Binghamton University and is Pre
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068 Stephen Jenkinson – Overwhelming Beauty — and Being OK, Dying
State of Emergence
Spontaneous poet, culture activist & shamanic bard Stephen Jenkinson explores the disarming ordeal of bearing witness to death up close, including Terry’s uncertain situation — probable lung cancer with no diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment plan. They wonder together about the overwhelming nature of beauty and the vividness that dying well can bring to living. Stephen co-founded Orphan Wisdom, has authored four books and is now recording with musician Gregory Hoskins, most recently DARK ROADS and ROUGH
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Francis Weller (Rebroadcast) – Letting Grief Open Us to Grace
State of Emergence
A rebroadcast of a tender and deeply grounding conversation with psychotherapist and soul-activist Francis Weller, whose presence, wisdom and “soul obligation to register the rips and tears of the world” remains powerful medicine. He and Terry share their griefs and rediscover fierceness to protect all they love. Francis' work as a soul-centered psychotherapist synthesizes insights from psychology, anthropology, mythology, alchemy, and indigenous cultures in healing rituals for those working with grief.
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067 Jonathan Rowson – Tasting the Pickle: A Personal Relationship with the Meta-Crisis
State of Emergence
Chess Grandmaster & philosopher Jonathan Rowson explores our global meta-crisis from new angles — as a crisis of civilizational purpose, a lack of a meaningful global ‘We’, and its various socio-emotional, epistemic, and spiritual features. Jonathan is a sensemaking entrepreneur and the Director of Perspectiva. He is an applied philosopher with degrees from Oxford, Harvard, and Bristol Universities, and the author of The Moves that Matter, Spiritualise, and the brilliant essay "Tasting the Pickle.”
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067 Jonathan Rowson – Tasting the Pickle: A Personal Relationship with the Meta-Crisis
State of Emergence
Chess Grandmaster & philosopher Jonathan Rowson explores our global meta-crisis from new angles — as a crisis of civilizational purpose, a lack of a meaningful global ‘We’, and its various socio-emotional, epistemic, and spiritual features. Jonathan is a sensemaking entrepreneur and the Director of Perspectiva. He is an applied philosopher with degrees from Oxford, Harvard, and Bristol Universities, and the author of The Moves that Matter, Spiritualise, and the brilliant essay "Tasting the Pickle.”
info_outlineChess Grandmaster, philosopher, author, and social entrepreneur Jonathan Rowson joins Terry to explore our global, civilizational predicament from new angles — inspired by his recent brilliant essay “Tasting the Pickle: Ten Flavors of Meta-Crisis and the Appetite for a New Civilization.” They go beyond its more recognized features such as COVID, the climate emergency, and our economic and political crises to consider it as a crisis of civilizational purpose, a lack of a meaningful global ‘We’, and its various socio-emotional, epistemic, and spiritual features.
Then, Terry and Jonathan explore a more personal and intimate relationship to the meta-crisis. What does it feel like for each of us to live amidst its various energies and aesthetics? How can we learn to “taste” ideas, practices, and possibilities for their beauty and transformative power? What’s it like to interact with different worldviews in more playful and paradoxical ways? And lastly, we discover inspiration in considering the larger cultural project of building viable “we’s” that are meaningful, coherent, and effective in serving the whole.
Jonathan Rowson is a philosopher, author, chess Grandmaster, sensemaking entrepreneur and the Director of Perspectiva, a research institute based in London seeking to highlight the important connections between systems, souls, and society amidst our complex crises. Jonathan previously Directed the Social Brain Centre at RSA, the Royal Society of Arts, Manufacture & Commerce. He is an applied philosopher with degrees from Oxford, Harvard and Bristol Universities. Jonathan is the author of multiple books including Spiritualise: Cultivating Spiritual Sensibility to Address 21st Century Challenges (2017) and The Moves that Matter – A Grandmaster on the Game of Life (2019). As mentioned above, Jonathan also very recently published a brilliant essay providing an overview of our civilizational predicament called "Tasting the Pickle: Ten flavors of meta-crisis and the appetite for a new civilization,” which you can find on our episode page on stateofemergence.org.
Here are some additional questions explored in the episode:
- How does our use of language in describing our meta-crisis shape our experience and response? How does Jonathan’s humorous use of “pickle” invite a different experience?
- As we attempt to understand our predicament, how can we “go meta” with our sensemaking in a way that also grounds us in direct experience and relationship?
- Which emotional, cognitive, and relational capacities can enable us to navigate the cultural dissonance of our time?
- How can we build more sophisticated and effective “we’s” at scale, and how might such work begin to impact our systems?
For more information on Jonathan Rowson and Terry Patten, check out the following resources:
- Jonathan’s recent essay, “Tasting the Pickle: Ten Flavours of Meta Crisis and the Appetite for a New Civilisation”
- Perspectiva, which Jonathan co-founded in 2016 with Tomas Björkman
- Jonathan’s book, The Moves that Matter
- Jonathan’s book, Spiritualise
- Jonathan’s 2020 essay, “An Open Letter to the Human Rights Movement”
- Jonathan’s 2019 essay, “Buildung in the 21st Century: Why Sustainable Prosperity Depends on Reimagining Education”
- Jonathan’s Aeon magazine article on Concentration
- State of Emergence podcast website
- Terry Patten’s nonprofit, A New Republic of the Heart
- Terry Patten’s personal website
Join Us for the Next Podcast Q&A EventWe will be exploring this episode with Jonathan Rowson in greater depth during our next live State of Emergence live Q&A on Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 12 noon Pacific. If you haven’t already joined us, simply register as a Friend of State of Emergence and you’ll receive access to our monthly Q&A sessions with Terry and other listeners. You’ll also help the podcast become financially sustainable. A vibrant community is gathering and we’d love for you to be part of it. Sign up and we’ll see you soon.