Metamodernism is an attitude that balances irony with sincerity. It is critical of current systems, but believes in the power of collaboration to build new ones. It is a mindset that can sit with the tension arising from polarities, without needing to resolve them. It rejects either/or thinking, and embraces both/and thinking. It is the next phase of human cultural evolution, following the footsteps of Modernism and Post-modernism before it. During the Enlightenment, Modernism replaced faith-based modes of understanding reality with the values of reason and objectivity. The Industrial Revolution was one of the dramatic results of this shift in values. In the early 20th century, the discoveries of anthropologists, combined with the philosophical scepticism of relativists such as Nietzsche and Kierkegaard, showed gaps in the Modernist worldview. It was becoming apparent that seeming absolutes such as Truth, Reason and Objectivity were often disguises for the exercise of power (typically white, male, and European). The voices of previously marginalised groups (such as women, blacks, colonised nations) became recognized as equally valid and worthy of attention. We currently live in a Post-Modernist age, when all the certainties of Modernism have been replaced by competing claims on truth. It is what one commentator has called "the age of fracture". Metamodernism is where we are headed towards. Whereas Post-Modernism is the total rejection of Modernism, Metamodernism tries to put both worldviews into perspective, drawing upon both, in order to build a better future. A perfect pop cultural example of Metamodernism is the TV series Ted Lasso. The show demonstrates a near-perfect balance of irony and sincerity. It is aware of all the nuances of a particular social-cultural situation, and yet the protagonist is utterly sincere in his desire to make those around him happy. It is no coincidence that Metamodernism meets the requirements for Donella Meadows' most effective leverage point, the power to transcend paradigms. She writes: > "There is yet one leverage point that is even higher than changing a paradigm. That is to keep oneself unattached in the arena of paradigms, to stay flexible, to realize that NO paradigm is “true,” that every one, including the one that sweetly shapes your own worldview, is a tremendously limited understanding of an immense and amazing universe that is far beyond human comprehension. It is to “get” at a gut level the paradigm that there are paradigms, and to see that that itself is a paradigm, and to regard that whole realization as devastatingly funny. It is to let go into Not Knowing, into what the Buddhists call enlightenment. > > "People who cling to paradigms (which means just about all of us) take one look at the spacious possibility that everything they think is guaranteed to be nonsense and pedal rapidly in the opposite direction. Surely there is no power, no control, no understanding, not even a reason for being, much less acting, in the notion or experience that there is no certainty in any worldview. But, in fact, everyone who has managed to entertain that idea, for a moment or for a lifetime, has found it to be the basis for radical empowerment. If no paradigm is right, you can choose whatever one will help to achieve your purpose. If you have no idea where to get a purpose, you can listen to the universe (or put in the name of your favorite deity here) and do his, her, its will, which is probably a lot better informed than your will. > > "It is in this space of mastery over paradigms that people throw off addictions, live in constant joy, bring down empires, get locked up or burned at the stake or crucified or shot, and have impacts that last for millennia."