Metamodern Meaning

Dr. Mark Fabian discusses his explorations into ethics, meaning, and value beyond postmodern nihilism and his new book Beyond Happy. If values aren't to be rooted in metaphysics or reason, then where? What role does evolution play in all of this? What specific, concrete policies and actions might we see enacted to create a flourishing metamodern world?0:00 Introduction1:12 Ethics and Well-Being in Metamodernity4:30 Mark's Story: From Nihilism to Meaning9:44 Vibe-Valuing: Beyond Ethical Foundationalism16:41 A Deeper Pattern?31:28 Evolution, Emergence, Ethics38:14 Intersubjective Valuation52:03 Relativism55:33 Political Metamodernism58:58 How Do We Rebuild Meaningful Spaces? Concrete Ideas1:16:55 Metamodern Mythos1:21:33 Conclusion


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Alexander Love offers a developmental tour through his version of the STAGES model, from Concrete to Subtle to Metaware tiers. Along the way, I make comparisons/contrasts to the developmental models based on hierarchical complexity. We discuss the content/structure distinction, the idea of a "center of gravity," as well as the unique contributions Alexander has made to the STAGES presentation. 0:00 Introduction0:55 Content vs. Structure: On Not Reducing Models to Typologies8:06 What Note is Your Piano? No One's "At" a Stage12:44 Constructing the World: What of Reality is Given?18:04 Concrete, Subtle, Metaware vs. Actions, Representations, Abstraction28:41 Capacity and Context36:41 Evolution's Engine46:35 Purely Structural vs. Holistic or Synthetic Models of Development53:44 The Metaware Tier1:07:16 Alexander's Contribution1:11:02 Scoring STAGES Data for Hierarchical Complexity? 1:12:46 How Do We Use Models Well1:16:49 Conclusion
Alexander M. Love, MCC, M.Ac. is an internationally recognized facilitator, coach, author, and acupuncturist whose work lives at the intersection of human development, contemplative wisdom, and deep transformational work. He is a Master Certified Coach (ICF), a certified STAGES scorer and developmental coach through Stages International. At the Newfield Network, he serves as Director of Curriculum Development and Senior Facilitator. He also holds a master’s degree in acupuncture from the Academy for Five Element Acupuncture. Alexander is the creator of the Lumina Process — a developmentally informed parts work modality that helps people work skillfully with shadow, shift their relationship to pain, and root more deeply in wholeness. He is also the author of The Evolutionary Gestures Trilogy, a mythopoetic work of magic realist memoir that explores the sacred gap between self and world, introduces a distinctive developmental vision, and opens toward post-tragic possibility. Over two decades, he has facilitated more than fifteen thousand hours of life-changing work with individuals and groups.


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What if “The Absolute” is always relative? What if “The Universal” is always contingent? What if our apprehensions of the Ultimate are best expressed as partial apprehensions with their own limits? What if we take “doubt” as an essential component to the fabric of reality itself? Would this be a more properly “nondual” approach to spiritual intuitions?
Here I try to articulate my thoughts on a “postmetaphysical spirituality” as articulated by influences like Layman Pascal and Bruce Alderman.
What do you think?



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In this book launch deep-dive, Layman Pascal talks about "Nietzsche, All Too Nietzsche" -- the second volume of his Moustache Trilogy -- unpacking what and why the book is. We explore Nietzsche's worldview, its evolutionary developmental essence, and how his thought can be read as proto-metamodern (as well as modern and postmodern!). Who was the Alpine Sage? Madman or mystic -- or both/and? What do Nietzsche's reflections on decadence and mythos have to teach us about today?


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Artists [M] Dudeck and Javi Acevedo share their work on creatively constructing a metamodern art religion. They walk us through a holy book of personal myth---Xenotheology: The Transmedial Scriptures---discussing the process as part of the broader performance of mythopoetic meaning-making. Filmed during the metamodern spirituality lab exploring "sacred art," we talk about the genesis of the project, its personal and cultural significance, what it means and what comes next.



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