A Synergistic Salon
MAY 12-16, 2005
THE HACIENDA (between Monterey and San Luis Obispo)
PURPOSE:
To generate breakthroughs in our understandings of evolutionary directionality and emergent complexity and to apply these insights individually and collectively in ways that further human fulfillment and the thrival of all life.
OUR SHARED INQUIRY:
How do we understand, interpret, and apply the evolutionary worldview offered by mainstream and emerging sciences to facilitate a positive impact on the evolution of humanity and the natural world?
MORE SPECIFICALLY:
A. We want to better understand the dynamics of evolutionary emergent complexity, especially the relationship between cooperative processes and various stressors — competition, natural cataclysm, war, technological innovations, etc. — in biological and cultural evolution.
B. We want to better understand the various ways evolutionary science has been interpreted with respect to the future evolution of humanity and Earth: What are possible evolutionary dynamics and trajectories?
C. We want to explore how to actively influence our evolutionary trajectory in favorable directions. How can we work with evolution instead of being merely subject to it or blindly playing out destructive roles? How can we use our growing knowledge of cosmic, biological, and cultural evolution to advance wisdom that can be beneficently applied.
PARTICIPANTS:
(Click on name or scroll down)
Video: Caroline Webb & Connie Barlow
Post-Salon Reflections:
"BURNING QUESTIONS" POSED IN ADVANCE OF THE SALON:
VICKI ROBIN: What simple, true story can awaken and sustain the increasingly invisible and voiceless billions on this earth through these dark times? And, how can the power of love meet the forces of the marketplace effectively enough to change humanity's direction without losing our souls? And, what's needed for synergy to blossom amongst leaders and practitioners of different paths towards wholeness?
MICHAEL DOWD: How can we further the evolutionary impulse and organize/govern ourselves as a species (locally, regionally, nationally, and globally) so that there are real and effective incentives for individuals, corporations, and nation-states to cooperate and serve the common good (each benefits substantially by doing so), and equally effective incentives against disregarding or damaging the common good? And how can the epic of evolution be told in a mythic way, as a big picture sacred story, so that it inspires and motivates billions of human beings with different worldviews to really want, and then to successfully manifest, this vision?
CHERYL GENET: How might a global cosmology emerge, as a global community becomes an increasing reality, and how might such a cosmology reflect both an evolutionary, emergent understanding of our origins and, at the same time, the full diversity of human cultures and religions which I believe are essential to the evolutionary fitness of humanity?
TOM ATLEE: How do we (humanity) pass our imminent final exam to graduate from probable extinction to a consciously evolving civilization?
PEGGY HOLMAN: How can our understandings of evolution/emergence materially contribute to our individual and collective capacity to care for ourselves, each other, and the whole?
SENATOR LES IHARA: What conversation design can enable evolvement as an individual, group, collective, and species — all at the same time?
DAVID GERSHON: What are the most effective strategies for furthering human evolution?
RUSS GENET: Will the Earth's transition from genetic to cultural evolutionary predominance succeed in the long run and, as a result, will we venture forth into the cosmos? Or is cultural life always self destructive, does it always blitzkrieg its home planet? In the cosmic scheme of things, our planetary system is relatively recent, thus many other planets should have, long ago, made the cultural transition. Why haven't we heard from them? Are they just too far away, are our detection capabilities still inadequate, or have their cultures, like the Easter islanders, always destroyed themselves?
DAVID CHRISTIAN: What makes human history different from biological history? Can we find a rigorously scientific description of what makes humans radically different from other large animals?
CHRIS CORBALLY: What are a few examples of evolutionary innovation and emergence that are happening right now amidst us? How can we become more conscious, co-creative participants in these contemporary evolutionary developments?
DUANE ELGIN: In what ways can we awaken the potential for the
self-guiding evolution of communities and societies?
BARBARA MARX HUBBARD: Between the two polar opposites Creationism and Scientific Materialism as an explanation of
the process of evolution, what is the best way of understanding the
spiritual, transcendent pattern that connects elements in evolution?
JAY EARLEY: I'd like us to explore the current trends and driving forces in society, both those moving us toward transformation and those moving in other directions. This would mean looking at trends that are shorter term than social evolution but longer term than usual political strategy.
MARY EVELYN TUCKER: How can we engage and empower the next generation to see that the future of the flourishing of the planet is in their hands too?
KEVIN W. KELLEY: What information is most needed by the world as a whole (Why? Are we sure?) and how can we most effectively and broadly disseminate this information to assure that it is assimilated in the way that it is needed?
MARK DUBOIS: Can we co-create a 'force' — a new story, a campaign, an action-think tank, a network, an entity, or something beyond these — to catalyze the emerging passion within each human to birth and nurture more beauty and diversity on the planet resulting in social justice, equity, and flourishing sustainability?
Click here for Pre-Salon Interviews of and by Participants.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES & PHOTOS
I am an astronomer and director of the Orion Observatory, http://www.orionobservatory.org. The Orion Observatory is studying star spots and other transitory phenomena on the surfaces of and spaces between eclipsing binary stars, searching for planets around other stars, and is studying Cepheid variable stars which are used for determining distances in the cosmos. I also work on cosmic evolution - the grand synthesis of physical, biological, and cultural evolution. My 1997 book, The Chimpanzees Who Would Be Ants, explored humanity's place in the cosmos, our evolution, and four potential futures. Currently I am putting the finishing touches on two other books: Humanity and Giordano Bruno's Cosmic Hypothesis. I am the author or editor of over a dozen books on astronomy, robotics, and cosmic evolution, have written numerous papers in these areas, and have organized over a dozen conferences on these topics. My work on robotic telescopes was featured in a one-hour PBS documentary, The Perfect Stargazer. I was the 51st President of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. I live with my wife (and secret childhood sweetheart), Cheryl, at Santa Margarita Lake, not far from San Luis Obispo on California's central coast. In my spare time I hike, kayak, and fly airplanes. What I bring to the conference is not only a very broad view of the rise of complexity via physical, biological, and cultural evolutionary processes, but a perspective that looks beyond our local planet and immediate circumstances. Although an astronomer, I have, in my examination of cosmic evolution, concentrated on cultural evolution and its implications for humanity's future.
