“Read more” keywords, references and links:
- Spiral Dynamics
- Spiral Dynamics in Action: Humanity’s Master Code - Don Edward Beck
- Integral Theory
- A Brief History of Everything - Ken Wilber
- Theories of Development
- Theories of Development, Concepts and Applications - William Crain
- Developmental Levels
- Ego Development: A Full-Spectrum Theory Of Vertical Growth And Meaning Making - Susanne Cook-Greuter
- Ego Development
- Spectrum of Consciousness
Spiral Dynamics
Spiral Dynamics describes how value systems and worldviews emerge from the interaction of “life conditions” and the mind’s capacities. The emphasis on life conditions as essential to the progression through value systems is unusual among similar theories, and leads to the view that no level is inherently positive or negative, but rather is a response to the local environment, social circumstances, place and time.
First stages (characterized by black and white thinking, “the only correct way”):
- Archaic - Instinctive - SurvivalSense: Food, water, warmth, sex at its core, little awareness of self as a distinct being (undifferentiated), immediate desires overrule everything because there was no system for survival. “Me me me, I need to survive” automatic, reflexive.
- Magical - Animistic - Clannish - KinSpirits: Systems for more efficient survival emerged, both on individual level and in basic tribe forms. There is a shift from individual to community with roles, if everyone fulfills their role, the survival is easier and there is time to think about why things happen (cause and effect). When there is not enough knowledge, causes and effects are thought up (magical thinking, spirits). At a time of lacking knowledge more knowledge means more respect and higher status (respect for elderly).
- Order - Authoritarian - Egocentric -PowerGods: When systems get more efficient (agriculture) there is more time for wondering about the whys, but also more leeway in terms of roles and overall changes. Too many changes and freedoms eventually leads to leaders and elders wishing to retain their power, they start to enforce rules harder, leading to oppression and desire-for-freedom dynamics. Characterized by the desire to hold as much power and not really questioning it, as more power seems to mean better control over uncertainty and seemingly ruthless world. No real remorse, since more power is better and feeling remorse means weak, this leads to blaming anything but oneself. Us vs Them. In a world of haves and have-nots, it’s good to be a have. Concern for the people in the Us group leads to development of morality.
- Purposeful - TruthForce: Morality develops and it is used with dogma to bring people together in larger groups, but strongly identifying with the Us leads “the absolute way, the only way”, religion and god which dictates the only way to live, everyone else is Them and thus eternally fucked. Morality comes from good intentions, but black and white us and them mentality leads to atrocities against Them. Lack of freedom under the dogma once again but in a different way oppression and desire-for-freedom dynamics. Sacrifice self to the Way for deferred reward, find meaning and purpose while bringing order and stability. It creates confidence, certainty, belonging, purpose and direction, but the absoluteness create doubt and desire for deeper love and acceptance.
- Achievement - Competitive - Strategic - StriveDrive: Doubt leads to abandoning the group and dogmas, focusing more on individualism. Freedom and living the good life. Morals turn to ethics rather than religion. There is a mindset of haves and have nots, which every individual must act in their self-interest to have. Focus is on individual success, which creates competition. Religion can remain (i.e. protestant) but in less dogmatic and systematic ways, more in a “I don’t have to be part of a church for god to love me.”
- Community - Ecological - Relativistic - HumanBond: When it becomes clear that power and possessions, individual success does not result in happiness, but rather loneliness while creating inequality and suffering for others, the needle shifts back to community. Feelings matter more than achievements, leads to feelings over actions type of thinking (lazy hippie stereotype). Togetherness, acceptance, harmony drive decisions. There is desire for equality and community without hierarchy. Leads back to dogma (“if you don’t support our inclusive way of thinking, then it means you’re a murderer”) and radical inclusiveness. Comes from desire to do better, but there is a lack of action and knowledge which rather than uniting, contributes to polarization.
