Ummagumma

Long-time readers know I have an interest in the psychological development theory of Spiral Dynamics . I find it useful in understanding the stages (both potential and realized) of personal development and how the theory applies this to entire societies as well (see here and here for examples). Using the prism of Spiral Dynamics, this post will contend that the majority of people who live on the planet today are at a “medieval” stage of psychological development.  Most people so far in the 21 st century do not possess a “contemporary” psychological toolbox and are, psychologically speaking, the same as people many centuries before. They are living with a psychological disability toward the events of our times. This has nothing to do with their ability to use technology or to effectively play the game of consumerism. It also has nothing to do with their intelligence. High IQ people were around long before the Middle Ages. Most people are, rather, psychologically disabled ...

Proof of purchase. “...the evolution of consciousness...[is a tale of] the growth and development of the mind as a series of unfolding stages or waves .  Few of these developmental schemes are rigid, linear, clunk-and-grind models portrayed by their critics.  Development is not a linear ladder but a fluid and flowing affair, with spirals, swirls, streams, and waves...” (page 5) So it is that Wilber integrates Spiral Dynamics into the four quadrant system in A Theory of Everything .  Before explaining the stages of consciousness, in a slightly different manner than in Sex, Ecology, Spirituality , Wilber makes a subtle but important point.  Stages of consciousness mean that there are higher and lower stages or memes.  It is inherently a hierarchy (has depth).  But Wilber does not want the reader to think of “lower” stages/memes as “dumber” or “lesser” compared with “higher” stages/memes.  Every stage/meme is/was important to human development in its ow...

I watched a short video recently where Sam Harris says something that is, on its face, completely right. The short, entitled “ This is our most important problem ,” states we’re losing our grip on what’s “real.” Conspiracy thinking is “noxious.” (Harris always features the fantastic vocabulary of a bright mind.) Shared reality is fracturing. As a result, technology is driving us a little crazy. All true. If you zoom out and squint, he’s basically nailed the description of the mess we’re in. Where I think Harris is slightly askew is not on what is happening but on what he thinks is doing the happening. Human beings have never had a shared reality.  They have never agreed on what is real.  Every culture on earth differs on the particulars of this at some level. This has never been otherwise.  This is why there are so many different cultures, different “true” stories, different religions.  We have been war-like for millennia because we do not share quite the same reali...

Image credit. If the greatest problem facing humanity today is that hardwired brains resist rewiring despite the exploding pace of change, then, conversely, the greatest opportunity for humanity lies within our brain's inherent neuroplasticity , our ability to accept new understandings of human experience.  Brains can and do rewire themselves all the time.  Everyone learns, especially when we are younger.  We come to new understandings and experiences based upon what I will call the use of a psychological toolbox. One of the greatest accomplishments of the 20th century was that, for the first time, we understood that human beings operate within a “psychology.”  Psychology is vital to understanding human behavior and to developing a well-balanced brain through childhood into adulthood – or not.  Human psychological development not only works at the individual level but also applies to entire societies across time.  This is a radical transformation of our und...