What do we mean when we talk about “metacrisis”?
The metacrisis is a multiple overlapping and interconnected global crisis.
Terry Patten described it like that: The metacrisis is a single phenomenon.
We may be thinking of it as an ecological crisis. We may be thinking of it as a psychological or spiritual crisis.We may be thinking of it as a cultural crisis, a breakdown of community, family, etc.
We may be thinking of it as a crisis of government and economics and finance.
And, it is all of these things. But, it’s not reducible to any one of them. That’s why it’s a meta-crisis.”
Zak Stein (transformation researcher and co-founder of the Consilience Project) describes the metacrisis as follows:
“There are a large number of crises drawing increasing amounts of public attention, such as the ecological, economic, immigration, geopolitical, and energy crises. But there is also an invisible crisis unfolding within our own minds and cultures that is getting much less attention. This is the metacrisis, which has to do with how humans understand themselves and the world. It is a generalised educational crisis involving a set of related psychological dynamics; systems and societies are in trouble, but it is the psyche – the human dimension – that is in the direst of straits.”
And Jonathan Rowson (co-founder of Perspectiva) writes:
“The metacrisis is the underlying crisis that drives a multitude of crises. (…)
We have to better understand who and what we are, individually and collectively, in order to be able to fundamentally change how we act.
Zack Stein describes the four levels of the meta-crisis:
Crisis of understanding – What is happening right now?
“Confusion at the level of understanding the nature of the world. People have difficulty finding truth and are unable to understand the increasing complexity.”
Crisis of action – Are we able to act? How?
“Inability at the level of influencing the world intelligently. In all social positions and fields of work, individuals are increasingly unable to participate in problem solving to the extent required for further social integration.”
Crisis of legitimacy – Who should do something? With what legitimacy?
“Incoherence at the level of cultural agreements. Political and bureaucratic authorities no longer justify trust in their authority.”
Crisis of meaning – What is it really about? What is the point of all this?
“Inauthenticity at the level of personal experience. People from all walks of life question the meaning of their existence, the goodness of the world, and the value of ethics, beauty, and truth.”
You can find out more on Kyle Kowalski’s website “Sloww”, which has very detailed information and an overview of meta-crisis concepts.