We are born, we grow up, we grow old, and we die. In this natural process some people grow up a little more than others. The reasons for this are rather complicated. The main reason is that growing up has more to do with "self" than it does with "body" Your average run of the mill body is finished growing by the age of 19 or so. After that the body maintains itself as well as it can until the genetic codes that keep cell replacement happening deteriorate, slow down, make mistakes (for a variety of reasons), or follow a predetermined shut down sequence. The biological clock is ticking. The nervous system, not know for its high turnover of cells, is a bit of an exception to this rule. The cells of the nervous system, given adequate nutrients and cellular supplies, keep on forming connections so that the system as a whole continues to become more complex into old age. Various illnesses may cause deterioration in the nervous system and advanced age does seem to cause a decline in nervous system robustness, and the speed with which the system works, but even so, the brain keeps growing long after the rest of the body is, more or less, in holding pattern. And it is the brain and nervous system that are primarily responsible for the existence of the self, or to use traditional terminology, the soul. Many theories about many stages Many theorists have noted that there are different stages in human development. Most contemporary theorists on the matter owe something to the French genetic epistemologist Jean Piaget who was one of the first psychologists to measure the changes in cognitive development in children. Other major figures in the field of personal development include Lawrence Kohlberg, Abraham Maslow, Gordon Allport, James Fowler, and Clare Graves. There are at least 20 other professionals that have modified, reworked or rethought the idea of stages with numerous other investigations triggered as a result of their work. There has been considerable discussion over the use of the concept of stages at all (they imply that one stage is better than another) and even more debate over how many stages there are and what the motivating factors are that move people through them. What research does confirm, regardless of the particular viewpoint, is that humans do change their outlook on the world and they do shift their values and priorities as they move through life. What is more, there are definable patterns to these changes regardless of the labels that are placed on them. One of the simplest and easiest conception of the stages can be found in Scott Peck's book, The Different Drum, in which he describes the progression from selfish child to self-giving sage. Peck's stages are these: 1. Chaotic, antisocial 2. Formal, institutional 3. Skeptic, individual 4. Mystic, communal Most people start out in stage 1 motivated by self-interest and a need for survival. This is the genectic predisposition. We are built well for acquiring perceptual structures and skills to match our environment. Within the social and cultural context we are born into we have an amazing ability to survive. On the other hand this means that babies and young children are egocentric and must be taught to share, give, and act charitably. The social graces do not come easily and so this stage is considered antisocial. Peck calls this stage Chaotic because people at this stage are unprincipled; they only abide by the laws around them because it is in their own interest to do so. They have not internalized the laws, or reflected much on the reasons for them. The fear of getting caught and punished and the desire to please others are the main motivators for people of this stage to live rightly. Given strong authoritarian societal boundaries, these people learn to play by the rules, but they look for and often find many ways of getting around them. Many stage 1 people grow weary of the chaotic feelings that go along with life under the government of others and seek a solution to their feelings of discomfort. This questing often results in dramatic conversions to stage 2. Peck calls this stage Formal because people in this stage tend to become attached to the forms that bring structure to their chaos. People are often "born again" at the beginning of the stage 2 and that initializing experience often occurs within a particular formula, ritualized experience, or overarching denomination. The person usually becomes conditioned to those forms and practices and such conditioning produces strong feelings of connection to a right way of living. This stage is institutional because it is the institution that offers the much sought after defining parameters that give life stability and a sense of purpose. Where once rules were seen as nuisances to be cleverly sidestepped, the same rules are now seen as essential for meaningful living. "Rightness" or "Righteousness" becomes very important. God is seen as the rule giver and worshiped for this great kindness. A personal Intimate connection