An Emergent Telos?
Posted on Feb 20th, 2007
by 
Justin
Justin
From Daily Reading:
"It invites us to wonder whether nature has a telos, or creative tendency, to manifest the activities that appropriates the processes of any domain to produce more developed capacities." ~ Michael Murphy, The Future of the Body
That is...what is this tendency and impulse for evolution, for emergence? I appreciate that Murphy asks the question, cuz its a good one...and then leaves it to spend his 800 page book describing the "how and what" of human emergence...this seems like the best energy spent.
Lots of debates happening around evolutionary determinism vs. intelligent design. While these have been important, I sometimes wonder if the hidden assumptions of these camps get in the way of the most interesting (I guess in my mind) areas of inquiry.
I wonder if the heart of the concern is not so much around whether there is an ontological point of departure (for if that is the case...then whose metaphysic, which rationality...ala a bit of Alisdar MacIntire). If there is a clear one...well, it should be clear, and hold up to the efforts of inquiry.
It seems like most of us can point to this impulse within ourselves and other aspects of nature. Yet we are just on the begining stages of learning how emergence works, how we evolve. "Why" is a good question, but "why questions" often get in the way of action, of being, and of working with what you've got.
It is true that purpose and direction can come from the ontological "why". Yet personally, I am begining to learn for myself that the present moment that arises gives it own answer. In the west, we tend to want a "unmoved mover" to give us an "unmoved ontological ought and purpose." We want the safety of something fixed that doesn't change, that does not emerge in its own right...cuz then we would have to adjust, change, and emerge with it.
Soo...the remarkable thing for me, is not the statistical odds for and against evolution determinism or an ontological impulse coming from Creator as Other than me. I am facinated around how we change, adapt, grow, develop, emerge, and evolve. I find that when a person becomes cognizant of this potential in themselves the impulse is exponentially magnified. What is also striking is when I observe that impulse in others become conscious, it tends to not be merely selfish(Self), but other (Other) oriented as well.
If people know they can change, they generally want to. That is enough telos for me at this point. (I could say more, but I would end up writing a book, not a blog) The most immediate interest once that potential is realized is how do we get from here to there. Given that Robert Kegan's (adult developmentalist) estimate is that 2/3's to 3/4's of educated professionals (let alone the rest of the planet's adult population) become stagnate and arrested in their development...we could spend more time figuring out how to equip people who are interested, to grow and develop.
In short, we could use more research and workable models for facilitating human emergece...some skills and know how to leverage tipping points and good ol' bifurication in our lives.
Let's evolve!
"It invites us to wonder whether nature has a telos, or creative tendency, to manifest the activities that appropriates the processes of any domain to produce more developed capacities." ~ Michael Murphy, The Future of the Body
That is...what is this tendency and impulse for evolution, for emergence? I appreciate that Murphy asks the question, cuz its a good one...and then leaves it to spend his 800 page book describing the "how and what" of human emergence...this seems like the best energy spent.
Lots of debates happening around evolutionary determinism vs. intelligent design. While these have been important, I sometimes wonder if the hidden assumptions of these camps get in the way of the most interesting (I guess in my mind) areas of inquiry.
I wonder if the heart of the concern is not so much around whether there is an ontological point of departure (for if that is the case...then whose metaphysic, which rationality...ala a bit of Alisdar MacIntire). If there is a clear one...well, it should be clear, and hold up to the efforts of inquiry.
It seems like most of us can point to this impulse within ourselves and other aspects of nature. Yet we are just on the begining stages of learning how emergence works, how we evolve. "Why" is a good question, but "why questions" often get in the way of action, of being, and of working with what you've got.
It is true that purpose and direction can come from the ontological "why". Yet personally, I am begining to learn for myself that the present moment that arises gives it own answer. In the west, we tend to want a "unmoved mover" to give us an "unmoved ontological ought and purpose." We want the safety of something fixed that doesn't change, that does not emerge in its own right...cuz then we would have to adjust, change, and emerge with it.
Soo...the remarkable thing for me, is not the statistical odds for and against evolution determinism or an ontological impulse coming from Creator as Other than me. I am facinated around how we change, adapt, grow, develop, emerge, and evolve. I find that when a person becomes cognizant of this potential in themselves the impulse is exponentially magnified. What is also striking is when I observe that impulse in others become conscious, it tends to not be merely selfish(Self), but other (Other) oriented as well.
If people know they can change, they generally want to. That is enough telos for me at this point. (I could say more, but I would end up writing a book, not a blog) The most immediate interest once that potential is realized is how do we get from here to there. Given that Robert Kegan's (adult developmentalist) estimate is that 2/3's to 3/4's of educated professionals (let alone the rest of the planet's adult population) become stagnate and arrested in their development...we could spend more time figuring out how to equip people who are interested, to grow and develop.
In short, we could use more research and workable models for facilitating human emergece...some skills and know how to leverage tipping points and good ol' bifurication in our lives.
Let's evolve!
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February 2007 