I have spent the last seven years pursuing first a master's degree then a Ph.D in Interdisciplinary Studies. In both cases I specialized in the study of Science and Theology. My nearly completed dissertation, a comparison of emergent complexity and process thought, reflects my conviction that science and theology are distinct epistemologies that address questions about the same reality and that, together with philosophy, they lead us towards a full, rich, description of the human experience, and the nature of the universe and God. It also expresses my deep interest in the phenomena of the evolutionary emergence of complexity and in metaphysical systems such as process thought that attempt to address a constantly changing and evolving reality. The question I hope to explore, in the course of this salon and subsequent gatherings, is based on the fact that all communities of people have, in every case, had a cosmological story that provides their members with a sense of belonging, purpose, and ethical behavior. I seek an understanding of how a global cosmology might emerge as a global community becomes an increasing reality, and how it might reflect both an evolutionary, emergent understanding of our origins and, at the same time, the full diversity of human cultures and religions, which I believe are essential to the evolutionary fitness of humanity. My primary task for this salon is managing the logistics of the salon and the accommodations of the attendees at the beautiful and quaint Hacienda.
I am founder of the Co-Intelligence Institute and author of The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-intelligence to Create a World that Works for All. A lifelong activist, in the 1980s I became increasingly frustrated with dysfunctional activist groups. In 1986 I had my first lived experience of a self-organizing, chaotic-but-functional leaderless/leaderful group on the Great Peace March. This mobile tent city of 400-500 people walked across the US from LA to DC in 9 months, during which time I had many experiences of a collective form of intelligence that emerged when certain conditions were present. After the March I began studying this phenomenon in order to help progressive groups. The more I learned, the more I realized this larger intelligence is present — and can be increased — in all human systems, from couples to civilizations. My activism shifted to promoting democratic innovations that could increase the collective intelligence and wisdom of whole communities and societies. That decade-long focus led me to join the steering committee of the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation. On the side, I have been exploring a more inclusive theory of wholeness and what intelligence would look like if we took wholeness, interconnectedness and co-creativity seriously. I bring thoughts about how wholeness evolves (or not) through dissonance-stimulated learning; a fascination with the intersection between evolution, complexity and social change; and a sense of urgency about achieving sufficient civilizational collective wisdom to counterbalance our rapidly growing collective power. I believe this gathering's concentration of committed, creative intellect can, if we really hear each other, generate truly significant breakthroughs for humanity's benefit.
The idea of having a salon like this came to me last spring, after reading John Stewart's book, Evolution's Arrow twice in one week (I had also recently read the other books recommended below). I am a former pastor and sustainability organizer at both local and national levels. In 1991 I wrote EarthSpirit: A Handbook for Nurturing an Ecological Christianity, which was an early attempt to reinterpret the core aspects of the Christian faith from the perspective of today's cosmology. During the mid-to-late 1990s I managed the first government funded program in the U.S. designed to produce large-scale citizen behavior change along ecological lines — the Portland Sustainable Lifestyle Campaign, in Portland, Oregon. Now I'm an itinerant evolutionary myth-maker, evangelist, theologian, and storyteller. Together with my wife, Connie Barlow, a science writer, I live permanently on the road teaching and preaching a meaningful (sacred) evolutionary perspective in colleges and churches all across North America. My passion is telling the 14 billion year history of everyone and everything in ways that evoke awe, gratitude, and trust, inspire faith and open-heartedness, and empower people to follow the path where their own great joy and the world's great needs intersect. What I bring to this salon is an experiential knowledge of how to communicate an integral, evolutionary-based message that people across the religious and philosophical spectrum (including conservatives) generally find meaningful and inspiring. I look forward to the input of other salon members re how to even more effectively tell The Great Story — the epic of evolution — in ways that touch, move, and inspire people of every faith tradition and motivate all of us, religious and nonreligious alike, to work together for the common good of all species.
I am author or editor of four books on the intersection of
evolution, ecology, and the quest for meaning: From Gaia to Selfish Genes: Selected Readings in the Life Sciences (MIT Press); Evolution Extended: Biological Debates on the Meaning of Life (MIT Press). Green Space, Green Time: The Way of Science (Copernicus Books), and most recently, The Ghosts of Evolution (Basic Books). I am a contributor to Wild Earth magazine, where I regularly post essays on how an understanding of "deep time" reshapes our values and actions for biodiversity and wilderness preservation, e.g. my essay, "Rewilding for Evolution." I am also partnered with Michael Dowd, living entirely on the road for 3 years (and ongoing) in our shared mission of translating evolutionary understanding into a meaningful and spiritually motivating "Great Story" for the hundreds of churches, spiritual centers, and educational institutions that we visit. All this I bring to the gathering. Because I am an avowed evolutionary emergentist, I am thrilled that I haven't a clue as to what I will take away — yet I trust that my concepts and future actions will be profoundly affected.
Peggy consults with organizations and communities, increasing their ability to achieve what is most important to them through growing their capacity for inviting the emergence of new ideas and relationships. She is acknowledged as a leader in generative processes for whole system change. Her work encourages people to take responsibility for what they love, resulting in stronger organizations, communities and individuals. Open Space Technology, Appreciative Inquiry, and Dialogue are integral to her work
because she believes in their great promise to unleash the human spirit for individual and collective good. Peggy is particularly known for bringing a blend of challenge and support to her work that inspires people to think beyond their usual boundaries. She is a co-founder of the Open Space Institute (US), an association dedicated to "opening space" — a process, philosophy, and practice that encourages people to act from passion and responsibility to better serve their organizations, communities, and themselves. Her first book, The Change Handbook: Group Methods for Shaping the Future (Berrett-Koehler, 1999), co-edited with Tom Devane, has been warmly received as an aid to people wishing to increase the impact of their organizations and communities. Peggy co-hosted an international conference,
The Practice of Peace, bringing together 130 people from 25 countries,
including Israel, India, Colombia, Haiti, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Nigeria, and Nepal, to examine the threads of peace building that transcend specific cultures. Her current inquiry into the dynamics of emergence makes the Evolutionary Salon a timely gathering. To examine our understanding of our emerging worldview through the collective lens of many disciplines is an exciting and potentially revolutionary contribution to the current Discourse — political, social, economic, moral — that affects our lives.
Process design consultant, founder and CEO of Empowerment Institute, David is considered
one of the world's leading authorities on behavior change and large system transformation. Over the past two decades, David has developed a highly effective and robust transformational technology considered by many to be the state-of-the-art.
