The Listening Society

1. Political Metamodernism: The Future Beyond Modern Politics

Political metamodernism is the single most powerful ideology in existence in the world today and you would have to be an idiot not to want to learn about it.

A new ideology. Political metamodernism is presented as the successor to modern political systems like liberal democracy and capitalism. It aims to move society beyond the current "modern" stage, just as modern society moved beyond traditional society. This new perspective seeks to fundamentally change how politics is done, its role, and its goals.

Beyond current systems. This ideology proposes to outcompete and replace existing political parties, ideologies (socialism, liberalism, conservatism, ecologism), capitalism as an economic system, and the current welfare system. It's a bold vision for a future society that is profoundly different from today's.

Core components. Political metamodernism is built on three pillars:

• The Listening Society: A future welfare system supporting psychological growth.
• Co-Development: A political thinking focused on improving discourse and mutual growth.
• The Nordic Ideology: A political structure emerging in Scandinavia to support the first two.

2. Modern Politics is Bankrupt: The Illusion of Left and Right

All the political parties are delivering the same goods, more or less.

Outdated spectrum. The traditional Left-Right political spectrum, born from industrial society's class divisions, is increasingly irrelevant in postindustrial, digitalized societies. Parties no longer represent distinct economic classes, and individual identities are too complex to fit neatly into old categories.

One meta-ideology. In progressive countries like the Nordics, a single meta-ideology, "Green Social Liberalism," has effectively won. All major parties adhere to its core tenets: market economy, welfare state, globalization adaptation, liberal values, and ecological awareness. Differences are superficial, leading to voter disengagement.

Loss of vision. As parties cluster around this "center," they lack major political visions or goals comparable to the building of the modern welfare state. This ideological standstill occurs despite rapid technological and social change, leaving society without a clear direction for the future.

3. We Face a Multidimensional Crisis-Revolution: An Era of Accelerating Change

Today we are experiencing an era in which several extremely far-reaching revolutions of technology, thinking and behavior are occurring simultaneously.

Simultaneous revolutions. We are living through an unprecedented period where multiple revolutionary changes are happening at once, far exceeding past transformations like the Industrial Revolution. These include:

• Information and communication technology (digitalization, AI, robotics)
• Nanotechnology
• Genetics and bio-engineering (transhumanism)
• Energy (solar, new nuclear)
• Production (3D printing, peer-to-peer)
• Demographics (aging populations, migration)
• Global economy (trade, finance, inequality)
• Geopolitics (shifting power structures)
• Scientific paradigms (complexity, quantum physics, neuroscience)

Compounding crises. These revolutions interact with and exacerbate multiple global crises, including ecological collapse (mass extinction, climate change), economic instability, and widespread psychological alienation. The speed and interconnectedness of these changes make traditional linear models of understanding and governance obsolete.

Boom equation. The combination of accelerating revolutions and crises, cross-pollinating at an increasing pace, creates a "boom" scenario. This era of unprecedented transformation demands a new form of politics capable of anticipating and productively responding to complex, non-linear challenges.

4. The Listening Society: A Deeper Welfare for Psychological Growth

Deliberately and carefully cultivate a deeper kind of welfare system that includes the psychological, social and emotional aspects of human beings, so that the average person, over the length of her lifespan, becomes much more secure, authentic and happy (in a deep, meaningful sense of the word).

Beyond material welfare. The Listening Society is a vision for a future welfare system that expands beyond basic material security and medical care. It prioritizes the psychological, social, and emotional well-being of all citizens, aiming to cultivate a civilization that is more socially apt, emotionally intelligent, and existentially mature.

Addressing suffering. The core premise is that "normal life" is too harsh on our psyches, leading to widespread psychological hurt, anxiety, and arrested development. This suffering is not merely individual but a societal problem that hinders kindness, intelligence, cooperation, and effective decision-making on collective issues.

Examples of support: A Listening Society would implement universal measures to support psychological growth, such as:

• Access to professional therapy from childhood.
• Training in meditation and mindfulness.
• Education in social and emotional intelligence.
• Support for navigating life transitions and finding meaning.
• Promotion of healthy lifestyles (diet, exercise).

