What is the Cleavage Point that brings Deep Change? / A new story of Past Present & Future…
Convenor: Michael Schacker— author of forthcoming book 21st Century Transformation: A new story of Past Present & Future
Attending: Alli Starr, Seth Henry, Skye Burn, Joshua, Brian Good, Sherry Herndon, Ashel Eldridge, Omar, Jo Hannah, Anodea Judith, Stephen Silha
Scribe: Stephen
Michael:
I looked into diamond cutting to find out about cleavage points. A diamond cutter only has one strike. Has to be right force, right tool, right spot. When they have a big diamond, they gather groups of diamond cutters who study it for weeks.
If we can focus our energy on the deep cleavage point of our history, we can make change, turn it into jewels.
In order to study this, I went back into history. At what point did other societies shift their paradigm? Historical pattern: Greeks had philosophy that birthed laws of nature and scientific methodology. Society didn’t change, though, just because Pythagorus
Herodotus wrote a new history of the world, and opened up Greeks’ eyes to other civilizations. People became aware of different myths in different cultures.
For a paradigm to be successful, needs to explain:
Pythagorus answered who we are. Herdotus, how we got here.
New Myth of Universal Empire based on brotherhood. (Alexander let others keep their governments.)
Changed from tribal / national to universal. Changed relationship of individual to universal.
Middle Ages: believed everything revolved around the earth.
Copernican Revolution: from doctrine/myth to idea that we’re just part of the universe. Then teased out by Galileo – and evolved into democracy.
Cleavage point: new history, new philosophy. No deep change yet.
Enlightenment pattern:
1) Scientific Revolution
2) Philoslphical Revolution
3) Then, social and political realms.
1700-1725: Early Enlightenment. Heliocentric astronomy. [like 1960’s] Liquor. Large orchestras. Libertine attitude toward sex & affairs. [Dangerous Liaisons]
Then, 20 years of conservative backlash. Fundamentalist preachers. Trying to hold back the Enlightenment. Conservative political leaders. Wahabi Islam, Hasidic Judaism, Fundamentalist Methodism. Confucian rights. BUT at the same time, change was fomenting beneath the surface.
1740-1760: Intensive Phase . Medieval holdovers. But children of the early enlightenment were radical, transformational. (Thomas Paine, Ben Franklin)
Voltaire wrote new history of France, of the world. He wasn’t allowed to publish. He read them at salons. Diderot wrote encyclopedia; Voltaire wrote the history. Debunked the ‘divine birth’ of kings. Told the palace dirt. Brought back Greek ideas of democracy. Wrote beautifully. Undermined the old paradigm.
Came up with idea of progress: science will lead us to a better world. Re-answered questions on the cleavage point: Who are we? How did we get here? Where are we going?
Introduced Newtonian ideas. At first 5% think in new way; then 25-30% New storyfield! Revolution.
Transformational phase: American revolution, French revolution, Industrial revolution:
Scientific democracy
Now, Michael Dowd and Brian Swimme have answered “Who Are We?”
We still need to know how we got here, and where we’re going. Otherwise, new paradigm doesn’t have a center of gravity.
1960’s and 70’s – transformational phase. New paradigm coming in.
1866 – ecology concept discovered by Ernst Haeckel. The Art of Nature.
Here at Storyfield, we don’t know our own history. (Though we do have pieces.)
Kant, Goethe (The Law of Organics)– new scientific revolution, not based on machine model. Kant is the organic Copernicus. Brought Eastern thought into Western philosophy. (Taoism & Confucianism) Romantics: Blake.
Goethe said evolution created humanity so it can enjoy itself. The uber-plant.
What’s the next chapter in the story we’re in?
What are the different threads people know about? Ezra Pound tried to put it all together, and he went insane.
Where’s the organizing image of where we’re going? Is this what StoryField Conference needs to discover? We’re looking at the diamond.
