We hear so often that “we live in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world, and humanity needs to increase the complexity of its thinking” to meet the challenges of our “meta-crisis.” We also hear that human consciousness needs to undergo a radical transformation, which, for integralists, includes deep individual and collective shadow work. I suggest that our integral community is somewhat unclear on the relationship between the ascending path of increased developmental complexity, the ascending path of “spiritual” competency, and the descending path of shadow work. We will experience several activities aimed at clarifying when a context calls for increasing complexity, vs releasing complexity. I will offer a model that integrates hierarchical complexity theory, ego development theory, and trauma healing research.
Integral