He has applied this methodology to a number of initiatives. Included amongst these was a global transformative event created at the height of the cold war, the First Earth Run. In partnership with the United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF) and ABC Television, he organized the historic passing of a torch of peace around the world. This simple and profound act of global unity, offered at a moment of great fear, engaged the participation of 25 million people in 62 countries, the world's political leadership and through the media an estimated 20% of the population on the planet. It was an extraordinary confirmation of the efficacy of the empowerment tools.
David applies his empowerment and large system transformation
expertise to community, organizational, and societal transformation issues. His clients include cities, countries, and large organizations wishing to create behavior change amongst their constituencies. The versatility of the empowerment tools enable them to address issues ranging from organizational culture change to low-income neighborhood revitalization; from environmental behavior change to emergency preparedness. Longitudinal research studies
indicate the adopted behavior changes are sustained over time.
His best-selling book, co-written with Gail Straub, Empowerment: The Art of Creating Your Life As You Want It, has become a classic on the subject. Considered a master personal growth trainer, he co-leads the Empowerment Institute Certification Program — a school for practitioners wishing to gain mastery in the empowerment transformational tools and design templates. He has served on White House, United Nations, and various international advisory committees addressing empowerment and large system transformation issues. His work has received considerable media attention and many honors.
Regarding this Hacienda salon: "I look forward to strategizing with folks who are asking the big questions about how to develop the fullest potential of our human experiment. I look forward to learning and sharing cutting-edge strategies and tools for furthering human evolution at the personal, community, organizational, and global levels. I look forward to immersing myself in a community of people who are willing to think and act boldly to transform our current human predicament into something that embodies our deepest dreams for peace, harmony, and well being. Finally, I look forward to building a brain trust of people who are willing to keep pushing the envelope of human possibility. In these times when many are contracting out of fear, we need to show people what is possible so they are willing to step into the magnificence of the human evolutionary adventure."
I am a writer, poet, and tinkerer with mental and social structures
to see if I might help move them in a more life-serving direction.
Tinkering and innovating in the past includes: Website: www.Nancymargulies.com; www.theworldcafe.com
Founder of Whole Systems Associates, Juanita collaborates as a thinking partner and design advisor to create and host forums for constructive dialogue on critical organizational and societal issues. With her partner David Isaacs, Juanita is the co-originator of the World Café, an innovative approach to large group dialogue which is rapidly spreading throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Latin America, Africa, and the Pacific Rim. The World Café is being used in a growing number of community, corporate, governmental, health, educational, NGO, and church settings to access a higher collective intelligence in situations of entrenched conflict.
Juanita served as a Senior Affiliate at the MIT Sloan School's Organizational Learning Center where she participated as a member of the Core Team of the Center's Dialogue Project, one of the early research initiatives in this field. She has also served as an Associate with the Norwegian Center for Leadership Development, as a Research Affiliate with the Institute for the Future, and as program faculty at the John F. Kennedy University School of Management, the California Institute of Integral Studies, Columbia University, and the University of Monterrey, Mexico. She is a Fellow of the World Business Academy and has been honored in the World's Who's Who of Business and Professional Women. Her book, The World Café: Bringing Conversation to Life (Berrett-Koehler), is forthcoming.
Senator Gravel's approach is rooted in a simple and complete faith in the people's ability to play a constructive legislative role in their own self-governance. He does not naively dismiss the negative elements of human nature, but is convinced that an improved structure for governance - direct democracy - will call forth the better side of our nature. He received a B.S. in Economics at Columbia University, New York, and holds four honorary degrees in law and public affairs. He lectures and writes about governance, capitalism, energy, environmental issues, and direct democracy. He is married to Whitney Stewart Gravel and has two grown children and four grandchildren.
Kevin W. Kelley, an artist, best-selling author and entrepreneur, heads World Perspectives, a company specializing in Earth and space imagery and development of products which illuminate new perspectives on our World.
Kevin conceived, edited, and produced the international best selling book The Home Planet, (1988) a compellation of the most beautiful photos of the Earth taken from space by space farers and accompanied by inspiring quotes by astronauts and cosmonauts. The Home Planet was on The New York Times bestseller list for 8 weeks and over 600,000 volumes have been published in 11 languages and 14 countries. Kevin also co-authored the widely acclaimed Embracing Earth: New Views of Our Changing Planet, published by Chronicle Books as their lead volume for the fall of 1992.
I am a leadership/management and organizational development consultant, and have presented at professional societies and universities on technical and leadership topics. I have authored more than seventy-five articles, reports, and technical documents and have been published in Database Programming and Design magazine. I am the past vice chair and manager of internationalization of American National Standards Institute (ANSI) X3H4 Information Resource Dictionary System (IRDS) Committee; past international editor and author of the International Standards Organization (ISO) IRDS Framework Standard; and former head of the American delegation and lead negotiator for integration of national and international program planning initiatives concerning repository and database technology. I have also written papers on the healthcare system, the environment, the political system, evolution of consciousness, evolution of enlightened organizations, development of the commons, and Tibetan Buddhist practices. Currently, I am the President and CEO of Sunyata Agency Inc. (SAI) - serving as a "trouble-shooting executive", conducting "Findings" investigations, and then assembling and managing teams to execute the resulting work. I am now focusing on Integral Wellness as applied to the healthcare system. Integral Wellness is a whole-person (Physical, Emotional, Intellectual, and Consciousness interdependent domains) and whole-systems (all Stakeholders view) philosophy to develop and sustain generative, healthy, and fully-Present individuals and organizations. I spent five years working at Science and Engineering Associates (SEA) as an Executive Vice President, CIO, and Chief Architect. While Chief e-Business Officer for the Department of Navy SPAWAR Information Technology Center (SITC), I was responsible for leading the development and implementation of enterprise architecture and e-Business architectures, methodologies, and solutions for the SITC and related Department of Defense clients. I later served as the Chief Technical Officer for SITC, as the chief architect for the Navy Sea Warrior reengineering initiative and the Navy Manpower & Personnel (N1) Legacy Systems Modernization & Migration initiative. I am a Buddhist teacher and practitioner, and have actively reflected and meditated since 1966. I believe that the next social manifestation of the Buddha will be the "Collective".
Paul Raynault is the founder of Student World Assembly and President of the Raynault Foundation. In September 2003 Mr. Raynault launched Student World Assembly (SWA), hoping that it will eventually lead to a world forum where all people can voice their opinions and concerns about global issues in an open and free matter. SWA is a non-governmental, nonpartisan organization created to represent students globally. It provides a deliberative assembly where students around the world can exchange views, vote on global issues through online discussion forums and in annual international conventions, and translate these views into meaningful actions. Born in Montreal, Canada, Mr. Raynault previously served as the Chairman of Computer Leasing Inc., and currently sits on a variety of boards and committees. Mr. Raynault has a B.S from McGill University and a M.A from Princeton University.
