Stages of consciousness #2
Wednesday, 6. September 2006, 09:47:28
I would like now to complete my study of consciousness evolution on this blog. I already did a blog post on this, but then using a different system to the one I'm used to.
Let me try now to make sense of the system I'm more familiar with, Spiral Dynamics. The model was developed by Don Beck and Christopher Cowan based on the work of psychology professor Clare Graves and was popularized by Ken Wilber (whose perspective lead to the evolution of SDi - Spiral Dynamics integral).
It's vital to understand here that these stages do not describe types of people, they describe ways of thinking that live within people. Consider it a toolbox, not elitism.
Spiral Dynamics
Beige (archaic-instinctual, identity not yet fully formed)
The beige level of consciousness is the first and least sophisticated level available to human beings. It features a barely developed sense of I, meaning it has little sense of being separate. Beige consciousness is basically only concerned with the most basic needs, food, water, sex, security etc.
Key word: Survival
Seen in: Infants, senile elderly, the starving etc.
Cultural impact: 0.1 percent of the population, 0 percent power
Purple (magic-animistic, identity not yet fully formed)
The purple level developed when human tribes first met. This traumatic experience required them to reorient themselves in the world and form new forms of civilization. Purple believes in magic; spirits of nature or the ancestors fly around casting spells and curses. Purple can develop irrational relationships to inanimate objects based on the idea that all objects, alive or otherwise, posess a soul. Can appear to some (myself included) to be a higher level of consciousness than it actually is.
Key word: Magic
Seen in: Voodoo curses, good luck charms, third world tribes etc
Cultural impact: 10 percent of the population, 1 percent of the power
Red (egocentric, individual)
At this stage, a separate sense of self distinct from the tribe develops. With this new-formed identity comes the wish to perpetuate its power and as a consequence red consciousness generally uses violence and aggressive means to barge ahead in life. The world is a dangerous place and to perpetuate the power of identity, all enemies must be destroyed.
Key words: Power and respect
Seen in: Terrible twos, feudal kingdoms, James Bond villains, Nazi Germany (part red, part blue), wild rock stars, Lord of the Flies etc.
Cultural impact: 20 percent of the population, 5 percent of the power
Blue (mythic, group)
This consciousness level leaves behind the chaotic narcissism of red in favour of law and order. Blue features very defined values, black and white, true and false, good and evil, saint and sinner. Violating the agreed upon code of conduct has very serious consequences, going to hell, being executed, imprisoned, exiled etc. There is only one way to think about things and the social structure is very hierarchical. Dogmatic religion and submission to a supernatural being, everything is predestined, sacrifice now to obtain later.
Key words: Purpose, justice
Seen in: US administration, Republican party (part blue, part orange), patriotism, boy and girl scouts, fundamentalism, codes of chivalry and honor, ethnocentricity
Cultural impact: 40 percent of the population, 30 percent of the power
Orange (rational, individual)
At this stage of consciousness, the individual starts questioning the idea that everything is predestined. Perhaps there is no God in the sky that has everything all figured out. Man then starts taking responsibility for his own life and starts seeking his own answers and ways ahead in life. This level of consciousness is meritocratic - your worth is not based on who you are, but what you can do, and thus worldcentric (a black man is worth just as much as a white man if he has the same skills). Science rules the day and the mystery of existence is all but gone, the world is a well oiled machine that is there to be used, even at the cost of the planet.
Key words: Skill
Seen in: Capitalism, fashion industry, the Western Enlightenment (Renaissance), fame and superstardom
Cultural impact: 30 percent of the population, 50 percent of the power
Green (postmodern, group)
With the emergence of green in the 1960s, came a sensitizing to the plight of the human race. Blue and orange have been destroying the planet through creating saints and sinners, winners and losers, and green seeks to deconstruct these value structures to better humanity. At this stage, emotions become more important than logic, decisions are reached through reconciliation and consensus. Take care of the planet, be a good person and don't be so greedy. Green fails to see the stages of consciousness it traversed to get to its current state and is extremely bad at making decisions, because it's incapable of deeming one thing better or worse than another. Everything is an egalitarian mush from which little truth and action can be extracted. Green is often incapable of making the changes it idolizes.