to God or a higher reality is a secondary motivator that tends to emerge as a replacement for or justification of a somewhat legalistic understanding of the way things are. It is possible to live your whole life in stage 2. Much of the time is spent internalizing the rules and attempting to get stage 1 individuals to make the conversion to stage 2. Conformity is important to stage 2 people because it reinforces the "rightness" of their perspective. Marrying someone in the same stage is very important to them and they often make good and stable parents because parenting has much in common with evangelism and instilling the values of the institutions. Prolonged residence in this stage can lead to a feeling of loss of connection to God and the group which in turn leads them to seek revival, renewal, and to try various forms of prayer and communion. Stage 3 is marked by the erosion of certainty about the rightness of the rules and assertions of the institution. Sometimes stage 2 people experience this erosion but most often it is the children of stage 2 people who do. Children raised in the safe and loving homes of stage 2 people absorb the principles and rules that govern their parents lives and make the shift to stage 2 easily, often marked by various "rites of passage". But as such children become self-governing, having internalized the values of their parents, they begin to question the basis of their parent's values. Many are persuaded to lay their doubts aside and remain in the secure fold of the particular culture that has nurtured and supported them through the often-traumatic shift from stage 1 to stage 2. But exposure to college classes, books, friends or co-workers may eventually cause them to seriously doubt their belief systems and see the inevitable weaknesses and inconsistencies that exist in any institutional culture. They become skeptics, often going overboard in their rejection of the inconsistencies and hypocrisies they find. Other systems are examined in the hopes of finding a better way of living than that of their parents or culture. After much searching they come to realize that they have become individuals, separate from any particular culture through the multiple perspectives they have taken in their search for a better explanation or way of living. The scientific method is a good model of the uneasy tension that exists in such individual's lives. They want to avoid being trapped in one way of looking at the world and look for ways of keeping themselves from fooling themselves about what they see and consider to be true. Prolonged residence in this stage can lead to sarcasm, depression, bitterness and feelings of disillusionment that may lead these individuals to seek counseling, therapy or to indulge their senses with various forms of materialism. If individuals in stage 3 quest long enough, they eventually gather enough pieces of the puzzle to form a worldview that accepts the importance of each valid theory and experience while recognizing the inherent shortcomings of one of them. This is stage 4. Relationships become important and connection to higher realities provides the source of their strength. These mystics turn from absorption with perceptions, thoughts and feelings to active practice of the values they have found to be solid. They continue to seek better ways of understanding but recognize that understanding is made meaningful through selfless giving and love. Very few individuals reach this final stage but everyone may do so if they make the conscious choice to endure the pain involved in stage 3. Other more In Depth ways of Looking at Stages of Development Peck's 4 stages are easy to remember and for most general purposes serve as a guide to understanding the major changes in the development of the self. Other models focus on areas glossed over in Peck's model. James Fowler James Fowler is one of the best-known researches in the field. Peck refers to Fowler when he discusses the stages. Fowler uses the term "faith development" because to Fowler faith is the structuring of meaning as a result of cognitive and emotional development. This "structuring" comes about as the self interacts with and delineates itself from the outer world and society in particular. Drawing on the earlier work of Lawrence Kohlberg, Fowler represented the development of faith in 6 stages: Prestage: Primal or Undifferentiated Faith. 