Mark Dubois' passion for healing our planet led him to coordinate International Earth Day 1990 and 2000, events which involved 200 million people in 141 and 184 countries, respectively — more participants than any other peace event in history. In 1979, he captured national headlines when he chained himself to the bedrock of the Stanislaus River Canyon as a new reservoir filled. While his action forced only a temporary reprieve for the Stanislaus, the growing movement to protect rivers brought a halt to major dam building in the United States. In 1990 Dubois founded WorldWise, an organization supporting grassroots campaigns internationally in their efforts to lobby directors of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This campaign challenged the institutions to reform and redirect their investments to fund projects with more positive and sustainable social, environmental and economic benefits. Dubois co-founded International Rivers Network in 1984 and helped found Friends of the River in 1973; both of these organizations are leading proponents today of river preservation and restoration, and creating more sound holistic water policy. He co-founded the Environmental Traveling Companions in 1971, which continues to empower disabled and inner-city participants on wilderness adventures. His present passion is exploring how to further catalyze and mobilize the human spirit to collaborate in co-creating a world that works for all.
KRISTINA DOWNER salon intern
Evolutionary Directionality, Emergent Complexity,
and the Future of Humanity:
HUNTER-LIGGETT, CALIFORNIA
"There is almost a sensual longing for communion with others who have a large vision. The immense fulfillment of the friendship between those engaged in furthering the evolution of consciousness has a quality impossible to describe." — Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Interns: Krisy Downer & Halsey Barlow
OF PARTICIPANTS
RUSSELL GENET - salon organizing team; on-site details
CHERYL L. GENET -
salon main contact for accommodations at the Hacienda and on-the-ground details
TOM ATLEE - salon organizing team & process design team
Websites: http://www.co-intelligence.org / http://www.taoofdemocracy.com / http://www.democracyinnovations.org
MICHAEL DOWD - benevolent dictator; organizing & process design teams
Websites: http://wwww.TheGreatStory.org (130,000+ hits per month) /
http://www.EvolutionaryChristianity.org
CONNIE BARLOW - salon web page master and videographer
Websites: http://www.thegreatstory.org / http://www.TorreyaGuardians.org
PEGGY HOLMAN - salon process design team
Website: http://www.opencirclecompany.com
SENATOR LES IHARA, JR.
I am a state senator in Hawaii, having served 8 years in the house and 10 in the senate. My mission is to transform politics so that
people are inspired by their participation in this arena of life. In
particular, I've been working to empower truth-telling in politics
and to reveal the existing political culture in state legislatures. My
aim is to build a meta-conversation that includes citizens and
elected officials as part of one community.
I've served as senate majority leader, house majority floor leader, and coordinator of public access programs in the legislature. My focus is on political integrity, such as those related to ethics,
campaign finance, elections, and freedom of information issues. One
of my projects is to build a national network of legislators who
support public deliberation, in partnership with the National
Conference of State Legislatures and The Kettering Foundation. I also
serve on the National Issues Forum Institute board of directors.
My sense is that many human beings are ready to evolve beyond
survival energies and closed systems. This seems to be like an
expansion to include democracy as a universal human principle, global
citizenship, and stewardship. I envision a transformation beyond fear
and constraint of physical-ness, and to an experience of honor and
dignity regarding our own death.
I look forward to exploring with others facets of who we are as a
collective being — and ways to nurture, support, and express
ourselves as this kind of a public being.
DAVID GERSHON - consultant to salon process design team
VICKI ROBIN - consultant to salon process design team
a. co-authoring YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE, now in 10 languages with a million+ copies in print,
b. co-founding two organizations to address over-consumption and simpler living: the Center for a New American Dream and the Simplicity Forum (a leadership alliance to put the values and practices of simplicity on the map), and
c. co-founding two dialogue initiatives, Conversation Cafes (now used internationally for small-group dialogue) and Let's Talk America (which uses the CC method to foster dialogue across the political divide in this country).
I am a fearless starter of big things when passion meets clarity —
and once the innovation has legs or wheels, a body, and breathes on its own, I'm a mediocre administrator of ongoing support systems. I am drawn to this conversation to learn, to interact with some of the biggest minds and hearts I know, and to wonder together about how human consciousness affects outcomes in large-scale systems, both human and natural.
Websites: Let's Talk America: http://www.LetsTalkAmerica.org
Your Money or Your Life: http://www.YourMoneyorYourLife.org
Conversation Cafe: http://www.ConversationCafe.org
Simplicity Forum: http://www.SimplicityForum.org
New Road Map: http://www.NewRoadMap.org
JOHN STEWART
I am currently a senior labor relations policy adviser with the Australian Government. I have worked previously as a trade union
organizer and arbitration advocate, and as a fisheries manager. But my life interest has been in using an evolutionary perspective to answer the 'big' existential questions that confront all of us. I am an external member of the Evolution, Complexity and Cognition research group of the Free University of Brussels. I have published a number of papers on evolutionary theory in international science journals, and authored the book Evolution's Arrow: The Direction of Evolution and the Future of Humanity. Since writing the book, I have been exploring how the techniques associated with spiritual development can be used to enable humans to become self-evolving organisms — beings that can transcend the motivations and goals of their biological and cultural past, and adapt in whatever ways are necessary for future evolutionary relevance. At the Hacienda Salon I look forward to exploring evolutionary perspectives that attempt to integrate material evolution (physical/biological/social) with psychological/spiritual evolution. It seems to me that such an integration has not yet been achieved fully, but is essential for the future successful evolution of humanity. Such an integrated approach should be able to point to the next great steps in human social and psychological/spiritual evolution, and identify how evolutionary activists can contribute to actualizing these steps. I also look forward to meeting some very stimulating and interesting people.
