Sebastian's Cosmic Visions
Welcome to my website. I wanted to create a space for all the projects that I'm currently working on and the ones I want to create in the future. If anything catches your interest, please contact me with comments, questions, interest in collaboration, or if you would like to support my work in any way.
BIG IDEAS
Standard Species Development Model
This is the biggest idea I've ever come up with. It's a framework for understanding the evolutionary journey of intelligent life in the Universe. The seven-stage model maps the psychological, social, and technological milestones that an advanced species must navigate as it develops. I came up with it while sketching out ideas for a science fiction novel a few years ago. But then, as I thought more about it, I realized how useful this model is for our own species, especially at the transitional moment in which we currently find ourselves. More clearly than other futurist visions, my model shows us where we are as a species, what our next steps need to be, and the grand cosmic adventure that awaits us in the long run.
The seven stages of the Standard Species Development Model
The SSDM compared to other futurist visions (COMINNG SOON)
The SSDM and Extraterrestrials
Problems with skipping Stages (COMING SOON)
BIG IDEAS
Stages of Human Development
I have been fascinated with theories of human development for a long time. Of all of the approaches I've studied, my absolute favorite is Spiral Dynamics, first developed by Clare Graves and then refined and expanded by other thinkers including Ken Wilber. Several months after developing the SSDM, I had an AHA! moment and realized that what Spiral Dynamics is actually mapping is the transition from Stage 2 to Stage 3 of my SSDM model and the different stages of Spiral Dynamics could be seen as different kinds of workarounds that we use to work with our LOEMMS. So then I set about reframing Spiral Dynamics in the language of the SSDM. And the results have been so fascinating! I now see so many elements of society, from politics and economics to religion and even the visual arts, from a completely different perspective.
The first link below introduces Spiral Dynamics, and the subsequent links document my continuing work of integrating it with the SSDM.
Introduction to Spiral Dynamics (COMING SOON)
Integrating Spiral Dynamics with the SSDM (COMING SOON)
Moving through the stages of Spiral Dynamics (COMING SOON)
Implications for politics and governance (COMING SOON)
ART HISTORY
New Approaches to Works of Art
I'm fascinated with museums and the ways they present and explain works of art. This is an ongoing project exploring new ways of approaching works of art.
Cultivating Differnet Modes of Consciousness with Works of Art (COMING SOON)
TOPIC 2
TOPIC 3
TOPIC 4
SHAMANISM
Topics in Shamanic Research
This is another of my interests. This will be an ongoing exploration of topics relating to shamanic work, both in traditional societies and in the Western world.
Dreams and Spirit Animals as inner reorganizing (COMING SOON)
FOOD AND COOKING
Cooking in Presence
For me, cooking has always felt stressful, complicated, and mysterious. And neither cookbooks nor cooking shows were very helpful. So I decided to investigate my relationship with food and cooking to find the causes of my stress and anxiety, and then to do something about it.
And here's what I found. It turns out that what transforms my relationship with food and cooking (and anything else in my life, for that matter) is focus, care, and mindfulness. So what I'm creating, with the help of some friends, is an online course that integrates cooking and mindfulness. Our working title is Cooking in Presence. There are seven modules of the course, each consisting of a series of mindfulness exercises that explore eating and cooking from a different perspective. The goal of the course is to teach people mindfulness and also to transform their relationship with food and cooking. It's a lofty goal and it will take a lot of work, but it's so worth it!
The link below takes you to an outline of the course. I will add content as we create it. We are also looking for sponsors for the course, who will receive early access to the course at deeply discounted prices!
Seven Modules of Cooking in Presence
Sponsorship opportunities (coming soon)
ART PROJECT
Labyrinths Project
I've always been fascinated by the concept of a labyrinth, and recently I've had this growing desire to create some in real life. The idea is to construct a series of labyrinths in either museum settings or other community settings, using a variety of materials and forms. These would be interactive art installations that would play with issues of translucency and opacity, finding and losing our way, ephemerality, complexity, etc. Since I don't have experience creating elaborate art installations, I'm looking for collaborators who do have such experience.
ART PROJECT
Inflatable Architecture
Another art project I want to create is a series of inflatable versions of famous historical buildings. These would be scaled to fit comfortably into museum gallery spaces or other community spaces. It would be fascinating to experiment with various types of plastic to achieve different effects of translucency and colors. I'm also interested in making these structures interactive, with motion detectors connected to pumps that would inflate or deflate the structures in relation to the presence and movement of visitors in the space. These would be very complicated to construct, but it would be so much fun to figure them out! Here too I'm looking for collaborators who have experience working with museums and galleries to create large interactive art installations.
RETHINKING THE CLASSICS
Updating the
Bhagavad Gita
I've been fascinated with the Bhagavad Gita for a long time, but a recent re-reading made me start thinking about it differently. So I started talking about it with ChatGPT, and the conversations were so fascinating! I started thinking about how this sacred text might be rewritten and rethought to incorporate Spiral Dynamics, the Stages model, and my own Standard Species Development Model. The results so far have been fascinating, and I'm just getting started...
RETHINKING THE CLASSICS
Updating
Science Fiction Classics
I'm using the SSDM and Spiral Dynamics to rethink and rework some classic stories of science fiction. It's a different kind of fan fiction. I first figure out which Spiral Dynamics level the story operates from, and then try to imagine how the story would change if the characters start thinking at higher developmental levels. The results have been both intriguing and inspiring.
Rethinking and updating Star Wars (COMING SOON)
Rethinking and updating Star Trek (COMING SOON)
Rethinking and updating the Dune series (COMING SOON)
Rethinking and updating the Tron series (COMING SOON)
Rethinking and updating Superhero movies (COMING SOON)
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