Duane Elgin asserts that each cultural level of development is itself a "perceptual paradigm" in which we experience life to the limited degree that the given paradigm allows. He posits that - as an organizing framework - the invisible "dimensional geometry" that structures physical space also structures psychological or perceptual space.
Each new dimension or context is designed to call forth new potentials from us. As we perceive the possibilities inherent in each new dimension, we begin to actualize them, such that each provides new opportunities or learning contexts for individuals and societies to fill with creative actions.
We began as hunter-gathers, then morphed into farmers, and eventually moved into the technological era, the information era, and currently, perhaps the "integral era."
Supporting Gebser's and Kuhn's work, Elgin's understanding is that each paradigm has an effective and deficient phase. It appears that we are living within the latter stage, while a fresh one is beginning to arise"
Eventually a fresh paradigm becomes stale and confining; we may feel like a chick whose survival depends on its ability to peck its way out of an egg.
According to many cutting-edge thinkers (including Ervin Laszlo, Carolyn Baker and Andrew Harvey, Joanna Macy and Duane Elgin) current world culture is faced with a great crisis. Our willingness to delve deeply and discover its roots may mean the difference between life and death. They argue - and I agree - that our loss of wisdom is leading to terrible suffering and setting us up for potentially devastating consequences in the future.
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Domination
One of the deepest, most pernicious and pervasive underground paradigms is focused on power and control.
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