We can think about an overall level of development of an
individual as the average level of all of an individual’s multiple intelligences,
or lines of development.
We can make this more complicated. Ken Wilber developed a map of “Everything” based
on the work of many people and philosophies, notably the works of Lawrence
Kohlberg on stages of moral development, along with Don Beck and Chris Cowan’s
work labeled as Spiral Dynamics.
For me, Wilber provides the most complete map of the
territory of human consciousness and social structure with his 4-quadrant
theory.
I won’t go into too far this map, it is not perfect, but it
is the best I have seen. It does take a
fair amount of study for it to make sense to most people. To understand this map you probably need some
significant level of cognitive intelligence, and take some time to study this
theory in depth.
Interestingly, I have found that those who do not have some
significant experience with meditation, perhaps this means spiritual
intelligence, have difficulty resonating with this map. I recommend reading Ken Wilber’s “A Brief
History of Everything” as the best introduction.
An interesting observation is that if you are at a higher
level of development, you can see and understand lower levels of
development. However, you will have
difficulty seeing levels above your own level.
In fact, you will likely deny that higher levels even exist.
When you move to a stable higher level, you transcend and
include the lower levels, and, therefore, you have access to these lower
levels. That is why you can act as a
2-year old or a teenager, if you choose to do so.
Wilber also argues that a severe deficit in one, or, modest
deficits in several, lines of development will preclude your ability to
transcend and include your current level and move to the next higher
level. Therefore, it is worthwhile to
develop many of your multiple intelligences in order to be able to evolve to
the next level.
There is another interesting observation about moving to your
next level. Particularly concerning
spiritual levels of development. The ego
your mind has constructed, must first deconstruct.
That is, the ego must essentially die, in order to transcend
and include. At least that is what your
current ego feels. It struggles not to
change. The ego is your survival
mechanism, your comfortable overcoat. It
worries, “what will happen to this brain-body if I die!”
Buddhists have described the transition to a stable level of
understanding of All-there-is as swallowing a red-hot iron ball. The pain can be enormous.
That is why the term “kill the ego” floats around. You really don’t kill the ego, you transcend
and include. But the ego doesn’t
understand this. It thinks it will
die. It is common to be depressed during
times of evolution. Just before a big
change to the next level.
Unfortunately, our current system does not recognize
this. You go to the doctor
depressed. You get a prescription for an
antidepressant. You get no talk
therapy. You suppress your movement to
your next level of evolution.
I am not arguing completely against antidepressants, they
may have their place. There are people
who have severe psychic damage that may need chronic antidepressants.
I am arguing against the way they are used currently for
people who are really just undergoing a transition to their next level. The medical profession does not even
understand that this type of depression even exists! (Medical Heretic!)
Two-year-olds get nasty when they are transcending to their
next level, after which they become sweet again. They show you they are in their transition by
saying “no” a lot, and throwing your valuables on the floor and stomping on
them.
Teenagers become grumpy and non-communicative during their
evolution to their next level. They
throw your values on the floor and stomp on them. They become sweet again as well. They often later take on your values as their
own. It is just pretty hard to see that
possibility during their transition. We
also sometimes medicate them incorrectly as well.
Levels of development are important in our discussion of being
a stranger in a strange land, since, as you can imagine, people at widely
varying levels of development might have difficulty understanding each other. As an example, a gang member at a lower level
would have difficulty understanding the altruistic nature of a social
worker. But, the social worker would
have an easier time understanding the gang member.
One way of thinking about levels of development is asking, "who
does a person consider to be part of their family?" A gang member would include only members of
his gang, and, perhaps, immediate family.
A nationalist would consider to be part of his family only his
countrymen who agree with him. A green environmentalist might include almost
all humans, but might exclude those who pollute, or maybe those who shoot
guns.
At the highest levels of development all beings are
family. Nothing is excluded. There are choices to be made. We have to eat and have shelter. Yet, everything living and non-living is held
as sacred.
For an interesting view of how understanding levels of
development can affect intimate relationships see Martin Uciks book “Integral
Relationships.”
Next we will take up personality types.
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