Integral Views on Swine Flu Part 2

Author: Carissa Wieler

Introduction

The current swine flu outbreak and pandemic presents a tension that is at once ecological and psychological. Swine flu is ecological as it informs and calls forth responses in biological and noospheric ecologies (such as virus ecology, human-virus interactions, and economic, health and education systems). Swine flu is also psychological as it informs and calls forth responses from individual and collective psyches, and presences elements of shadow, ego development, and states. The terms Integral Ecology (Esbjörn-Hargens and Zimmerman, 2009) and Integral Psychology (Wilber, 2000) sufficiently overlap that it is possible to set up a dialogue between the two domains while holding space for a distinction of swine flu as ecology-centered and as psychology-centered.

To set up this dialogue in a meaningful way, I find it helpful to introduce an aspect of swine flu that seems to both tacitly and symbolically speak to both domains. In my initial stages of reading news articles, viewing photographs and reading journal articles, the rather benign aspect of swine flu masks pulled me closer. I began gathering information about the masks, propelled by an organic curiosity, as though meandering in a territory while simultaneously drawing a loose map. I playfully encountered websites selling artistic swine flu masks purporting to allow the wearer to choose a persona for the day (Figure 1).

My creative interest was peaked, evidenced by the way comments about these creative masks crept into conversations and made it to my Facebook page.  Centering into my intention of setting up a dialogue between integral ecology and integral psychology, it seemed that the masks spoke to multiple dimensions of being in relationship with self, others and the environment.

As I do not currently wear a mask, to write this paper I imperfectly enter the worlds of those who do wear them and construct meanings from a North American mind. I draw on Western psychology and project this onto people primarily from Asia and South America who largely do wear the masks. But this paper is about setting up a dialogue in a broader sense, and because of this, I take leeway to make these projections for the sake of uncovering the principles behind my interest in the masks, their purpose and their wearers.

This paper consists of three sections, beginning with Integral Ecology concepts of nature and eco-selves, followed by Integral Psychology concepts of zones, with an emphasis on zone 4 and shadow. The third section is a meta-reflection on confluences of Integral Psychology and Ecology.
 

Three Natures and Swine Flu

Drawing on the four quadrants as a base, Integral Ecology suggests three distinct views of nature currently available in society. I explore each of these views by consciously entering them and reflecting on my response to swine flu.

The first view is of nature is through the lens of experience, primarily in the physiospheric and biospheric layers, operating in all four quadrants. The emphasis on nature from this view often brings about instinctual and affect-based responses situated in the interior-subjective domain. As I consciously enter this view of nature, I experience a mix of anger, fear and excitement that the swine flu exists and is resulting in illness and death of those around me. I experience a quality of sadness that the virus is causing so much upheaval on the planet and am reminded that nature is not always a “safe” place because tiny organisms like a virus can wreak such havoc. I experience a deeper quality of sadness that because nature is not always “safe”, there are ways in which I cannot fully experience oneness or merging with nature and still be protected from its ills. I recognize that my response is in some ways also typological for the Enneagram type 9 who seeks merging towards unity yet experiences deeper grief at the perception that such a merging is impossible without also annihilating the self.

The second view of nature is through the lens of observation, incorporating the physiosphere, biosphere and noosphere holonic layers for the two external-oriented quadrants only, those of the objective (behavioral) and interobjective (systems). One way of defining the noosphere is as a thought-space of life that is making meaning of the world through reflection and enactment. As I consciously enter this view of nature, I experience a shift from how I feel about the virus towards what I think about the virus. I now situate the virus as an occurrence that has a relatively wide span, across two continents (and thus was recently named a pandemic), and as having relatively low severity with the exception of a low mortality rate among young people (Wikipedia, 2009). I consider the history of the influenza virus and learn that similar viruses have had a pattern of low severity in the spring and high severity in the fall, once the northern hemisphere has cooled and the virus has had a chance to adapt to the human system (Wikipedia, 2009). While I do not experience as much fear or sadness from this place, I support efforts to eliminate the virus effectively to reduce suffering on the planet. Nature once again has challenged humanity, how will humanity respond? Will humanity become immune, through new vaccines, or will hundreds of thousands of people face death in the coming year, particularly those living in places with less developed medical support?

