Here is how you can help us to de-polarize our world.

Andy Atwood
Gain Inspiration
Published in
5 min readFeb 29, 2024
Image from the book, Navigating Polarities

My coaching advice in 38 seconds.

The more your consciousness is elevated, the less prone you are to getting tangled up in an unsolvable argument.

We all know that we need way less polarization in our relationships at home, at work, and in the body politic.

There is a tool that can be used to navigate polarities, dilemmas, paradoxes, and dualistic thinking…those unsolvable problems that drive us nuts.

“Polarity Management” is not about compromise, but it is about finding a higher, more inclusive and more functional third way.

You can learn to manage polarities.

You can help to de-polarize our world.

And if you make managing polarities one of your spiritual practices, it will move you toward nondual consciousness.

You will live a more balanced and enlightened life.

With that, you will be making our whole world a better place.

There are Three Parts to this Article

  • Part One: A Little Historical Context.
  • Part Two: You will be Wiser as You Manage Polarities Well.
  • Part Three: How to apply Polarity Management to our 2024 Political environment.

Part One: A Little Historical Context.

People have struggled with polarities forever. The tool I will introduce to you represents a relatively new insight, one which emerged in the 1970’s from Barry Johnson, who happens to be a fellow citizen of our small city, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Image Source Here.

Polarity Management is now a tool used by consultants globally, and I’m going to introduce you to Barry’s model in this article and in many more to come. I’m on a mission, as are others, to de-polarize our world. I am working on a handful of articles for Medium on a variety of different dilemmas — each applying Polarity Management.

But first, let’s take a detour back to the 6th Century BCE, more-or-less, and Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism. Here is the ultimate effort to manage polarities, to bring balance into life.

Image Source Here.

We all are familiar with the Yin and Yang symbol. Most generally, Yin can be considered as passive and Yang as active. You recognize them as two interdependent poles that are in constant motion, noting that there is a bit of Yin in the Yang, and a bit of Yang in the Yin.

Active and Passive. Yin is black, and Yang is white.

Should I actively engage our polarized world, or should I sit more passively?

I’m going to add a video here to speed up the coaching process. If pictures are worth 1000 words, then videos can be even more useful. This is 4:47 long. If it doesn’t show up here, copy and paste the URL into your browser.

Produced by Emerson & Lewis, referenced below.

Part Two: You will be Wiser as You Manage Polarities Well.

People who live in a Polarized World only sees the upside of their own pole, and the downside of the other pole.

People who manage polarities well, who have an Integral Perspective, who can engage in a nondual manner, see the whole picture.

People with a nondual perspective see the upside and the downside of each pole, and strive to arrive at the integrated upside of both poles, while avoiding the downside of both poles.

The wise among us see the upside and downside of both poles, while managing to the newly evolving and integrated upside of both poles.

Part Three: How to apply Polarity Management to our 2024 Political environment.

What a strange time this is. We have people way to the left, and way to the right, and a bunch in the middle.

From a broad historical perspective, what we are experiencing is the seismic shift from a pre-modern worldview, to a modern worldview, to a post-modern worldview. This is evolution doing its thing.

A post-post-modern worldview seeks to integrate or synthesize them all. That’s what I’m advocating here. Find the best of each pole and work to integrate it all while avoiding the downsides as much as possible.

Here is a suggestion, and I hope you will take me up on it.

Go to DepolarizingGPT — The 3-Answer Political AI from Developmental Politics

This nifty FREE website has been created by data scientist David Rozado and political philosopher Steve McIntosh. DepolarizingGPT allows you to pose your political question and get three answers — from the left-wing, right-wing, and the depolarizing integration of the two poles. Again, CLICK HERE.

I have typed in a number of questions about Biden vs. Trump, Democrates vs. Republicans, Republicans vs. MAGA, the age of the candidates, and a whole lot of policy issues.

For example, I typed in this question:

On the website, as you click on each answer, you get more details.

Managing the polarities in our political environment is a huge challenge. If you have read this far, you are among those who are called to find a wiser way. Remember…

The wise among us see the upside and downside of both poles, while managing to the newly evolving and integrated depolarized upside of both poles.

I highly recommend the book Navigating Polarities: Using Both/And Thinking to Lead Transformation, by Brian Emerson & Kelly Lewis, which you can find on Amazon. Manageable at 150 pages and only $16.95. It will provide you with the tools necessary to manage the many dilemmas in your life.

I write about organized common sense that is meant to edify. My personal mission in life is to explore, map, and guide people to the KIN-dom of Heaven. Follow me on Medium, or subscribe and get an email whenever I publish. Thanks for reading along.

Know, too, that I choose to earn nothing for my writing on Medium. I ask only that if you find something here that is helpful, feel free to forward it on to a friend.

After all, we are in this together.

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Andy Atwood
Gain Inspiration

Retired clergy, semi retired psychotherapist, "Evolutionary PanENtheist and Contemplative Environmentalist." Tender of 120 Acres of forest in Michigan.