1. Intuitive-Projective Faith 2. Mythic-Literal Faith 3. Synthetic-Conventional Faith 4. Individuative-Reflective Faith 5. Conjunctive Faith 6. Universalizing Faith The underlying assumption is that persons are purposively engaged in making meaning of their lives and that they predictably follow this pattern. Fowler places this process squarely within a community that helps its members understand the process in terms of vocation and covenant. There is an order and purpose to everything and each person has a place in it. Each stage is an imagining of what persons are called to be in relation to each other and a transcendent center of meaning. For a complete discussion of Fowlers ideas see his clear and readable books: Stages of Faith: The Psychology of human Development and the Quest for Meaning (in its thirty-third printing); Weaving the New Creation; Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian; and Faithful Change: The Personal and Public Challenges of Post-modern Life. A brief description of his theory and an informative interview are available at Life Spirals: Graves and Wilber Ken Wilber has an amazingly clear summary of Clare Graves presentation of the "waves of existence" on his website. It is based on the work of Beck and Cowan. Part of Wilber's discussion is listed below but for a better understanding of the subject follow this link or read his book, "Integral Psychology." Graves Waves of Existence: 1. Beige: Archaic-Instinctual. The level of basic survival; food, water, warmth, sex, and safety have priority. Uses habits and instincts just to survive. Distinct self is barely awakened or sustained. Forms into survival bands to perpetuate life. Where seen: First human societies, newborn infants, senile elderly, late-stage Alzheimer's victims, mentally ill street people, starving masses, shell shock. 0.1% of the adult population, 0% power. 2. Purple: Magical-Animistic. Thinking is animistic; magical spirits, good and bad, swarm the earth leaving blessings, curses, and spells that determine events. Forms into ethnic tribes. The spirits exist in ancestors and bond the tribe. Kinship and lineage establish political links. Sounds "holistic" but is actually atomistic: "there is a name for each bend in the river but no name for the river." Where seen: Belief in voodoo-like curses, blood oaths, ancient grudges, good luck charms, family rituals, magical ethnic beliefs and superstitions; strong in Third-World settings, gangs, athletic teams, and corporate "tribes." 10% of the population, 1% of the power. 3. Red: Power Gods. First emergence of a self-distinct from the tribe; powerful, impulsive, egocentric, heroic. Mythic spirits, dragons, beasts, and powerful people. Feudal lords protect underlings in exchange for obedience and labor. The basis of feudal empires --power and glory. The world is a jungle full of threats and predators. Conquers, out-foxes, and dominates; enjoys self to the fullest without regret or remorse. Where seen: The "terrible twos," rebellious youth, frontier mentalities, feudal kingdoms, epic heroes, James Bond villains, soldiers of fortune, wild rock stars, Atilla the Hun, Lord of the Flies. 20% of the population, 5% of the power. 4. Blue: Conformist Rule. Life has meaning, direction, and purpose, with outcomes determined by an all-powerful Other or Order. This righteous Order enforces a code of conduct based on absolutist and unvarying principles of "right" and "wrong." Violating the code or rules has severe, perhaps everlasting repercussions. Following the code yields rewards for the faithful. Basis of ancient nations. Rigid social hierarchies; paternalistic; one right way and only one right way to think about everything. Law and order; impulsivity controlled through guilt; concrete-literal and fundamentalist belief; obedience to the rule of Order. Often "religious" [in the mythic-membership sense; Graves and Beck refer to it as the "saintly/absolutistic" level], but can be secular or atheistic Order or Mission. Where seen: Puritan America, Confucian China, Dickensian England, Singapore discipline, codes of chivalry and honor, charitable good deeds, religious fundamentalism (e.g., Christian and Islamic), Boy and Girl Scouts, "moral majority," patriotism. 40% of the population, 30% of the power. 5. Orange: Scientific Achievement. At this wave, the self "escapes" from the "herd mentality" of blue, and seeks truth and meaning in individualistic terms--hypothetico-deductive, experimental, objective, mechanistic, operational--"scientific" in the typical sense. The world is a rational and well-oiled machine with natural laws that can be learned, mastered, and manipulated for one's own purposes. Highly achievement oriented, especially (in America) toward materialistic gains. The laws of science rule politics, the economy, and human events. The world is a chessboard on which games are played as winners gain pre-eminence and perks over losers. Marketplace alliances; manipulate earth's resources for one's strategic gains. Basis of corporate states. Where seen: The Enlightenment, Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, Wall Street, emerging middle classes around the world, cosmetics industry, trophy hunting, colonialism, the Cold War, fashion industry, materialism, liberal self-interest. 30% of the population, 50% of the power. 