I follow and read Caitlin because she has one of the most dynamic presentation of insightful, honest analysis coupled with the pertinent facts and the outrage that fuels her endeavors. I post on her blogs in the hope she will come to my side and that we can move the conversation forward in some way for all our benefit. This is a reply to her post https://steemit.com/spirituality/@caitlinjohnstone/activism-without-inner-work-is-impotent Please follow her and support her.
When I say “to my side” there really is no “side” it is simply two worldviews; Individual Intelligence and Collective Intelligence. I do not believe the former no matter how well presented will save us. Her tweet “Revolution is an inside job” “Do we have enough time”? Is exactly on point. The truth of these statements exist in both worlds. The difference is the perspective from which it is viewed. So it is with everything. I am writing today to show how our present state may be seen through a lens of a Collective Intelligence. Caitlin is at the wall. She is as honest, analytical and comprehensive in her world view as you can get, in the world of individual intelligence. What is over the wall is a new perspective on our present state. As Caitlin said, “continuing to perceive through the lens of that same understanding today is blindness.”
Caitlin’s conclusion is that; “The only variable in this process, as near as I can tell, is consciousness” What I believe she is really trying to say is that we need to be honest in our conscious observations as she says; “if you don't have a finely tuned inner truth compass”. Honesty then is really the key or so I believe. Honest how though? Honesty in your beliefs can still lead you down the wrong road and this seems to be what Caitlin expresses in her call for,”inner work” and “cultivated wisdom”.
The divergence I see between the two world views is that one expects a significant, required number of individuals will somehow become more “conscious” and “wise” in the current environment of human logic which she describes as a “tornado of information”, so as to divert society; whereas the other accepts that human logic is fractured and only a permanent, transparent platform of Collective Intelligence moderated by human logic can rise above the fray.
Human intelligence and understanding is really the core of what this is all about. As Caitlin expressed, “No matter how intelligent you are, your intelligence is useless in this fight unless it's guided by cultivated wisdom”. Caitlin’s intelligence is unique in that she can use; “conversations and debates I get into with people on social media, random articles and video clips that readers draw my attention to, bits of information I happen to stumble across” all while employing a;“ongoing and ever-changing process of taking in useful information and discarding unhelpful or harmful information” Not everyone has the intellectual slant or ability, time or motivation to do this. Caitlin giving advice on how to achieve “consciousness” or “wisdom” in order to “guide” intelligence is really just wishful thinking. When you see everything through a lens of Individual Intelligence though, what other option do you have?
What a Collective Intelligence has to offer fulfills the desires of the author as “What it does mean is that they have a much better chance of correctly figuring out when they are being told the truth, when they are being manipulated” and “You won't have a clear sense of what's a worthy goal or what's just a politically convenient agenda for someone in power.” Also as a Collective Intelligence would by default based on technology there would be a framework. This framework would assuage the authors fears toward wasted energy; “This matters politically because activism without inner work is impotent.” A Collective Intelligence will not make individual intelligence obsolete. It will however help us as humans use our intellectual abilities in a more efficient, productive manner. See “Viable” on my blog or some of the shorter posts for a better understanding of my perspective. Thank you for you time. We are all in this together.