Key words: Deconsctruct blue and orange, preserve the planet and be nice
Where seen: Democrat Party (part green, part orange), Political correctness, Greenpeace, animal rights, human rights issues, free health care, United Nations
Cultural impact: 10 percent of the population, 15 percent of the power
Yellow (integrative, individual)
This is the first stage of 2nd tier consciousness. 2nd tier is described by its awareness of the existence of different levels of consciousness. It sees that all levels have a place in the world and that the purpose of 2nd tier consciousness is to use whatever tools are available to traverse the ladder of evolution to help people at whatever stages they're at. Hierarchies are reintroduced: Knowledge and competency should supersede power, status and group sensitivity. Flexibility, spontaneity and functionality have the highest priority. A belief in intuition.
Key words: Evolution through flexibility
Where seen: Rarely, mainly in individuals, but to some extent in the growing number of integral businesses
Cultural impact:1 percent of the population, 5 percent of the power
Turquoise (holistic, group)
Consciousness that unites feeling with knowledge. Believes in universal order, but not based on external rules (blue) or group bonds (green). Often involves emergence of cosmocentric spirituality. Global consciousness - it's possible to make money while taking good care of the planet and workers. In fact, it's not only possible, through the turquoise perspective, it is seen as the BEST way to make money. Uses the entire spiral, can access any stage at will and can read between the lines. The insight of turquoise into human nature is so vast that it can be perceived as being psychic, even though that is not necessarily the case.
Key words: Global consciousness
Where seen: In rare individuals who have integrated spirituality with the rational world of science and matter
Cultural impact: 0.1 percent of the population, 1 percent of the power
More stages (Coral) yet to come as humanity evolves further.
Bear in mind that my understanding of this model is still incomplete, so this article may contain inaccuracies. In any case, this blog post will be vital for some of my future posts on the current world situation.
Next up - why the Democrat party with its significantly higher level of consciousness than the Republican party failed to capture the minds and hearts of Americans in the last election.
Let me try now to make sense of the system I'm more familiar with, Spiral Dynamics. The model was developed by Don Beck and Christopher Cowan based on the work of psychology professor Clare Graves and was popularized by Ken Wilber (whose perspective lead to the evolution of SDi - Spiral Dynamics integral).
It's vital to understand here that these stages do not describe types of people, they describe ways of thinking that live within people. Consider it a toolbox, not elitism.
Spiral Dynamics
Beige (archaic-instinctual, identity not yet fully formed)
The beige level of consciousness is the first and least sophisticated level available to human beings. It features a barely developed sense of I, meaning it has little sense of being separate. Beige consciousness is basically only concerned with the most basic needs, food, water, sex, security etc.
Key word: Survival
Seen in: Infants, senile elderly, the starving etc.
Cultural impact: 0.1 percent of the population, 0 percent power
Purple (magic-animistic, identity not yet fully formed)
The purple level developed when human tribes first met. This traumatic experience required them to reorient themselves in the world and form new forms of civilization. Purple believes in magic; spirits of nature or the ancestors fly around casting spells and curses. Purple can develop irrational relationships to inanimate objects based on the idea that all objects, alive or otherwise, posess a soul. Can appear to some (myself included) to be a higher level of consciousness than it actually is.
Key word: Magic
Seen in: Voodoo curses, good luck charms, third world tribes etc
Cultural impact: 10 percent of the population, 1 percent of the power
Red (egocentric, individual)
At this stage, a separate sense of self distinct from the tribe develops. With this new-formed identity comes the wish to perpetuate its power and as a consequence red consciousness generally uses violence and aggressive means to barge ahead in life. The world is a dangerous place and to perpetuate the power of identity, all enemies must be destroyed.
Key words: Power and respect
Seen in: Terrible twos, feudal kingdoms, James Bond villains, Nazi Germany (part red, part blue), wild rock stars, Lord of the Flies etc.
Cultural impact: 20 percent of the population, 5 percent of the power
Blue (mythic, group)
This consciousness level leaves behind the chaotic narcissism of red in favour of law and order. Blue features very defined values, black and white, true and false, good and evil, saint and sinner. Violating the agreed upon code of conduct has very serious consequences, going to hell, being executed, imprisoned, exiled etc. There is only one way to think about things and the social structure is very hierarchical. Dogmatic religion and submission to a supernatural being, everything is predestined, sacrifice now to obtain later.