Second stages (characterized by the wider view of systems and interconnectedness):
- Integrator - Systemic - FlexFlow: Doubt about dogma and desire to understand why some groups don’t think subscribe to the “obviously good” way of the last stage leads to asking what is truth, why truth is subjective, why truths clash. Interconnectedness becomes more clear, each of us is a part of a subsystem of a subsystem. It is no longer about demonizing those that don’t think the same, it’s more about why everyone thinks differently and how to fit those differences together. Trying to solve root causes and systems themselves not symptoms and individual offenders. Find natural mix of conflicting “truths” and “uncertainties”, accept the inevitability of nature’s flows and forms, focus on functionality, competence, flexibility, and spontaneity.
- Integrator - Systemic - Holistic - GlobalView: Wholeness and experience existence itself. Realizing that for a system to change, the whole system must change not a narrow part of it. Nonduality, multifaceted perspective and an ego that is more of a friend or an instrument rather than the driver of the self. 1+1=3, less is more, but moreover that it does not matter in the end, that existence has its own flow which will move forward anyway, that we are part of the flow, we can wiggle in the flow, but we can not change it. Learning goes from observation, imitation and study to becoming what they seek to understand and embody. Even though last two stages talk about it a lot while not really embodying it, this stage is not something that can be described, only suggested at. It can only be experienced.
AQAL (All Quadrants All Levels) metatheory
A metatheory in which all academic disciplines and every form of knowledge and experience fit together coherently. It consists of four fundamental concepts and a rest-category: four quadrants (interior-exterior, individual-collective), several levels and lines of development, several states of consciousness, and “types”, topics which don’t fit into these four concepts.
Loevinger’s stages of ego development
Loevinger describes the ego as a process, rather than a thing; it is the frame of reference (or lens) one uses to construct and interpret one’s world.
Loevinger proposed nine stages of ego in development, three which occur in childhood: pre-social, impulsive, self-protective. And six of which occur in adulthood: conformist, conscientious-conformist/self-aware, conscientious, individualistic, autonomous, and integrated. She believed that most adults were at the conscientious-conformist level. After the model of ego development found broader acceptance a tenth stage was proposed: flowing.
Childhood stages:
- Pre-social - Infancy: Fulfilling immediate needs, no ego until it begins to differentiate the self.
- Impulsive: Driven by emotion, sexual and aggressive desires as it asserts their growing sense of self. Aware of their self, ego manifests. Focus on present events and desires in the moment.
- Self-protective: Develop some self-control, but see world in terms of punishments and rewards. Some curiosity and desire to not get caught, to avoid what they see as punishment. Craves a morally prescribed, rigidly enforced, unchanging order.
Adult stages:
- Conformist: Become aware of groups and find desire to belong. See dynamics as external factors - looks, norms, stereotypes etc. Ever stronger ego manifests and latches on to those factors. There is a right way and a wrong way and it is the same for everyone.
- Conscientious-conformist - Self-aware: Beginnings of self-criticism and the concept the Persona (Carl Jung), “real me” and “expected me”, become more apparent. Ego begins to also feed on inferiority, so that the ego can feed on the alleviation of that inferiority.
- Conscientious: Understand the rules and expectations of society which also creates even more doubt and inferiority in the self in comparison to others. There is guilt in hurting others and breaking rules. Characterized by self-evaluation and motivation to achieve.
- Individualistic: Become more sensitive to the inner experience and aware of the inner experiences of others which increases respect for self and tolerance for others. Deeper sense of self-understanding, realization of inner conflicts. Moralism begins to be replaced by an awareness of inner conflict. Difference becomes as something to be celebrated rather than weakness or negative.
- Autonomous: Sense of self-fulfillment becomes more important than outer achievement. Greater capacity to embrace polarities of life. Acceptance of self and others increases. Importance of external factors decreases significantly, ego starts to lose its power. Recognizes the limitations to autonomy, that emotional interdependence is inevitable. A high toleration for ambiguity and conceptual complexity.
- Integrated: Inner wisdom, deep empathy for others, self-acceptance, making peace with life, circumstance, conflicts. Ego becomes integrated, a friend that can be lived with in harmony rather than fighting with it. The ego can no longer create suffering to self and others on its whims.
- Flowing: Need to evaluate things and persons is abandoned. Merging with the world, no more holding, but engaging in the flow of things.