1. AN EXPLORATION OF DEVELOPMENTAL LEVELS:
Tom Murray
The Graduate Institute, November, 2010
Embodied Understanding, Uses, And
Limitations
2. SECTION I: INTRO TO DEVELOPMENTAL LEVELS
Q RE the readings (Wilber, Beck,Torbert):
What did you learn or find noteworthy?
What curiosities, questions, potentials are alive?
Murray, November 2010 2
3. THE EXPLANATORY (AND NARRATIVE) POWER
OF DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES
US ‘culture wars’ (& what was the sixties?)
Foreign policy with underdeveloped nations
Leadership development and job placement
Giving critical (and supportive) feedback
Convention vs. evolution vs. revolution
Pitching ideas to multiple stakeholders
Psychological pathologies and regressions
Is humanity, society, or consciousness evolving?
Predictive (not!) vs. normative vs. meaning-generative models
– science vs. narrative (story telling) 3
8. Ego: Ego-centric > Ethnocentric (us/them) > World-
centric
Culture: Pre-conventional > Conventional > Post-
conventional
Truths: Black & White (either/or) > more complex &Murray, November 2010 8
9. WE INTUITIVELY RANK PEOPLE
DEVELOPMENTALLY
People responding to a story about someone breaking a
promise:
My dad would get mad.
It is bad to break promises. Breaking a promise is lying.
It is fairer to keep promises than to break them.
When a parent breaks a promise it teaches the child to break
promises.
You should not make promises that you can’t keep.
Keeping promises maintains order in society.
When you keep a promise, you reaffirm the concept of mutual
trust.
Murray, November 2010 9
10. (From Beck & Cowan figure: see www.spiraldynamics.net)
10
17. “SPIRALECTICS” ACTIVITY
The activity takes about 2 hours; moves through 6
levels with one or two enactment games of micro-
worlds at each. The goal is to experience how
developmental levels live inside of us, and reflect on
our relationships to each one.The activities bring in
both the individual interior and group dynamics for
each level. It shows how the needs and values at
each level create the conditions for the next. It
illustrates not only the progression of values and
world-views, but a progression of complexity in
cognition, interactions, rules, and role taking.
Murray, November 2010 17
18. OVERALL INTENTION: WHAT DID YOU LEARN; WHAT DEEPER
INQUIRY IS CALLING YOU; WHERE COULD YOU TAKE IT NEXT?
Post-Activity: Reflection (write and/or draw; work alongside another if you want).
Specific questions:
1. Select an area of personal strength, ease, skillfulness, or grace revealed by the
Spiralectics activity.
Reflect on how it shows up in your life. How have you used this gift? What practices
give you access to it?
2. Select an area of challenge, fear, confusion, stagnation, or blankness revealed in the
Spiralectics activity. Reflect on its role in your life. Do specific memories come up?
Is anything wanting to shift or transform? What seems in the way? What needs are
met and unmet by the current way of being?
3. Think about how you can bring your area of strength or ease in to help with the area
of challenge or stagnation. What other forms of support might be available in your
life? Is there anyone in this group who you would like to arrange future
brainstorming or supportive check-in with?
4. Were there any other themes that seemed 'juicy' or calling for deeper inquiry from
the Spiralectics activity?
Murray, November 2010 18
19. END OF SECTION 1
Section II: Caveats on Developmental Models –
what users should know
Section III: New Age vs. MythicalThinking (and
“post-metaphysics”)
Section IV:What is SecondTierThought and
Culture? – a look at skills and capacities
Murray, November 2010 19
20. SECTION II: CAVEATS ON DEVELOPMENTAL
MODELS – WHAT USERS SHOULD KNOW
Murray, November 2010 20
21. DEV-THEORY CAVEATS/PROBLEMS
Map/territory confusion
(its just a model, know its limits)
Dangers of labeling and quick-comparisons of
individuals and cultures
People “need” to develop only if their abilities in
cognitive/emotional/social/etc. “intelligence” do
not meet the demands placed on them by their
situation, and they suffer because of lack of
capacity.
