Brendan Graham Dempsey is a writer whose work focuses on the meaning crisis and the nature of spirituality in metamodernity. Brendan is also very active in the Metamodern community, which many people recognize as an “integrally-adjacent” constellation of hearts and minds that are trying to usher in a more meaningful and fulfilling way to participate with humanity’s unfolding — not just to navigate the extreme complexity of our times, but also striving to find another kind of simplicity on the other side of all that complexity.

Sound familiar? Metamodernism and the integral paradigm share a lot in common, yet also differ in important ways. To what degree should these terms be conflated or kept apart? What unites them, and what constitute the meaningful distinctions? What role do things like sensibility, generation, emphasis, and epistemology play?

This gathering provided an opportunity to dig into this topic. To this end, metamodern thinker Brendan Graham Dempsey offers some history and a bit of compare/contrast perspectives on the topic. And be sure to watch Nomali’s eloquent response to many of Brendan’s core criticisms of the integral movement.

So, is metamodernism integral? Is integral metamodern? Just how much adjacency do these two communities actually share? Watch this discussion with Brendan Dempsey, and let us know what you think!

About Brendan Graham Dempsey

Brendan Graham Dempsey is a writer whose work focuses on the meaning crisis and the nature of spirituality in metamodernity. He earned his BA in Religious Studies from the University of Vermont and his MA in Religion and the Arts from Yale University. His work has been deeply influenced by the writings of Ken Wilber and other integral thinkers. He lives in Greensboro Bend, Vermont, where he runs the holistic retreat center Sky Meadow.