Title: Global problem-solving and ethics: a theoretical and practical analysis

Authors: Suraj Sood

Addresses: Department of Psychology, University of West Georgia, 1404 Maple Street, Carrollton, GA 30117, USA

Abstract: This article focuses on how a more reciprocally-beneficial relation between humans and planetary ecologies can be achieved. Global problems and their potential solutions are considered from the perspectives of research non-profit The Millennium Project, the United Nations, the late cyberneticist Gregory Bateson, and the late psychoanalyst Felix Guattari. These approaches are contextualised within Ken Wilber's 'all quadrants, all levels' (AQAL) epistemological framework with the intent of making the problems discussed more amenable to higher-level analysis and problem-solving methodology. Within and following this latter endeavour is an assessment of practical approaches to global problem-solving, including The Millennium Project's Global Futures Intelligence System (GFIS) and Barrett Brown's Quadrant Dynamics: Thwarting or Supporting (Q-DyTS) algorithm. Lastly, a plural ethical approach is proposed and compared with US psychology, Guattari's ethico-aesthetic paradigm, and The Millennium Project's global challenge #15 (which concerns global ethics).

Keywords: global problem-solving; AQAL; sustainable development goals; The Millennium Project; United Nations; Felix Guattari; Gregory Bateson; Ken Wilber; mind; global environment; plural ethics; psychology; GFIS; Q-DyTS; global solution networks.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGENVI.2018.095134

International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, 2018 Vol.17 No.4, pp.322 - 339

Received: 11 Mar 2017
Accepted: 19 Jan 2018
Published online: 01 Oct 2018 *

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