Murray, November 2010 21
23. DEVELOPMENT OF PRIOR LEVELS
It is usually more important work to create health and mastery at all prior levels than to
push on to try to reach the next level.
23
24. MICRO-TRANSITIONS AT/BETWEEN EACH LEVEL
(From Beck & Cowan’s Spiral Dynamics)
(Mature version)
(“Convert” version
(hold tight…
fall apart…)
Murray, November 2010 24
25. MEMES AS BELIEFS VS. SKILLS
Is “Mean Green Meme”
about belief or skill?
25Murray, November 2010 25
26. ASYMMETRICAL LINE DEVELOPMENT
MODERNIST VS. NATIVE CULTURE: WHICH IS MORE “EVOLVED”?
• Higher is not necessarily better or happier (just more complex)
• Do we valorize certain developmental lines and minimize
others (“line absolutism”)?
Many developmental lines Many developmental lines
Murray, November 2010 26
27. EMOTION AND CONTEXT
(PERFORMANCE ≠ COMPETENCE)
Ego & emotion (desire, fear, stress, anger,
uncertainty…) play a large role in apparent
developmental level
Beware of: high certainty, importance, urgency,
exaltation
And regression to
Black & white (either/or) thinking
Narcissism, group-think, or us-vs-them thinking
Reliance on authority; peers & norms
“Misplaced concreteness” (ideas as reality)
27Murray, November 2010 27
29. WEAK AND STRONG LAYERS OF THE ONION
EACH LINE IS LIKE AN ONION; SOME ONION LAYERS MAY BE MORE DEVELOPED
Ego
Emotional
Cognitive
Moral
Social
Time / development
Murray, November 2010 29
31. CULTURAL VS. INDIVIDUAL WISDOM
Intelligence and wisdom can be created and stored at the levels of genes/biology,
culture, and individuals. Culture A over many generations may have developed
wisdom beyond what individuals in culture B know. But, the individuals in culture A may
only be doing what everyone has done for generations, and not understand the reasons
or value of their actions. Such wisdom is stored in the culture, not necessarily in most
members.Murray, November 2010 31
33. SECTION III: NEW AGE, MAGICAL, AND
METAPHYSICAL THINKING
What criteria do we
use to justify what
we think is real and
true at different
developmental
levels? Does it
make a difference?
What’s the
difference between
what we believe
and how we hold a
belief?
Murray, November 2010 33
34. SOME NEW AGE VS. INTEGRAL BELIEFS
New Age/Cultrl Creative
UFOs and lost ancient
advanced civilizations; the
healing power of crystals;
the earth is a living
conscious being (Gaia); we
can manifest our wishes
through intention alone;
astrology, and other
prognostication systems;
various schools of mystical
and occult beliefs; "all you
need is love" (and peace);
everything is perfect as it is.
New Age & Integral
Channeling and the existence
of non-physical beings; ESP
and psychic phenomena;
intuitions can offer sturdy
truths and directives;
existence of a soul/spirit
(and constructs such as Over-
soul, Authentic Self),
reincarnation and past lives;
synchronicities are real;
psychic energy and the
chakra system; the reality of
collective consciousness and
parts of the self such as ego
and shadow; all is one.
Integral
The universe is evolving
– through us; Eros,
Agape, involution,
morphogenetic fields,
Omega Point;
objects/events fit into 4
ontological quadrants (or
8 zones); cultures and
people can be categorized
in terms of “memes”;
there is a non-dual ground
of being beyond space,
time, energy, matter, and
mind.
34Murray, November 2010 34
35. NEW AGE / GREEN MEME /
CULTURAL CREATIVE BELIEFS
We are all one; collective mind
We can manifest intentions (The Secret)
All you need is love
The New Age is a special foretold time in history
The earth is a being (Gaia)
Crystals etc. have healing energy
Divination: I-Ching,Tarot, dowsing, etc.
