Canada 2001: Alternative futures for the Canadian communities

The global “problématique humaine” is described in terms of the “grand issues” of population, resources, development in the rich and poor countries, and the environment. Three competing paradigms about the future and their implications for the Canadian communities are examined, and a model is offered showing interrelationships between the different Canadian communities, organizational levels, and various societal/environmental activities. A comprehensive programme of future‐oriented studies is proposed.

This article is a shortened version of a monograph to appear as one of a series entitled Queen's Studies of the Future of the Canadian Communities, published by the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario. The research was funded by the Donner Canadian Foundation.     

World ethics: Its foundation

Although there are enormous differences between humans, it is also the case that they are fundamentally alike in certain ways. As a prelude to universal ethics, this paper enumerates many commonalities among humans.     

Creativity,chaos, and self‐renewal in human systems

The research findings from the psychology of creativity are shown to be of considerable relevance to the study of self‐organization and self‐renewal in human systems. The characteristics of the creative person, and the nature of the creative process, particularly as they have been elaborated by Barron, are shown to be remarkably congruent with recent findings and theoretical elaborations by Abraham, Jantsch, Laszlo, Prigogine, and others in the fields of evolutionary and chaos theory. The broader social implications of chaos and evolutionary theories are fleshed out through an understanding of their characteristics in creative human systems.     

Evolution and human choices

The postmodern world seems to have conclusively lost faith in the heady promises of human emancipation through rational understanding that have pervaded the Western world since the time of the Enlightenment. As the end of the millennium approaches and the evidence of man‐made environmental degradation accumulates nihilism and malaise color the future. This article argues that a clear understanding of both evolutionary forces and human consciousness permits to formulate a guardedly optimistic alternative view. It is advanced that the very sense of despair current circumstances have created may trigger a move toward a new form of psycho‐functional adaptation, simultaneously constituting a first instance of “conscious evolution” and fulfilling the progressive promise intrinsic in the full use of our rational faculties.     

Ideological analytics: A study of evolving world values

This study analyses ideologies in a comparative perspective. It does so by treating ideologies as normative mental systems interacting with environmental physical realities and following their evolution in the contemporary world. As a result, it exemplifies a systematic method of undertaking a diagnosis, anagnosis, and prognosis of the global ideological situation.

The study introduces a relevance tree reflecting the conceptual framework of ideological analytics. On this basis, it presents three levels of generality which contain the outline of a substantive analysis. The examples given therein illustrate the model and could serve as prototypes for more detailed studies.

Finally, the study draws the main conclusions from the above generalizations by identifying the dialectical process of ideological dynamics. This process together with the non‐linear development of social systems produce the macrohistorical cycles of world evolution. Thus, the proposed hypothesis of dialectichaos can contribute to a better understanding oïideosocial change.     

Justice to Nature and to the Disadvantaged

This article argues against using the practice of discounting and shows that both the time preference and the opportunity cost of capital arguments, put forward to justify discounting, are in conflict when we take the holistic approach to the environment. Both the time preference and the opportunity cost concepts are the tools to support the institution of interest. Using a hierarchical systems approach it is argued that in order to save the super hierarchical system (biosphere as a whole in our case) the contemporary economic system has to renew so that the humanity and global ecosystem may persist.     

INTEGRAL ECOLOGY: THE WHAT,WHO, AND HOW OF ENVIRONMENTAL PHENOMENA

Providing an overview of Integral Ecology, this article defines and explains some of the key terms and concepts that underlie an approach to the environment that is inspired by and makes use of Ken Wilber's Integral Theory. First Integral Ecology is distinguished from other environmental approaches. Then Wilber's Integral Theory is introduced, which provides a foundation for a participatory approach to ecology. Next, the ontology, epistemology, and methodology of environmental phenomena is examined in light of Wilber's framework and illustrated with multidimensional examples of recycling. Finally, an Integral Ecology platform is presented.     

REFLECTIONS: EDUCATION AND OUR SHARED FUTURE

Based on a comparative study, this paper highlights and analyses commonalities and differences between an Oriental systems approach, WSR, and two Western counterparts, TOP and MMD. It is suggested that cultural differences among systems approaches might probably have been overshadowed by both commonalities between Western and Eastern traditions and differences within the same cultural tradition. It will be further proposed that by being more consciously open to and learning from each other, systems approaches in the East and the West may have more to offer for dealing with the complexity which confronts humankind.