Hi TOK List: I wanted to share here that I have hooked up with folks who are involved in what is called "Metamodernism" via one of its primary promoters, Brent Cooper,<https://medium.com/@brentcooper> whom just joined our list. He and I enjoyed a very productive conversation. I thought I would share my intro to that list. I think that after I complete my depression blog series and a get a few of the other projects off my desk, I am going to really dive into working on the meta-global crisis and how the ToK System provides the needed framework for the 21st Digital Century. My mind has consistently returned to the idea that the key problem we are facing is the intersection of our confused identities and the emerging digital landscape, such that we need to solve the "digital identity" problem. Hope everyone is well and getting some rest and relaxation in during the summer. Best, Gregg >>> Hi Metamodernists and related thinkers! Many thanks for the welcome to the list and for the Theory of Everything connections. In terms of my brief bio, I am a Professor of Graduate Psychology at James Madison University. My training is in clinical-theoretical-personality psychology; essentially the same professional background as Jordan Peterson. Since 1997 I have been working on a new, "post postmodern" synthetic philosophy called the Tree of Knowledge System. It emerged in the context of the mid1990s, as I became aware of "the problem of psychology". This is the greatly underappreciated fact that the field of psychology is a: (1) complete conceptual mess and (2) the reason it is such a mess is absolutely central to understanding why philosophy failed to develop an effective synthetic framework that could hold the objective, subjective, and intersubjective domains of human knowing and thus broke down into postmodernism in the 20th Century. My webpage (found here<https://www.gregghenriques.com/>) provides access to much of my work, and describes where my attention was focused at that time (in the summer of 2018), which was primarily on how the Tree of Knowledge System unfolds into a "unified framework" for both the science of psychology and for conducting psychotherapy, and the concomitant implications for an emerging "formula living a good life" via the metaphor of a Garden and something called an "iQuad coin". A such, if you visit my homepage you will see many references to the "UTUA Framework," which stands for "unified theory of psychology" and "unified approach to psychotherapy" and will see pictures of a "Garden of UTUA" which is an archetypal metaphor for cultivating the good life in, concert with both with others and the earth at large. A unique aspect of the ToK is that is a language system that systematically connects objective science with subjective phenomenology with a moral way of being in the world. I was on sabbatical in the fall of 2018, writing a new book (The Problem of Psychology and Its Solution) when I started exploring the larger world regarding our current cultural moment, and its various global crises. That is when I got into it tracking the<https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/theory-knowledge/201808/jordan-peterson-part-one-five-part-blog-series> "Jordan Peterson Phenomena".<https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/theory-knowledge/201808/jordan-peterson-part-one-five-part-blog-series> I then found Alexander Bard and learned of the syntheism movement and joined his intellectual deep web list. More recently, I have digested Rebel Wisdom and now have moved into the world of metamodernism and am exploring what else is in this realm (please feel free to point me in particular directions if you have suggestions). I am in complete agreement with folks like John Vervaeke who argue that we face a profound meaning crisis and related mental health crisis. I agree with the metaphor of folks like Jordan Hall and Daniel Schmachtenberger that we (humanity) can be thought of as caterpillar eating our way through various substrates that sustain us, such that we need to turn into a butterfly, or face the prospect of catastrophe. Just as metamodernism, the ToK points us toward the need to both digest insights of postmodern deconstruction and yet also emphasizes the need to move beyond the fragmented pluralism and chaotic multiplicity of language games that is the current postmodern historical state of affairs. To address the meaning crisis, we need to move into a more coherent, integrated pluralism and develop coherent meta-perspectives that can serve to coordinate the language systems and insights into a more consilient and shared picture of ourselves and the universe. I started a society and listserve called Theory of Knowledge (the TOK Society<https://www.gregghenriques.com/theory-of-knowledge-society.html>) that is devoted to this argument. The ToK System orients us to link the current global crises with the emergence of the digital landscape. The reason is because the ToK makes the ontic-ontological claim that there are four "planes of existence" (Matter, Life, Mind and Culture) and each plane following Matter is a complex adaptive landscape that emerges and functions via different information processing and communication mediums (i.e., Life via genes and cells, Mind via neurons and animals, Culture via language and persons). The digital landscape that is unfolding before our eyes sets the stage for a potential meta-dimension, a plane of existence "above" Culture on the ToK. The combination of the meaning crisis and the emerging digital landscape and all its implications is where we need to focus our attention. The ToK provides a map of this terrain in the form of the "fifth joint point<https://www.gregghenriques.com/unified-theory-book.html>", which refers to the problem of developing knowledge and wisdom systems that effectively mesh with the emerging digital century and does so in a way that functions to create a more optimally flourishing harmony between humanity, technology, and mother earth. Great to be here! I look forward to many stimulating conversations and exchanges. Regards to all, Gregg ___________________________________________ Gregg Henriques, Ph.D. Professor Department of Graduate Psychology 216 Johnston Hall MSC 7401 James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA 22807 (540) 568-7857 (phone) (540) 568-4747 (fax) Be that which enhances dignity and well-being with integrity. Check out my Theory of Knowledge blog at Psychology Today at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/theory-knowledge Check out my webpage at: www.gregghenriques.com<http://www.gregghenriques.com> ############################ To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the following link: http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1