5. Human Development Matters: Psychological Stages Drive Societal Progress

The king’s road to a good future society is personal development and psychological growth.

Developmental blindness. A key argument is that failing to understand human psychological development, particularly adult development stages, leads to "developmental blindness." This prevents us from seeing fundamental dynamics of society and effectively addressing its problems.

Hierarchy exists. Adult human beings are not equal in terms of psychological development. People operate at different stages of cognitive complexity, symbolic understanding, subjective state, and existential depth. Recognizing these differences is crucial for understanding behavior and societal dynamics.

Societal implications. The psychological development of citizens is intimately connected to the health and functionality of society. Higher average levels of psychological maturity, emotional intelligence, and cognitive complexity within a population lead to:

• Better cooperation and trust.
• More effective problem-solving (collective intelligence).
• Increased capacity to handle complexity and change.
• Greater likelihood of creating a sustainable and equitable society.

6. Four Dimensions of Development: Complexity, Code, State, and Depth

I hold that all of the holistic adult development theories are on to something, but that they all fail to grasp quite what it is.

Beyond simplistic models. Existing adult development theories often fail by smashing different aspects of development into a single sequence. A more accurate model requires differentiating between four distinct, yet interacting, dimensions of psychological development:

• Cognitive Complexity (Stage): The ability to handle tasks of increasing hierarchical complexity (e.g., from concrete to abstract to systematic thinking), measured by models like the MHC.
• Symbolic Development (Code): The "cultural software" or symbolic toolkits available in language and culture (e.g., from traditional to modern to postmodern code).

Inner dimensions. The model also includes subjective aspects:

• Subjective State (State): The quality of lived experience at any given moment, ranging from hellish low states to blissful high states.
• Existential Depth (Depth): A person's intimate, embodied acquaintance with subjective states, representing a form of existential or spiritual wisdom.

Interacting dimensions. These four dimensions interact in complex ways. For example, higher cognitive complexity can make it easier to understand advanced symbolic code, and profound subjective states can contribute to greater existential depth. However, development in one dimension does not guarantee development in others, leading to potential imbalances.

7. Effective Value Memes: The Pattern of Psychological Development

The effective value meme is an overall pattern of the mind; it is an equilibrium upon which one’s values and worldview tend to stabilize, setting the framework for the political behavior of a citizen.

Overall pattern. The effective value meme is a concept that integrates the four dimensions of development (complexity, code, state, depth) into an overall pattern of a person's values and worldview. It's a more nuanced version of models like Spiral Dynamics, explaining why people tend to cluster around certain ways of seeing the world.

Developmental sequence. Effective value memes appear to unfold in a sequence (Archaic, Animistic, Faustian, Postfaustian, Modern, Postmodern, Metamodern), with later memes being more functionally attuned to larger, more complex societies. This sequence is driven by a "Realdialektik," a logical directionality in the evolution of symbolic universes.

Societal mismatch. A core problem is that the effective value meme of the global population lags significantly behind the complexity of the world-system we have created. This "value meme retardation" hinders our ability to collectively address global challenges like ecological crisis and inequality, as our values and worldviews are not equipped for the task.

8. Developmental Imbalances: The Source of Societal and Personal Pathologies

The glory of the world and its greatest sorrows have the same source: developmental imbalances—the fact that some things develop ahead of others and that some parts are always lagging behind.

Uneven growth. Development across the four dimensions (complexity, code, state, depth) is often uneven, leading to developmental imbalances. These imbalances are not just individual issues but contribute to societal pathologies.

Two key imbalances:

• Magic Residual: When depth and/or state develop ahead of complexity and code. This can lead to magical thinking, gullibility, and susceptibility to manipulation, as profound experiences are interpreted through insufficient cognitive and symbolic frameworks.
• Reductionism: When complexity and code develop ahead of depth and state. This can lead to a cold, instrumental view of the world, a lack of empathy, and a tendency to reduce complex phenomena to simplistic, often selfish, terms, hindering holistic understanding and care.