Historical pattern:
Early (60’s-70’s)
Conservative backlash (denial of global warming)
Intensive phase (where we are today) – need cleavage point!
Transformation.
Archimedes: you need a place to stand in order to use a lever.
Kant said two types of humans: homo phenomenon – house family horse
Homo numinon – think holistically …
Rudolph Steiner
Otto Scharner
New wave of organic philosophers
Ken Wilber – ego centric; ethnocentric; world or cosmic centric
Michael Dowd
Anodea Judith
New millennial generation. New activists.
Images of the future: Fred Pollock. 1950’s. (Susan Cannon)
Doesn’t have to be widespread change.
Ashel: What about looking at longer view of what needs to happen:
Peter Schwartz: The Art of the Long View
Teilhard de Chardin:
We stand on the biosphere
Live in the atmosphere
Think in the noosphere …
If we can create new story, revise history,
Use many media.
We need to get really specific: What are our new politics? What’s our version of the industrial revolution? What’s our new organizing principle?
Start with the universe. We’re all aspiring homo-numinons now. Need to do it for real.
What’s the next revolution? The Re-Generation Revolution.
New economics
Agriculture (soil can be regenerated now that 70% is sub-par; island of Dominique will be model)
Ways to eliminate global poverty.
Democratic peace. Integrative education. Holistic medicine.
Invented by Robert Rodale, Regenerative economics.
EF Schumaker, Economics as if people really mattered.
Michael’s first "regenerative" book will be about bees dying.
Second book will be about Rodale’s regenerative economics. (Rodale’s son gave him all his papers)
New website: globalcurriculum.com
Axial age: Socrates, Confucius, Buddha all lived at the same time. Their students changed the world.
Soul? It’s individual and collective.
Dawn of conscience: Egyptians conceived of universal god. You must have conscience, moral base.
Other theologians, like Barbara McGraw, suggest conscience is a construct.
Skye: Crystals. The Crystal Gazer was my first book of poetry. I’m hoping we can strategize on how to strike that crystal. 58% of Americans believe future will unfold as told in Book of Revelation.
Anodea: As a therapist, I’d like to respond. Deep change came from history. Relive it. The cleavage points for individuals is going to their history. With my book Waking the Global Heart, I did the same thing with culture. Cleavage point: Here’s why I did this. Here’s how I can do differently.
Omar: 25 million people living in Mexican plateau. Mayans living with the earth. Magnifying the earth. Also had cosmic view.
Jo: I’m not historian. These stories I know nothing about. Learning a lot. I’m more psychologically oriented. I’m glad there are people who study big pictures. I look at very tiny pieces of the story: the individual, the family. That reality is as big a story as others. My personal history can inform where I came from, where I am, where I’m going. This is why I’m into forgiveness. Still possibility of change within other paradigms (Christians, etc.). We can only see certain things. I’m learning from this.
Alli: There’s an enlightened activism happening in the street. Behind me is a huge community I feel responsible for/with. For me young people of color. Now 2 million of us are living behind bars. I want to speak into that. We can foment revolution on behalf of others (e.g. French Revolution).
Anodea: What is this story of people behind bars? Society trying to get rid of shadow.
Alli: Would you burn the judge or free Mumia? Practicing liberation. In WTO shutdown, it wasn’t one person it was a collective.
Joshua: Collective inspires individual, and vice versa.
Kant said, philosophy worth nothing if people on streets can’t understand it. He wrote a second book The Prologonoma to Any Future Metaphysic. [layman’s version]
Michael: I wrote one story of new paradigm.
In old paradigm, artists to glorify god.
New, artists to foment change.
If we can put it all together,
Transformational entertainment: transfotainment. [Voltaire wrote Candide]
Alli: Tired of tips, looking for clefts.
Joshua: I’d invite people to say we’re already in the paradigm shift.
How do we tell the story in a way that everyone feels their genius is part of the story?
Where’s the spine of the story around which the pieces aggregate?