The Art of Persuasion

Persuasion is the way of the philosopreneur.

Alfred North Whitehead writes: "The creation of the world––said Plato––is the victory of persuasion over force...Civilization is the maintenance of social order, by its own inherent persuasiveness as embodying the nobler alternative. The recourse to force, however unavoidable, is a disclosure of the failure of civilization, either in the general society or in a remnant of individuals...Now the intercourse between individuals and between social groups takes one of these two forms: force or persuasion. Commerce is the great example of intercourse by way of persuasion. War, slavery, and governmental compulsion exemplify the reign of force.”

So while the philosopreneur grapples with the tension between thought and action, he/she must maintain a sense of persuasiveness rather than force. And the most persuasive way of disseminating a philosophical idea is through commerce. Otherwise, you end up with similar scenarios that led to World War II.

As a skeptic turned astrologer, I am now on a mission to help all of humanity wake up to the reality of our archetypal universe. I could have continued my graduate program as a PhD candidate at the California Institute of Integral Studies to further the philosophical implications of this field, but I chose to––alongside Abeer Desai––enter the battlefield of commerce.

We are deeply learning the art of persuasion through marketing and advertising in our venture to bring archetypal astrology into the larger world.

Numinous Realm is our prediction-production studio, under which we launched Integrate This, the first clothing label to design fashion using astrology.

The only measure of our success is persuasion, nothing more. I aim to pursue this path until the very end of my vitality. If I have persuaded humanity to wake up to our enchanted cosmos, then I can die in peace.

I'll continue to share the process of this philosopreneurial endeavor––building in public is feeling more and more compelling. Though, I still have some reservations about it (I'll share more on this another time).

I'll leave you with another favorite Whitehead wisdom of mine: “To sustain a civilization with the intensity of its first ardour requires more than learning. Adventure is essential, namely, the search for new perfections. Thus Commerce is one central factor, essential for a prosperous civilization [...] The central factor is Commerce; and more than that, it is Commerce developed adventurously.”

Let's get adventurous folks.

From one philosopreneur to another <3