Science as if Cultural Creatives and being Whole-brained mattered

USBA nests inside the larger whole of Goethean Holistic Science

Chapter 20

Starting with the first meeting of the Assoc. for Humanistic Psychology in 1955, Cultural Creatives have recognized and agitated for, an expanded view of science. They correctly felt and intuited, science defined as mere rationalism and number-reading, was stunting all fields of science. After 80 years of failed attempts, humanistic psychology folks learned it would take much more than intuition and feeling to conceive of an expanded view of science robust enuf to out-compete rationalists and their numbers.

When a new paradigm was identified, Cultural Creatives found it not by looking ahead into the future, but behind, into the past. It turned out, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) first demonstrated his two-sided, whole-brained experimental science method in the 1780s.

Before presenting the new science paradigm, the Three Orders of Science, it’s been found useful with students to start with a simpler idea.

The Two Games of Life

The Game of Life is not one game but two, an Inner Game of Life; and, an Outer Game of Life.

The Outer Game is where 95% of extraverted male attention goes to: success, acquiring possessions, competition, problem-solving in the physical-material world. In the 1980s, a parody of this appeared on some T-shirts, “He who has the most toys when they die, wins.” The wisdom of how playing only one Game of Life, is one-sided, extreme and not fulfilling has now spread widely; even tho, seldom articulated clearly..

The Inner Game of Life is more natural for introverts and women to attend to. This Game includes the people and relationships meaningful to us, who we connect with, how often and why, the few relationships we commit to; our values, our goals, how we feel about ourself when we lie in bed at night. At the deepest level, it’s how we conceive within ourself, something of value, to make our life, and the world, more wonderful.

How did it happen The Outer Game of Life became so powerful and one-sided? How did it come to be, the average person attended to their Outer Game of Life 95% and attended to their Inner Game of Life only 5%?

The religion of corporate-consumer atheism

Historians say, between The Age of Enlightenment (1715–1789) and the end of the four phases of the Digital Revolution (1980–2033), one-sided, strictly rational, strictly logical, numbers-driven, science was King of the Hill, in mainstream culture. During this period, rational science first pushed out all traditional frames for “God.” The famous 1964 Is God Dead? TIME cover is often cited in this regard.

How do historians in 2120 view this? It was true — in several senses:

- The old school, God as an Old White Man, with a beard, sitting on a throne, outside of us, far away in some heaven, controlling all — died,

- With a worldwide economic resurgence after WW II, religious Monotheism, of all kinds, was being replaced with corporate-consumer secularism,

- Corporate-consumerism was the new “God.” His commandments? A chicken in every pot, a TV in every room of the house, a car in every garage, a cell phone in every hand, attics and basements filled to overflowing with old, broken and unused things bought, little used and now forgotten,

- At one time politely called “secularism” or “secular humanism,” as the decades progressed, it became something needing a more precise naming: the new religion of corporate-consumer atheism. Let the wild ruckus of consumer buying begin! Let the production of new and better Frankenstein monsters begin!

- In the late 1970s, when corporate-consumer atheism met scientific rationalism, it was love at first sight. Not only God but truly human values of all stripes were, to an astonishing degree, abolished in mainstream culture and discourse. Consumer spending increasingly took on religious overtones. Backed by Science and by profits, corporate-consumer atheism had powerful friends in high places.

Return to truly human values (2045–2085)

In the Oxygen Crisis (2055–2085), due to male greed, the Earth came very close to losing all its oxygen. This forced leaders, men in particular to face up to how male Patriarchy, in charge for the last 7,000 years, had failed, was still failing, as An Operating System for Spaceship Earth. The reaction to this was the Age of Truly Human Values. This was often defined as a question, “What is best for the next seven generations?” This began in the 2070s, went mainstream in the 2080s; and, was led mostly by women.

By the 2070s, many people were ready, willing, able and wanting to embrace an expanded science paradigm, one honoring:

- Both the Inner Game and the Outer Game of Life; and

- Iain McGilchrist’s updated view of brain lateralization (2009, 2022).

dg-three-sciences

First-order-science ~

Among other things, this is the intelligence of our individual cells. This intelligence is demonstrated most clearly and obviously in our small intestine. 24/7 the villi, the little fingers, on the inside of our small intestine, are testing single nutrients as they flow by. As a single nutrient touches a single villi, the villi asks itself — in our adult language — “Is this nutrient beneficial for me to take into the bloodstream now — or not?”