Website: http://www4.tpg.com.au/users/jes999/
ELISABET SAHTOURIS
Elisabet Sahtouris, M.S., Ph.D is an internationally known
evolution biologist, futurist, author, professor, speaker and
business consultant. Dr. Sahtouris studied at Syracuse
University (B.A.), Indiana University (M.S.) and Dalhousie
University in Canada (Ph.D.). She had an NIH post-doctoral
research grant at the American Museum of Natural History in New
York City and another at Massachusetts General Hospital in
Boston, taught at the Mass. Institute of Technology (MIT) and
the University of Massachusetts. She lectures and appears on
radio and television in Europe, North, Central and South
America, Asia and Australia/New Zealand while residing in the
USA after many years of research and writing in Canada, Greece
and Peru. Dr. Sahtouris is Adjunct Professor in the Bainbridge Graduate
Institute's sustainable business MBA program, a fellow of the
World Business Academy and served as a Resident Advisor to the
Social Venture Network (SVN). She was on the Science Panel at
the World Parliament of Religions in South Africa and went to
China as a guest of the Chinese National Science Organization.
Dr. Sahtouris has been a science writer for Public TV (WGBH
Boston/BBC London), a UN consultant on indigenous peoples and
is a co-founder of the Worldwide Indigenous Science Network.
She is author of an integral scientific model of a living cosmos
(www.via-visioninaction.org
under Articles) and is a member of the World Commission for
Global Consciousness and Spirituality. Known for her articulate, encouraging and optimistic approach
to dilemmas facing humankind, she discusses solutions to
economic, political, social and spiritual problems through
understanding the Earth's naturally evolved living systems
and cooperating with traditional cultures whose sciences and
spirituality reflect that understanding. Her books include EarthDance: Living
Systems in Evolution, A Walk Through Time: from
Stardust to Us and Biology Revisioned, with
Willis Harman.
Personal Statement: What I most look forward to in this dialogue is that we will be able to formulate an updated theory of evolution.
Websites: www.sahtouris.com
(professional) and
www.ratical.org/lifeweb
(personal, with many writings).
DAVID CHRISTIAN
I was born in New York, spent my early childhood in Nigeria, and went to school and University in Britain. I taught Russian history and world history for twenty-five years in Sydney before coming to San Diego State University in 2001. I am best known amongst Russian historians for writing about the history of vodka, and amongst world historians for having attempted to write a history that begins with the origins of the Universe and ends now (Big History). I still teach courses in Big History, and recently published a textbook history called Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History. I am particularly looking forward to the Evolutionary Directionality Salon because I attended a similar gathering at the Hacienda in 2003, and greatly enjoyed both the venue and the marvelously stimulating conversations across disciplines.
BRIAN SWIMME
Dr. Brian Swimme is a mathematical cosmologist on the graduate faculty of the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. He received his Ph.D. (1978) from the University of Oregon specializing in gravitational dynamics, mathematical cosmology, and singularity theory. Swimme was a faculty member in the Dept. of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington from 1978-1981. He was a member of the faculty at the Institute for Culture and Creation Spirituality at Holy Names College in Oakland, California from 1983-1989.
Brian Swimme's primary field of research is the nature of the evolutionary dynamics of the Universe. Swimme brings us a meaningful interpretation of the human as an emergent being within the Universe and Earth. His central concern is the role of the human within the Earth community. Toward this goal, in 1989, Swimme founded the Center for the Story of the Universe, a production and distribution affiliate of the California Institute of Integral Studies.
His published work includes The Universe is a Green Dragon (Bear and Company, 1984), The Universe Story (Harper San Francisco, 1992) written with Thomas Berry, and The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos (Orbis, 1996). Swimme's books have been translated into eight languages.
Swimme was featured in a three-part television series, "Soul of the Universe" (BBC, 1991). He is the producer of a twelve-part video series "Canticle to the Cosmos" (Tides Center, 1990), which has been distributed worldwide. Other video or DVD programs featuring Swimme's ideas include "The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos" (Center for the Story of the Universe, 1996), "The Earth's Imagination" (Center for the Story of the Universe, 1998), and "The Powers of the Universe" (Center for the Story of the Universe, 2004).
Dr. Swimme lectures worldwide and has presented at conferences sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, The World Bank, UNESCO, The United Nations Millennium Peace Summit, and the American Natural History Museum.
Website: http://www.brianswimme.org
CARTER PHIPPS
Senior Editor of What Is Enlightenment? Magazine, I have been working with a close-knit editorial team for more than five years to help create one of the preeminent philosophical and spiritual periodicals in the country. The magazine is trying to catalyze an inquiry into the philosophical frameworks needed for 21st century culture, and to chart the rise of a new integral, evolutionary spirituality. The inquiry of the magazine flows directly out of a larger experiment in the evolution of consciousness guided by the teachings of Andrew Cohen, the founder of What Is Enlightenment? All of the members of the editorial staff, along with committed individuals around the world, are part of that living experiment, attempting to create together a higher context for collective intelligence and enlightened development.
I cover politics, religion, and current affairs for the magazine, and recently completed the major feature, "Is God a Pacifist?", a philosophical analysis of war, peace, and nonviolence in our post-9/11 world. In addition to my political interests, my editorial credits include some of the magazine's in-depth investigative features, on topics ranging from the relationship between science and religion to the growing popularity of modern messianic movements.
I have presented on various themes covered in What Is Enlightenment? at Brown University, the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, John F. Kennedy University, and represented the magazine at the invitation-only assembly of religious leaders in Montserrat, Spain, convened by the 2004 Parliament of the World's Religions.
I received my BA in Business Economics from the University of Oklahoma, and worked as a computer network engineer for a number of years before working at What Is Enlightenment? I'm married and live in Lenox, Ma.
What I look forward to in this event: I am convinced that we are seeing in our culture the earliest signs of a new evolutionary worldview emerging in response to the difficulties of our turbulent times. But the only way this new worldview will grow, strengthen, and finally take root is through meetings like this where we can more fully explore its structures and characteristics, its implications for all of us, and ultimately its potential to transform the world in which we live.
Website: http://www.wie.org
CHRISTOPHER J. CORBALLY
I am a Jesuit priest from England and vice director of the Vatican Observatory's research group in Tucson, Arizona. So I have studied philosophy and theology as well as physics. While completing a PhD in astronomy in Toronto, I was introduced to the Star Island conferences of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS), and I recently served as president for this organization. What attracted me to them was their emphasis on an evolutionary perspective, an approach quite clear from my scientific studies of the development of the cosmos. So 'IRASians' take science seriously, and ask how this can help our understanding of religion and values.
That understanding shows us that from an evolutionary
perspective humanity is no longer subject to simple natural selection
but now can shape its direction with the tools derived from the
sciences, whether physical, biomedical, or social. By these new tools we need not think of ourselves as thrust into a role
of 'playing God'; rather, we are called upon to accept the God-given
responsibilities derived from our new knowledge. The only way
we can properly fulfill these responsibilities is through the best of
contemporary science, allied with well-founded values, and grounded in clear thinking.
