--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Thus, unlike the previous Pluralistic…" description: "\"“Thus, unlike the previous Pluralistic View, the Integral View is truly holistic, not in any New Age woo-woo sense but as being evidence of a deeply in..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bc/ken-wilber-1886_brain-damage_thus-unlike-the-previous-pluralistic-vie_2534255.jpg" --- # Thus, unlike the previous Pluralistic View, the Integral… ![“Thus, unlike the previous Pluralistic View, the Integral View is truly holistic, not in any New Age woo-woo sense but as being evidence of a deeply interwoven and interconnected and conscious Kosmos. The Pluralistic View, we saw, wants to be holistic and all-inclusive and nonmarginalizing, but it…” quote by Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bc/ken-wilber-1886_brain-damage_thus-unlike-the-previous-pluralistic-vie_2534255.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bc/ken-wilber-1886_brain-damage_thus-unlike-the-previous-pluralistic-vie_2534255.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bc/ken-wilber-1886_brain-damage_thus-unlike-the-previous-pluralistic-vie_2534255.jpg) > ““Thus, unlike the previous Pluralistic View, the Integral View is truly holistic, not in any New Age woo-woo sense but as being evidence of a deeply interwoven and interconnected and conscious Kosmos. The Pluralistic View, we saw, wants to be holistic and all-inclusive and nonmarginalizing, but it loathes the modern Rational View, absolutely cannot abide the traditional Mythic View, goes apoplectic when faced with a truly Integral View. But the Integral stages are truly and genuinely inclusive. First, all of the previous structure-rungs are literally included as components of the Integral structure-rung, or vision-logic, a fact that is intuited at this stage. Views, of course, are negated, and so somebody at an Integral View is not including directly a Magic View, a Mythic View, a Rational View, and so on. By definition, that is impossible. A View is generated when the central self exclusively identifies with a particular rung of development. Somebody at a Rational View is exclusively identified with the corresponding rung at that stage—namely, formal operational. To have access directly to, say, a Magic View—which means the View of the world when exclusively identified with the impulsive or emotional-sexual rung—the individual would have to give up Rationality, give up the concrete mind, give up the representational mind, give up language itself, and regress totally to the impulsive mind (something that won’t happen without severe brain damage). The Rational person still has complete access to the emotional-sexual rung, but not the exclusive View from that rung. As we saw, rungs are included, Views are negated. (Just like on a real ladder—if you’re at, say, the 7th rung in the ladder, all previous 6 rungs are still present and still in existence, holding up the 7th rung; but, while you are standing on the 7th rung, you can’t directly see what the world looks like from those earlier rungs. Those were gone when you stepped off those rungs onto higher ones, and so at this point you have all the rungs, but only the View from the highest rung you’re on, in this case, the 7th-rung View.) So a person at Integral doesn’t directly, in their own makeup, have immediate access to earlier Views (archaic, magic, mythic, and so on), but they do have access to all the earlier corresponding rungs (snsorimotor, emotional-sexual, conceptual, rule/role, and so on), and thus they can generally intuit what rung a particular person’s center of gravity is at, and thus indirectly be able to understand what View or worldview that person is expressing (magic, mythic, rational, pluralistic, and so on). And by “include those worldviews” what is meant is that the Integral levels actively tolerate and make room for those Views in their own holistic outreach. They might not agree fully with them (they don’t do so in their own makeup, having transcended and negated junior Views), but they intuitively understand the significance and importance of all Views in the unfolding sweep of evolutionary development. Further, they understand that a person has the right to stop growing at virtually any View, and thus each particular View will become, for some people, an actual station in Life, and their values, needs, and motivations will be expressions of that particular View in Life. And thus a truly enlightened, inclusive society will make some sort of room for traditional values, modern values, postmodern values, and so on. Everybody is born at square 1 and thus begins their development of Views at the lowest rung and continues from there, so every society will consist of a different mix of percentages of people at different altitude rungs and Views of the overall spectrum. In most Western countries, for example—and this varies depending on exactly how you measure it—but generally, about 10% of the population is at Magic, 40% at traditional Mythic, 40%-50% at modern Rational, 20% at postmodern Pluralistic, 5% at Holistic/Integral, and less than 1% at Super-Integral.”” [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The Integral View synthesizes earlier perspectives, acknowledging each as part of a larger, conscious whole while transcending their exclusive limits. **In simple terms:** Integral thinking combines all earlier views into a broader, conscious whole. Key Takeaway Recognize and integrate multiple perspectives. Themes holism development consciousness integration philosophy Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - organizational strategy - cross‑cultural dialogue - education - conflict resolution Key Concepts integral theory developmental stages holistic synthesis Questions to Reflect On - How can you honor earlier stages while moving forward? - What tensions arise when integrating conflicting worldviews? A Different Perspective May overlook practical differences between stages. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brain damage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain-damage/) [Integral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/integral/) [Integral View](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/integral-view-1373719/) [Integral-consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/integral-consciousness-93096/) [Integral-spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/integral-spirituality-93098/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Perspective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perspective/) [Pluralistic Holistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pluralistic-holistic-1373716/) [Pluralistic View](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pluralistic-view-1373717/) [Rational Pluralistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rational-pluralistic-1373720/) [Traditional values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/traditional-values/) [Views Holistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/views-holistic-1373718/) ## Related quotes > [“The difference between supermind and Big Mind (if we take Big Mind to mean the state experience of nondual Suchness, or turiyatita) is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/the-difference-between-supermind-and-big-mind-if-we-take-big-mind-to/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) > [“A Super-Integral Spirituality has all the features of an Integral Spirituality, plus, among other things, an inherent conjunction of each stage with a given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/a-super-integral-spirituality-has-all-the-features-of-an-integral/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) > [“Finally, in terms of overall spiritual intelligence—which we have been briefly tracking—on the other side of the leading edge of evolution we have 3…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/finally-in-terms-of-overall-spiritual-intelligence-which-we-have-been/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) > [Bahaism gives you a pluralistic view, and a lot of aspects of Hinduism give you a moral framework with no accountability other than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/bahaism-gives-you-a-pluralistic-view-and-a-lot-of-aspects-of-hinduism/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) ## More by Ken Wilber > [A language possesses utility only insofar as it can construct conventional boundaries. 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First, all of the previous structure-rungs are literally included as components of the Integral structure-rung, or vision-logic, a fact that is intuited at this stage. Views, of course, are negated, and so somebody at an Integral View is not including directly a Magic View, a Mythic View, a Rational View, and so on. By definition, that is impossible. A View is generated when the central self exclusively identifies with a particular rung of development. Somebody at a Rational View is exclusively identified with the corresponding rung at that stage—namely, formal operational. To have access directly to, say, a Magic View—which means the View of the world when exclusively identified with the impulsive or emotional-sexual rung—the individual would have to give up Rationality, give up the concrete mind, give up the representational mind, give up language itself, and regress totally to the impulsive mind (something that won’t happen without severe brain damage). The Rational person still has complete access to the emotional-sexual rung, but not the exclusive View from that rung. As we saw, rungs are included, Views are negated. (Just like on a real ladder—if you’re at, say, the 7th rung in the ladder, all previous 6 rungs are still present and still in existence, holding up the 7th rung; but, while you are standing on the 7th rung, you can’t directly see what the world looks like from those earlier rungs. Those were gone when you stepped off those rungs onto higher ones, and so at this point you have all the rungs, but only the View from the highest rung you’re on, in this case, the 7th-rung View.) So a person at Integral doesn’t directly, in their own makeup, have immediate access to earlier Views (archaic, magic, mythic, and so on), but they do have access to all the earlier corresponding rungs (snsorimotor, emotional-sexual, conceptual, rule/role, and so on), and thus they can generally intuit what rung a particular person’s center of gravity is at, and thus indirectly be able to understand what View or worldview that person is expressing (magic, mythic, rational, pluralistic, and so on). And by “include those worldviews” what is meant is that the Integral levels actively tolerate and make room for those Views in their own holistic outreach. They might not agree fully with them (they don’t do so in their own makeup, having transcended and negated junior Views), but they intuitively understand the significance and importance of all Views in the unfolding sweep of evolutionary development. Further, they understand that a person has the right to stop growing at virtually any View, and thus each particular View will become, for some people, an actual station in Life, and their values, needs, and motivations will be expressions of that particular View in Life. And thus a truly enlightened, inclusive society will make some sort of room for traditional values, modern values, postmodern values, and so on. Everybody is born at square 1 and thus begins their development of Views at the lowest rung and continues from there, so every society will consist of a different mix of percentages of people at different altitude rungs and Views of the overall spectrum. In most Western countries, for example—and this varies depending on exactly how you measure it—but generally, about 10% of the population is at Magic, 40% at traditional Mythic, 40%-50% at modern Rational, 20% at postmodern Pluralistic, 5% at Holistic/Integral, and less than 1% at Super-Integral.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ken Wilber" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/thus-unlike-the-previous-pluralistic-view-the-integral-view-is-truly/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Brain damage" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/thus-unlike-the-previous-pluralistic-view-the-integral-view-is-truly/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bc/ken-wilber-1886_brain-damage_thus-unlike-the-previous-pluralistic-vie_2534255.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bc/ken-wilber-1886_brain-damage_thus-unlike-the-previous-pluralistic-vie_2534255.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bc/ken-wilber-1886_brain-damage_thus-unlike-the-previous-pluralistic-vie_2534255.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Thus, unlike the previous Pluralistic View, the Integral View is truly holistic, not in any New Age woo-woo…” — Ken Wilber", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ken Wilber", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Thus, unlike the previous Pluralistic View,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/thus-unlike-the-previous-pluralistic-view-the-integral-view-is-truly/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/thus-unlike-the-previous-pluralistic-view-the-integral-view-is-truly/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```