piritual Intelligence: in a lot of people’s minds, this is a bit of a contradiction. After all, for many secular thinkers, “intelligence” is something which, once applied, tends to dispel the old myths and pre-rational beliefs of the traditional religions—that is, intelligence is what frees us from the need for spirituality. On the other side of the divide, many postmodern spiritual seekers and practitioners have an inherent distrust of the rational mind, viewing it as an obstacle to “real” spiritual insight at best—and at worst, single-handedly responsible for the disenchantment of the world, not to mention the very source of our ongoing assault on Mother Nature.

Overall, this has often made “spirituality” and “intelligence” painfully estranged from one another, to the detriment and disillusionment of all. But if there is anything truly novel about the Integral approach, it is this: it actually offers an intelligent way to talk about spirituality. That is, the Integral approach cuts right through both materialistic reductionism on the one hand, and the sort of anti-intellectualism that has become so rampant on the other, offering a much more sophisticated model of growth and development that allows us to better understand the contours of our evolving spirituality—and most importantly, offers a way for us to continue our spiritual paths beyond the limitations of our traditional mythic religious institutions.

In this dialogue, Cindy Wigglesworth and Ken Wilber explore the history of human intelligence research, beginning with the well-known ideas of IQ and EQ (emotional intelligence), noting their impact on our personal relationships and careers.