Eight years and four months ago, my late friend Don Beck and I sat in my living room discussing the future of humanity and how Spiral Dynamics, the development model he created can remain relevant in the face of so many existential problems. We both recognized two outsized systems that will define the future. The first was the post WWII architecture and the systems created by the modern mind going through different stages of entropy, and the second was our collective inability to address social and ecological collapse.
We had discussed these issues many times before as we both concluded that the basic mechanics of our model needed structural changes for it to remain on the leading edge of change. Between coffee sips that morning my friend inquired about any insights I might have had into the nature of these changes and my response was that it couldnât be done without repurposing the leading edge of human intelligence known in the model as Second Tier. Just as he did in October of 2009 when he nudged me into writing the book MEMEnomics, that morning my friend was nudging into repurposing the leading edge of human intelligence. âYou donât have to call it second tier. Call it something else,â he said.
That was the moment that marked the birth of the concept of Second Sapiens.
Just like the wicked problems this book attempts to address, writing it was an eight-year odyssey full of setbacks, unpleasant distractions and sorrowful events. In 2017 I set my work aside for a few years to care for Elza. At the same time Don Beck became occupied with taking care of his wife Pat. It wasnât until after I wrote the book The Light of Ishtar and Donâs passing that the space opened up for me to finish it. Then came the bankruptcy of the two publishers who had agreed to published it and the unexpected passing of my literary agent. By the time my new publisher was ready for release it, Elza passed away and the date was postponed one last time.
In hindsight, the earlier delays were a blessing in disguise as much of the science behind the research I had done before 2020 did not withstand the test of time. This fact alone became the crucible on which much of Second Sapiens concepts were built and from which will come the repurposing of the Spiral Dynamics-Gravesian model. Based on our failure to address macro and mega scale issues, the narrative builds a new theoretical framework that calls on us to transcend human intelligence and embrace the complexities inherent in Gaian intelligence.
The recent destruction in Los Angeles is just the tip of the iceberg of what is to come that will lay waist to many human-built systems and render most of them obsolete. The present structures of FEMA and the insurance industry will be among the first to experience obsolescence.
Mother Nature is not mean. Sheâs just reaching homeostasis after human activity forced her past certain tipping points. We need to understand those dynamics and be in awe of them if humanity is to survive the Anthropocene epoch and thrive in the Gaian epoch. This is what Second Sapiens is all about.
The book opens the possibility that a new seed of knowing can be regenerated and nurtured in the Gaian epoch of the Second Sapiens.”
Marilyn Hamilton, PhD.
The book is dedicated to Elza, Don and Clare Graves, the three sapiens who set my mind and soul on fire. A big thank you goes to my friend and colleague Dr. Marilyn Hamilton for writing such a moving and insightful foreword. Marilyn walks the walk in being one of the few evolutionary leaders practicing at the Gaian scale. Her generous spirit and big Gaian heart are a testament to the transformative future of our species. For that, I am forever in her debt.
The few thought leaders who read an advance copy of the book consider it ground breaking work and a manifesto for the future. It is available from Amazon or any book seller. Please share this post widely, read the book, and let the epoch of Second Sapiens begin.
