Wayfinders is a collaborative learning environment in the making. At the heart of this initiative is a critical realist pursuit of traction on reality, a kind of seeing and hearing and grasping that enables intentional being and living.
Traction on reality
The project is comprehensive in scope and ongoing. The vision is to develop a sort of map of reality, exploring and enabling possibilities in human understanding and human being. What's emerging is a dynamic and systematic phenomenology of life.
Dynamic because it remains open, always subject to revision to make room for new data and new insights. Systematic because it makes sense of the whole by differentiating its parts to discern how it all coheres. A phenomenology of life because it explores reality from within, experientially, and comprehensively. The point is to make sense of life, all of life, for the sake of human flourishing.
A wayfinding collaborative
Given the nature and scope of this undertaking, Wayfinders is meant to be a collaborative project. Exactly what that would look like depends on the shape it takes as it continues to develop. So far it's been the work of one observer and learner coming from the Christian tradition, initially just trying to find my way in the world: What sort of world is this, and what sort of world should it be, given that we tend to disagree on these very questions I'm asking?
Intellectual hospitality
As a collaborative project, this would be a transcultural and transdenominational Christian venture and offering—a creative learning environment hosted by learners that welcome insights from perspectives other than our own.
The overall framework of the project is decidedly biblical and Christian: it echoes the gospel and inhabits the narrative-world of the Bible. But it also assumes, just as science does, that there's only one reality. A reality accessible to all, wherever we come from. It meets the reader in that world. A world that is contested territory but that is also common ground. The project embodies an ancient way forward: to welcome all truth as God's truth, wherever we find it. Our invitation is: come and see. Our request is: show us, we want to see. This calls for humble and fearless intellectual hospitality. It's what it takes for real traction on reality.
Of course, for Christians, such humble confidence is only possible if the gospel = reality. A central aim of this project is to discover and to show how this is indeed the case. Another important aim of the project is to empower readers with the resources needed to find their own way in the world, whatever their conclusions might be at the end of the day.
The project communicates primarily through secular discourse, finding common ground in science, history, and human experience in general. It poses the big questions of faith and God via questions of meaning and ultimate meaning, which is the natural way to get at them. It laids out the options available regarding the ultimate meaning of our existence before it explores the nature of things, and what it means to be human, according to the Scriptures: the inexhaustible possibilities, and the responsibilities, entrusted to the children of God.
Traction on reality
The project is comprehensive in scope and ongoing. The vision is to develop a sort of map of reality, exploring and enabling possibilities in human understanding and human being. What's emerging is a dynamic and systematic phenomenology of life.
Dynamic because it remains open, always subject to revision to make room for new data and new insights. Systematic because it makes sense of the whole by differentiating its parts to discern how it all coheres. A phenomenology of life because it explores reality from within, experientially, and comprehensively. The point is to make sense of life, all of life, for the sake of human flourishing.
A wayfinding collaborative
Given the nature and scope of this undertaking, Wayfinders is meant to be a collaborative project. Exactly what that would look like depends on the shape it takes as it continues to develop. So far it's been the work of one observer and learner coming from the Christian tradition, initially just trying to find my way in the world: What sort of world is this, and what sort of world should it be, given that we tend to disagree on these very questions I'm asking?
Intellectual hospitality
As a collaborative project, this would be a transcultural and transdenominational Christian venture and offering—a creative learning environment hosted by learners that welcome insights from perspectives other than our own.
The overall framework of the project is decidedly biblical and Christian: it echoes the gospel and inhabits the narrative-world of the Bible. But it also assumes, just as science does, that there's only one reality. A reality accessible to all, wherever we come from. It meets the reader in that world. A world that is contested territory but that is also common ground. The project embodies an ancient way forward: to welcome all truth as God's truth, wherever we find it. Our invitation is: come and see. Our request is: show us, we want to see. This calls for humble and fearless intellectual hospitality. It's what it takes for real traction on reality.
Of course, for Christians, such humble confidence is only possible if the gospel = reality. A central aim of this project is to discover and to show how this is indeed the case. Another important aim of the project is to empower readers with the resources needed to find their own way in the world, whatever their conclusions might be at the end of the day.
