Yet there are practical steps that are proven to work (community wealth and community wealth building) / IPBES transformative change assessment contains similar fractal strategies — what would you say to these — throw these out or have them in your toolbox?
I'll check IPBES out (hadn't heard of that).. what I've noticed is that with a changed paradigm/mentation even the old mechanistic "procedures" take on new meaning, but that largely they are not as useful anymore except to learn from.. the learning flows like a river because all the ideas and structures that were taken for granted before are now like exploring a fantastic rainforest of meaning.
Ok, yes, seeing that IPBES-TCA is a motion toward developmental thinking.. the word 'nature' in the articulations feels like a barrier (that old chestnut). 'Aliveness' gets closer for me to what we mean by 'nature' and allows that the biophilicality of what we call 'nature' can also be found anywhere (with organs developed to know/see/create/conjure it), but 'aliveness' can be anemically low (or systematically snuffed through white modernity and the spreading necro-politan blob).
Aliveness can exist and be felt in 'nature', but also in a beautiful moment on a slushy highway, in a moving eulogy, in the delight of a email. Aliveness is the field effect of coherence that plays out whenever it is not held back.
Christopher Alexander ("the nature of order" books) spoke of how the spread and prevalence of ugliness in the world (the lack of aliveness and coherence) is on par with the climate crisis and deeply intertwined. He spoke of this before the terms poly-crisis and Vervaeke's "meaning crisis" were articulated, but was referring as much to such.
I riff on William Wimsat's idea of rainforest ontology (to give credit back to my source). A video clip that summarizes it (from an awesome lecture series)
I really resonate with so much of this. In the field of Regenerative Development and Design, a dynamic, foundational approach we take is beginning with the potential of a system rather than seeking solutions to an isolated problem. This requires us to see the system in it's wholeness- and zoom out to at least two levels of wholeness that the system is nested within, because potential is always contextual, always unique, and always limitless.
And...my god, writing on the internet, sharing and promoting this kind of approach from a place that frankly needs to support business growth in a world of reductive listicles has been hard, until recently.
I'm finding it so much easier here and now on substack, I think very much because of what I shared recently about the root of the word "essay" being "to attempt." How you close here, with
"remain aware that my writing is only part of a larger whole, I might add depth to my work while embracing the fluidity of understanding," so beautifully voices the mentality that Seth and I have had in a lot of our recent writing. There's so much holistic, nuanced, depth within us that has felt so unable to be expressed until recently, and now it's flowing, and we're embracing imperfection and seeing all that we write here in a larger continuum of not only our own respective journeys of thinking out loud, but weaving together with the larger whole of brilliant people we're connecting with here.
And it's surprised us, that two of our recent pieces are going viral by substack standards. Neither of us would have ever guessed that of all things, fascia and villaging respectively, two things that we talk about amongst ourselves every day, would resonate with thousands of people here the way they have. But these are topics that are literally about the interstitial fabric that connects the living systems we belong to.
I think that the world is ready for this, at least a pocket of the world that is growing in clarity, boldness, and interconnectedness here. There's a lot of potential in that. I'm really glad to be in it with you.
This comment will make your day! Joking aside, I found it interesting that your title did catch my attention, not because of its promise, but because you wrote it. I recently joined a group discussing the future of western education in the light of the metacrisis. I like the notion of ‘solutionism’ and the less ambitious, though perhaps more effective idea of just contemplating the ‘next step’.
I’m also feeling more comfortable with ontological uncertainty - and questioning everything without the expectation of answers. Paradoxically for me, this appears to result in a greater sense of existential certainty - at least for the moment 🙂
In the interest of "transcending and including" the idea of solutions, I do want to share this organization, which is connected to RegenIntel whose foundations course I'm taking right now. A very ambitious and globally connected network that is growing, connecting, and educating leaders who are able to "multi-solve," designing solutions in a trans-disciplinary way with the aim to create cascading benefits. If we're going to be talking solutionism, this is a nice way to approach it.
Great question. I think yes AND to include other ways of knowing (apart from what arises), which could be very analytic, empiric work as well. Does that make sense to you?
This piece is a breath of fresh air in a world obsessed with quick fixes. It resonates deeply—the metacrisis isn’t something to “solve,” but a tangled web of relationships we need to navigate with humility. I love how it challenges the myth of linear progress while still making space for strategic simplifications when needed.
What stands out most is the call to sit with uncertainty, to ask better questions instead of chasing false promises of certainty. It’s both unsettling and freeing. Maybe real change isn’t about having the answers, but about staying present with the complexity, embracing the mess, and moving forward with awareness.
I'm definetly a "next step" kinda guy and hold little interest in utopic visions. But, going to a talk on eco-futurism kinda made me realise the benfits of utopic thinking.
A lot of people feel hopeless and it can often manifest in negative loops. Having an idea of what things can be and long term vision can give direction and momentum to thought and action.