The third view of nature incorporates all three layers for all quadrants. This view includes individual and cultural interiority, as well as objective spaces, and includes all three layers of the physiosphere, biosphere and noosphere. From this view, culture is included in the definition of nature thus removing an age-old split between human culture as alien to nature and pointing to human culture as an evolutionary aspect of NATURE (comprising the entire Kosmos). As I consciously enter this view of nature, I become interested in the multitude of ways that people make meaning of the swine flu virus in the first place. I am curious about the role of collective memories of past swine flu viruses in interpreting current information. I learn that a bus traveling from Chile to Argentina has been stoned by Argentineans because a Chilean man is thought to be carrying the virus (PBS.org, June 11, 2009). As Argentina enters its winter season, the probability that the swine flu virus will spread has increased exponentially. As the world watches for patterns in southern countries, it is understandable that citizens of those countries respond with rapid fire, likely incorporating cultural and political biases as they do.

I also learn that the Egyptian government, thinking that the swine flu, like avian flu, was linked to its namesake, culled thousands of pigs, before learning that the name was a misnomer and that the flu was passed from person to person, rather than pig to person. The very recent collective memory of the severe impacts of avian flu in Egypt likely matched with political pressure to act early and pre-empt a second deadly influenza outbreak likely prompted this severe and misdirected response (CTV news, May 6, 2009).  In both of these cases, responses to swine flu seem to incorporate uncertainty about swine flu with deeper socio-cultural threads and memories.

Also from this view, I consider the nature of the virus. I wonder whether the virus is a life form on it’s own, or whether it is a member of a social holon as an artifact connected to a living organism (as a virus technically only comes alive when in relationship with it’s host). Either way, the virus is implicated in the cultural and experiential aspects of the cell it inhabits, and ultimately the organism. The virus is both amazing and terrible as a life form, and as much as I want it to be annihilated on one level, I also feel that the virus and I belong to the same Kosmos, and my capacity to embrace feels wider.

The above thought experiment has highlighted for me the value of traversing the three definitions of nature as I understand them. I notice different tensions arise with each definition. The beginning tension is between a desire for both safety and unity with nature with swine flu as a cause of disharmony. From this place, uncertainty arises about the pending severity of swine flu based on present and historical data, and thus, uncertainty about how to behaviorally respond. And from there, complex meaning making about swine flu virus in face of uncertainty is expressed through radical and diverse responses to the virus.

Finally, nature as beautiful and nature as terrible are viewed as simultaneously arising in a perfect Kosmos with no other.
 

A Levels View of Swine Flu Masks

Interestingly, the four tensions listed above seem to correspond well to tensions that might be anticipated from four of the eight Eco-Selves described in Integral Ecology. In the following, the more specific aspect of wearing swine flu masks is explored through the Eco-Self lenses. Conscious attempts to enter each self in an imaginal space of wearing the swine flu mask is combined with perspectives provided by North American media. It is assumed that because I no longer centrally occupy earlier stages, I enter them regressively and more complexly that than an occupier of that stage would enter them. The purpose becomes one of uncovering impulses associated with those stages (zone 1) rather than a more empirical description of each motivation (zone 2). It occurs to me that I am drawing simultaneously on zone 2 altitudes and zone 4 social value patterns for each stage, as both seem to be intimately interwoven through the artifact and symbol of the swine flu mask.