6. Green: The Sensitive Self. Communitarian, human bonding, ecological sensitivity, networking. The human spirit must be freed from greed, dogma, and divisiveness; feelings and caring supersede cold rationality; cherishing of the earth, Gaia, life. Against hierarchy; establishes lateral bonding and linking. Permeable self, relational self, group intermeshing. Emphasis on dialogue, relationships. Basis of values communes (i.e., freely chosen affiliations based on shared sentiments). Reaches decisions through reconciliation and consensus (downside: interminable "processing" and incapacity to reach decisions). Refresh spirituality, bring harmony, enrich human potential. Strongly egalitarian, anti-hierarchy, pluralistic values, social construction of reality, diversity, multiculturalism, relativistic value systems; this worldview is often called pluralistic relativism. Subjective, nonlinear thinking; shows a greater degree of affective warmth, sensitivity, and caring, for earth and all its inhabitants. Where seen: Deep ecology, postmodernism, Netherlands idealism, Rogerian counseling, Canadian health care, humanistic psychology, liberation theology, cooperative inquiry, World Council of Churches, Greenpeace, animal rights, ecofeminism, post-colonialism, Foucault/Derrida, politically correct, diversity movements, human rights issues, ecopsychology. 10% of the population, 15% of the power. Wilber goes on to describe the extensive research of Graves, Beck, and Cowan that indicates there are two major waves to a second-tier of consciousness beyond wave 6 (corresponding to what we would recognize as middle and late vision-logic): 7. Yellow: Integrative. Life is a kaleidoscope of natural hierarchies [holarchies], systems, and forms. Flexibility, spontaneity, and functionality have the highest priority. Differences and pluralities can be integrated into interdependent, natural flows. Egalitarianism is complemented with natural degrees of excellence where appropriate. Knowledge and competency should supersede rank, power, status, or group. The prevailing world order is the result of the existence of different levels of reality (memes) and the inevitable patterns of movement up and down the dynamic spiral. Good governance facilitates the emergence of entities through the levels of increasing complexity (nested hierarchy). 8. Turquoise: Holistic. Universal holistic system, holons/waves of integrative energies; unites feeling with knowledge [centaur]; multiple levels interwoven into one conscious system. Universal order, but in a living, conscious fashion, not based on external rules (blue) or group bonds (green). A "grand unification" is possible, in theory and in actuality. Sometimes involves the emergence of a new spirituality as a meshwork of all existence. Turquoise thinking uses the entire spiral; sees multiple levels of interaction; detects harmonics, the mystical forces, and the pervasive flow-states that permeate any organization. Second-tier thinking: 1% of the population, 5% of the power. With only 1 percent of the population at second-tier thinking (and only 0.1 percent at turquoise), second-tier consciousness is relatively rare because it is now the "leading-edge" of collective human evolution. As examples, Beck and Cowan mention items ranging from Teilhard de Chardin's noosphere to the growth of transpersonal psychology, with increases in frequency definitely on the way, and even higher memes still in the offing.... Wilber is the best guide to these final two stages and discusses them in detail in his book, "Integral psychology" Summary and ordering: The Most difficult and dangerous aspect of "stages" theory is the tendency to see stages as rungs on a ladder of personal betterment. Wilber is clear that, "each and every individual has all of these memes available to them." Graves uses the term "Waves of Existence" to avoid suggesting that individuals in stage 7 are superior to other stages. The focus of stage theory should be understanding what happens to a person and not concerns for status, achievement and position. The final stages should produce humility and wisdom. If a person does not have these qualities they are not operating in the higher stages. One way to understand the stages in a non-hierarchical way is to think of them as rooms in the house of the soul. The first 4 stages are the basic 4 walls and roof of any house. They must be in place to offer protection and stability in the world. Stages 6 through 8 are rooms that are added on as a result of the stability provided by the first 4. These are, perhaps, the most interesting rooms, but they are luxuries afforded only a very few. The goal of educators in the area of personal development should be to understand how to best help each person construct a healthy home for the soul so that the final rooms can be added. This is one of the goals of Ion Paradox. Notes: 1. Brown, Warren S.; Murphy, Nancy; Malony, H. Newton.; Whatever Happened To The Soul? Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998 2. 1 Corinthians 15:14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15:44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. |
Stages |