If the single nutrient is beneficial, it is received and escorted into the blood stream. If it is not beneficial or not needed, it is allowed to pass and is excreted at the end of our digestive tract.

If our small intestine villi were not testing all out food intake, how would we know which nutrients were safe for us? All of us would require intravenous tube feeding to replace this function and obtain nutrients safe for our bloodstream.

The genius of cell-level-intelligence is nothing like how we conceive of “survival.” Rather it’s choice at a very primitive level. Behind primitive choice is “balance,” sustaining and maintaining harmony as determined by our immune system self. This is our intelligence on the level of our metabolism. Cell-level-intelligence makes these basic choices for us; this is its service — its genius. Its activity is limited to the domain of single individuals. This is why we joke, “I can’t breathe your air or digest your food for you.”

The domain of cell-level-intelligence is analogous to the intelligence of one person. Each person individually has intelligence for their own choices and behavior; and in some senses this intelligence, goes not further than one person. This is the level of determining what is safe and beneficial for me, for today, for now. This is what our conscious waking Self is good at.

A focus on the needs of one individual makes cell-level-intelligence the primary domain ideal for health and self-healing on all levels PACME. Human healthcare — outside of emergency and trauma medicine — is the outer level of service in the domain of one single individual.

Neither plants nor animals have an Inner Game of Life. Therefore, Agriculture, animal husbandry and veterinary care appropriately operate according to only Second and Third Order Sciences.

Second-order-science ~

Second Order Science functions primarily in the domain of “What is it? How does it work? Is it safe? Can I trust it for me and my family, my tribe?” If an invention works really well then, “How can I make another one like this?”

The genius of Second Order Science is physical-material survival, creating and maintaining balance between single individuals, single families, single tribes (including corporations) and the demands of the physical-material world (including economics and world economics).

Any level of intelligence you can point to is genius compared to lower levels of intelligence. By the same comparison, any level of intelligence is highly limited to the higher frequencies of intelligence above it.

Our middle self is in some ways, very limited by design, compared to higher frequency intelligence, often represented as Third Order Science, knowing and acting on the highest good for all concerned.

Second Order Science is the science of Island Man and Island Woman. Our middle self has most ability to focus and shut out extraneous input. Good to have during an emergency; physical survival can depend on this. Ernst Lehrs characterized the limited science it creates as “one-eyed, color-blind, pointer-reading science.” Survival-minded conscious selves often can come to consensus on little more.

Second Order Science resonates strongly with our limited survival-obsessed-ego. Our survival-ego uses rationalization to defend its obsessions in the name of “survival.” When Third Order Science is applied, sometimes these stand unmasked as smokescreens for “greed” and “profit.”

Third-order-science ~

Third Order Science is the most reflective and most question-loving of the Three Sciences we use everyday It asks:

- Do we have enuf resources today to meet the needs of all — or not?

- What constitutes our “public commons”? How do we sustain and preserve it?

- What constitutes “private property”? What legal boundaries are needed and fair for the 99%?

A question, “What is for the highest good of all concerned?” characterizes Third Order Science.

Please recall parents of children think like this daily, mothers and fathers imagining what is best for the children, for the family and possibly extended family.

A synonym for “Third-order science” is “whole-brained thinking.”

In Second Order Science, the question, “What is real here?” becomes, “What is for the highest good of all concerned, for the next seven generations?

To exercise this thinking a slower more relaxed tempo is required, a more thoughtful, more comprehensive approach to collective needs. Hence, the more inward, contemplative and deliberative quality than either First or Second Orders of Science.

If a lot of people are stakeholders in a decision, identifying and making manifest out of these values takes time. The main experiment is moving out of our own point of view, using our empathy, compassion and imagination to perceive from additional points of view and multiple perspectives.

Most parents use all Three Sciences

– Teaching my child the dangers of crossing the street with cars. Second Order Science, survival science is part of the Outer Game of Life,

– Nurturing my child’s subjective experience of self-esteem. Arranging life experiences which develop (instill) self-esteem is part of both First Order Science and the Inner Game of Life,

– Estimating if I bought enuf food and clothes at CostCo to feed the entire family for the next seven days–or not. Deciding how to spend limited funds to meet the demands of all stakeholders in my family unit. This is Third Order Science, the science of ethics, morals and values in both the Inner and Outer Games of Life.

Can you show me a parent who does NOT make experiments and rational choices, in each of these three areas, daily or weekly? We stand open for correction from readers.