Non-physical beings: channeling, angels, spirits
Personality typing: astrology, Myers-Briggs…
Intuitions bring sturdy truths, directions
Prana/Qi, ‘energy’ through & outside the body
Values: inclusive, ecology, human-rights & potential, freedoms, feelings
Tom Murray | www.perspegrity.com |
May 2010
35
How do we argue for what is Real or True?
36. ACTIVITY: REFLECTIONS ON THINGS SAID TO EXIST
Integral
Holon
(Collective) consciousness
LL, UR…quadrants
Green, orange… meme
TheTrue, Good, the Beautiful..
Gross, Subtle, Causal states
Subtle energies and chakras
Spirit; Authentic Self
Ground of Being;The non-dual
Involution; Eros & Agape
Universe is evolving through us
36
Does it exist?
In what way?
How sure are you?
How would I
explain/argue for
(against) it?
Why is it important for
others to believe?
Pick something you have tried unsuccessfully
to explain to a colleague or friend
Murray, November 2010 36
37. MAGICAL THINKING
Nonliving things have an animate life force; intentions, can
hurt & bless
Powerful beings (gods, spirits…) can punish or reward; we
are vulnerable
I have the psychic power to effect the world; bless or curse;
pray, manifest (omnipotency)
I hear inner messages; I use special objects and rituals to
access divinations
Impulses and emotions and power dynamics determine my
actions (not abstract ideas or plans)
All is one; boundary-less; we are all connected
Wishful thinking (the unwanted is unreal)
Very in touch with imagination;
Imagination as reality; subtle phenomena
37Murray, November 2010 37
38. MAGICAL/MYTHICAL
CRITERIA FOR WHAT IS TRUE (AND GOOD)
Authority figures and charismatics
Magical or sacred books and objects
Social norms, habit, they way it has been
Peer identification; what everyone does/says
My own experience
38Murray, November 2010 38
39. TO BLUE, ORANGE…
o Blue meme: ideals, rules, principles, predictable patterns
o Orange meme: systematic, possibilities/probabilities,
logic; rigor, efficiency & perfection drives
o Differentiating/discriminating:
Feelings vs. thoughts
Interiors vs. exteriors (self reflection)
True / Good / Beautiful
Self vs. group/culture
Belief vs. truth
Past/Future
o Statement validity:
o observation, repeatability, logic
o Scientific method
39Murray, November 2010 39
40. IDEAS AS REALITY
“MISPLACED CONCRETENESS” THROUGH DEVELOPMENTAL LEVELS
Magical thinking – imagination as reality
Mythical thinking – stories as reality
Conventional thinking – norms as reality
Modern thinking – concepts/models/abstractions as
reality
(Postmodern? – mirror/paradox
as reality?)
(Integral?...)
Concepts:
- Freedom
- The economy
- Green meme
- Eros
- UR quadrant
-- …
Whitehead
Murray, November 2010 40
41. PROGRESSIVE TO INTEGRAL TRUTHS (ALLOWING POLARITIES)
“…ITS MORE COMPLICATED THAN THAT…”
We are all one (yes, and…?)
All you need is love (what if they don’t agree?)
Come together now (but: more complexity)
The system must change! (-> creating better
systems)
We can do it! (plus reality check)
Getting myself together (all about me??)
Save the whale/rainforest; eat vegan, meditate
(I’m starving!)
Murray, November 2010 41
42. MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES
Methodological Pluralism is about dealing with
Multiple Perspectives
-- an opening that leads to increased
Uncertainty, dissonance, social vulnerability
Which calls for compensating:
More deeply ethical approaches
Increased epistemic wisdom
Murray, November 2010 42
43. PROBLEMS/PARADOXES OF THE
GREEN CULTURAL LEVEL
Inclusive & caring but hates orange, blue ways
Ecologically minded & open to new/different but mistrusts
money, hierarchy, systems, rules, logic, power
Egalitarian & sensitive but narcissistic ‘me generation,’
spiritual materialism, sex/drugs/rock’n’roll
Activist & collective but can be stagnant/impotent due to
in-fighting, process-orientation, feelings-orientation
Performative contradictions: no theory/perspective is
privileged (except this one!)
