Catalonia
NEXT STAGE SCIENCE
May 31, Saturday
11:30 – 13:30
Budapest (CEST)

Translating Integral into Everyday Language

IEC Conference: 2025

The discovery and control of fire by humans was a long and convoluted process, starting approximately 1,5 million years ago, and culminating in a small, pocket-sized lighter. Like the fire we can now carry in our pockets, the endurance and participation of any complex phenomenon in our day to day living is dependent on whether we can grasp its essence and function in a simple way. Questions of translation from one language to another are fairly straightforward, as they are horizontal translations between levels. More difficult are vertical translations across levels, where the original complexity of the idea (like anthropocentric fire, or Integral Theory) needs to be retained but the structure or the form needs to be simplified or condensed (think of a lighter, or a conceptual mnemonic device). In my presentation I will suggest a simple analogy that functions as a universal cultural donor (UCD) for translating Integral theory into everyday language.

JAKONEN, JP PhD

Finland

Three experiences changed my life.
One, I had a spontaneous awakening to true nature when I was 13.
Two, I got really broken-hearted when I was 18, and wanted to find a way to be free from the suffering.
Three, after not knowing what to do with my life, I enrolled into university to study Comparative Religion.
At my sophomore year I found Integral philosophy after stumbling into A Brief History of Everything at the University library. I ended up translating it (along with two other Wilber books) into Finnish a few years later. Eventually I got a PhD on ”Ken Wilber as a Spiritual Innovator”. Right from the start I had a passion to make Integral more accessible and to translate it to everyday language.
I operate a boutique consultancy Integral Foresight Finland, where I work with companies and non-profits of all sizes. Our mission is to help people in business to suffer less and enjoy more through skillful application of Integral theory and practice.