NitN 38 – King of Wands (Chris Burbridge Demos his Systems-Wizardry)
WOW! Here’s a conversation with Chris Burbridge that should merit college credit toward a degree in systems thinking and Spiral Dynamics, but that is wayyy more fun than sitting in a lecture hall! Enlightening! Enjoyable! Alive! What a privilege!
Follow Chris on TikTok (@chrisburbridgetiktok) and check out his primary pro-social project: https://www.inspiredsucc.es/ where the Inspired Success Community supports entrepreneurs like you who have inspiration at the core of their ventures!
Intro!
Spiral Dynamics, a systems theory approach to categorizing patterns of human thought, is, by its own classification system, very imperfect Yellow system.
Just recorded a podcast with Chris Burbridge that will be a better primer on Spiral Dynamics than I can give in three minutes, but the gist on Yellow thinking systems is that a person, culture or concept that exhibits Yellow traits is capable of the sort of polygnosticism that Liminal Trickster Mystics take pride in.
Polygnosticism is a kind of “belief in many things.” A philosophical pragmatism that recognizes the best elements of any pattern of thought and applies them effectively without getting too wrapped up in dogmatism.
As a Yellow system, Spiral Dynamics itself is predicated on recognizing that there is more than one way to model the world that will allow you to move through it while achieving your goals, getting along with others and avoiding falling through the cracks of society’s systems.
But here’s the thing I’ve been thinking about a lot since my excellent conversation with Chris. Even a model of models—a sort of meta-model—must inevitably fall short of the true gnosis available to the more quote/un-quote advanced modes of thought characterized by later stages in Spiral Dynamics.
I think that’s fine; the defining characteristic of a model is that they always, always, rely on simplification or reductionism if they aim to create a coherent, tightly packaged point.
Too much truth is overwhelming to someone who relies on cognitive models to relate with and move through reality. Without a little corner cutting, you might get caught up in identifying what kind of strange, slithering configuration of molecules sits in front of you, get bitten by the snake you’re stuck analyzing and die; of course the Buddhists point out that with too much corner cutting, you might die of fright because you haven’t grokked that the rope in the corner is not a snake at all.
Personally, I need constant reminders my models aren’t reality. Any story, any narrative, any attempt at identifying a pattern will be less complex than the reality it is superimposed atop.
You need a model to know the sun will rise. But it’s gnosis to experience the sun’s gentle heat on your cool skin. You know it for its wonderful pleasure with no need for language.
I’m interested in figuring out how to generate more of that gnosis. Systems theory is the best thing available if you want to act intelligently in service of all beings, but to really perform Right Action, deep, unconscious knowing can’t be beat.
Amidst the universe’s infinite complexity, models, whether manic prophecy or tantalizing paranoia, can never prepare me to act better than the wisdom my body contains.