Integration.

[Rich Engle]

I suppose I could've put this in the "Rants" area, given the current Hatfield-vs.MCoy style feuding that goes on in O-world these days, but it's not a rant. Actually, it's more of a bust.

I've been going through the somewhat painful process of reading Victor Pross over on SoloP for awhile now; he has been quite up in the front on the attack, particularly trying to work Phil Coates over vis-a-vis Phil's response to Diana Hsieh's "Dialectical Dishonesty" piece.

Sidebar: On the whole, that piece reminds me nothing more than of the kind of behavior you see in any fascist organization. I am not saying ARI is a fascist organization, as some have- I do not know, and furthermore I doubt they would have the moxy to be true fascists. But the behavior, HER behavior amongst others, is one of the standard ops in that sort of mindset, at least- namely, turning in supposed traitors.

Now, this is what Victor just posted:

I don’t have anything NEW to say on integration; I do not even pretend to offer anything new on this subject; I merely wanted to re-assert that which is well established. I did so. And this was not in a manner of taking authorship of it—but rather, it was in the heat of a “Hey Phil, get a load of what you are failing to do” type of thing. I’m not computer savvy enough to give a direct link to something—or else I surely would have, but I have no trouble communicating what I want to say. In regards to being computer illiterate, I had Julian upload my ugly mug. Speaking on intellectual matters, however, I have too much to say! This is just an unfortunate mistake, and it was a heated moment--as I'm a heated artist type. But now I know better.

As much as I have found Victor to be pretty much the typical kind of aggravator, the typical kind of prick found nowadays in O-world, I admire his apology.

I suppose that if I looked deeper into his chessboard, it is possible that this is left-handed, but even so, it remains quite a step; I haven't seen Weiss or any of these others be strong enough (and it does require strength) to drop the sword for a second and own up to, well, anything. So kudos to him for that, it requires a great deal to publicly admit fault.

What I find more interesting, though, is the topic of integration. I believe that integration is widely talked about but generally widely misunderstood in O-world, but for a few. Integration is a big topic. I have heard people talk of Rand as an integrator, and to a certain extent I know this to be true. But, that is leaping ahead. One of the main things you look for in integration is, well, whether you do it cleanly or not; that is to say- have you done so without creating pathology.

I point to Ken Wilber, who I believe is the best integration-based philosopher out there. I also point to Koestler, and his concept of holons.

Integration goes through all things- philosophy, science, psychology, nature, name it. It is a meta-topic.

I believe that there is opportunity for developing and clarifying Objectivism via exploration of what fully, more exactly integration is, what it requires, how it truly works. I believe benefits are to be had from looking at Koestler, spiral dynamics, and other related topics.

This kind of work is, to my mind, quite off-the-path from even the higher level discourses I have seen over the years. It is interesting that lately the topic of "integration" has surfaced on O-forums. Should it not be explored freely, shamelessly, and, er...objectively?

rde

[Barbara Branden]

Rich, the subject of integration, and specifically of Rand's power of integration, is dealt with at length in Chris Sciabarra's Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical. I cannot recommend this remarkable book too highly.

Barbara

[Rich Engle]

Thanks, Barbara.

The truth is I read that book a good while back and have virtually no memory of it for some reason. I guess I'm getting a bit long in the tooth or something. I'm going to pick up a copy, I love Chris' work.

Sidebar2: there is a pretty good treatment of spiral dynamics on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_Dynamics

I find that for some in the O-world there is not so much reaching out to alternate or more modern ways of thought; some pigeonhole and perfuntorily dismiss anything not O'ist as "pomo slime," and such.

Spiral dynamics is a refreshing viewpoint, and it speaks nicely to integration.

Along my line of thought- this is why I found it vital and refreshing that Nathaniel and Ken Wilber dialogued. This is good stuff and I wish more people would get exposed to it.