Principles of the Evolutionary Process

* earlier vs. later

Note: We use "earlier and later" vs. "lower and higher" to avoid the bias found in the latter.

* rather than higher vs. lower

* implicit assumptions

* no one is entirely at one stage or another

* it's more like a probability

* all stages are idealizations

* every human being is a unique idiosyncratic representation of these mental models and never fits the model perfectly

* if you're stressed then you'll be at the lower stage and if your life is going well then you'll probably peak experience one of the higher levels

* this is a scientific model

* so it has it's limits

* it can't handle every instance of life and the world

* not every situation in the world can fit into this model

* all growth happens in separate lines of development

* different lines of development can be at different stages of growth

* There's no "stage development" without a particular line.

* the levels of development never occur on their own, they are always levels of some line

* later stages aren't necessarily happier

* shadows develop at every stage

* later stages can understand earlier — but earlier can't understand later

* it's pointless to try to get someone at an earlier stage to understand a later stage concept or way of viewing the world

* growth can't be forced

* these stages are the map NOT the territory

* the later the stage, the lesser the need for defending our perspective

* none of these stages are good are bad

* they're all a necessary part of human development

* the hard part of this work is:

* being humble enough to admit that there are stages that are higher and more developed as you

* to a 1st grader who sees calculus on a chalkboard will seem like new-age woo woo that means nothing.

* so not judging the higher stages is crucial

* each stage has the capabilities of the stages beneath it

* transcend and include

* key word INCLUDE

* each stage builds on top of the previous stages

* even advanced stages can still conform, to use the rational mind, they don't lose these abilities

* the higher stages can understand the lower stages, but the lower can't understand the higher

* when you're stressed and in survival-mode you will regress stages

* mystical experiences can happen at any stages but the mind will interpret the experience in terms of whatever stage you're at

* Greuters model consists of mostly the cognitive line

* what's being measured is your capacity to take perspectives

* it's how you mind make sense of reality

* this model relates to meaning making

* And Spiral Dynamics relates to what we value

* what we deem as important and what we're driven by

* These aren't the only psychological models of development

* horizontal vs. vertical

* horizontal could mean

* getter better and better at business and expert skills

* self-help is most often done on the horizontal level

* vertical movement

* much more difficult

* requires more depth, effort and a longer vision

* The levels alternate between differentiation and integration

* from impulsive differentiation of self - separate from everything else

* to integration into a conformist mindset

* to differentiation into a individualistic (expert/achiever)

* Note that each stage is it's own reality

* why conservatives and liberals can't understand each other

* every structural stage of belief systems are their own realities

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