If you consider Wilber's four quadrants diagram and double-check it against the conceptual structures each meme tends to use, you may see something that surprises you -- I did.
If you squint a little, you'll notice that there are two sets of opposites in the diagram: individual/collective, and interior/exterior. You'll also notice that, when you turn these opposites into axes of polarity and place the axes perpendicular to each other, you get either (a) four distinct but not opposite categories, or (b) a two-dimensional spectrum.
Those are expressions of the particular structures favored by the orange meme. Although somewhat unexpected, this is not altogether shocking, since the four quadrants formalism is a formalism, which is what orange excels at.
This is not to say that orange thinking would or could have invented the four quadrants. Further inspection reveals that the four quadrants are intended to represent different and irresolvable perspectives (i.e. green), demonstrating their so-called "tetra-arising" -- inter-relationships, interdependence, and co-creation (i.e. yellow.)
Yet the particular structure used is one that can be easily grasped by orange, which leads me to question: Is this tool applied as intended? Do readers of Wilber's work grasp the full import of what he's saying? Can the same idea be translated into fully yellow conceptual structures?
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Thursday, April 9, 2009
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I cannot imagine how one could really gesture at quadrant "tetra-arising" in a visual format. It doesn't seem like something that can be frozen on a sheet of paper. What do you think about attempting to model this using animation: adding time and movement to the mixture? Also, what do you think of the four quadrants as a tool of down-translation into an orange framework?
ReplyDeleteThey seem like a fantastic tool for down-translating to orange. In fact, I'd suggest that the four quadrants are one of the parts of integral theory that makes it most appealing to an orange-green audience.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about visualizing interrelationships and simultaneously arising and co-creating. Right now, I'm looking at network and feedback loop mapping, but I think animation might prove valuable too.