Eco Guardian (key words: safety, harmony, basic needs, nature as ensouled)
Wearing the swine flu mask, I experience an immediate angst at the way the mask separates my breath from nature. I long for nature to be my ultimate protector, yet I must protect myself from this phenomenon of nature (the virus), and in doing so, am separated by the fundamental aspect I share with nature: my breath. I feel subtly veiled from the circle of life yet I am motivated to wear the mask for the sake of my health and my loved ones.
Eco-Warrior (key words: heroism)
I wear the swine flu mask with subtle defiance against the virus that threatens my family and tribe. It’s not going to get me, I am determined of that. Because of the swine flu mask, I am fearless in face of risk and going about my business with confidence. A quality of rage mixed with excitement engages me as I shield myself from dangers of nature.
Eco-Manager (key words: stewardship ethos; rule oriented, group membership)
I wear the swine flu mask as part of a collective agreement to prevent the spread of the deadly virus. In order to survive, we must all wear the mask for if one person gets sick it puts the rest of us in jeopardy. Within this collective agreement, I experience a quality of social support as we stand against the swine flu virus. The mask is also a symbol of our solidarity.
Eco-Strategist (key words: scientific imperialism, efficiency, efficacy)
While I generally hate wearing this unpleasant and plain mask that covers half my face, I do so because the scientific community suggests that wearing surgical masks will prevent the spread of swine flu. I feel strongly that everyone should have access to the correct kind of mask (surgical not respiratory) because with the mask comes freedom of movement and interaction.
Eco-Holist (key words: interconnection through shared experience and shared context)
Today I have decided to wear the swine flu mask because I’m going to a major social event. As I feel into wearing a ‘mask’, I reflect on cultural significances of masks from around the world: protection, reverence, illumination, warning, forces of nature. I place stickers on the mask to represent the social transformation I hope will happen as people from all cultures bond together in face of the virus: a butterfly, a cross, the yin-yang symbol, and a globe. I wear the mask in solidarity with my brothers and sisters around the world.
Eco-Integralist (key words: integrates compassion and wisdom; recognizes all levels of interiority; integral physiosphere, biosphere, noosphere)
I practice wearing the swine flu mask while sitting on my meditation cushion. Inhaling and exhaling, a subtle nausea intertwines with nostalgia for the sweetness of full-bodied air. As my heart beats a little faster, my thoughts dart to the significances of the mask as symbol of protection, shield, social support, freedom and solidarity. I wonder about systemic implications of mask wearing to prevent the spread of swine flu: the effectiveness, the impact, the responsibility, and the lore. I wonder about the stirring of deep social memories of past influenza outbreaks and social, psychological, systemic and ecological resiliencies in face of an outbreak. Breathing in, I witness my breath expand into the abyss then contract into a single pulsating point.
Eco-Sage (key words: unitive self transparent manifestation of Being)
I am a virus in the heart of the universe, swimming through the veins of life. I am a mask, concealing and revealing at the same time.

In the preceding thought experiment, the concept of freedom emerges in three ways: desire for freedom of breath, perceived freedom as a result of wearing the mask, and freedom from identification with the mask. Alternatively, communion also appears as three themes: the mask as preventing communion with nature, the mask as promoting solidarity with one’s tribe and with humanity, and communion with the Universe which also includes the mask. In a way it is not surprising that these themes would appear in the context of the eco-selves as ego identity inherently includes themes of agency and communion as holarchical building blocks.

Recalling the core tensions related to the nature of swine flu, those of disharmony, uncertainty, radical responses, and the non-duality of nature, and perspectives on wearing the swine flu mask in particular through lenses of freedom and communion throughout ego development (as eco-selves), my attention turns next to collective meaning making about swine flu masks, in particular a zone 3 and 4 analysis. As mentioned earlier, it seemed that the eco-self reflections included elements of cultural meaning making. What might those elements be?
 

A Zones View: Cultural Perspectives

Drawing primarily on the United States, the three most active memes are amber-traditionalist, orange-modernist and green-post modernist. To access perspectives of each meme, news articles and blogs were searched. The following is an example of amber-like tensions related to swine flu and wearing swine flu masks: 

So far, fear is spreading faster than the swine flu. But for varied reasons, this flu seems spookier than the ordinary "seasonal" flu, whose related causes, federal officials say, kill 36,000 Americans a year. Among the reasons: The current swine flu started in Mexico, which brands it as an invader. Its name is "swine," a word that connotes dirt and evil. And then there are the masks.
You've seen the masks on the news, those papery, loose contraptions strapped around the noses and mouths of Mexicans, airplane travelers and reporters interviewing travelers. They've become so common in Mexico City that three thieves slipped them on as camouflage a couple of days ago to rob a department store.
In Japan, the masks are a common sight in any flu season. Wearing one is an act of courtesy and social responsibility, sometimes with a dash of fashion. Some masks come adorned with designs of Hello Kitty and Mickey Mouse.
But we're not Japanese. Here, masks suggest something furtive, foreign. They come with a whiff of apocalypse. (Schmich, April 29, 2009).