Stages of developement Also refered to as Stages of Faith, Stages of Personal Developement, Waves of Existence, Spheres of Exiistence, etc. |
We are born, we grow up, we grow old, and we die. In this natural process some people grow up a little more than others. The reasons for this are rather complicated. The main reason is that growing up has more to do with "self" than it does with "body" Your average run of the mill body is finished growing by the age of 19 or so. After that the body maintains itself as well as it can until the genetic codes that keep cell replacement happening deteriorate, slow down, make mistakes (for a variety of reasons), or follow a predetermined shut down sequence. The biological clock is ticking. The nervous system, not know for its high turnover of cells, is a bit of an exception to this rule. The cells of the nervous system, given adequate nutrients and cellular supplies, keep on forming connections so that the system as a whole continues to become more complex into old age. Various illnesses may cause deterioration in the nervous system and advanced age does seem to cause a decline in nervous system robustness, and the speed with which the system works, but even so, the brain keeps growing long after the rest of the body is, more or less, in holding pattern. And it is the brain and nervous system that are primarily responsible for the existence of the self, or to use traditional terminology, the soul. Many theories about many stages Many theorists have noted that there are different stages in human development. Most contemporary theorists on the matter owe something to the French genetic epistemologist Jean Piaget who was one of the first psychologists to measure the changes in cognitive development in children. Other major figures in the field of personal development include Lawrence Kohlberg, Abraham Maslow, Gordon Allport, James Fowler, and Clare Graves. There are at least 20 other professionals that have modified, reworked or rethought the idea of stages with numerous other investigations triggered as a result of their work. There has been considerable discussion over the use of the concept of stages at all (they imply that one stage is better than another) and even more debate over how many stages there are and what the motivating factors are that move people through them. What research does confirm, regardless of the particular viewpoint, is that humans do change their outlook on the world and they do shift their values and priorities as they move through life. What is more, there are definable patterns to these changes regardless of the labels that are placed on them. One of the simplest and easiest conception of the stages can be found in Scott Peck's book, The Different Drum, in which he describes the progression from selfish child to self-giving sage. Peck's stages are these: 1. Chaotic, antisocial 2. Formal, institutional 3. Skeptic, individual 4. Mystic, communal Most people start out in stage 1 motivated by self-interest and a need for survival. This is the genectic predisposition. We are built well for acquiring perceptual structures and skills to match our environment. Within the social and cultural context we are born into we have an amazing ability to survive. On the other hand this means that babies and young children are egocentric and must be taught to share, give, and act charitably. The social graces do not come easily and so this stage is considered antisocial. Peck calls this stage Chaotic because people at this stage are unprincipled; they only abide by the laws around them because it is in their own interest to do so. They have not internalized the laws, or reflected much on the reasons for them. The fear of getting caught and punished and the desire to please others are the main motivators for people of this stage to live rightly. Given strong authoritarian societal boundaries, these people learn to play by the rules, but they look for and often find many ways of getting around them. Many stage 1 people grow weary of the chaotic feelings that go along with life under the government of others and seek a solution to their feelings of discomfort. This questing often results in dramatic conversions to stage 2. Peck calls this stage Formal because people in this stage tend to become attached to the forms that bring structure to their chaos. People are often "born again" at the beginning of the stage 2 and that initializing experience often occurs within a particular formula, ritualized experience, or overarching denomination. The person usually becomes conditioned to those forms and practices and such conditioning produces strong feelings of connection to a right way of living. This stage is institutional because it is the institution that offers the much sought after defining parameters that give life stability and a sense of purpose. Where once rules were seen as nuisances to be cleverly sidestepped, the same rules are now seen as essential for meaningful living. "Rightness" or "Righteousness" becomes very important. God is seen as the