Key words: Purpose, justice
Seen in: US administration, Republican party (part blue, part orange), patriotism, boy and girl scouts, fundamentalism, codes of chivalry and honor, ethnocentricity
Cultural impact: 40 percent of the population, 30 percent of the power
Orange (rational, individual)
At this stage of consciousness, the individual starts questioning the idea that everything is predestined. Perhaps there is no God in the sky that has everything all figured out. Man then starts taking responsibility for his own life and starts seeking his own answers and ways ahead in life. This level of consciousness is meritocratic - your worth is not based on who you are, but what you can do, and thus worldcentric (a black man is worth just as much as a white man if he has the same skills). Science rules the day and the mystery of existence is all but gone, the world is a well oiled machine that is there to be used, even at the cost of the planet.
Key words: Skill
Seen in: Capitalism, fashion industry, the Western Enlightenment (Renaissance), fame and superstardom
Cultural impact: 30 percent of the population, 50 percent of the power
Green (postmodern, group)
With the emergence of green in the 1960s, came a sensitizing to the plight of the human race. Blue and orange have been destroying the planet through creating saints and sinners, winners and losers, and green seeks to deconstruct these value structures to better humanity. At this stage, emotions become more important than logic, decisions are reached through reconciliation and consensus. Take care of the planet, be a good person and don't be so greedy. Green fails to see the stages of consciousness it traversed to get to its current state and is extremely bad at making decisions, because it's incapable of deeming one thing better or worse than another. Everything is an egalitarian mush from which little truth and action can be extracted. Green is often incapable of making the changes it idolizes.
Key words: Deconsctruct blue and orange, preserve the planet and be nice
Where seen: Democrat Party (part green, part orange), Political correctness, Greenpeace, animal rights, human rights issues, free health care, United Nations
Cultural impact: 10 percent of the population, 15 percent of the power
Yellow (integrative, individual)
This is the first stage of 2nd tier consciousness. 2nd tier is described by its awareness of the existence of different levels of consciousness. It sees that all levels have a place in the world and that the purpose of 2nd tier consciousness is to use whatever tools are available to traverse the ladder of evolution to help people at whatever stages they're at. Hierarchies are reintroduced: Knowledge and competency should supersede power, status and group sensitivity. Flexibility, spontaneity and functionality have the highest priority. A belief in intuition.
Key words: Evolution through flexibility
Where seen: Rarely, mainly in individuals, but to some extent in the growing number of integral businesses
Cultural impact:1 percent of the population, 5 percent of the power
Turquoise (holistic, group)
Consciousness that unites feeling with knowledge. Believes in universal order, but not based on external rules (blue) or group bonds (green). Often involves emergence of cosmocentric spirituality. Global consciousness - it's possible to make money while taking good care of the planet and workers. In fact, it's not only possible, through the turquoise perspective, it is seen as the BEST way to make money. Uses the entire spiral, can access any stage at will and can read between the lines. The insight of turquoise into human nature is so vast that it can be perceived as being psychic, even though that is not necessarily the case.
Key words: Global consciousness
Where seen: In rare individuals who have integrated spirituality with the rational world of science and matter
Cultural impact: 0.1 percent of the population, 1 percent of the power
More stages (Coral) yet to come as humanity evolves further.
Bear in mind that my understanding of this model is still incomplete, so this article may contain inaccuracies. In any case, this blog post will be vital for some of my future posts on the current world situation.
Next up - why the Democrat party with its significantly higher level of consciousness than the Republican party failed to capture the minds and hearts of Americans in the last election.
(11%)
WIDGETIZE
Henrik Falck # 7. September 2006, 02:24
Eivind Figenschau Skjellum # 7. September 2006, 07:19
But I do understand the model well enough to adress the issue of Greenpeace. Because by all intents and purposes, you seem to be correct about your verdict - there are a lot of thugs in the organization.
