PHILOSOPHY ALERT

Don’t be ALARMED. Philosophy doesn’t have to be intimidating, bookish or complicated … or geeky for that matter.

PREMISE ONE: Everyone has a philosophy and acts on it whether they admit it or not. Everything we think, say and do is based on some system of beliefs and values, most of which are seldom questioned, examined or clearly defined.  

PREMISE TWO: All Philosophical discussions must be grounded in human Experience: Perception and Thinking, and must address the nature and the limits of both. Henri Bergson (see QUALITIES) inspires me partly because he doesn’t cite a bunch of other historic thinkers. He often argues a point by suggesting, “If you examine your experience closely, with an open mind, you will find …. “ Notice that both of these premises require shifting between multiple levels of thinking.  

This “Integral Philosophy” is grounded in Phenomenology and Existentialism, the Information theories of Bateson, McLuhan and others, in some neuro-linguistic models, in Bergson's philosophies of Time and Creativity, Zen Buddhist teachings and Meditation practices.  It is also based on the “dimensions” of thinking as defined here: (Language, Relationship, Time and the Unconscious) and on Information as the collective forces of mental and cultural change. The connections and amplifications among these ideas are meant to suggest a personal epistemology, a Progressive Political Paradigm and a model for creative thinking.