rule giver and worshiped for this great kindness. A personal Intimate connection to God or a higher reality is a secondary motivator that tends to emerge as a replacement for or justification of a somewhat legalistic understanding of the way things are. It is possible to live your whole life in stage 2. Much of the time is spent internalizing the rules and attempting to get stage 1 individuals to make the conversion to stage 2. Conformity is important to stage 2 people because it reinforces the "rightness" of their perspective. Marrying someone in the same stage is very important to them and they often make good and stable parents because parenting has much in common with evangelism and instilling the values of the institutions. Prolonged residence in this stage can lead to a feeling of loss of connection to God and the group which in turn leads them to seek revival, renewal, and to try various forms of prayer and communion. Stage 3 is marked by the erosion of certainty about the rightness of the rules and assertions of the institution. Sometimes stage 2 people experience this erosion but most often it is the children of stage 2 people who do. Children raised in the safe and loving homes of stage 2 people absorb the principles and rules that govern their parents lives and make the shift to stage 2 easily, often marked by various "rites of passage". But as such children become self-governing, having internalized the values of their parents, they begin to question the basis of their parent's values. Many are persuaded to lay their doubts aside and remain in the secure fold of the particular culture that has nurtured and supported them through the often-traumatic shift from stage 1 to stage 2. But exposure to college classes, books, friends or co-workers may eventually cause them to seriously doubt their belief systems and see the inevitable weaknesses and inconsistencies that exist in any institutional culture. They become skeptics, often going overboard in their rejection of the inconsistencies and hypocrisies they find. Other systems are examined in the hopes of finding a better way of living than that of their parents or culture. After much searching they come to realize that they have become individuals, separate from any particular culture through the multiple perspectives they have taken in their search for a better explanation or way of living. The scientific method is a good model of the uneasy tension that exists in such individual's lives. They want to avoid being trapped in one way of looking at the world and look for ways of keeping themselves from fooling themselves about what they see and consider to be true. Prolonged residence in this stage can lead to sarcasm, depression, bitterness and feelings of disillusionment that may lead these individuals to seek counseling, therapy or to indulge their senses with various forms of materialism. If individuals in stage 3 quest long enough, they eventually gather enough pieces of the puzzle to form a worldview that accepts the importance of each valid theory and experience while recognizing the inherent shortcomings of one of them. This is stage 4. Relationships become important and connection to higher realities provides the source of their strength. These mystics turn from absorption with perceptions, thoughts and feelings to active practice of the values they have found to be solid. They continue to seek better ways of understanding but recognize that understanding is made meaningful through selfless giving and love. Very few individuals reach this final stage but everyone may do so if they make the conscious choice to endure the pain involved in stage 3. Other more In Depth ways of Looking at Stages of Development Peck's 4 stages are easy to remember and for most general purposes serve as a guide to understanding the major changes in the development of the self. Other models focus on areas glossed over in Peck's model. James Fowler James Fowler is one of the best-known researches in the field. Peck refers to Fowler when he discusses the stages. Fowler uses the term "faith development" because to Fowler faith is the structuring of meaning as a result of cognitive and emotional development. This "structuring" comes about as the self interacts with and delineates itself from the outer world and society in particular. Drawing on the earlier work of Lawrence Kohlberg, Fowler represented the development of faith in 6 stages: Prestage: Primal or Undifferentiated Faith. 