Therefore, I think imagining an ideal can be incredible useful. As long as it is taken as something to strive towards rather than an end that you are attached to.
I know that’s not quite what the article is about. But, it just reminded me.
This is very good indeed. .... I always felt hunting for a solution to 'wicked problems' didn't quite work but had'nt got clarity on why, until this ...TY :)
However, "what is the next right step?" itself has a tricky word there: "RIGHT". But that's the trick. There is no absolute determination of such a thing when we have ambiguity.
What we perhaps "need" is space to make mistakes, to do well-intended harm (go to the "hell" that is down the "road paved with good intentions"), and then to fix it when it happens. Otherwise we can easily "empathy-scare" ourselves into inaction, too scared of the harm we might cause from "ill-considered" action we freeze up because we don't have all the answers or have internalized too much stuff about "be wary of cognitive bias", "be wary of 'talking about things you don't know'", etc. - all inhibition-creating mentalities.
Wow. I feel like this has been one of the main things I've been trying to speak to for a few years and I love the way you've written it. Thank you, Jessica.
Would it be ok with you if I read some of your writing here, in a video I'm recording? I would link and give you credit, of course.
Bit more info:
I found this today, during a reading break I took during the process of putting together a workshop on the upcoming new moon in Pisces, which I am approaching from a polycrisis-aware position. Pisces involves themes of dissolution and flow and surrendering to the change and not expecting answers in nice, clean boxes.
Earlier, I was a little pressed trying to figure out how I was going to write about the fact that the solutions are partial and there is no ultimate solution, that adaptation looks different for each of us. And how we can be with what is, while showing up in-person and online. You've made a lot of those points here in a beautiful way.
Yet there are practical steps that are proven to work (community wealth and community wealth building) / IPBES transformative change assessment contains similar fractal strategies — what would you say to these — throw these out or have them in your toolbox?
Absolutely keep them :) I do agree, that there definitely are solutions that work and I don't think we should disregards those.
I'll check IPBES out (hadn't heard of that).. what I've noticed is that with a changed paradigm/mentation even the old mechanistic "procedures" take on new meaning, but that largely they are not as useful anymore except to learn from.. the learning flows like a river because all the ideas and structures that were taken for granted before are now like exploring a fantastic rainforest of meaning.
Ok, yes, seeing that IPBES-TCA is a motion toward developmental thinking.. the word 'nature' in the articulations feels like a barrier (that old chestnut). 'Aliveness' gets closer for me to what we mean by 'nature' and allows that the biophilicality of what we call 'nature' can also be found anywhere (with organs developed to know/see/create/conjure it), but 'aliveness' can be anemically low (or systematically snuffed through white modernity and the spreading necro-politan blob).
Aliveness can exist and be felt in 'nature', but also in a beautiful moment on a slushy highway, in a moving eulogy, in the delight of a email. Aliveness is the field effect of coherence that plays out whenever it is not held back.
Christopher Alexander ("the nature of order" books) spoke of how the spread and prevalence of ugliness in the world (the lack of aliveness and coherence) is on par with the climate crisis and deeply intertwined. He spoke of this before the terms poly-crisis and Vervaeke's "meaning crisis" were articulated, but was referring as much to such.
Thanks Adrian. I agree with everything you are saying and I love Christopher Alexander's work.
Rainforest of meaning. I love the imagery that evokes. Thank you xoxo
I riff on William Wimsat's idea of rainforest ontology (to give credit back to my source). A video clip that summarizes it (from an awesome lecture series)
https://youtu.be/_DVeXjpEn6Q?si=t8HyWb42Gt7tJVVN
I really resonate with so much of this. In the field of Regenerative Development and Design, a dynamic, foundational approach we take is beginning with the potential of a system rather than seeking solutions to an isolated problem. This requires us to see the system in it's wholeness- and zoom out to at least two levels of wholeness that the system is nested within, because potential is always contextual, always unique, and always limitless.
And...my god, writing on the internet, sharing and promoting this kind of approach from a place that frankly needs to support business growth in a world of reductive listicles has been hard, until recently.
I'm finding it so much easier here and now on substack, I think very much because of what I shared recently about the root of the word "essay" being "to attempt." How you close here, with
"remain aware that my writing is only part of a larger whole, I might add depth to my work while embracing the fluidity of understanding," so beautifully voices the mentality that Seth and I have had in a lot of our recent writing. There's so much holistic, nuanced, depth within us that has felt so unable to be expressed until recently, and now it's flowing, and we're embracing imperfection and seeing all that we write here in a larger continuum of not only our own respective journeys of thinking out loud, but weaving together with the larger whole of brilliant people we're connecting with here.
And it's surprised us, that two of our recent pieces are going viral by substack standards. Neither of us would have ever guessed that of all things, fascia and villaging respectively, two things that we talk about amongst ourselves every day, would resonate with thousands of people here the way they have. But these are topics that are literally about the interstitial fabric that connects the living systems we belong to.
