Second Sapiens

* Book: Second Sapiens. By Saïd Dawlabani.

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Description

"The author draws on Spiral Dynamics to highlight the major evolutionary stages of humanity. He describes how value systems have been constructed throughout the ages, recontextualizing them within the history of collective ways of life. This framework sets up a contrast between two figures: that of the First Sapiens, focused on survival, conquest, and competition; and that of the Second Sapiens, a potential bearer of relational, systemic, co-evolutionary consciousness.

The Anthropocene is presented here as a ridgeline — a tipping point between the risk of collapse and the possibility of a radical evolutionary leap. A critical threshold where everything can shift — either toward regressive retreat or the emergence of an expanded consciousness."

(https://christinemarsan.substack.com/p/et-si-notre-survie-dependait-dun)

Review

Robert de Quelen:

"The use of mythological metaphors often indicates an author's intent to connect contemporary issues to universal archetypes embedded in the collective unconscious. By invoking figures such as Prometheus or Gaia, Saïd Dawlabani grounds his reflection in a deep symbolic framework that speaks as much to our reason as to our imagination.

This is the central thrust of his book, Second Sapiens, which invites us to make a radical evolutionary leap: to move beyond the limits of a human intelligence that is technicized, fragmented, and disconnected from the living world, and to access an intuitive, integrated, planetary consciousness, nourished by Gaia’s intelligence. This shift is not a matter of linear progress, but a profound transformation of our thinking systems, our collective narratives, and our ways of life.

Prometheus and Gaia — these two mythological figures embody two poles of intelligence: one human, conquering, and technical; the other natural, nurturing, and regenerative. In Greek mythology, Prometheus symbolizes the creative drive aimed at mastering the world and producing knowledge, even if it means defying the gods. Gaia, on the other hand, represents the Earth in its entirety — alive, nurturing, and at times destructive — the dynamic balance of natural forces.

Are these two dynamics doomed to clash in a struggle that could threaten humanity’s survival? Or can we imagine a new alliance, a fertile reconciliation between human ingenuity and natural intelligence? This is precisely the path that Saïd Dawlabani proposes in Second Sapiens, his visionary (as yet untranslated into French) book, calling for a radical evolutionary leap in human consciousness.

A direct intellectual heir of Clare Graves and Don Beck, and a deep connoisseur of Spiral Dynamics as well as Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory, Dawlabani connects these developmental approaches to the major systemic determinants of our era: climate disruption, ecological depletion, geopolitical chaos, economic crises, and social fragmentation.

Mindful of never losing his reader, he pulls off a difficult challenge: making complexity accessible without pretending to oversimplify it. And above all, he adds what was missing from these models: the very substance that drives the world — the global economy, financial systems, geopolitical power dynamics, and deep societal shifts. The reader progresses through a structured, grounded narrative that illuminates the deep links between our values, our systems, and the laws of life itself."

(https://christinemarsan.substack.com/p/et-si-notre-survie-dependait-dun)

Translated from the original French by ChatGPT:

"Le recours aux métaphores mythologiques indique souvent chez un auteur le souci de relier les enjeux contemporains à des archétypes universels, inscrits dans l’inconscient collectif. En convoquant des figures comme Prométhée ou Gaïa, Saïd Dawlabani ancre sa réflexion dans une trame symbolique profonde, qui parle autant à notre raison qu’à notre imaginaire.

C’est tout l’enjeu de son livre, Second Sapiens, qui nous invite à un saut évolutif radical : dépasser les limites d’une intelligence humaine technicisée, fragmentée et coupée du vivant, pour accéder à une conscience intuitive, intégrée, planétaire, ressourcée dans l’intelligence de Gaïa. Ce basculement ne relève pas d’un progrès linéaire, mais d’une mutation profonde de nos systèmes de pensée, de nos récits collectifs, et de nos modes de vie.

Prométhée et Gaïa : ces deux figures mythologiques incarnent deux pôles de l’intelligence — l’une humaine, conquérante et technicienne ; l’autre naturelle, matricielle et régénératrice. Dans la mythologie grecque, Prométhée symbolise l’élan créateur orienté vers la maîtrise du monde et la production de savoir, quitte à défier les dieux. Gaïa, quant à elle, représente la Terre dans son intégralité vivante, nourricière et parfois destructrice, l’équilibre dynamique des forces naturelles.

Ces deux dynamiques sont-elles condamnées à s’opposer dans une lutte dont l’issue pourrait compromettre la survie de l’humanité ? Ou bien peut-on imaginer une nouvelle alliance, une réconciliation féconde entre l’ingéniosité humaine et l’intelligence naturelle ? C’est précisément cette voie que propose Saïd Dawlabani dans Second Sapiens, son livre visionnaire (non encore traduit en français), en appelant à un saut évolutif radical de la conscience humaine.

Héritier direct de Clare Graves et Don Beck, fin connaisseur de la Spirale Dynamique comme de la pensée intégrale développée par Ken Wilber, Dawlabani articule ces approches développementales aux grands déterminants systémiques de notre époque : dérèglement climatique, épuisement du vivant, chaos géopolitique, crises économiques et fragmentation sociale.

Soucieux de ne jamais perdre son lecteur, il réussit un pari difficile : rendre accessible la complexité, sans prétendre la simplifier. Et surtout, il y ajoute ce qui manquait à ces modèles : la substance même qui meut le monde — l’économie globale, les systèmes financiers, les rapports de force géopolitiques, et les évolutions sociétales profondes. Le lecteur progresse dans un récit structuré, incarné, qui éclaire les liens profonds entre nos valeurs, nos systèmes et les lois du vivant."

(https://medium.com/@RdeQuelen/et-si-notre-survie-dépendait-dun-saut-évolutif-radical-76fcc77daf6b)

Discussion

Gaian Intelligence

Robert de Quelen:

"The guiding threads of a new intelligence: a Gaian intelligence, rooted in life itself and capable of rebuilding our systems on regenerative foundations. Dawlabani draws on the combined contributions of Graves, Beck, Wilber, Lovelock, and Margulis — as well as Ichak Adizes — to outline the contours of a society transitioning toward collective maturity. To achieve this, it must first undertake the necessary work of uncovering its traumas and shadows — what Carl Gustav Jung called shadow work: the process of gaining clarity about our impulses toward control, retreat, or domination. But Jung also taught that the shadow contains a golden part — repressed and unexplored forces that can become levers for deep regeneration."

Gaiametry

Robert de Quelen:

"In this final section, Dawlabani introduces the concept of Gaiametry — a new grammar for measuring the vitality of systems — and reexamines forms of power and domination using a different criterion than force, growth, or profitability. In his view, the only valid measure of a system — whether economic, political, or cultural — is its ability to preserve, nurture, and grow life. This is what he calls Gaian truth: a form of legitimacy based not on efficiency or competition, but on coherence with the laws of life.

This shift in perspective invites us to evaluate all human organizations by what they enable or prevent in terms of regeneration, resilience, and symbiosis. Here, utopia is no longer a distant dream, but a survival imperative embedded in the very order of life. Second Sapiens thus reads as a matrix for thinking about this transformation — no longer as a reaction to collapse, but as a response to an evolutionary calling. A book-as-narrative, but also a book-as-pivot, offering a new cognitive framework, one that connects inner vision, collective transformation, and the concrete conditions for a livable future."

(https://medium.com/@RdeQuelen/et-si-notre-survie-dépendait-dun-saut-évolutif-radical-76fcc77daf6b)