23. The Web of Meaning with Jeremy Lent

In episode 23 of Mutations, I talk with Jeremy Lent about his new book: The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe.

Lent’s newest work proposes an integrated worldview very much in the philosophical spirit of the scholars and teachers we explore on Mutations (integral philosophy, theory, etc.). At the time of recording this, I was just coming down from the whirl of regenerative possibilities explored in the Integrales Forum panel, “Becoming the Planetary”, where Lent and others talked about framing a new narrative around a “regenerative turn.”

Part of this turn, however, means important breaks from traditional narratives in Western culture concerning evolutionism and progressive societal development. Lent’s book articulates this regenerative narrative wonderfully, and I had to agree with Tyson Yunkaporta’s blurb:

“It is hard to build new regenerative narratives that honor the old without being in extractive relation to non-western lands and peoples, but this book is a damn good start. This book is a good place to sit for anybody interested in binding the wounds of thoughtless progress and allowing for the emergence of new patterns of being.”
Tyson Yunkaporta, author, Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World

I was also delighted to share some of my thoughts on the interrelationship with Lent’s writing and my own research with Jean Gebser. We discussed the convergence points across the conversation. Thanks for listening, and stay tuned with me: Mutations has a back log now, and as I continue to work on my next book, more conversations should be going up over the next few months.