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In this era of digital polarization and a lack of shared reality and political consensus, we’re navigating massive issues. How might we cope with the many different spheres of sense-making and meaning? Alderman highlights the rapid expansion of information exposure over the past 50 years, leading to an "algorithmic undertow" that channels individuals into echo chambers. Alderman emphasizes the need for digital mindfulness and practices that foster multi-perspective engagement. He references critical realism and integral theory to explain how systemic factors shape beliefs and behaviors. Alderman suggests that rebuilding shared meaning through dialogue, shared rituals, and exposure to diverse perspectives can counteract digital polarization. He advocates for technological solutions and individual mindfulness to navigate the digital landscape effectively as we explore how to become digitally mature and mindfully intentional in our engagement with the increasingly fragmented social landscape. (hosted by Justine Willis Toms) 

Bio

Bruce Alderman, MA, is an affiliate faculty professor at John F. Kennedy University in the Consciousness and Transformative Studies and Holistic Counseling Psychology departments. He is the Associate Director of the Blue Sky Leaders Certificate Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies [known as CIIS]. His essays and white papers have been published in many prestigious publications and anthologies on consciousness studies, and he is co-creator, producer, and occasional host of the YouTube series The Integral Stage.

To learn more about the work of Bruce Alderman go to www.appliedmetatheory.org.

Topics explored in this dialogue include:

• Why we must develop digital mindfulness practices to become aware of algorithmic influences
• How to expose oneself to diverse perspectives and news sources to avoid information bubbles
• What are the challenges in navigating a digitally mediated environment of decontextualized and disembodied information
• What does Alderman mean by the concept of the algorithmic undertow
• How to distinguish between manipulated information from authentic content
• How is the deliberate absenting of information can lead to extremism
• What is missing from a language-based, disembodied AI that does not include an embodied human presence
• How the forming of the alphabet/cuneiform writing 7000 years ago, the invention of the printing press, and the industrial revolution were inflection points in civilization
• How being exposed to global perspectives does not necessarily lead to an increase in empathy
• How demi-reality is a worldview that is self-reinforcing, self-protecting, and self-reinforcing
• How information bubbles are happening on an unconscious level and give a sense of wholeness and coherence
• Why we must use information platforms that deliberately collate perspectives from across cultural and political perspectives
• How going into nature will support getting in touch with the bigger world, beyond the internet
• How taking an integral perspective brings us to a multi-perspectival approach, which includes inclusivity and holistic view
• Why collective rituals, such as eating together, singing together, and community gardening, can support shared meaning

Host: Justine Willis Toms    Interview Date: 6/13/2025   Program Number: 3844

Music Playlist

From Album: Porcelain
Artist: Helen Jane Long

Essay music: Track 01 Porcelain
Midbreak music: Track 05 Expression