The project communicates primarily through secular discourse, finding common ground in science, history, and human experience in general. It poses the big questions of faith and God via questions of meaning and ultimate meaning, which is the natural way to get at them. It laids out the options available regarding the ultimate meaning of our existence before it explores the nature of things, and what it means to be human, according to the Scriptures: the inexhaustible possibilities, and the responsibilities, entrusted to the children of God.
It is sometimes mistakenly thought that what we are ultimately after is consensus, so that a single hold-out spoils the whole enterprise. What we are truly after, however, is our own best understanding of a common, ontologically independent reality. Although that judgement is rationally made only in social dialogue with others, if we are truly seeking to be rational about our beliefs, it is each of us, ourselves, whom we are each ultimately trying to convince.
–Margaret Archer, Andrew Collier and Douglas Porpora
–Margaret Archer, Andrew Collier and Douglas Porpora
The Vision
I'm working on a website map for the site that I think captures my vision for this project. It's based on the framework that has emerged so far. I envision the map being interactive and responsive, with the main categories organized within it and leading to the content in each section and subsection of the project.
Although the order set in the curriculum is recommended, especially when going through the whole, this map will facilitate access to all areas of the project so users can go through the curriculum in any order they prefer.
The mountain
Here's what that map looks like. Imagine a mountain with a city to the left and a city to the right. The city to the left is in ruins. The city to the right is under construction, but you can tell it's already full of potential and full of life. The mountain signifies the journey from one city to the other.
On that journey, we explore major aspects of life through interdisciplinary modules and discussions. All discussions include resources to dig deeper into details as needed. Keeping many of the details optional (in "Going Deeper" sections at the end of each entry) helps keep discussions meaningful, engaging, and relatively brief. Now let me tell you about the content of the project and the framework that's emerging.
A relational framework
I'm dividing reality into three main levels or domains, reflecting major sets of relationships inherent to our being in the world. Life in our Skin is the existential or personal domain (our relationship to ourselves). The modules in this part of the curriculum are interdisciplinary explorations of human nature (physiology, sex, health and fitness, behavior and motivations, language ability and creativity, mortality and spirituality), of personhood (identity formation, gender, self-transcendence, sense of others), and human being (agency, freedom and responsibility, vocation, reality construction). The Journey actually begins here, with the existential domain.
Life on the Ground covers our relationships to others and to nature. This is one of the largest parts of the curriculum and it’s quite comprehensive. It explores how the universe works, the emergence and history of life on Earth, models of society and civic engagement, culture, and interpersonal relationships. This area of the project is framed within a Big History framework: the story of the cosmos, from the Big Bang to the present. Only we’ll do it backwards: starting with life as we know it, and seeking answers to our questions by going back in time to see how we got here. Eventually this will lead to questions of origins (what came before the Big Bang, what caused it, etc.), which requires the next part of the curriculum, exploring the ultimate order-of-things and the meaning of life.
Life in the World is the big picture (our relationship to life itself), where we ask the big questions of meaning, faith, and God. This part of the project begins with discussions on the nature of reality and ultimate reality, of meaning and ultimate meaning, followed by explorations of all major belief systems in the world (both religious and secular), and culminating with the Christian gospel and a telling of the biblical story Big-History style (only we go forward this time: from creation to new creation).
The plan is to include guest contributions from leading voices in all the traditions covered, so we can learn from those who know them best. As for the Christian Story, it will take into account both the biblical presuppositions regarding the spiritual dimension of reality, and also all that we have learned about the world through science, history, and human experience in general. That’s the project in a nutshell.
The journey
Now, this is how I have arranged all this on the mountain. Because I want the journey to be a sort of conversation, I'm arranging the material in linear fashion, with one topic leading to the next. I'm also arranging the content in such a way that we start on common ground, speaking in secular terms, before we explore things from a Christian perspective. Because of this, I have divided the mountain in two sides (the left and the right).
Going uphill we'll speak in secular terms, tapping theoretical resources in psychology, sociology, philosophy, etc., until we get to the question of God near the top. After we cover the question of God in general terms (religious studies, theology), we will encounter the God of the Bible and hear about his gospel. This will take place at the top of the mountain. From the mountaintop we'll see a new horizon, looking toward the new city, and seeing everything now in light of the gospel.
The rest of the journey (downhill) will mirror the journey uphill, covering the big picture toward the top, the situational and interpersonal around the middle, and the existential level near the foot of the mountain.
