Hello everyone, I sent a message to this list a few days ago about how we might create a table comparing the different approaches to addressing the meta-crisis. I figure that a lot of people and organizations agree that there are these several crises that are interdependent and interrelated (ecological, political, socio-cultural, economic, educational, meaning, etc.) but there are divergent opinions about what to do. I still haven't heard anyone clearly define this "dark renaissance" notion, but I took a stab at defining it here based on what I remember Bard saying a few months ago. I'm intending this to be a conversation starter. I figure several of you guys could improve upon what I have here. Some of this might even be just plainly wrong. Let me know what you think: Approach to Addressing the Meta-Crisis Proponents Notes Rational Optimistic Enlightenment We need a more full embrace and more widespread adoption throughout the world of what already has been shown to work, which are the values and psycho-technologies of the Age of Enlightenment, such as rationality, science, progress, skepticism, liberty, fraternity, equality, and progress and getting away from ignorance, dogmatism, authority, tradition, superstition, and prejudice. Postmodernism and critical theory have little or nothing of value to offer and are only diversions and roadblocks. Steven Pinker This is probably just a newer version of Enlightenment 1.0, so we might call it Enlightenment 1.5 or something Enlightenment 2.0 We need to address the "Enlightenment Gap", which the first enlightenment never solved and which Enlightenment 1.5 doesn't solve either. This involves embracing enlightenment rationalism and postmodern critique, coming up with a coherent naturalistic ontology and more clear definitions for scientific terms that are taken for granted. This also involves new paradigms and new methodologies that embrace inner development integrated with science. Gregg Henriques Conscious Evolution We can become mindful of the dynamics of the fundamental force of evolution and the relation to consciousness and this will awaken our collective capacity to overcome our challenges and create a better future. In socio-political terms, this hasn't been fully developed, despite Wilber claiming to have a "theory of everything" 20 years ago, since some of this is the subject of his forthcoming 3rd book in the Kosmos Trilogy. Ken Wilber Dark Renaissance Things will go dark almost inevitably, meaning that society will break down and a new dark age will result. But some of us will be able to create new aesthetic movements to get things through in order to plant the seeds for an eventual rebirth, and some people are already working on this. Alexander Bard Techno-Optimistic Technological advancements will save humanity and will save our planet. Next-generation innovations will heroically avert any and all calamities. Humanity's best days are ahead because of the power of technology and innovation. Elon Musk Meta-Sensemaking We really need to greatly improve our sensemaking amid the panoptic bombardment of information and ever-shifting technology. Mark Stahlman via Marshall McLuhan Ecology of Mind We can use our understanding of ecology in conjunction with warm data and the nuances and complexities of various aspects of life to help us intuitively make better choices. Nora Bateson Revolutionary Anti-Capitalistic We need to overthrow the capitalist bourgeoisie before they destroy the world with their unquenchable greed. Doctrinaire Marxists Holistic Back-to-Nature We need to re-discover our indigenous roots and live in harmony with nature, which will involve much less consumption and a dramatic decrease in industrialization. Doomer Defeatist There is no way to head off disaster so the best you can do is to save yourself and your family and maybe the members of the ethnic group that you identify with. Brandon Norgaard Founder, The Enlightened Worldview Project ############################ 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