NPV in AQAL

Ken Wilber’s All Quadrant All Levels (AQAL) schematic provides an appropriate cosmological framework to demonstrate how NPV integrates into life as it is, and will likely become. The evolutionary impulse has brought us to the present point which can be a pivot allowing a transition to a different stage. As we transcend to another level, we include all of the gains realized from previous levels. This is the way of holons in a holarchy.

The value index preserves and facilitates the ethical standards of equality, equity, justice and transparency. Socially, we nurture and provide for the least among us, while providing the space and resources for the full blossoming of human nature. Structurally, the environment is preserved and protected, resources are rationally managed, and institutions expand support for the best in learning, training, housing and healthcare, with the technological innovation that is part of our evolutionary response.

This locates NPV in the second tier of Spiral Dynamics as described by Wilber:

  • Intuitively grasps the entire Spiral of development, and thus understands that each meme is important
  • Grasps big pictures, global flows, universal networks
  • Discovers personal freedom without harm to others or excesses of self-interest
  • Sees integrative and open systems, holistic meshworks
  • Reintroduces vertical hierarchy (or ranking) along with horizontal heterarchy (or linking)
  • Works for both the enjoyment of self and the good of the entire Spiral of development
  • Basis of integral commons

The paragraph following right after sums up the second-tier yellow and turquoise memes, the final levels of the Spiral.

“‘Scales fall from our eyes and we can see, for the first time, the legitimacy of all of the human systems (the first six memes) awakened to date. At the same time, viability must be restored to a disordered world endangered by the cumulative effects of the first six memes on the earth’s environment and populations (since all of those first-tier memes are at war with each other). This integrative view facilitates the movement of people up and down the flowing and fluid Spiral. This produces a recognition of the richly layered dynamics of human systems operating within peoples and societies. If purple is sick, it needs to be made well. If red is running amok, the raw energy must be channeled. If blue structure is devastated, it needs to be restored. Since many of our social messes are caused by interaction of people at different levels, such messes can only be sorted out through an understanding of the integral Spiral itself.’ With second-tier consciousness, such an understanding becomes possible, and a genuine wholeness finally becomes a living reality.”

Ken Wilber, Boomeritis: A Novel That Will Set You Free, Shambhala, 2002