I believe this puts us in a critical stage of human evolution.
The true way forward cannot be found through a single conference, but the consensus can be developed through each genuine meeting of minds and hearts. That is why I am excited about this "Evolutionary Salon." The people and the ambiance are right for making progress.
NANCY MARGULIES - salon graphics facilitator
In workshops tailored to meet client needs, Nancy leads designs and leads strategic planning, learning and leadership programs for executives. Nancy collaborates with Juanita Brown (co-creator of The World Cafe), Meg Wheatley (author of Leadership and the New Science), and Fritjof Capra (author of The Web of Life). She has worked with Hewlett-Packard, Xerox, and 3M. She has also worked with President Clinton and the Cabinet, the Dalai Lama, and facilitated workshops in Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Switzerland, Turkey, South Africa and India. Her books:
2005: Visual Thinking: Tools for Mapping Your Ideas
1996: Inside Brian's Brain
1995: Magic Seven Comic on Multiple Intelligences
1994: Map It! A comic book on mind mapping for teens
1992: Mapping Inner Space: Learning and Teaching Mind Mapping
DUANE ELGIN
I am an author, speaker, and an activist for media accountability and citizen empowerment. My books include: Promise Ahead: A Vision of Hope and Action for Humanity's Future (Harper/Collins, 2000), Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life that is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich (Harper/Collins, 1981 and 1993) and Awakening Earth: Exploring the Evolution of Human Culture and Consciousness (Morrow, 1993). I co-authored with Joseph Campbell and others, Changing Images of Man (Pergamon, 1982). In addition, I have contributed chapters to fourteen books, and have published more than sixty articles. As a speaker and educator, I'm passionate about exploring: 1) the big picture of the human journey as the world approaches a pivot in history, and what we can do to build a more promising future; 2) voluntary simplicity and more sustainable ways of living; 3) transforming the conversation and consciousness of democracy by transforming mass media; and 4) the unifying vision emerging from science and spirituality and its implications for seeing ourselves as living in a living universe.
As a citizen-activist, since 1981 I have co-founded three non-profit organizations working for media accountability and an empowered democracy through televised electronic town meetings (see the website http://www.ourmediavoice.org). For social evolution to become conscious of itself, it is vital that citizens mobilize the primary vehicle of reflective consciousness at the societal scale, and that involves mass media.
Other background: I was formerly a senior social scientist at the think-tank, SRI International in California where I co-authored numerous studies on the long-range future. Prior to SRI, I worked in the early 1970s as a senior staff member for the Presidential Commission on the American Future. I have an MBA from the Wharton Business School (1968) and an MA in economic history from the University of Pennsylvania (1969).
I am interested in applying insights from evolutionary sciences and systems thinking to the transformation of human culture and consciousness.
Website: http://www.awakeningearth.org/
Publications by Elgin available on the web:* "The Self-Guiding Evolution of Civilizations," published in Systems Research & Behavioral Science Journal and available at www.simpleliving.net/awakeningearth/reports.asp#05 and * Awakening Earth: Exploring the Evolution of Human Culture and Consciousness, originally published by Morrow, 1993, and now available for free at www.simpleliving.net/awakeningearth/books_bae_excerpts.asp
DWIGHT COLLINS
I am interested in how we can influence the planet's corporate leadership culture in order to broaden the basis of business performance toward the "triple bottom line" paradigm. This states that one can steward financial, human, and natural capital equally in such a way that performing better in any one of these dimensions implies better performance in the other two. Currently I provide consulting services in strategic planning and sustainable business to companies: http://www.colbridgeandco.com. I also teach Operations Management at the Bainbridge Island Graduate Institute, http://www.bgiedu.org, and the Presidio World College, two of the first graduate colleges in the US to offer MBAs in sustainable business.
Recently, I have begun developing a workshop with Pete Richerson and Russ Genet to show how the core principles of modern culture evolution theory can be applied to business. I run the Collins Family Foundation http://www.collinsff.org, which organizes conferences, supports nonprofits focused on sustainability, and publishes books. In April 2003, the Foundation cosponsored with the San Francisco based Future 500 a retreat focused on opportunities through which business can be both profitable and environmentally sustainable, simultaneously. The Foundation was also a major cosponsor of a recent Seattle based conference entitled "Profitable Sustainability: The Future of Business"
Prior to founding Colbridge, I was a principal in a company that pioneered the development of software for supply chain optimization, spending 18 years implementing these tools and saving tens of millions of dollars for many Fortune 100 companies across petroleum, chemical, automobiles, papermaking, carpet manufacturing, semiconductors, and food processing industries. I have a BS degree in Engineering Physics, and MS and Ph.D. degrees in Operations Research.
BARBARA MARX HUBBARD
I have been a passionate student of evolutionary process ever since I read Teilhard de Chardin and Sri Aurobindo in the early 60's. As president of The Foundation for Conscious Evolution, I am an evolutionary educator, designing an educational on-line program called Gateway to Conscious Evolution, now reaching over 1000 people world-wide. I co-founded a Conscious Evolution community in Santa Barbara, which includes over 100 people who are practicing the arts of self and social evolution. I am now developing a multi-media presentation on the theme: "The Story of Our Birth as a Universal Humanity." I have written five books and given talks throughout the world to help generate the new field of "conscious evolution." I believe this is a meta-field, a field of fields. It is a new context for connecting the growing edge of all fields until we can see the outlines of the new culture and the new world arising in our midst. My books include: Revelation: Our Crisis is a Birth, an evolutionary inspiration from the New Testament; Conscious Evolution: Awakening the Power of Our Social Potential; and Emergence: The Shift from Ego to Essence. In 1984 my name was placed in nomination for the Vice Presidency of the United States on the Democratic ticket. I proposed a new social function: A "Peace Room" to be as sophisticated as our war rooms. It would scan for, map, connect, and communicate what is working to heal and evolve our world. I was an original founding board member of the World Future Society and The Association for Global New Thought. I am fascinated with this conference because I am identifying a developmental path throughout the whole process of evolution that leads to greater consciousness and freedom through more complex order. I have been applying this understanding to self and social evolution, with special emphasis on the relationship between the evolving human, the evolving world, and images of our future equal to all our new powers, especially science and technology. I earned a doctorate in Conscious Evolution from Emerson Theological Institute for my development of the Conscious Evolution Curriculum.
