Humergence®

South Africa - second gamma revolution

Humergence LLC — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 22:14:43 PDT

Well today is June 12, and I woke up to head line news; a young girl seeing visions of “the virgin mother Mary”, people have flocked to be blessed by her. Psychiatrists want to admit her to hospital, claiming she...

Dropping Knowledge: A Global Q&A

Humergence LLC — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 09:09:56 PDT

An ambitious project, dubbed "Dropping Knowledge" takes place on Sep 09, 2006. Quote: "On September 9, 2006, 112 of the world's most compelling thinkers, artists, writers, scientists, social entrepreneurs, philosophers and humanitarians from around the world will come together in...

Us and Them

Humergence LLC — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 11:34:58 PDT

Paul Hartzog posted the following quote to Smart Mobs (originally posted at PSOM blog by Dan Jones): New research published in Nature shows how biases towards members of our social group, and against those outside it, shape how generous we...

Featured Post: What produces the “guru-addicted personality"?

Humergence LLC — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 06:25:19 PDT

The following is an interview between Chris Cowan and Natasha Todorvic, and Geoffrey Falk. Geoffrey is the author of a book called Stripping the Gurus, which Susan Blackmore described as a "...gripping and disturbing book [that] should be read by...

Globalization and Cultural Shifting

Humergence LLC — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 07:55:27 PDT

The Mathematical Structure of Terrorism from PhysOrg.com makes reference to a paper titled Universal patterns underlying ongoing wars and terrorism. From the paper's abstract: "We report a remarkable universality in the patterns of violence arising in three high-profile ongoing wars,...

Collective Action vs. Collectivism

Humergence LLC — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 14:26:06 PDT

The P2P Foundation Blog has an excellent blog posting by Michel Bauwens on Jaron Lanier's new essay for Edge. The basic ideas of Lanier's essay are (quoted from CommunityWiki): There is a resurgance of the idea that the collective is...

Immigration, American Style

Humergence LLC — Mon, 01 May 2006 14:28:07 PDT

North of San Diego along the I-5 freeway are large yellow signs with the outline of a string of three people running: a woman holding the hands of two small children. These warn drivers that migrants might suddenly dash in...

Study: Groups outperform the best individuals at problem solving

Humergence LLC — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 07:03:16 PDT

[via Cooperation Commons Thanks Madtom] A study by Patrick R. Laughlin, Erin C. Hatch, Jonathan S. Silver, and Lee Boh of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, published in the APA Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, finds that group...

P2P (Peer to Peer) and E-C Theory

Humergence LLC — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 17:30:30 PDT

[via Social Synergy Weblog] The P2P Foundation blog has posted a little quote from both myself and Spiraldynamics author Chris Cowan. This was partially from a discussion about the Cooperation Commons project, and how the theories of Clare W. Graves...

Social vs Environmental Tipping Points

Humergence LLC — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 12:17:05 PDT

[via Social Synergy Weblog] Over at TerraBlog, there is a story about a race between two "Tipping points" in regards to the issue of global warming: On the one hand we have the argument that awareness of the issue will...

Did Cooperation Give Early Humans A Competitive Edge?

Humergence LLC — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 12:13:25 PDT

[via Cooperation Commons and New Scientist] Augustin Fuentes at the University of Notre Dame hypothesizes that Paranthropus went extinct because early Homo(human ancestor) species were more adept at cooperating: ...Paranthropus suffered from increased predation because Homo, and other early humans...

DRAWING LINES ON PAPER AND SAND: ANATOMY OF A CARTOON CLASH

Humergence LLC — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 12:40:23 PDT

Lines get drawn in many ways. Some are pen strokes sketched by artists; others are concrete forms laid out by architects. Many are abstract - dearly held values and unwritten social norms sketched indelibly in our minds, not with our...

What does ‘emergent’ mean in context of Graves/SD?

Humergence LLC — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 19:45:54 PDT

(This article was originally posted to the Spiraldynamics FAQ) This question has caused lots of head scratching among scholars of chaos and complexity theories, as well as Gravesians and serious students of Spiral Dynamics (SD). The lack of a clear...

Welcome!

Humergence LLC — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 00:00:00 PST

Welcome to Humergence, our blog about the ongoing process of human development and emergence. We (Christopher Cowan and Natasha Todorovic) have been working with, teaching, and writing about the Gravesian approach to changing human systems since 1978 and 1991 respectively....

The Quiet Kingmaker

Humergence LLC — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 14:04:00 PST

Download SisuluDialogue.mp3 In the minds of most people, Nelson Mandela is the name synonymous with the end of apartheid and beginning of South Africa's transition over the last decades. Yet societal change of this magnitude cannot be the feat of...

Why We Fight

Humergence LLC — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 13:54:00 PST

Why We Fight, a documentary film by Eugene Jarecki Sharing its title, Why We Fight, with Frank Capra's series of seven propaganda films made between 1942 and 1945 to shape American opinion, Eugene Jarecki's new documentary looks at American militancy...

Book Review: The Wisdom of Crowds

Humergence LLC — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 17:03:00 PST

The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki. This book discusses the theory that a larger group of diverse people can make better decisions, and display more intelligence than any smaller collection of experts. Surowiecki's central concept is that the insights...

Graves and Maslow: Levels of Existence and Hierarchy of Needs Compared

Humergence LLC — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 16:07:00 PST

(originally published in this newsletter) We are often asked about the relationship between Clare W. Graves's Levels of Existence theory and Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs framework . Well, there are some similarities, but there are more differences. Maslow's theorizing...