Nexial Institute
"The Nexial Institute emerged from a non-profit Colorado corporation named "GAIA" that was formed in 1988. The idea of forming a research institute arose to complement studies into James Lovelock's "Gaia hypothesis" (Schneider and Boston, 1991). A "strong Gaia" worldview was developed as a result of that conference (Kineman, 1991), and this was later developed into special and general theories of "autevolution" (Kineman, 1997). The many similarities subsequently found to system principles espoused by Robert Rosen and Ludvig Von Bertalanffy led to involvement with the International Society for the System Sciences, and formation of a Special Integration Group on "What is Life and Living?" These developments helped focus the purpose of the institute onto developing and furthering a living systems worldview. The institute mission was correspondingly clarified and it was renamed "The Nexial Institute" in 2001. The name "Nexial" derives from "nexus" which means the phenomenon of joining together. It is used here to suggest a method of knowing that is integrative rather than analytic, joining together all valid forms of human knowing including scientific study, experiential awareness, and expressive or humanistic arts. This vision is not new; it was most famously described in Herman Hesse's novel "The Glass Bead Game." More recently (1950) a similar notion, under the name of "nexialism" was suggested by the science fiction writer A.E. Van Vogt, who invented the idea of a "Nexial Foundation" where wholistic thinkers and scientists with the skills to integrate sciences, are trained. As we begin the new millennium, amid promise and turmoil, The Nexial Institute, now formaly realized, dedicates itself to developing and applying a rigorously integrated view of living reality, by combining scientific and experiential knowledge and appropriate methods for acquiring both. We reserved Van Vogt's term "Nexial Foundation" for the eventual estblishment of an educational facility that would train true "nexialists." " [1]
Board
Accessed June 2013: [2]
- John J. Kineman - President, Treasurer
- Paul D. Sperry - Chairman of the Board, Secretary
- John F. Hunt - Board Member, Chief Legal Advisor