1. Intuitive-Projective Faith 2. Mythic-Literal Faith 3. Synthetic-Conventional Faith 4. Individuative-Reflective Faith 5. Conjunctive Faith 6. Universalizing Faith The underlying assumption is that persons are purposively engaged in making meaning of their lives and that they predictably follow this pattern. Fowler places this process squarely within a community that helps its members understand the process in terms of vocation and covenant. There is an order and purpose to everything and each person has a place in it. Each stage is an imagining of what persons are called to be in relation to each other and a transcendent center of meaning. For a complete discussion of Fowlers ideas see his clear and readable books: Stages of Faith: The Psychology of human Development and the Quest for Meaning (in its thirty-third printing); Weaving the New Creation; Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian; and Faithful Change: The Personal and Public Challenges of Post-modern Life. A brief description of his theory and an informative interview are available at Life Spirals: Graves and Wilber Ken Wilber has an amazingly clear summary of Clare Graves presentation of the "waves of existence" on his website. It is based on the work of Beck and Cowan. Part of Wilber's discussion is listed below but for a better understanding of the subject follow this link or read his book, "Integral Psychology." Graves Waves of Existence: 1. Beige: Archaic-Instinctual. The level of basic survival; food, water, warmth, sex, and safety have priority. Uses habits and instincts just to survive. Distinct self is barely awakened or sustained. Forms into survival bands to perpetuate life. Where seen: First human societies, newborn infants, senile elderly, late-stage Alzheimer's victims, mentally ill street people, starving masses, shell shock. 0.1% of the adult population, 0% power. 2. Purple: Magical-Animistic. Thinking is animistic; magical spirits, good and bad, swarm the earth leaving blessings, curses, and spells that determine events. Forms into ethnic tribes. The spirits exist in ancestors and bond the tribe. Kinship and lineage establish political links. Sounds "holistic" but is actually atomistic: "there is a name for each bend in the river but no name for the river." Where seen: Belief in voodoo-like curses, blood oaths, ancient grudges, good luck charms, family rituals, magical ethnic beliefs and superstitions; strong in Third-World settings, gangs, athletic teams, and corporate "tribes." 10% of the population, 1% of the power. 3. Red: Power Gods. First emergence of a self-distinct from the tribe; powerful, impulsive, egocentric, heroic. Mythic spirits, dragons, beasts, and powerful people. Feudal lords protect underlings in exchange for obedience and labor. The basis of feudal empires --power and glory. The world is a jungle full of threats and predators. Conquers, out-foxes, and dominates; enjoys self to the fullest without regret or remorse. Where seen: The "terrible twos," rebellious youth, frontier mentalities, feudal kingdoms, epic heroes, James Bond villains, soldiers of fortune, wild rock stars, Atilla the Hun, Lord of the Flies. 20% of the population, 5% of the power. 4. Blue: Conformist Rule. Life has meaning, direction, and purpose, with outcomes determined by an all-powerful Other or Order. This righteous Order enforces a code of conduct based on absolutist and unvarying principles of "right" and "wrong." Violating the code or rules has severe, perhaps everlasting repercussions. Following the code yields rewards for the faithful. Basis of ancient nations. Rigid social hierarchies; paternalistic; one right way and only one right way to think about everything. Law and order; impulsivity controlled through guilt; concrete-literal and fundamentalist belief; obedience to the rule of Order. Often "religious" [in the mythic-membership sense; Graves and Beck refer to it as the "saintly/absolutistic" level], but can be secular or atheistic Order or Mission. Where seen: Puritan America, Confucian China, Dickensian England, Singapore discipline, codes of chivalry and honor, charitable good deeds, religious fundamentalism (e.g., Christian and Islamic), Boy and Girl Scouts, "moral majority," patriotism. 40% of the population, 30% of the power. 5. Orange: Scientific Achievement. At this wave, the self "escapes" from the "herd mentality" of blue, and seeks truth and meaning in individualistic terms--hypothetico-deductive, experimental, objective, mechanistic, operational--"scientific" in the typical sense. The world is a rational and well-oiled machine with natural laws that can be learned, mastered, and manipulated for one's own purposes. Highly achievement oriented, especially (in America) toward materialistic gains. The laws of science rule politics, the economy, and human events. The world is a chessboard on which games are played as winners gain pre-eminence and perks over losers. Marketplace alliances; manipulate earth's resources for one's strategic gains. Basis of corporate states. Where seen: The Enlightenment, Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, Wall Street, emerging middle classes around the world, cosmetics industry, trophy hunting, colonialism, the Cold War, fashion industry, materialism, liberal self-interest. 30% of the population, 50% of the power. 