The Quadrant Lens: How to See Your Blind Spots - Conversation with Dr. Keith Witt

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Keith Witt about what he calls “the seductive power of quadrant absolutism,” riffing on the quadrant model (part of the AQAL Model) developed by integral philosopher Ken Wilber. Quadrant absolutism denotes the propensity each us of has to see the world through the lens of a preferred dimension of reality – the inner world vs. grounded reality, for instance, or through relationships rather than tasks (see illustration). These preferences, innate and learned, help us create internal models of everything – the world, ourselves, other people – and rely on these models to function. We project our models onto events to better understand and put them in context. We resist input that contradicts our models and struggle with people who see the world differently. As a result we may miss out on the fruits of entire dimensions of reality. The good news is that seeing our native perspective is a powerful way to expand beyond it and to grow into integral stages of consciousness. As Dr. Keith says, “The awakening to a stable teal worldview involves being much more open to high-velocity shifts in perspectives.”