The Institute of Applied Metatheory (IAM) presents a groundbreaking analysis of digital polarization and its profound impact on our increasingly fragmented social landscape. In “Polarization and the Algorithmic Undertow: Integral and Critical Realist Perspectives,” Bruce Alderman explores how our rapid transition into a globally networked information environment has created unprecedented challenges for human cognition, social cohesion, and collective meaning-making and sensemaking.

Drawing on the complementary big-picture frameworks of Integral Theory and Critical Realism, this white paper introduces the novel concept of “algorithmic undertow”—a subtle but powerful force that shapes our attention, beliefs, and behaviors in digital spaces. Through careful analysis of how these dynamics operate across personal, cultural, and systemic levels, Alderman reveals why traditional approaches to addressing polarization often fall short and offers a more comprehensive pathway forward.

About Bruce Alderman

Bruce Alderman, MA, is an affiliate faculty at John F. Kennedy University in the Consciousness and Transformative Studies and Holistic Counseling Psychology departments. After years of moderating several integral discussion forums of his own, including Integral Postmetaphysical Spirituality and Integral Scholarship and Practice, he is venturing into production of integral video content himself.