It's rare that I laugh out loud while reading a column in the New York Times — even those ones meant to be funny — but this one had me spitting out my coffee.

Perhaps I like it so much because it is written in a form that is shared by a potent integral spiritual practice: the practice of taking oneself out of context, of waking up to your life in any moment as if you had just discovered yourself where you are, with no past or future. This simple practice presses “pause” your habitual mind and its perpetual story. The result: you suddenly find yourself with more insight in a more vivid world.

Not sure what I'm talking about? Read this column and see how you feel at the end.

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My father gets apoplectic when politicians proclaim beliefs or make policies that fly in the face of reason. (He went gray very early). I’ve explained to him that not everyone sees the world through a rational lens. At some stages of development, facts carry less weight than beliefs. Like many Americans (70%!) some members of my family still think that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11 because it fits their belief system. It justifies a bloody fiasco in Iraq and legitimizes the foreign policy of President Bush, whom they voted for.  

This infographic, assembled by Politifact and published in the NYTimes, supports the notion that conservative politicians rely more heavily on beliefs than on facts. This doesn’t make them bad people, but it may argue that they are unsuitable for leadership positions in rational systems (for example, President of the United States of America in the year 2016).

A loose relationship with reality probably looks a bit different at each stage (for example, at orange, rational, falsehoods are probably more about “spin”--a form of propaganda).  

–Written by Brett Walker

If graph is small, click to enlarge.

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The song “Stressed Out” by twenty one pilots really captures the angst and self-rumination (always a bad combination) of today's postmodern 20-somethings.

These young folks are, after all, pioneering a distinct new stage on the road to adulthood, emerging adulthood, which is explored in a terrific piece in the New York Times, What Is It About 20-Somethings?:

The traditional cycle seems to have gone off course, as young people remain un­tethered to romantic partners or to permanent homes, going back to school for lack of better options, traveling, avoiding commitments, competing ferociously for unpaid internships or temporary (and often grueling) Teach for America jobs, forestalling the beginning of adult life.

Emerging adulthood is similar to the advent of adolescence at the beginning of the 20th century, when humanity became rich and sophisticated enough to accommodate, indeed require, a new life stage between childhood and adulthood.

And once again life expands, which makes further sense when we consider that today’s young people will likely live well into their 100’s.

But still ... it’s stressful being a grown man on a tricycle.

Read the lyrics to "Stressed Out" by twenty one pilots.

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I know teenagers today that have a depth and wisdom that was unheard of in my generation, which came of age in the 70’s. I sometimes wonder if we may be witnessing the advent of the first functionally integral generation. This article from VOX supports that view.  

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If you haven’t yet seen Chris Rock’s opening monologue for the recent Academy Awards ceremony, check it out. It is a virtuoso performance of integral flex-flow consciousness. He inhabits perspective after perspective – black and white, boycotters and supporters – honoring each one’s piece of the truth and goring its sacred cows.

He’s very funny, brutal at times, but ultimately loving – and wise.  By the time he gets to the point where he calls for a re-examination of all human categories (“Think about it: There’s no real reason for there to be a man and a woman category in acting.”) I felt expanded and edified.  I think the people in the room did too. It was a lovely metabolization of a lot of the energetic stuck-points about racism, and a small act of liberation for all with ears to hear.

Here he is “going at it the right way.”

“Here’s the real question. The question everybody wants to know is: Is Hollywood racist?

You know, that’s a...you gotta go at that at the right way.

Is it burning-cross racist? No.

Is it fetch-me-some-lemonade racist? No. No, no, no.

It’s a different type of racist. That’s right. Is Hollywood racist? You’re damn right Hollywood is racist. But it ain’t that racist that you’ve grown accustomed to.

Hollywood is sorority racist.

It’s like, “We like you Rhonda, but you’re not a Kappa.”

That’s how Hollywood is.

But things are changing. Things are changing.”

Find the full transcript here.