Is human civilization, with its cities, laws, technology, and endless forward momentum, a plague on Mother Earth moving us further and further from our indigenous, natural, Eden-like past with every progressive step? Or is it the most recent expression of an extraordinary process of evolution that has given birth to higher and higher forms of complexity, beauty, and inclusiveness with every leap forward? At this point in history, when some say that things are better than they’ve ever been while others are say they’re worse than they’ve ever been, it seems like this deep rift between those who see our current trajectory as inherently positive or negative is getting more and more complicated by the day. And which side of the aisle you sit on with regard to this particular topic has a huge impact on how you will see and relate to our current predicament and to the future in general.
I recently came across a hilarious episode of The Stuart Davis Show that helps shed a comic light on this debate. Davis—a rock musician, comedian, and founding member of the Integral Institute—may be the integral world’s most entertaining personality. And the clip is nothing short of genius. In a schizophrenic scene situated in an idyllic Colorado mountain meadow, “Techno-Progressive Stuart” dukes it out with “Eco-Spiritual Stuart” over the ultimate value of human civilization. Enjoy!
To watch the clip on Vimeo.com, go here.
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The most -quantum- leaps I make in my conscious understanding of awareness and what it means and how it feels to me (or how -it- means what -it- feels ;) occur in the intuitive and independently-timed resolving of contradictions I stumble across in my daily existence – thank you Stephen and Stuart for the vibrant perspective fodder. Bravo for opening up the worthy discussion beyond platitudes and polemics!
great, stuff,as an srtist i feel i,ve been draggin my heals a bit here,, some of us have noticed the obvious truth for quite some time,,political propoganda, seems to ,get the grease,, respectfully jimz
Wonderful job on this! Very well done!
The truth includes all of it, both left and right, and begins with reconnecting to one’s higher consciousness. The Higher Perspective is the solution. But unfortunately it’s not well known yet because reconnecting with the higher self is the *beginning* of understanding the Higher Perspective. It takes more than just sitting around meditating or arguing.
I have a 7 pg. report (gratis) on reconnecting to your higher self. Visit my website if you’d like a copy.
Christine Hoeflich
Brilliant. Stuart at his finest (split) — captures the faulty views and the true all mixed as they tend to be in our psyche and between us…Thank you!
“We got a little too drunk at this Earth party, stole some stuff and grabbed a waitress’s ass” … does that sum it all up or what? The beauty of this commentary is that both persona’s have valid points, and to keep on evolving (or even existing) we have to walk the razors edge, now more than ever before it would seem. Is integral philosophy our only hope? It’s hard to see another way that makes it all work out. But even if we screw up royally and humans become extinct, life goes on elsewhere in the universe, consciousness goes on, and sure it would be a shame to mess up this experiment in consciousness on this planet, but Creation will not be denied.
The irony is that they are both right! It is both the best and the worst of times – suggesting that our individual decisions may truly help shape the future.
Lots of factual errors – understandable, since these erroneous beliefs are what our culture is founded on (read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn)
Aztecs and Maya were civilized, not tribal. Civilized societies are collectively FAR more violent, plague-ridden, impoverished, etc than tribal societies. Life expectancy of 33 and 80% infant mortality are features of early (and medieval) civilization – not tribal norms.
Civilization represents less than a percent of all human history. But we’ve had such a fantastic population explosion as a result of agriculture and other civilization processes, that it looks like ALL of human history.
It’s just a flash in the pan. A fun argument, but in a couple hundred years humanity will be back in its place, ecologically speaking. Whether we’ll be civilized in 200 years – totally separate question.
The 2500 scientists who are freaking out about climate change do not represent the majority of scientists on the planet. There’s probably millions of scientists on the planet… remember, even scientists are subject to belief systems informed by the cultural babbling going on around them all the time (e.g. “teenage girls are HOT, 52 year old dweebs like me can get laid by them if we are presitigious enough”)
cheers
Lauranimist
Since environmentalism is really a religion, it needs to be kept out of the public realm. There is an issue of separation of religion and state.
Of course we can all sit here and comment on details, what is right, what is wrong, but in essence, beautifully portrayed. As life is a perfect expression of …..er…life, our modern world is as natural as those elements that are now extinct. Life is what it is so the only way to truly enjoy it is to let it be. The activities will continue, whether you become an active part of reform, or whether you become a more passive observer. Isn’t that a miracle.
Namaste. Mark-Hans
I Loved your Clip! There are so many “Opinions and Views” Live Life… Thank you for a Great Morning Smile!
Cheers,
Cindy lea Sambueso
yes that was brilliant ! I believe that we are just doing the cycling that has been going on since the beginning that was life happening ! there is nothing that we are going through that is a bad thing, it is just cycling. it is exciting to see the phoenix rising once again. the cocoon to the butterfly is a beautiful metamorphosis; we are that metamorphosis. thanks for sharing. it was beautifully done.
i love this. i’ve been thinking about this a lot and trying to reconcile the techno-progressive me and the eco-spiritual me. and my conclusion is we need a fusion of the two. i guess that’s where the integral comes in. evolution is why we are here and consciousness will never end.
Obnoxscious babble. Obvious recurring boring opinions. Old human trait of needing to be heard. I hear ya but, I prefer artistic expression.
It’s true, humans may not survive the next catcylsmic disaster. But it’s not true that we will lose consciousness, or cease to exist as our highest selves. And who’s to say there’s not some other place in the universe where we will re-incarnate or evolve to lead more enriched lives and take with us the knowledge of what we’ve learned here on earth. Read Conversations with God, Book 3 , for a glimplse into life in another realm.