I think that the world is ready for this, at least a pocket of the world that is growing in clarity, boldness, and interconnectedness here. There's a lot of potential in that. I'm really glad to be in it with you.
This comment will make your day! Joking aside, I found it interesting that your title did catch my attention, not because of its promise, but because you wrote it. I recently joined a group discussing the future of western education in the light of the metacrisis. I like the notion of ‘solutionism’ and the less ambitious, though perhaps more effective idea of just contemplating the ‘next step’.
I’m also feeling more comfortable with ontological uncertainty - and questioning everything without the expectation of answers. Paradoxically for me, this appears to result in a greater sense of existential certainty - at least for the moment 🙂
Love this, and becoming comfortable with ontological uncertainty is a great way to put this.
"solutioneering" is a fun term I first heard from Daniel Christian Wahl (who speaks to this subject regularly in relation to his key theses)
In the interest of "transcending and including" the idea of solutions, I do want to share this organization, which is connected to RegenIntel whose foundations course I'm taking right now. A very ambitious and globally connected network that is growing, connecting, and educating leaders who are able to "multi-solve," designing solutions in a trans-disciplinary way with the aim to create cascading benefits. If we're going to be talking solutionism, this is a nice way to approach it.
https://www.regenintel.earth/collaboratory
Looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
Would you say… Trust the process and try stuff. Create. We are the solutions, which arise through this process(?)
Great question. I think yes AND to include other ways of knowing (apart from what arises), which could be very analytic, empiric work as well. Does that make sense to you?
Yes, absolutely it does :)
I've found i've stopped asking why and started looking at things from an if then standpoint.
What a great approach.
This piece is a breath of fresh air in a world obsessed with quick fixes. It resonates deeply—the metacrisis isn’t something to “solve,” but a tangled web of relationships we need to navigate with humility. I love how it challenges the myth of linear progress while still making space for strategic simplifications when needed.
What stands out most is the call to sit with uncertainty, to ask better questions instead of chasing false promises of certainty. It’s both unsettling and freeing. Maybe real change isn’t about having the answers, but about staying present with the complexity, embracing the mess, and moving forward with awareness.
Thank you Christy.
Humble curiosity is a proven & powerful cure against absolutes.
Agreed :)
I’m hopeful you get multiple readers. Interested to hear if you do…
I'm definetly a "next step" kinda guy and hold little interest in utopic visions. But, going to a talk on eco-futurism kinda made me realise the benfits of utopic thinking.
A lot of people feel hopeless and it can often manifest in negative loops. Having an idea of what things can be and long term vision can give direction and momentum to thought and action.
Therefore, I think imagining an ideal can be incredible useful. As long as it is taken as something to strive towards rather than an end that you are attached to.
I know that’s not quite what the article is about. But, it just reminded me.
I like that connection.
This is very good indeed. .... I always felt hunting for a solution to 'wicked problems' didn't quite work but had'nt got clarity on why, until this ...TY :)
We need to stop trying. No more effort. Sloth and indolence should become our highest virtues
However, "what is the next right step?" itself has a tricky word there: "RIGHT". But that's the trick. There is no absolute determination of such a thing when we have ambiguity.
What we perhaps "need" is space to make mistakes, to do well-intended harm (go to the "hell" that is down the "road paved with good intentions"), and then to fix it when it happens. Otherwise we can easily "empathy-scare" ourselves into inaction, too scared of the harm we might cause from "ill-considered" action we freeze up because we don't have all the answers or have internalized too much stuff about "be wary of cognitive bias", "be wary of 'talking about things you don't know'", etc. - all inhibition-creating mentalities.
I absolutely agree. And the quicker the feedback loops, the easier it would be.
I love the phrase "islands of coherence." No, we can't "solution" our way out of the metacrisis. But we can keep moving and we can keep our sanity. https://open.substack.com/pub/mweisburgh/p/islands-of-coherence?r=1782p&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Wow. I feel like this has been one of the main things I've been trying to speak to for a few years and I love the way you've written it. Thank you, Jessica.
Would it be ok with you if I read some of your writing here, in a video I'm recording? I would link and give you credit, of course.
Bit more info:
I found this today, during a reading break I took during the process of putting together a workshop on the upcoming new moon in Pisces, which I am approaching from a polycrisis-aware position. Pisces involves themes of dissolution and flow and surrendering to the change and not expecting answers in nice, clean boxes.
Earlier, I was a little pressed trying to figure out how I was going to write about the fact that the solutions are partial and there is no ultimate solution, that adaptation looks different for each of us. And how we can be with what is, while showing up in-person and online. You've made a lot of those points here in a beautiful way.
The thing I didn’t want to hear but needed to hear
I know those...
Yes, poetry and songs could lead us out of this metacrisis. The Indigo Girls "Closer to Fine" hints at what you're talking about.
I will check that out.