JAY EARLEY
Jay Earley, Ph.D., is a transformational psychologist, group leader, psychotherapist, coach, author, and social theorist. During the 1980's, Jay was active in the peace movement as a member of Interhelp and Psychotherapists for Social Responsibility, where he led workshops that integrated psychological, spiritual, and planetary concerns. This led to his book, Inner Journeys: A Guide to Personal and Social Transformation.
As a result of his research on human social evolution and its relationship to our current global predicament, Jay has published a number of articles plus the book, Transforming Human Culture: Social Evolution and the Planetary Crisis. He has created the Pattern System, a method for understanding personality, behavior, and its underlying psychological issues. He is currently expanding the Pattern System to include spirituality and social transformation.
Jay offers Life Purpose Coaching, Change Agent Coaching, and coach training on finding your life purpose and making a difference in the world. He is author of the ebook, Finding Your Life Purpose. He is also author of Interactive Group Therapy: Integrating Interpersonal, Action-Oriented, and Psychodynamic Approaches.
Jay is a long-time student of the Diamond Approach to spiritual realization. He is the founder of Conscious Action, an organization devoted to social action from a place of greater consciousness. He leads workshops that facilitate the development of personal and spiritual capacities for social transformation.
Current interests specifically related to this salon include: (1) Spiritual evolution and how that manifests in the world, and in each person's feeling a calling to contribute to social transformation. (2) The current social, psychological, and spiritual forces that are moving us toward social transformation and how we can align with them. (3) How to encourage people to see the world through an evolutionary lens and to base their social action on that perspective.
DAVID LOYE
Founder of The Darwin Project, with a Council composed of more than 50 leading American, European, and Asian scientists and educators (see
http://www.thedarwinproject.com), David Loye has an unusual but useful background for an evolutionary systems scientist and theorist.
Following his early years as a television newsman in the Ed Murrow days, on gaining his doctorate in psychology he joined the faculty of Princeton University and then the UCLA School of Medicine, where he was Research Director for the Program on Psychosocial Adaptation and the Future. He is a co-founder of the multinational General Evolution Research Group and co-founder with cultural evolution theorist Riane Eisler of the Center for Partnership Studies.
Besides his pioneering work in the reconstruction of Darwin's full
theory of evolution, he is the developer of three theories focusing
primarily on political and moral evolution: evolutionary action theory,
moral transformation theory, and a triadic theory of evolution. Two new books dealing with his work are The Great Adventure: Toward a Fully Human Theory of Evolution (SUNY Press, 2004) and Darwin's Unfolding Revolution (Unquiet Revolutionary Press, 2004).
Key questions he feels should be explored are the implications of the rest of Darwin's theory, which foreshadows Maslow and humanistic
psychology — as well as all the other neglected works of the great
founders of social and system science — for moral evolution and
political evolution.
Late bulletin for Loye: Am going online early February with the exciting new online publisher for "our kind of books" Benjamin Franklin Press. See it go up under construction at http://www.benjaminfranklinpress.com. Lead title will be my new Bankrolling Evolution: Progressive vs. Regressive Money, Science, Politics, and the Fate of Planet Earth. Available for free PDF download of parts or whole book early February.
JUANITA BROWN - process design team for the salon
Website: http://www.theworldcafe.com
MARY EVELYN TUCKER
Mary Evelyn Tucker is a professor of religion at Bucknell University, where she teaches courses in Asian religions and Religion & Ecology. From 1993 - 1996 she was a National Endowment for the Humanities Chair at Bucknell. With John Grim, she organized a series of ten conferences on World Religions and Ecology at Harvard, and they are series editors for the ten volumes from the conferences distributed by Harvard University Press. They are now coordinating the Harvard Forum on Religion and Ecology.
She is the author of Worldly Wonder: Religions Enter Their Ecological Phase (Open Court Press, 2003) and Moral and Spiritual Cultivation in Japanese Neo-Confucianism (SUNY 1989). She co-edited Worldviews and Ecology (Orbis, 1994), Buddhism and Ecology (Harvard, 1997), Confucianism and Ecology (Harvard, 1998), and Hinduism and Ecology (Harvard, 2000), and When Worlds Converge (Open Court, 2002). With Tu Weiming she edited two volumes on Confucian Spirituality (Crossroad, 2003, 2004).
Mary Evelyn is a member of the Interfaith Partnership for the Environment at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and served as a member of the International Earth Charter Drafting Committee from 1997-2000.
Websites:
Forum on Religion and Ecology Web Site
http://fore.research.yale.edu/
Daedalus issue on World Religions and Ecology
http://www.amacad.org/publications/fall2001/fall2001.aspx
Religions of the World and Ecology Website
http://www.hds.harvard.edu/cswr/research/ecology/index.html
WILLIAM R. BUCKLEY
My interests in evolutionary systems is specifically related to
machine models of self-replication. I have for some twenty-five
years been devoted to the analysis of self-replication, and the
construction of specific models thereof. An example of such
work can be found in the Computer Recreations column of the
Scientific American magazine, May, 1985, through a program
called the Apple Worm. My efforts have garnered the attention
of many researchers, and my work has been presented in
many venues. I was an invited speaker to the First Artificial
Life Workshop, September, 1987, held at the Los Alamos
National Laboratory, where I discusses the model known as
Core War. The famed Oxford biologist Richard Dawkins was
moved to describe my work, saying "Of all the systems that
I have seen at this Artificial Life Workshop, Core War is the
least cheat model." How could I not be motivated with such
praise? Since that time, I have worked to complete what is
arguably the hardest solvable problem in computer science,
the design of a self-replicating cellular automaton within the
29-state system specified by John von Neumann.
With the completion of this work, my attention has turned
to the extension of such models to the processes of cell
development; i.e. the cell cycle. This work will likely define
my PhD research studies, and I anticipate them being able
to move to the holy grail of artificial life, the construction of
a machine model of epigenesis.
While I have much respect for the Darwinian tradition, I am
a bit of an heretic, for I also support abstract extensions of
the Lamarckian tradition. It is my assertion that contemporary
Darwinian biology is blindly dogmatic. This is surely part of
the Evo-Devo debate that currently rages. Yet, I argue that
even the developmentalists are not as open to alternative
sources of evolutionary pressure as ought to be accepted.
That organisms tend to define their environment, and so act
to bias the direction of their evolution, seems obvious enough,
and evidence for such action is known in the literature.
However, it is generally the thesis of biology researchers that
organisms cannot actively direct, as by a force of will, the
evolutionary pathway followed by their generations.