The above segment points to several tensions related to the swine flu and the masks: the origin of the flu being from Mexico and thus invading the United States, negative, fear-based symbolism associated with the masks, and a sense that while the masks are ok and even creatively expressed elsewhere, at home, “we are not Japanese”.

I take a moment to enter this cultural perspective. I enter as a Canadian stepping into the shoes of an American traditionalist. I notice that this view is different from the traditionalist eco-self view mentioned earlier (eco-manager) which was more about the solidarity of wearing a swine flu mask within the “in” group, perhaps a Canadian influence. In the statement above, solidarity seems to be of not wearing the swine flu mask as a point of solidarity within the “in” group. The rich symbolism presented in the article reveals a cultural angst of identity that polarizes America from other mask wearing countries, subtly reminiscent of a similar angst earlier expressed about the mask as polarizing self and nature. The swine flu mask as artifact and symbol reveals deeper undercurrents and shadows in collective (and individual) identities in relationship to both other cultures and to the ecology of a virus. I am curious as to whether the mask also speaks to cultural undercurrents in the US about the need to “protect” from an “invader”, which can raise patterns denial and/or anger that protection is needed is needed in the first place.

My experience of some modernist views in the United States is, in a sense, as an objective voice that “has no view” as facts are relayed objectively and with the goal of informing. Scores of websites and news articles relay why, how and when to wear the masks. Expert organizations such as the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control are looked to as a basis for objective reasoning. The following headline, published the same day as the previous more traditionalist article, speaks to the kind of dry, fact based communication of modernism.

Surgical masks help stop droplets from spreading, but respirators are designed to filter small particles. If used correctly, respirators are more likely to reduce flu risk, the CDC says. (Roan, S. April 28, 2009)

As I enter this modernist perspective on swine flu masks, I notice a quality of stuck-ness. It is the same quality that has challenged the writing of this paper, for every time I dive into online news about swine flu masks, I experience a dead end: what more is there to say? A quadratic approach might point to a predominantly the RHS such that behavior is informed by human and natural ecologies of the virus. Risk assessment and mediation on a larger scale requires that people be informed and know how to act in face of risk. This is the triumph of modernity: masks aren’t evil or apocalyptic, but they might save your life.

Perhaps it is my search for meaning in my identification with post-modern culture that kept me searching for creative uses of the masks, such as the painted masks presented in the introduction of this paper. My search led to the following description of the painted masks, posted on an Asian supplier website:

The very sterile looking white gauze mask inspired to make it more cheerful and funny while still serving its purpose. This new mask is no longer masking, but transforming the part of the face it is hiding, integrating face and mask.
- Samira Boon

What a boon! To overcome the stigma of wearing a plain white mask, the above supplier transforms the definition of mask wearing. No longer a “foreign object” “protecting” and “sterilizing”, the mask is merged with one’s identity, transformed into a mode of self-expression. Perhaps because people in Asia have been wearing masks on a more widespread basis than North Americans, such a product reveals a next step in the natural progression of wearing the masks. As mentioned in the traditionalist article, the painting of masks is viewed culturally as “something the Japanese do”. Modernists, on the other hand, have begun to market “designer” swine flu masks, perhaps as an early step to make the masks tolerable. Yet it is the quality of individual self-expression and intent of merging identity with the mask that gives a post-modern flavor.

In summary, three levels of cultural meaning making have been explored in this section, incorporating narrow bands of hermeneutics presented in the media. The traditionalist perspective presented orients to the masks with ethnocentric symbolism, symbolically while the modernist perspective presented orients to the masks with objectivity and a quality of sterility. I suggest that a post-modern view that incorporates the “wearer” in the wearing of the mask, giving space for unique individual expression and a quality of playfulness, perhaps as a form of interior resilience to risk.