This phenomenon is often referred to as "the mean green meme". See, the green level sees all the injustice in the world and wants to do something about it. And the first thing it does is blame blue and orange. In green's mind, blue is responsible for breeding fundamentalists and creating an authoritarian society, while orange is responsible for creating a society where people live meaningless lives and the planet is killed in the process. Green hates this, hates blue and orange (even though green got to green by first going through blue and orange) and will do everything it can do destroy their value structures (green is as such the biggest enemy to the evolution of consciousness through blue and orange, which is a disaster of epic proportions).
So what green does is vilify these two levels of the consciousness spiral as being the root of all the problems it has identified. What happens then? Well, actually what happens is that red falls in love with green. First of all, green has taken out the blue authoritarian system that keeps red in check. It also takes out the orange meritocratic system that would identify red as a huge loser. So what then happens is a surge of red into green.
This is said to be a very common phenomenon, that you have an organizational structure that is green filling up with red consciousness. This could go a long way to explain your misgivings about greenpeace. Another example is the anti-war movement in the US during the Vietnam war where only a handful in the movement, its protagonists, were green (green first developed in the early 60s). The rest of the group were thugs with the mentality "like fuck you're gonna tell me what to do". Well, at least so the research goes.
But as you can see from my own example - greenpeace does indeed want to deconstruct blue and orange, and it does indeed want to save the planet. As for the "be nice" part, well, as long as they can screw up blue and orange with the help of red, unhealthy green is only too happy. So much for consistency.
To sum it up, there are healthy versions of any given stage and there are unhealthy ones. Greenpeace may be unhealthy.
I'll address the issues of Republican and Democrat later on, but if you really have a look at the categories, I think you will see that it's a valid judgement.
Henrik Falck # 8. September 2006, 02:01
Eivind Figenschau Skjellum # 8. September 2006, 11:29
But apply this thinking about green to the Democrat party and I think a further light will go on in your mind. One of the Democrat party's big problems at home is that they're just not patriotic enough - they don't seem to care as much about the US as the Republicans. That's not entirely true, the Democrats care *a lot* about the US, but they realize - unlike large portions of the Republicans - that caring about the US necessitates maintaining good relations with the world (so as not to create more enemies) and considering the plight of the planet just a little bit (just check out Al Gore these days!) as no-one will get rich if we're all dead. The Democrats think more of the overall health of the world than the Republicans do, and many patriotic US citizens sense this and find it very dubious indeed. In essence, Democrats are not ethnocentric enough - that is, they're not blue enough - or dare I say, not dumb enough.
Also, it may explain the big business links that seem to go straight into the heart of the Republican party. My opinion is that the Republicans is half-blue/half-orange (current administration is all blue, but big sections of the party itself are orange). It is my belief that a big part of the US business world senses that developing bonds with the Republicans is better value for money than developing bonds with the Democrats. And if we are to believe this model, they'd be bang on the money.
So the biggest enemy of the Democrat party is the Democrat party - they're stuck in a mush where they can't really make many clear statements about right and wrong, friend and foe, and American citizens accordingly have problems to pin them down. What do they really mean? What will they actually do?? Now we know that Clinton dealth with money a hell of a lot better than Bush did so we should really just trust the Democrats here. But you know, Kerry just wasn't a "common man". And he was an anti-war pussy (see, you saw him in hippy crowds protesting the Vietnam war). Well, he became anti-war after having fought in the war very bravely indeed, but human beings are much better at focusing at dislikes than likes, so that was the end of Kerry.
One of the questions I ask myself is if the Democrat party is indeed quite green, how does that fit with the big budget surplus that Clinton created (green isn't that good with business). This is where the model is not so black and white anymore and we need to introduce the other aspects of the AQAL model, like lines. I believe Clinton's sense of economics was orange whereas his sense of people was green. And I believe that now, after the crisis he faced while in power, and his struggles with his health, he is moving or has already moved into 2nd tier. And that's what will save the Democrats and indeed the world - greens moving into 2nd tier consciousness and spreading the word among other greens. Because for all the misgivings we may have about green, they're awfully close to 2nd tier. That climb, if significant in number, may just save us all.
Because if unhealthy blue gets its way, we will face nuclear war or a collapse of the planet within fifty years.