A problem with postmodern thought, which is analyzed by Wilber in Sex, Ecology, Spirituality, is its inability to imagine cognitive structures and social organizations that are superior to and go beyond modern western rationality and capitalist social formations. The result is that many postmodernists look to “the natives” and “the indigenous” for sources of inspiration to deal with the many destructive aspects of modern industrial life. The thrust of this essay is the allegation that Wilber’s stage model of consciousness evolution is eurocentric and denies the “shadow of evolutionary theorizing.” The essay asks various questions: How can a magical-mythical “world view of total immanence” prepare the “natives” for survival in the next century, where globalization will continue its onslaught on our existence as a species, where alienation will increase, where the polarization between rich and poor will become only more pronounced (both between and within nations) and where we can expect more environmental disasters? How is the “native’s” way of knowing and doing going to help us transform and transcend the bankruptcy of the dream of progress that is slowly turning into the nightmare of progress?