Ecology and Psychology

The swine flu mask is an artifact of ecological and psychological significance. The mask can be seen as mediating one’s relationship with nature, self and culture in a small yet significant way. Through the breath, humans connect with the outside world, with one another and with one’s own living being. When an object momentarily separates what is for most a free flowing connection, subtle edges around separateness may be evoked, revealing deeper undercurrents about one’s relationship to life. In this paper, the swine flu mask is both a tacit and symbolic representation of this separation.

One of my purposes was to explore a dialogue between Integral Psychology and Integral Ecology. The distinction between the two seems to center around relationship, from my perspective. Integral Psychology is about one’s relationship with self, others and life through the lens of self. Integral Ecology is about one’s relationship with self, others and life through the lens of nature. Because both employ all five elements of Integral Theory (levels, lines, quadrants, states, type) and draw on similar theoretical bases (such as Ego Development and shadow), both essentially speak to the nature of self. In my previous paper on swine flu, I began to consider interiority of the swine flu virus, presenting a more definitive Integral Ecology position.

The three definitions of nature were core concepts from Integral Ecology. The definitions seem more complex that simply assigning them to altitudes, such as amber, orange and green, because they are working in both quadrants and levels. At the same time, the definitions may have developmental components, such as the move from affect to rationality to non-duality. Also, the definitions of nature brought out core tensions around swine flu virus that were a little different than the tensions that surfaced for the eco-selves (though the subject was also slightly different, the first being swine flu and the second being the masks). By exploring all three definitions as co-arising within my awareness, I could progressively deepen, moving from one to another.

The core tensions and dynamics raised in this paper, summarized in Table 1, reveal that the wearing of swine flu masks is more complex than a simple behavioral adaptation as might appear to be the case in mainstream media. Whenever ego identity is incorporated, at least 7 fundamentally different orientations can be unearthed, likewise with cultural structures of meaning making. In viewing the following table, I notice subtle relaxation, and a sense of having become more intimate with swine flu as a pandemic, with the tacit and symbolic meaning of the masks and with others who actually do wear the masks in every day life.
 

Table 1: Swine Flu, Masks and Core Tensions or Dynamics
 

Conclusion

Terrains of behavior, systems, culture and psyche have been traversed, and in the process I have learned about personal and collective tensions, shadows and dynamics related to swine flu and the wearing of masks. Given the uncertainty of risk related to swine flu in the coming months, the relevance of this subject may grow. What skilful means might emerge from insights about what is means to the wearer to wear a mask and how might this inform strategies to promote health in presence of what could be a deadly virus?

Other related aspects not considered in this paper include the development of a vaccine, towards which 1 billion dollars has been allocated in the United States, as well as the curbing of travel to countries like Mexico, and political undercurrents such as holding foreigners in hotel rooms for a number of days until the virus has passed. If the flu does grow in severity, particularly in countries with fewer medical resources (and perhaps no vaccine), what risk responses might be anticipate? Might people with the flu become lepers, like with the HIV virus? In a global world, might we collectively turn away or towards one another in face of a pandemic, or both?

References

Esbjörn-Hargens, S. and Zimmerman, M. (2009). Integral Ecology. Boston, MA: Integral Books.

Mulholland, A. (2009, May 6). What is this H1N1 swine flu virus? Canadian Television (ctv.ca). Retrieved June 24, 2009, from http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090424/swine_flu_0...

PBS.org. (2009, June 6). WHO Declares Global Swine Flu Pandemic. Public Broadcasting Station. Retrieved June 24, 2009, from
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/health/jan-june09/flupandemic_06-11....

Roan, S. (2009, April 28). Swine Flu Masks. LA Times. Retrieved June 24, 2009, from http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sciw-swine-masks28-200...

Samira Boon. (2009). Swine Flu Masks. Retrieved June 24, 2009, from http://www.samiraboon.com/wawcs0116336/masks.htm

Schmich, M. (2009, April 29). Swine-flu masks can blind us to truth. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 24, 2009, from http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-schmich-29-apr29,0,678...

Wilber, K. (2000). Integral Psychology. Boston, MA: Shambhala

Wikipedia. (2009). Swine Flu Virus. www.wikipedia.org