What is Integral Altruism and how could it crowd-source the answers to our meta crisis?

It's a while since I learned about 'reverse mentoring': a young person mentoring someone of an older generation. The idea really took hold, so when a mutual friend connected Jonas Søvik and me, I knew I'd found someone from whom I could learn a huge amount about life, ideas, thoughts and how the world feels in circles I would otherwise never reach.

Jonas and I have been exploring all this together for the past 18 months and every conversation leaves me buzzing with the potential of new doors opening and new senses unfolding, and how could we not share something so rich? And so here we are, a day after his 27th birthday, with Jonas now in Blackpool, working at the Effective Altruism Hotel, which is, in itself, a significant step outside the predatory capital model.

Jonas Søvik is a coach, self-exploration and wisdom enthusiast, currently serving on the board of EA Denmark, and at the EA Hotel, helping to restructure and expand the organization/community to serve the EA community and the wider world. He is also building courses to help us all gain more control of our screen time.
He swims in similar waters to this podcast - interested in the metacrisis, particularly as framed by Daniel Schmachtenberger and Nate Hagens, integral altruism, Life Itself, Learning Planet, John Vervaeke's work on modern wisdom, regenerative thinking, Game B, Liminal Web - & most things related in that field.

This was one of those conversations where we were both freewheeling, thinking in real time, asking questions as they arose. It's alive, and electric and takes us both to new places. I hope it leaves you feeling as optimistic as it did me. Enjoy!

Jonas' Website https://www.coachingforhuman.com/
Integral Altrusim https://www.integralaltruism.com/
John Vervaeke's TEDx Talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKvRUfZ_u1o
Jonathan Rowson: The Flip, The Formation, The Fun https://jonathanrowson.substack.com/p/the-flip-the-formation-and-the-fun
Effective Altruism https://www.effectivealtruism.org/
About the EA Hotel in Blackpool https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/ah6rXHq8qqz7nNrFE/ceealar-has-a-new-executive-director
Evolving Effective Altruism blog https://thewiderangle.substack.com/p/evolving-effective-altruism-dialogue

About Accidental Gods - What we offer.
We offer three strands all rooted in the same soil, drawing from the same river: Accidental Gods, Dreaming Awake and the Thrutopia Writing Masterclass

If you'd like to join our next Open Gathering offered as part of our Accidental Gods Programme, it's 'FINDING YOUR SOUL'S PURPOSE' on Sunday 22nd March 2026 from 16:00 - 20:00 GMT - details are here. You don't have to be a member - but if you are, all Gatherings are half price.

If you'd like to join us at Accidental Gods, this is the membership where we endeavour to help you to connect fully with the living web of life.
If you'd like to train more deeply in the contemporary shamanic work at Dreaming Awake, you'll find us here.
If you'd like to explore the recordings from our last Thrutopia Writing Masterclass, the details are here

Manda and Louise both offer one-to-one Mentoring Calls. Manda is fully booked just now, but if you'd like to contact Louise, details are here.

In this podcast Manda dives deep into the nature of fear, what it is and how we might find our own resources, resilience and capacity to work with the parts that catch our attention. Given this, it is recommended that you listen at a time and place where you can give it full attention.

We believe that we are in a time of total transformation and the potential is enormous - if enough of us can do the work to free up the stuck parts inside so that we can be fully present, fully able to respond to the needs of every moment as it arises. Nobody is suggesting this is easy work, but it is absolutely the work of this moment. If we can all free up our stuck places so that our connections between all parts of ourselves, ourselves and each other, ourselves and the Web of Life are free and fluid - then we can begin to step into what's ours to do in the moment, rather than rehashing old stories of old hurts - that may not be ours, but may be inherited from the generations that have gone before. We need not to pass them on, but more than that, we need to be able to connect in real time with all that's around us in an ever-changing world.

[For those of you who attended the Gathering Honouring Fear as your Mentor that Manda taught earlier this month, this podcast is designed both to cement the teachings of that Gathering and open them up to our wider group of listeners.]

Manda's recommended reading from the Winter Solstice 2025 https://accidentalgods.life/word-magic-2025-accidental-gods-pick-of-fiction-non-fiction-poetry-and-podcasts-through-the-year/

Nature and Neuroscience - 'mouse/almond blossom study' https://www.nature.com/articles/nn.3594
Scientific American precis of the study https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fearful-memories-passed-down/

About Accidental Gods - What we offer.

We offer three strands all rooted in the same soil, drawing from the same river: Accidental Gods, Dreaming Awake and the Thrutopia Writing Masterclass

Honouring Fear as our Mentor was the February Gathering offered as part of our Accidental Gods Programme.

If you'd like to join us in future, our next Gathering is 'FINDING YOUR SOUL'S PURPOSE' which will be held on Sunday 22nd March 2026 from 16:00 - 20:00 GMT - details are here. You don't have to be a member - but if you are, all Gatherings are half price.

If you'd like to join us at Accidental Gods, this is the membership where we endeavour to help you to connect fully with the living web of life.
If you'd like to train more deeply in the contemporary shamanic work at Dreaming Awake, you'll find us here.
If you'd like to explore the recordings from our last Thrutopia Writing Masterclass, the details are here

Manda and Louise both offer 121 Mentoring Calls. Manda is fully booked just now, but if you'd like to contact Louise, details are here.