and here it is interesting to note a striking connection between these changes of thinking and of values - both of them may be seen as shifts from self-assertion to integration - these two tendencies, the self-assertive and the integrative, are both essential aspects of all living systems - neither of them is intrinsically good or bad - what is good, or healthy, is a dynamic balance; what is bad, or unhealthy, is imbalance, overemphasis of one tendency and neglect of the other - in the old paradigm, we have been overemphasizing the self-assertive values and ways of thinking and have neglected their integrative counterparts - so, what I'm suggesting is not to replace one mode by the other, but rather to establish a better balance between the two.
with that in mind, let's look at the various manifestations of the shift from self-assertion to integration - as far as thinking is concerned, we are talking about a shift from the rational to the intuitive, from analysis to synthesis, from reductionism to holism, from linear to nonlinear thinking - as far as values are concerned, we are observing a corresponding shift from competition to cooperation, from expansion to conservation, from quantity to quality, from domination to partnership. -- [excerpts 1-8] [based on "The New Vision of Reality", by Fritjof Capra]
The New Vision of Reality: excerpt 8
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