Indeed, Three Orders of Science, aligns well with parenting and women’s issues .

The above simply updates and fleshes out the indications of Goethe. It’s easy to unpack his original humanized science theory and experimental method and reframe them in modern rhetoric. Between 1955–2014, the simplicity of Goethe’s insights blocked science technocrats and Cultural Creatives from perceiving the plain outlines of an expanded science paradigm.

The more limited Galileo-Descartes-Newton science paradigm is out of step with human development, since 1970 at least. A women-friendly, children-friendly, subjectivity-friendly and ethics-friendly science is badly needed — GHS pg. 17

The one-sided domination of only Second Order Science can and will give way to the Three Orders of Science. Why? An expanded, holistic science paradigm offers more benefits to more people.

How does GHS view Old One-sided Science? One-sided science was Dr. Frankenstein science, experimenters paid to NOT think about the social-ecological consequences and ramifications of their results and uncoveries, experimenters paid to NOT think about their experiments were changing their thinking about self, others, Nature and God. This is why Igor in the Frankenstein movies, 1931, is deformed. He out-pictures the deformed nature, the distorted nature of truncated one-sided science.

USBA spans all three Orders of Science:

In USBA, competent testing and calculations — apart from interpretation — are Second Order, evidence-based, rational, science.

Note two lOrder of Science here. First, simple testing and calculation of the numbers: Second Order. As well, patron demographics and listening to your patron’s reporting on their situation. If the patron’s verbal report echoes what the numbers are telling you, this is useful corroboration.

Dr. Reams and his original direct students liked to pretend interpretation of a fresh number array was — in GHS terms — all rational, left-brain, Second Order, evidence-based. Not so. The science of number array interpretation is far too subtle and artful. Superficially interpreting is indeed about connecting a fresh array with known number patterns identified and interpreted by Reams and his students. This approach is reliable; yet, in only the top layer of interpretation.

Deeper levels include hologram-like thinking, connecting multiple points of view to arrive at new uncoveries or insights. These points include personal experience, clinical experience, book study, classroom training. This is largely First Order Science in USBA.

Interpretation need not stop with the above. It can continue into what some have jokingly call “medical mysticism.” This is the interpreter engaging with their own most preferred and least preferred sensory channels, feeling-touch, hearing, smelling-tasting and colors. The inferior functions of each interpreter, as described in MBTI come into play. A list:

- Introverted iNtuition (Ni),

- Extraverted iNtuition (Ne), we use these two to discern patterns.

- Introverted Sensing (Si), we use this to “connect the dots” inside kinesthetically,

- Introverted Thinking (Ti),

- Introverted Feeling (Fi),

It is beyond our scope to take MBTI’s inferior functions any further here.

In short, the deepest levels of interpreting a fresh number array can arise from the most personal, the most introverted inner experience and self-reflection.

The majority of the above are all Inner Game of Life intelligences and activities.

Reams encouraged ALL levels of interpretation in his students. Wherever you are, is a good place to start.

Holistic health-healing was already Goethean

Since 1919, or 1955 or 1970, the biggest Goethean Science experiments have been invisible, hidden in plain sight. Waldorf-methods K-12 education, Holistic health and self-healing activity are necessarily two-sided experiments — therefore, Goethean in nature. We simply did not yet recognize this.

With Three Sciences, “hard” science falls naturally into Second Order Science. Its focus is physical-material plane survival, physical competition; and, lifestyle comforts-conveniences. Anyone reading this willing to stop using indoor plumbing or hot running water? I didn’t think so.

With Third Order Science we determine where this or that invention is APPROPRIATE. With Third Order Science we determine which application or NO application of these learnings is appropriate. WE determine international rules-laws are needed to limit; or, perhaps eradicate this class of experiments.

In Second Order we ask CAN we do it? In Third Order we ask SHOULD we do it? Is it ethical, moral to do it? Will 99% of passengers on SpaceShip Earth benefit from completing this experiment?

If not, which special interest benefits are benefitting from this science? How do we feel about this, given everything we know now?

In this way, all three Orders of Sciences are natural categories for rational adult thinking and feeling.

Comments invited.

To Learn More

Used by permission from intro to the book, Goethean Holistic Science and the Three Sciences We Use Everyday for Holistic Practitioners and Self-Healers: Chapters 19–20 from Balance on All Levels-PACME+Soul Plus Related Essays (2014) by Ike and Zeke Leerly

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