In this scheme of things, the uphill journey is mostly bottom-up, learning all we can about the world by means of observation and experience, while the downhill journey adds a top-down lens, seeing it all now in light of the biblical Story. The overall picture that emerges is one integrated reality: in an ongoing dialectical process, what we learn through our experience is integrated into the narrative-world of the Bible—the former concretizing and enriching the latter, the latter giving meaning and coherence to the whole.
Although the order set in the curriculum is recommended, especially when going through the whole, this map will facilitate access to all areas of the project so users can go through the curriculum in any order they prefer.
The mountain
Here's what that map looks like. Imagine a mountain with a city to the left and a city to the right. The city to the left is in ruins. The city to the right is under construction, but you can tell it's already full of potential and full of life. The mountain signifies the journey from one city to the other.
On that journey, we explore major aspects of life through interdisciplinary modules and discussions. All discussions include resources to dig deeper into details as needed. Keeping many of the details optional (in "Going Deeper" sections at the end of each entry) helps keep discussions meaningful, engaging, and relatively brief. Now let me tell you about the content of the project and the framework that's emerging.
A relational framework
I'm dividing reality into three main levels or domains, reflecting major sets of relationships inherent to our being in the world. Life in our Skin is the existential or personal domain (our relationship to ourselves). The modules in this part of the curriculum are interdisciplinary explorations of human nature (physiology, sex, health and fitness, behavior and motivations, language ability and creativity, mortality and spirituality), of personhood (identity formation, gender, self-transcendence, sense of others), and human being (agency, freedom and responsibility, vocation, reality construction). The Journey actually begins here, with the existential domain.
Life on the Ground covers our relationships to others and to nature. This is one of the largest parts of the curriculum and it’s quite comprehensive. It explores how the universe works, the emergence and history of life on Earth, models of society and civic engagement, culture, and interpersonal relationships. This area of the project is framed within a Big History framework: the story of the cosmos, from the Big Bang to the present. Only we’ll do it backwards: starting with life as we know it, and seeking answers to our questions by going back in time to see how we got here. Eventually this will lead to questions of origins (what came before the Big Bang, what caused it, etc.), which requires the next part of the curriculum, exploring the ultimate order-of-things and the meaning of life.
Life in the World is the big picture (our relationship to life itself), where we ask the big questions of meaning, faith, and God. This part of the project begins with discussions on the nature of reality and ultimate reality, of meaning and ultimate meaning, followed by explorations of all major belief systems in the world (both religious and secular), and culminating with the Christian gospel and a telling of the biblical story Big-History style (only we go forward this time: from creation to new creation).
The plan is to include guest contributions from leading voices in all the traditions covered, so we can learn from those who know them best. As for the Christian Story, it will take into account both the biblical presuppositions regarding the spiritual dimension of reality, and also all that we have learned about the world through science, history, and human experience in general. That’s the project in a nutshell.
The journey
Now, this is how I have arranged all this on the mountain. Because I want the journey to be a sort of conversation, I'm arranging the material in linear fashion, with one topic leading to the next. I'm also arranging the content in such a way that we start on common ground, speaking in secular terms, before we explore things from a Christian perspective. Because of this, I have divided the mountain in two sides (the left and the right).
Going uphill we'll speak in secular terms, tapping theoretical resources in psychology, sociology, philosophy, etc., until we get to the question of God near the top. After we cover the question of God in general terms (religious studies, theology), we will encounter the God of the Bible and hear about his gospel. This will take place at the top of the mountain. From the mountaintop we'll see a new horizon, looking toward the new city, and seeing everything now in light of the gospel.
The rest of the journey (downhill) will mirror the journey uphill, covering the big picture toward the top, the situational and interpersonal around the middle, and the existential level near the foot of the mountain.
In this scheme of things, the uphill journey is mostly bottom-up, learning all we can about the world by means of observation and experience, while the downhill journey adds a top-down lens, seeing it all now in light of the biblical Story. The overall picture that emerges is one integrated reality: in an ongoing dialectical process, what we learn through our experience is integrated into the narrative-world of the Bible—the former concretizing and enriching the latter, the latter giving meaning and coherence to the whole.
My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding
—indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
(Prov 2:1-5)
Trust the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
(Prov 3:5-6)
and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding
—indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
(Prov 2:1-5)
Trust the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
(Prov 3:5-6)
Wayfinders by José Soto is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