6. Green: The Sensitive Self. Communitarian, human bonding, ecological sensitivity, networking. The human spirit must be freed from greed, dogma, and divisiveness; feelings and caring supersede cold rationality; cherishing of the earth, Gaia, life. Against hierarchy; establishes lateral bonding and linking. Permeable self, relational self, group intermeshing. Emphasis on dialogue, relationships. Basis of values communes (i.e., freely chosen affiliations based on shared sentiments). Reaches decisions through reconciliation and consensus (downside: interminable "processing" and incapacity to reach decisions). Refresh spirituality, bring harmony, enrich human potential. Strongly egalitarian, anti-hierarchy, pluralistic values, social construction of reality, diversity, multiculturalism, relativistic value systems; this worldview is often called pluralistic relativism. Subjective, nonlinear thinking; shows a greater degree of affective warmth, sensitivity, and caring, for earth and all its inhabitants. Where seen: Deep ecology, postmodernism, Netherlands idealism, Rogerian counseling, Canadian health care, humanistic psychology, liberation theology, cooperative inquiry, World Council of Churches, Greenpeace, animal rights, ecofeminism, post-colonialism, Foucault/Derrida, politically correct, diversity movements, human rights issues, ecopsychology. 10% of the population, 15% of the power. Wilber goes on to describe the extensive research of Graves, Beck, and Cowan that indicates there are two major waves to a second-tier of consciousness beyond wave 6 (corresponding to what we would recognize as middle and late vision-logic): 7. Yellow: Integrative. Life is a kaleidoscope of natural hierarchies [holarchies], systems, and forms. Flexibility, spontaneity, and functionality have the highest priority. Differences and pluralities can be integrated into interdependent, natural flows. Egalitarianism is complemented with natural degrees of excellence where appropriate. Knowledge and competency should supersede rank, power, status, or group. The prevailing world order is the result of the existence of different levels of reality (memes) and the inevitable patterns of movement up and down the dynamic spiral. Good governance facilitates the emergence of entities through the levels of increasing complexity (nested hierarchy). 8. Turquoise: Holistic. Universal holistic system, holons/waves of integrative energies; unites feeling with knowledge [centaur]; multiple levels interwoven into one conscious system. Universal order, but in a living, conscious fashion, not based on external rules (blue) or group bonds (green). A "grand unification" is possible, in theory and in actuality. Sometimes involves the emergence of a new spirituality as a meshwork of all existence. Turquoise thinking uses the entire spiral; sees multiple levels of interaction; detects harmonics, the mystical forces, and the pervasive flow-states that permeate any organization. Second-tier thinking: 1% of the population, 5% of the power. With only 1 percent of the population at second-tier thinking (and only 0.1 percent at turquoise), second-tier consciousness is relatively rare because it is now the "leading-edge" of collective human evolution. As examples, Beck and Cowan mention items ranging from Teilhard de Chardin's noosphere to the growth of transpersonal psychology, with increases in frequency definitely on the way, and even higher memes still in the offing.... Wilber is the best guide to these final two stages and discusses them in detail in his book, "Integral psychology" Summary and ordering: The Most difficult and dangerous aspect of "stages" theory is the tendency to see stages as rungs on a ladder of personal betterment. Wilber is clear that, "each and every individual has all of these memes available to them." Graves uses the term "Waves of Existence" to avoid suggesting that individuals in stage 7 are superior to other stages. The focus of stage theory should be understanding what happens to a person and not concerns for status, achievement and position. The final stages should produce humility and wisdom. If a person does not have these qualities they are not operating in the higher stages. One way to understand the stages in a non-hierarchical way is to think of them as rooms in the house of the soul. The first 4 stages are the basic 4 walls and roof of any house. They must be in place to offer protection and stability in the world. Stages 6 through 8 are rooms that are added on as a result of the stability provided by the first 4. These are, perhaps, the most interesting rooms, but they are luxuries afforded only a very few. The goal of educators in the area of personal development should be to understand how to best help each person construct a healthy home for the soul so that the final rooms can be added. This is one of the goals of Ion Paradox. Notes: 1. Brown, Warren S.; Murphy, Nancy; Malony, H. Newton.; Whatever Happened To The Soul? Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998 2. 1 Corinthians 15:14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15:44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. |
