The Ideal Course on Fearlessness

The simple logic of one initiative I started in 1989, and it has not by design changed one bit since, is that there "must" be some group of people in the world today (and from the past in continuity) that wants action... that wants what I want: [i.e., the FMning descriptor] "better, and more critically, understanding the role of fear and fearlessness in our lives and world is critical to healthy sustainable life". For various reasons, to date, 19 members (myself included) have signed-up for this initiative, simply called the Fearlessness Movement. That's interesting, but what does it mean. 

Last summer I began writing a novel (fiction/non-fiction) on this topic of finding the "Ideal Course on Fearlessness" (implicit in the novel)... the ms. never got past the 150 pp. mark or so as I recall, much like many of the ms.'s I have cluttering my library. Oh, well, unfinished works, are types of "failures" in the good sense in that they carve a groove but there isn't the "supports" to bring the groove to become a highway. It remains an old trail in the dirt, not unlike an over flow of water eroding soil down a hill side, but it only happens once in a few years or decades, or centuries. The remains of the water can be seen, but it is hard to tell what it was there for, other than to just follow gravity and the principles of force and erosion. I feel like that as a writer of 'new' ideas. What was that ms. there for? 

Beyond my own struggles as a writer, back to the simple logic of this fearlessness initiative (by its many other names)... If 'we' want better more critical understanding of fear and fearlessness (because we think it is crucially important to life and sustainability on this planet)--then, 'we' ought to want better more critical ways of learning about fear and fearlessness--thus, we need a better more critical curriculum than the one we have now. Okay, if that is a general orienting logical deduction based on an intuitive passion (e.g., the FM ning being one such manifestation), then (to be logical again) there ought to be such courses (curriculum) available-- and, for the life of me in all the research I've done for 26 yrs. all over the place... there is no such curriculum (other than the few "bits" I have created (1)). The "supports" for such a developmental and design effort are just not there--not yet... the traces of the stream flowing over the soil are there... little water flows in them these days however... 

It is no surprise that drought, desert, and exile have been terms I seem to embody in my initiative. Fine. If that's the way it is then that's the way it is. When the rains come there will be floods. I trust you'll get the immediacy of this metaphor (e.g., Houston, TX disaster) and other potential meanings for this (if not archetypally, historically, evolutionarily). 

Back to the design and construction of an "ideal" course on fearlessness. Well, the good news is that (with the help of Durwin Foster, a member of this FMning) I have been in contact with a person at Ubiquity University (a very interesting venture in higher education online), who is showing some initial interest to talk about my course for their platform. I have not yet had that conversation as I am traveling right now, but will soon. In the meantime, I thought it would be interesting to ASK YOU ALL if you'd help my thinking around this course and various options for where to best teach it online if that comes to be (which I would like). So, give me your thoughts on this course in terms of content you'd like, design of it, and where it could best find a platform (of which one option is to use the Center for Spiritual Inquiry & Integral Education (CSIIE) platform, which I founded some 6 yrs. ago).

I have been writing and thinking about alternatives in education since the late 1970s. That's a long time. To say the least, I am still searching. I have explored how others have done this, and how the new digital revolution of online learning is shifting the playingfield. All good, and yet, all still working through a lot of growing pains as well. The basic thrust or discourse of my own initiatives pretty much revolves around the "slogan" (of sorts) that sounds like this: Help Students Get The Next Generation Skills Needed to Survive and Thrive in Today's Hyper-Complex World (that is a direct quote from Ubiquity University website but it is one that resonates with CSIIE and some other online learning sites. The exciting thought has been for me Help Students Get on the Path of Fearlessness (as core foundation for the "skills needed", etc. etc.)... I, and many other critics, have seen fear increasing in every sector of society, as crises begin to cascade across the planet-- no attempt to fear-monger in this observation, it is merely what a lot of research shows me as a fearologist specializing in this phenomena. An "ideal" curriculum on Fear and Fearlessness seems ideal for our times and the future. 

Let me know what you think...

End Notes

1. I admit there are other people designing and teaching courses on fear and fearlessness but they are not what I am thinking and they are not based on a design I call a critical integral perspective (a la Ken Wilber's integral philosophy, etc.). 

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