Where do we go from here?

We find ourselves at a critical moment of choice. Will we be driven by the momentum of the past, or make conscious interventions that will usher in the next phase of individual and collective evolution?

Our current models of thinking, relating, and designing are binary. Binary models optimize for one thing at the expense of the other, seeking either/or outcomes rather than the health of the whole system. The binary world surrounds us, embedded in the language we use, the structures that govern our everyday, and the social platforms that reinforce a binary mindset within us. It’s the dominant lens through which we perceive reality, so much so we call it natural. Think of Darwin, who expressed his theory of evolution in binary terms – his observation of “kill or be killed” in nature has been drawn out as a broader worldview and influences how we relate to each other to this day.

But there is another way of perceiving that is at the heart of nature’s creativity: this is complementarity. This way of perceiving is not either/or, it is a both/and - it is the integration of many aspects into a whole, where living systems expand their capacity because of their differences, not in spite of them.

Moving beyond an exclusively binary, competitive model of evolution, we have the profound opportunity to step into a relational one, where our own development supports the development of those around us.

Complementarity is a term drawn from new physics. It shows us that in order to gain a full picture of something, multiple perspectives are needed. Experiments in complementarity demonstrate that the way something is expressed in the world changes depending on our vantage point. As a fundamental aspect of reality, complementarity becomes the metaphorical ground from which to develop a new perceiving lens. This lens helps us relate to ways of being divergent from our own, integrate opposition creatively, and design systems that optimize for the whole, not one-sidedness.

Our way of perceiving the world must catch up with the way the world really is,  as described by advances in science - a world that is relational, dynamic, and cooperative. It is a world that has us in dialogue with the unknown parts of ourselves, and the great unknown, on a continuous journey of revelation and integration — with no parts left behind. When we apply a perceiving lens of complementarity to our thinking, interactions, and systems design, we change the vantage point of our lives and draw out remarkable new possibilities.

And it is technology that reinforces and scales our perceiving lens. As we enter a technological paradigm that we call behavioral (driven by AR and VR), much more of our physical selves will be at stake. We must again reflect on this critical choice: Will we be driven by the same binary model that puts attention and capital ahead of well being? The same binary model that uses our differences to create tension and divergence? Or, will we initiate a new mythological reset for tech? If we design our technology to be driven by an engine of complementarity, we will help ensure our tech doesn’t work against our evolution as humans, it supports and even accelerates it.

In the following pages, we articulate our vision for The Game of Life, a product at the front of evolutionary technology. The GoL sits between our inner world and our outer world, allowing us to make conscious choices in real-time that help build our individual and collective capacity.