I know how to model such mechanisms in software, and
believe that such mechanisms can be implemented in
wetware.
PAUL H. RAY
Paul H. Ray is a founding partner in a new consulting firm, Integral Partnerships, LLC, designed to help those organizations whose constituencies or customers are Cultural Creatives to be more successful, by aligning their internal activities and values with the values and needs of their constituencies or customers.
He has surveyed and classified well over 100,000 Americans in the past thirteen years, showing how the subcultures of values permeate all aspects of American life. During the time of the research reported in the book, he was Executive Vice President of American LIVES, Inc., a market research and opinion polling firm specializing in surveys and focus groups based on the Lifestyles, Interests, Values, Expectations and Symbols of Americans. The research projects that led to discovery of the Cultural Creatives include studies of the effects of values on consumer choices and preferences of Americans in housing, cars, food, recreation, vacation travel, finances, health, political causes (e.g., environment), media use, and altruism; and he also leads studies of innovation by consumers and business. He still consults with American LIVES on research.
Over the past 30 years he has headed research on over 100 major research and consulting projects, and written reports on them all.
PREVIOUS POSITIONS:
Dr. Ray was Chief of Policy Research on Energy Conservation, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources of the Government of Canada. There he headed the largest evaluation research project conducted in Canada, on CanadaÕs efforts at home energy conservation. He was previously Associate Professor of Urban Planning and a Faculty Associate of the Institute for Social Research, at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS relevant to the Cultural Creatives Work:
The Cultural Creatives, (co-author Sherry Anderson) NY, Harmony Books, (September, 2000)
"What Might Be the Next Stage in Cultural Evolution?" in D.Loye, ed.
The Evolutionary Outrider: The Impact of the Human Agent on Evolution. Essays honouring Ervin Laszlo. Praeger, 1998
"The Emerging Culture" American Demographics, February, 1997
"The Rise of Integral Culture" Noetic Sciences Review, Spring, 1996
The Integral Culture Survey, Research Monograph, Institute of Noetic Sciences, 1996
"Altruism as Value-Centered Action" Noetic Sciences Review, Spring, 1993
EDUCATION:
Paul H. Ray received a BA, cum laude, in Anthropology from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Michigan.
Website: http://www.culturalcreatives.org
SENATOR MIKE GRAVEL
After serving four years in the Alaskan State legislature, the latter two as Speaker of the House, Mike Gravel represented Alaska in the U.S. Senate from 1969-1981. Senator Gravel served on the Finance, Interior, and the Environment and Public Works committees, chairing the Energy, Water Resources, and the Environmental Pollution subcommittees, and was a prime mover in many of the critical issues of the day, including:
KEVIN W. KELLEY
RELATED TO THE SALON: I have a deep interest in how to make the important and urgently needed stories of our time more understandable and accessible through visualization. I am currently envisaging and developing a new way of seeing and understanding time, Creation and evolution. It enables simultaneous tracking, visualizing and correlation of the evolutionary processes and events of the comos, geology, climate and Life, from billions of years ago to the present moment, and on into distant future. In part, this is a next generation "timepiece" — a dynamic, empirical, and interactive deep-timeline, clock and calendar all-in-one. It will also enable easier visualization and understanding of The Great Story. For a long time now, I have pondered evolution and the nature of Intelligence in Creation. This has led to an a deeper inquiry into how Creation evolves from within, in part, through a kind of intuitive, non-cognitive, inherent knowing that is intrinsic to Being.
I am interested in how the experience, knowledge and perspective of each individual gets expressed in the group as a whole and look forward to what I can learn and contribute.
MARK R. JONES
LLYN PEABODY
Llyn Peabody I came to the Salon with a background in leadership and group process. A graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School's (NOLS) semester in the Rockies, I have since organized and led many backcountry trips for children and adults. My educational background was at schools that valued a discussion-style of learning and provided ample opportunities for group facilitation, leadership and independent thought: Somerset high school in Washington, DC (based on Summerhill in England) and The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. My college degree was a self-designed major that focused on rites of passage, ceremony, and ritual. I have been a consultant to many individuals and groups at times of life transitions. For several years I was the co-manager of the Portland Sustainable Lifestyle Campaign (see Michael Dowd's bio). This large-scale environmental behavior-change program was the brainchild of David Gershon (another participant at the Salon). Through this work and subsequent years on the design team for Global Action Plan at their national headquarters, I honed my skills as a coach/manager and a systems-designer in the field of behavior-change. It was through my association with Michael and David that I awakened to my passion for the Great Story and began to see where I might begin to fit into it. My current livelihood and passion is expressed through the ARTrageous Camps http://www.artrageouscamp.com, of which I am a co-founder. These camps provide a playful, dynamic context for participants to explore authentic self-expression and leadership. I see these camps as fertile ground for people to practice artfully living a life of purpose, taking responsibility for what they love. I am also a professional clutter-clearer and personal organizer. I help my clients create a vision for the life they want to manifest and then co-create with them a physical space that reflects this vision.
As a direct result of participating in the Salon I have begun an experiment with an intentional community to create a group vision quest and rite of passage. This is the next natural extension of my work in designing original, personal ceremonies for individuals in life-transition. I have a vision to create a process and share it with many of the dozens of intentional communities around the world that have completed the lower levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and are ready to step into the next level of collective self-actualization. These communities then can take a more active, adult role in society to catalyze the dawning of a world that is sustainable in all domains.
PAUL RAYNAULT
SWA PHILOSOPHY: True representative democracy offers a powerful instrument for addressing the vital social and political conditions that threaten our global future. The informed wishes of the people, conveyed through the collective voice of a democratic assembly, need to be heard in the decision-making processes. By giving students from the most remote to the more accessible institutions an equal voice, we are enabling all students to educate, participate and take action, and to begin thinking of themselves as global citizens.
Website: http://www.studentworldassembly.org
MARK DUBOIS
Kristina Downer graduated from in March 2005 from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, with a B.S. in Social Science and a concentration in Cross-Cultural Studies. She is currently conducting some independent, graduate-level research in the fields of sociology and political science, so as to prepare for the world of graduate school, in which she hopes to earn her PhD in Sociology. Over the past few years, Kristina has been involved in several important projects, including the Student World Assembly (www.studentworldassembly.org), an online democratic forum founded by Paul Raynault (see Paul Raynault's bio), and the Collins Family Foundation project on Cultural Evolution in Business (see Dwight Collins Bio).