A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science and Spirituality

Being Ken Wilber, he couldn't resist answering these questions by folding the "Theory of Everything" into some of his own personal visions and theories. This overlay is presented in his signature straightforward, clearly written style. The upshot is that common readers can easily follow Wilber on a quantum journey and wind up with a lasting souvenir--a scientific and spiritual understanding of how the mind, body, soul, and universe all work together like a never-ending symphony. And that's just in the first four chapters. From there he shows readers the practical applications of this vision--explaining how it could lead to more integrative styles of business, education, medicine, ecology, and even how we address world conflicts. Wilber admits that this "holistic quest is an ever-receding dream, a horizon that constantly retreats as we approach it." Nonetheless, he can still take readers on an incredible journey--one that's well worth the price of the ticket. --Gail Hudson

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

Everyone is right, 2007-10-09
The thesis of this book is that we need an "integral" approach to everything. What is an integral approach? Well, it takes into account all levels and all quadrants. So there.

Here's what you do. Create a sort of Dewey Decimal System for reality. Slice it into chunks, cram the chunks into categories, nest concepts inside other concepts, then create lots of lists, levels, charts, graphs, diagrams, spirals, and hierarchies. Adopt a progressive color scheme to describe the levels of human progress, from beast to buddha. Make a four-quadrant diagram. Find a place for everything in one of the quadrants. In fact, make a bunch of four-quadrant diagrams to demonstrate that, with a little ingenuity, you can make everything fit.

Once you have performed this microscopic analysis, declare that the proper course for humanity in all things is to consider all the stuff in all the quadrants. There, now, isn't that helpful? As the author says, "In the Theory of Everything, I have one major rule: EVERYBODY is right. More specifically, everybody--including me--has some important pieces of truth, and all of those pieces need to be honored, cherished and included in a more gracious, spacious, and compassionate embrace, a genuine T.O.E." (Emphasis in original.)

Suppose you're willing accept that dubious but egalitarian sentiment. How do you distinguish the "important pieces of truth" from the nonsense. Now THAT would be helpful. Wilber can't be bothered with such messy business. He's already handled the hard part. He told you to be integral. Does he have to explain everything?

The book is filled with quirky words to describe trite concepts. Consider the "holon." His definition: "A holon is a whole that is part of other wholes. For example, a whole atom is part of a whole molecule; a whole molecule is part of a whole cell; a whole cell is part of a whole organism." What is the real analytical value of a word that describes everything in the universe? (Maybe Wilber's answer is that reality is holon's "all the way up and all the way down," as he says in the Notes. Cute, but of what use?) The concept of the "meme," when introduced by Richard Dawkins, was new and useful (even if it is stretched out of shape by Wilber). Not so with holons. Although by definition, a meme must be a holon, since everything else is.

Wilber has other distracting habits. As others have observed, he spends much of his time promoting his other books and dropping names. It all leads me to wonder why his writings and his ideas are so rarely cited, other than by himself. Some of his remarks, such as on evolution, would be shared with a fringe group, at best. It is apparent that he spends a great deal of time reading and pondering, but not enough time testing his ideas against those who would challenge him. He comes off as a wannabe guru.

I remember late nights in college during the 1970's, sitting around with friends, absorbed in deeply meaningful discussions that produced flashes of sudden insight, revelations so profound they simply must be preserved. I'd rush to my journal to record the epic moment for future generations. The next day I'd jump out of be and open my journal, eager to read what I knew had to be irrefutable proof of enlightened thought. Then I'd read it.

Reading A Theory of Everything reminded me of that.


6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

Devoid of content, 2007-04-20
Nothing but an incoherent collection of allusions to other works, filled with trendy pop-philosophy terminology like "meme" and "holon". Over 23% of the book is simply the word "integral". There are no visions in this book, only "integral" visions; a hierarchy is not good enough, it must be an "integral" hierarchy. Avoid.


9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

Not the best of Ken Wilber's books....., 2007-01-01
In this book Ken Wilber presents a concise overview of his basic ideas and how they can be applied to various areas such as medicine, education and business. This isn't a bad place to start reading Ken Wilber, but you would most likely be better served by reading A BRIEF HISTORY OF EVERYTHING. This latter book goes more in-depth, rambles less and is presented in an interview format. It goes much more deeply, is more interesting, persuasive and easy to follow.

What Ken is attempting to do in this book and others is to take the best ideas and common threads from many different areas including psychology, philosophy and the world's wisdom traditions and consolidate them into a coherent worldview that considers multiple ways of knowing and respects all domains of experience such as the interior (subjective) and exterior (objective) of both individuals and collectives e.g. various cultures.

Mr. Wilber argues that reality consists of holons which are wholes that are also parts of other more complex wholes. An example of this would be subatomic particles make up atoms, atoms make up molecules, etc. Each whole has four irreducible dimensions as described above and there is an increase in complexity as one moves upward toward more complexity.

Ken also brings up the point that each domain or quadrant has different criteria for validity claims. For example, their may be one set of criteria for studying molecules, but a quite different set for studying the interiors of individuals e.g. mystical experience, the personal experience of emotion, etc.

Another important point that Ken makes is that at each successive level of complexity, new properties emerge that can not be fully accounted for on the basis of the whole being the sum of the parts. One such emergent is consciousness.

It is difficult to capture the spirit and key concepts of this author in a small space, but I think his synthesis has considerable validity and value. He assumes no one can be completely wrong and his attempted synthesis across many worldviews is very appealing.

If you were only going to buy one book on Ken Wilber, this would not be my top choice. However, if you are looking for a simple fast read that introduces his ideas, this volume might be for you.


0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Clear, Centered, Solid, 2006-12-16
The author takes you where he has been and points you onward to where he is going with the reminder that we are all on this journey together and that there is no separation.


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Suprised "A Theory of Everything" was a quick read, 2006-12-11
First off I have to state that I absolutely loved this book! Wilber's writing style caught my eye instantly. He intertwines thought-provoking theories which can be applied toward every aspects of ones life with the use of non-technical language. This allowed me as a reader to understand the book without having a large background in such ideas as shown in The Theory of Everything (TOE).

TOE is expressed throughout the book to simply be the understanding everything is intertwined with everything else. To me, while reading this book I began to think that the world could be viewed as a giant spider-web; everything and everyone is interlaced and integrated in all action all actions of their lives and that in and of itself is an amazing idea.


I appreciated the detail-oriented, complex graphs shown throughout the book and even though I got lost more then a few times looking them over, I felt it wasn't necessary to fully comprehend Wilber's theory.

I especially liked that Wilber addressed many problems within society; however, at the end of the book (p.138) he addresses how one would began to achieve the status of "all-level, all-quadrant" by beginning with the waves of existence within ones self and that initiating a transformation isn't as difficult as one would think.

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