What Would it Take for Us to Preserve What Remains of Life on the Planet?
This is the overarching question author Said Elias Dawlabani asks in Second Sapiens: The Rise of the Planetary Mind and the Future of Humanity. We at San Diego Integral are fortunate to have him as our guest speaker addressing this existential issue.
Dawlabani is a human-evolution theorist who advances the ideas of his predecessors, Clare W. Graves and Spiral Dynamics author Don E. Beck. Dawlabani asserts that the current leading edge of intelligence that rules over our scientific, political, and economic reality is incapable of mitigating many of the unprecedented challenges we face. Our present institutions and ways of thinking are an extension of humanity’s journey through its first six stages of development, which have been marked by imperfection ever since we became hunter-gatherers millions of years ago. This is the journey of the First sapiens that has brought us to where we are now: to the edge of the Sixth Extinction. And we cannot overcome the problems we face today with the same thinking that created them, nor can they be reverse engineered to pinpoint where things went wrong. Those are the scientific methods of the First Sapiens, and, at best, they provide only partial solutions that rarely consider the whole ecosystem into which their thinking is birthed.
That “whole ecosystem” is the domain of what Dawlabani calls the Second Sapiens, an emerging expression of humanity in his book’s comprehensive development model. It puts forth the notion that in order for us to address existential threats to our planet and to human-built systems, our psychosocial capacities must take an exponential leap forward; they must begin to mimic the highly interdependent behavior of nature’s ecosystems. Second sapiens is characterized by a radical shift in perspective that views leading practices on sustainable and regenerative economies through Earth’s mandate for degrowth. Dawlabani goes beyond the issues contributing to the carbon footprint and climate change and considers how the pursuit of modernization impacts all of Earth’s systems in assessing the feasibility of current economic models. This perspective sheds new light on efforts intended to reverse ecological breakdown, restore biodiversity, equalize the distribution of resources, and promote universal health and well-being. Above all, Dawlabani’s new model for human evolution provides a way for us to transcend our anthropocentric ways of thinking and begin to think in gaiacentric terms. The latter being the only form of intelligence that takes into account all forms of life—not just our own—on this exquisite, fragile planet that happens to be the only one we have.
The book is available on Amazon or from your preferred bookseller.
Said’s Bio: Said Elias Dawlabani is a human evolution theorist and a leading authority on the application of stage development to large-scale change. He is a writer and public speaker specializing in the Gravesian approach to psychosocial development and the evolution of societal systems. Named one of the world’s boldest thought leaders in 2019.
He is the author of three books. His first MEMEnomics, The Next-Generation Economic System (2013), brought recognition of his stage development model as a specialty in the field of cultural economics.
His work has been translated into over 20 languages, including Korean, Mandarin, German, and Russian. He has given keynote speeches on sustainable and regenerative economics in many parts of the world. His second book, The Light of Ishtar (2021) is a personal memoir that chronicles his journey in life with his wife and soulmate Elza Maalouf through myth and psycho-spirituality. Since 2018, he has turned his attention to the application of stage development to climate change and the economics of the Anthropocene, which are the subject of his third book: Second Sapiens, the Rise of the Planetary Mind and the Future of Humanity (fall 2024). Evolutionary thinkers who read the book consider it a visionary road map that inspires hope and action. Others have called it a manifesto for the future.
Dawlabani is the founder of The MEMEnomics Group, an advisory that is dedicated to speaking Gaian truth to economic power by uncovering the values of a regenerative future driven by a mandate for de-growth.
He was a close associate of renowned geopolitical advisor the late Don E. Beck, PhD. Beck was Graves’ successor and one of the architects behind South Africa’s transition from Apartheid and the author of Spiral Dynamics, the most authoritative theory on stage development and change. Before teaming up with Beck, Dawlabani had a prominent career in the real estate and home-building industries.
In 2005, Dawlabani co-founded The Center for Human Emergence Middle East with Beck and Maalouf. The center is a think tank that frames sociopolitical and economic issues of the region through the prism of cultural stage development. He’s a past lecturer on the topic of transformational leadership at the Adizes Graduate School in Santa Barbara and the University of Virginia. Dawlabani is a contributor to several online platforms and to the Integral Leadership Review, Kosmos Journal, and other publications. His research is cited by several academic publications including the National Bureau of Economic Research
His work is featured in the Leader to Leader Quarterly Journal, Newsweek, The Christian Science Monitor, and on NPR, PRN, and Voice of America. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ About San Diego Integral: Join us for a transformative workshop where we delve into the depths of Integral Spirituality, exploring topics such as Philosophy, Metaphysics, and Life Transformation. Led by experts in the field, we will engage in discussions on Meditation, Consciousness, and Spirituality, drawing from the teachings of Ken Wilber and the principles of Psychology. Together, we will embark on a journey of Self-Mastery through practices like Shadow Work and Integral Community building.
Be part of the San Diego Integral group as we deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. This workshop will provide a safe space for exploring integral concepts, enhancing communications, and reflecting on how these ideas intersect with our personal and collective growth. Whether you are a seasoned practitioner or new to the concepts of Integral Spirituality, this event promises to be a rich and enlightening experience for all attendees.