FROM PYRAMID TO SPHERE [Part 2: The Sphere]
On the transformation of the global generator function. [Part 2/5]
Last time we looked at the symbol of the Pyramid and its societal implications. Now we shine light at its counterpart: The Sphere.
Thesis 2: The generator function of the new society is understood as a sphere.
The Sphere is the crystalline symbol of the new generator function. Points in a pyramid arrange themselves above or below each other, points in a sphere arrange themselves towards or around each other. Instead of a vertical hierarchy, the Sphere is a horizontal network cluster without beginning or end. This mostly decentralized rhizomatic structure does not require a win-lose dynamic but enables win-win cooperation between the individual players. The goal is not the top but the best possible connection in the network. Although the relationships in the Sphere can be prioritized like in a neural network, they are not in a fundamental power imbalance as in the Pyramid. The evolutionary survival mode, which is characteristic of Pyramid culture, has been gradually transformed by the fundamental experience of Sphere culture: The Network Experience.
The network experience is akin to an initiation experience. Without this experience, or at least a taste of it, it is relatively difficult to comprehend the spherical reality and the values that emerge from it. How the network experience is triggered is basically irrelevant. Driving down the lane on a bike, hiking, psychedelics, listening to music, meditation, breathing exercises, fasting, intense intimacy, dance or simply at the bus stop. The experience varies in tastes, but there are clearly recognizable similarities. I classify a network experience as something that contains at least one primary and one secondary characteristic with the tertiary being optional and individual colorings.
Primary:
An immediate surge in wellbeing (peace, joy, happiness, bliss, freedom).
A greater sense of presence or being in the moment.
An reduction or complete absence of thoughts.
A greater sense that everything is just right and unfolding perfectly.
A greater sense of liberation from personal drama.
Secondary:
The expansion of the sense of self beyond the body.
The dissolution of the individual sense of self.
The fusion of the subjective and the objective.
A feeling of deep connection with everyone and everything.
A feeling of strong love for all of existance.
Tertiary:
A sense of timelessness and eternity where the past and future cease to exist.
A partial or whole body ecstasy.
A feeling of opening in the heart.
A sense that the core of your being is changeless and invulnerable.
Events seem to unfold spontaneous on their own with you just observing them.
The network experience brings the update for our expired operating system. If the subject of the Pyramid society feels as a separate individual, then the one who has undergone the network experience knows that she (for simplification, I use the feminin here which should be considered neutral) is fundamentally connected with all her fellow human beings. Her sense of self expands from the small self into the big Self. Only those who feel small, fragile and separate have the need to control others and hord vast amounts of resources. The spherical human lives out of an abundance and expansion that enables her to act much more cooperatively without the constant fear that others could take something away from her or hurt her. For all of our extraordinary human endeavors, fear and fear-induced conflict, insecurity, and scarcity limit the potential of our species and slow global, local, and individual progress. Our old survival mode isn’t serving us anymore. It’s time for an update.
The network experience serves as an useful reference point. It functions as a new base pattern, an underlying main driving force for the psyche, which through the personal patterns of action then gradually replaces the collective and cultural structures. Who for now still are mostly pyramid-like, but slowley are being transformed into spherically decentralized ones. The Sphere slowley bleeds through and changes the old with the new.
Some personal transformations which can come with the network experience are as followed but certainly not limmited to:
There is an underlying sense of okayness or peace beneath whatever turbulence is arising on the surface.
A deeper sense of contentment, wholeness and completeness.
Less reactivity and better emotional regulation.
Thoughts and feelings having less power over you.
A reduction in self-referential and self-critical thoughts.
Shifts in how you feel about other people – you may find you have an increased sense of understanding for others and their situation, rather than judgement.
An increased sense of presence or being in the moment.
Greater trust in what is.
I conclude this part with the following table, which summarizes the most important points of the two generator functions:
End of Part 2. Next time I will ground the theory and go into observable signs of change in our culture.