APPARENTLY, "WTF" STANDS FOR "What's the Future?" Okay. It names an Integral-themed conference hosted by
Jose & Lyn Fuentes in Sedona, AZ in early November 2022. At this event, it was suggested that people give Steve MacIntosh as many hugs as possible.
#hugstevemacintosh"I need it!" Steve nodded enthusiastically.
If you don't know Steve, you probably should. He is a political theorist, evolutionary philosopher & founder of the
Institute for Cultural Evolution. It's nickname (ICE) is perhaps unfortunate given the problematic and unpopular behavior of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) but Steve's think tank is nonetheless doing excellent work building consensus around policy proposals that reflect deeper worldviews and values.
The ostensible purpose of the WTF event was to see what (or if) the official Integral movement has a future.
Opinions were divided in a convivial mix of the old guard and the new trying to simultaneously appreciate and also challenge the historical position of mainstream integral thinking.
Although nothing was resolved, several things became clear. We probably have to stop doing conventional "conferences" in hotels. We need to get past having people sit for long periods of time listening to each other give talks that we could easily find in books or online. We probably have to be more vulnerable and brokenhearted with each other. (The opening night eulogy video for Terry Patten was powerful.)
And we probably need more hugs.
There is still a lot of stiffness, subtle status-seeking, covert sexuality, fear of missing out & boredom floating around among the best people. And the calls are growing for men's work, movement practices, grief, play and any other modalities for getting deeper into the experience that the theory is only pointing toward.
Everyone at an event like this "gets it." They would mostly agree with this article. But it still needs to happen a lot more. We actually need to
be more together.
Cultural rejuvenation requires embrace.
#hugstevemacintosh
