Second Renaissance 101 Course: Get a handle on the metacrisis and how we can transcend it in 7 days
We live in a moment of civilizational crisis and awakening: a metacrisis and Second Renaissance. It is a time between worlds, as we witness the collapse of the old paradigm and the birth of the new – moving from modernity into what comes next.
Second Renaissance 101 is a prototype eight episode course that offers a powerful framework for understanding this moment: how we got here, why things feel like they’re coming apart, and how we can move toward what’s next.
UPDATE: May 2024 following the first successful prototype we have released a dedicated second renaissance website including white papers that set out the metacrisis and second renaissance in detail.
What it is
A concise, engaging introduction to the Second Renaissance — exploring paradigm shifts, civilizational unwinding, and the seeds of cultural renewal. Each episode connects history, philosophy, and psychology to make sense of today’s crises and point toward transformation.
Who it’s for
Anyone seeking a more accurate and useful understanding of the state we’re in — and what we can actually do about it.
Why it matters
When we understand the deeper story, we find grounding, hope, and wiser action. This series offers a map for those who sense that our predicament isn’t just political or technological, but civilizational.
What's available
- Get a handle on the metacrisis in 7 days
- Discover what’s really driving the climate crisis, and what we can do about it
- Understand the predicament we are in and how we can transcend it
- How modernity was built and why it’s unraveling
- The hidden traumas shaping our worldview
- Why secularism may be our deepest blind spot
- How new paradigms and civilizations are born
Course Outline
- "Cracks in the foundations": why our crises run deeper than politics or economics. Issues we have are foundational. Metaphor: innocuous crack in the wall on the 20th floor actually indicates a fundamental problem in foundations and implies you need to move to a new building.
- "Fish in water": seeing the paradigms that shape us. What are paradigms?The water we swim in, i.e. our worldviews (views and values), culture, and onto-social paradigm.
- The first renaissance: lessons from the last great paradigm shift (pre-modern to modern)
- Where are we now? The life cycle of civilizations (and complex systems) - birth, growth, maturity, decacy/death. - Look at visible signs e.g. climate crisis, lack of political vision - So where are we today?
- So what can we do about it? - How are new paradigms born? - Religion the great taboo … and the essential ingredient in cultural evolution and social scaling in the past
- From Mourning to Renewal: letting go of modernity. Don’t make modernity wrong because what you resist, persists. And we need to give modernity a proper funeral.
- Darkness before dawn: last time round we had the black death … this time well you know it already (climate crisis, out of control tech, pandemics etc).
- The great awakening and the second renaissance: glimpses of what comes next. A potential new dawn for a new civilization. Going from modernity to what comes next.
Appendix: Some of the "cracks in the foundations"
Here is some more detail on some of the "cracks in the foundations".
Climate crisis (and ecological crisis more broadly)
What: obvious i think! Dangerous climate change and ecological degradation are accelerating. We continue to pump c02 into the atmosphere at a growing rate despite half a century of knowledge of the issue. Major vested interests actively oppose intervention and obscure the facts etc.
Superficial analysis: we just need more green energy … let's get more solar.
Foundational issue: focus on endless material growth is core to capitalism and all major modern societies. Behind that materialism. tech obsession. Left brain delusions of control and simplified thinking (e.g. difficulty to grasp ecological dynamics and complexity etc).
Wellbeing / mental health crisis
What: ongoing rise in suicide and depression in the materially wealthier countries. suggests wellbeing is stagnant or declining.
Superficial analysis: a) dismiss issue (people actually are getting happier b) we just need more stuff c) (slightly deeper) we need to spend more on psychotherapy etc.
Foundational issue: (hyper versions of …) materialism, individualism, secularism. Materialism: a dead end in terms of long-term growth in wellbeing. Hyper Individualism = atomization and loneliness. Secuarlism = no spirituality and no access to waking up which is best opportunity for profound wellbeing (see https://lifeitself.org/learn/fundamental-wellbeing)
Polarization especially politically
Superficial analysis: "it's just social media" etc.
Fundamentally: clash of world-historical cultural values systems as part of major paradigmatic transition from modernity to what comes after it (or in some cases still just from pre-modernity to modernity)
Concretely: (using Integral/spiral color metaphors) amber is clashing with orange/green. Orange is clashing with green. And teal is only just getting on the scene. See this book review for a more detailed analysis inspired by the Trump election https://lifeitself.org/blog/wilber-trump-post-truth-world-review-notes
Taking analogy of last great transition of medieval to modern: you had the great clash of catholicism with protestantism (major wars e.g. french wars of religion, 30 years war, spanish war in the low countries; massacres during all of these etc etc). You had the english civil war, the french revolution, the american revolution. These weren't easy transitions - there were bitter disagreements and extreme polarization.
Growing inequality
What: inequality seems to growing systematically across a broad range of countries over the last half century.
Superficially: just need a bit more redistribution.
Fundamentally related to the nature of the information economy and digital capitalism (or even capitalism in general!) - see https://openrevolution.net/book/ and e.g. https://lifeitself.org/blog/2018/06/08/can-digital-businesses-thrive-and-be-mindful
Runaway tech
What: current AI development and its associated existential risks. Clear dangers but little being done about it – in fact an accelerating race to bottom (race to accelerate) seem to be getting worse.
Superficial analysis: need a bit more regulation.
Foundational analysis: we are tech obsessed (left-brain dominated, materialist) society that lacks patience and ability to coordinate collective action problems (because of individualism and an infatuation with tech etc).
Meaning crisis
This a more ontological one – and hence more debatable.
What: loss of purpose, anomie, growth of nihilism.
Superficial analysis: always been this way … or inevitable result of seeing our true nature (selfish genes, purposeless atoms) and (lack of) true purpose.
Foundation analysis: cancer of modernity that removed the magic from the world (mistakenly and erroneously).
Colophon
Original posted on the forum: https://github.com/orgs/life-itself/discussions/922
