Quadrant Model of Reality Book 2 Introduction

Ken Wilber's AQAL, pronounced "ah-qwul", is the basic framework of Integral Theory. It suggests that all human knowledge and experience can be placed in a four-quadrant grid, along the axes of "interior-exterior" and "individual-collective". According to Wilber, it is one of the most comprehensive approaches to reality, a metatheory that attempts to explain how academic disciplines and every form of knowledge and experience fit together coherently.

Interior individual I Intention eg. Freud	Exterior individual It Behavioral eg. Skinner
Interior collective We Culture eg. Gadamer	Exterior collective Its Social eg. Marx

Square 1 is interior individual. Wilber sees this square as mental. The first square of the quadrant model of reality is always mental

Square 2 is interior collective. Wilber labels this we culture. This is beyond just the individual mind but goes into the group. The second square of the quadrant model of reality is always related to the group/ homeostasis

Square 3 is exterior individual. Wilber calls this the it behavioral square. The third square is always related to doing in the quadrant model and is the most physical. No longer is this square “interior” but it is exterior and solid. The third square is “it”, a physical object. The third square is the most physical.

Square 4: Exterior collective. Wilber labels the fourth square Its. The fourth square always points to a larger context and is transcendent. Yet it also contains the previous three. The quadrant model of reality is a holistic model with each square building upon, yet containing elements of the previous squares. the fourth square is always transcendent, yet envelopes the squares before it.

Aristotle stated that there were four elements similarly using two axes. These were

air- hot and wet	earth- cold and dry
water- cold and wet	fire- hot and dry

Aristotle said there was a fifth element, the aether that combined hot dry cold and wet.

Square 1: Air is the mental weird square. Hot things rise so they are weird. But they are wet so they fill the container

Square 2: Water is the homeostasis second square. It is cold so it is normal and stays on the ground. It is also wet so it fills its container. Water is used to heal and soothe people. The second square is good.

Square 3: Earth is the solid individual third square. The third square is always the most physical.

Square 4: Fire is the transcendent forth. Fire is merely pure energy. Air, water, and Earth are also energy. So Fire is transcendent yet encompasses the previous three.

Square 5: Aether. There is often a questionable fifth element. The fourth square always points to the fifth. Aether is like fire. Ancients saw fire as very transcendent and special. But it is also different. The transcendent fourth square always indicates the qualities of the ultra transcendent fifth square.

The quadrant model has sixteen squares and four quadrants. The squares are

Quadrant 1- instinctual consciousness

Sensation

perception

response

awareness- Awareness encompasses the previous three yet transcends them

The first square is mental. Sensation and perception are mentally based and weird. You cannot trust sensation or perception

Quadrant 2- magical religious group consciousness

belief

faith

behavior

belonging- belonging is different from the previous three yet contains them. The group you belong in will affect your belief and faith, but your belief and faith will also determine if you belong.

Quadrant 3.- rational interpersonal individualistic consciousness

thinking

emotion

doing

dreaming- dreaming is beyond yet envelopes the first three squares. When you dream you are paralyzed from your body so you do not act out physically the actions you take in the dream. But you still do things and think and have emotions, there is just a different quality to them. Thinking, emotion and doing are all very physical and related to hormones and neurons and the body. The third quadrant is the most physical. Dreaming is very transcendent, and points to the nature of the transcendent fourth quadrant

Quadrant 4 transrational transpersonal consciousness

contemplation

passion

flowing

knowing

The fourth quadrant transcends the previous three. The fourth is always extraordinary and different and does not seem to belong. It involves transcending the ego. The third quadrant is very related to the ego. The fourth quadrant is transcendence of the ego/body.

Quadrant 5

Being

Non Being

Becoming

The fifth quadrant is ultra transcendence. It is connected with God. Ancients saw God as Being itself. God in the Bible says I am, which philosophers interpret as meaning God is Being.

What I just put above is the quadrant model of reality. I relate this model to the Keirsey temperament indicator. There are four temperaments, again based upon two axes. They are

Idealists- abstract and cooperative	Artisans- concrete and utilitarian
Guardians- concrete and cooperative	Rationals- abstract and utilitarian

Square 1- Idealists are mental. They are sensitive, perceptive, responsible, and aware- infj enfj enfp infp

Square 2- Guardians are into homeostasis and following authority and belonging. They are believers, faithful, obeyers, and belongers. The second square is the most related to order isfj esfj estj istj

Square 3- Artisans are doers. They are the most physical. The third square is the most physical. Artisans like to have fun and are spontaneous. They can be seen as bad because they break the rules. Since they are utilitarian they want to do what works and not what makes others happy necessarily. They are thinkers, emoters, doers and dreamers isfp esfp estp istp

Square 4: Rationals- They are the transcendent type, who is mental but also physical. They are contemplators, passionate, flowers, and knowers. intj entj entp intp

These four temperaments fit into the Myers briggs personality indicator. The Myers Briggs indicator has four axes. These are

introverted v. extroverted

intuitive v. sensing

thinking v. feeling

perceiving v judging

The four axes yield sixteen types and four quadrants. They are

infj senser	enfp responder	isfp- thinker	estp- doer
enfj perceiver	infp aware	esfp- emoter	istp- dreamer
isfj believer	estj behaving	intj- contemplator	entp- flowing
esfj faithful	istj belonger	entj- passionate	intp- knower

I had the revelation of the quadrant model at the beginning of my sophomore year of college. After the realization of the nature of the quadrant model, that there are four squares, and the fourth is transcendent yet encompasses the previous three, and indicates the qualities of the fifth, I started to attend classes at UC San Diego all day long and incredibly found that the foundation of every class taught at University was the quadrant model. I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in psychology and above a 3.0 GPA in 2012 and I began to try to share the model. I began sharing my model when I discovered it my sophomore year to maybe 10 or 15 or so people. But I never showed them exactly how broad the theory was. I showed my friend Michael Mossad a lot, and my friend Akash Kataria though. I am 26 years old now and the date is January 3, 2016.