Societal consequences. These imbalances manifest at the societal level. For example, a modern state with advanced technology (high complexity/code) governed by Faustian values (low effective value meme) can lead to atrocities (e.g., Nazism). A globalized internet (high complexity/code) used for tribal warfare (low effective value meme) leads to terrorism.

9. A New Political Landscape: Process-Oriented Parties and Metamodern Aristocracy

The metamodern aristocracy are people who have a combination of factors in their psychological, existential and cognitive constitutions that allow them to play a certain role on the new historical world stage...

Beyond party politics. As traditional party politics becomes obsolete, new political agents are emerging. One example is the "process-oriented party," focused on how politics is done (dialogue, co-development) rather than fixed programs, exemplified by Denmark's The Alternative.

The Metamodern Aristocracy. Another key agent is a loose network of individuals with high levels of development across the four dimensions (complexity, code, state, depth). These are not traditional elites but people with high "total capital" (combining economic, social, cultural, emotional, etc.) and a metamodern effective value meme.

A new vanguard. This "aristocracy" acts as a playful vanguard, using their advanced understanding to "hack the world-soul." They work transnationally, often through art, culture, and social innovation, to subtly inject metamodern values and logic into existing systems, aiming for a more sustainable and equitable future.

10. Higher Secularism: Moving Beyond Outdated Worldviews and Beliefs

A higher form of secularism is rising.

Beyond traditional secularism. Secularism is not just the shift from religious belief to science (Postfaustian to Modern). It's a continuous process of expanding our ability to question and recreate reality, moving beyond outdated, unquestioned assumptions.

Dispelling myths. Each effective value meme dispels the myths of the previous one:

• Animistic: Beyond Archaic sensory reality.
• Faustian: Beyond Animistic spirits.
• Postfaustian: Beyond Faustian arbitrary power.
• Modern: Beyond Postfaustian religious authority.
• Postmodern: Beyond Modern objective truth claims.
• Metamodern: Beyond Postmodern power structures and critique as ultimate reality.

Metamodern atheism. The Metamodern value meme embodies a radical atheism that sees even the gods of modern and postmodern thought (objective truth, power structures) as illusions. It recognizes that all value memes, including its own, are partial and limited.

11. Development is Necessary and Possible: A Moral Imperative and Competitive Advantage

A deeper welfare, a listening society, is possible because we live in a postindustrial age and because we are now beginning to have the knowledge to execute it successfully; new social technologies are being made available.

Moral imperative. The current level of suffering and lost potential in society is ethically inexcusable. We have a moral obligation to use our growing knowledge of psychology and social dynamics to reduce misery and support human flourishing.

Institutional necessity. The challenges of the multidimensional crisis-revolution (complexity, globalization, technological change) require a population with higher average effective value memes. Our current institutions and value systems are insufficient to manage these issues, making a deeper welfare system that fosters psychological development necessary for societal survival and thriving.

Competitive advantage. Societies and regions that successfully cultivate higher average effective value memes will gain a competitive edge in the global postindustrial economy. People with greater psychological health, social intelligence, and complexity are more adaptable, creative, and effective, driving innovation and quality of life.

12. The Transpersonal Perspective: Seeing Beyond the Individual Self

To serve the individual—or the collective—is thus increasingly becoming regressive and harmful.

Beyond the individual. The modern idea of the "individual" as a separate, indivisible self is outdated and hinders our understanding of complex social and psychological problems. We are "dividuals," fundamentally interconnected and shaped by our relationships and societal context.

The transindividual. A "transpersonal" perspective sees the human being as inseparable from her language, relationships, societal position, and inner life. Her deepest aspects are intertwined with collective structures. This view acknowledges that our inner lives are profoundly shaped by society and, in turn, shape society.

Political implications. From a transpersonal view, problems like terrorism or social inequality are not just individual or collective failures but emerge from the entire fabric of society and the interplay of people's inner lives and external circumstances. Addressing these issues requires working with the social-psychological environment as a whole, not just focusing on individual rights or collective structures.

Last updated: May 4, 2025