43Murray, November 2010 43
45. SECTION IV: WHAT IS SECOND TIER THOUGHT AND CULTURE?
Images
illustrating
complexity
Murray, November 2010 45
46. WISDOM SKILLS
FOR SECOND TIER ENACTION
Ego awareness (self/ego/will
and being/spirit/essence; "I"
dimension)
Relational awareness
(emotional/social/ethical/interpe
rsonal intelligence; "We"
dimension)
Construct awareness (cognitive;
"It" dimension)
Systems awareness ("Its"
dimension; context, cognitive capacity RE
dynamic systems and networks of relationships)
46Murray, November 2010 46
47. DEVELOPMENT, DISEQUILIBRIUM AND HUMILITY
(AT GREEN MEME MANY OPENINGS THAT BECOME OVERWHELMING—YELLOW ADAPTS TO THESE)
Heart/Empathy: Relationally aware -- opening
to the suffering of ever wider circles of
relationship
Mind/Cognitive: Construct aware --
foundations of certainty in knowing are shaken
Spirit/Self: Ego aware -- awake to the profound
levels of chaos and vulnerability in life
External world: Systems aware – chaos: radical
connectivity, unpredictability
47Murray, November 2010 47
48. ONTOLOGICAL HUMILITY TO EPISTEMIC WISDOM
Ontological Humility:
“I don’t know” “I’m not sure” “I was wrong” “what is your perspective?”
My beliefs and perceptions are shaped by my mental models (biases,
world view..)
Epistemic Wisdom (..sophistication, awareness…)
From working under uncertainty to working with uncertainty
What method/criteria will we use to decide what is true, or right?
How do we anticipate “indeterminacy”?
From: reciting “the map is not the territory”
-- to --
what are its limits, assumptions, alternatives?
Murray, November 2010 48
49. SPEECH ACTS SHOWING (BASIC) EPISTEMIC
WISDOM
I really don't know. But my current best guess is…
I have two seemingly opposing thoughts or impulses going on here, …
I was wrong about that.Thanks to your comment I checked it out and …
I felt some frustration and anger upon reading your comment. Let me try to
explain…
What assumptions are we making…?
Would you be willing to tell me what you think I am saying, as you understand
it?
Both perspectives seem valid to me, but in different ways, as follows….
What is our purpose here? Is our process aligned with it?
Would some of you like to start a separate discussion about how we can make
this dialog more productive?
Murray, November 2010 49
50. POSITIVISM/CERTAINTY VS.
FALLIBILISM/INDETERMINACY
Positivist attitude: clarity,
certainty, action
knowledge/meaning-generative;
problem solving, theorizing
Negative capability: awe, humility,
curiosity
Limits of language & knowledge &
method
Tolerance for ambiguity, uncertainty,
unknowing
Dealing with the above
50Murray, November 2010 50
51. EPISTEMIC LANGUAGE GAMES
Positivist epistemics:
It IS… (foundational, essential, ultimate)
It always is/was (eternal, given, primordial,..)
Negative (epistemic) capability
It is as if ; (what if; suspension..)
“Chances are”…“as far as we can tell,”
To the extent that… (in this context)
In this sense/way… (from this perspective)
51Murray, November 2010 51
52. CERTAINTY & COMMITMENT IN BELIEF &
ACTION
52
Ecstatic
urgency!
Action (to do)
Stable base for growth
Commitment
Faith:
Choose to believe
Epistemic
wisdom
to know / not know
Deconstruct for growth
Vulnerability
Suspend belief
Murray, November 2010 52
53. UNDERSTANDING THE MIND
David Bohm: "underneath [humanity's
dilemmas] there's something we don't
understand about how thought works"
and that what is needed is a "very deep
[and] very subtle" awareness of thought
itself.
Albert Einstein: "the significant problems we
face cannot be solved at the same level of
thinking we were at when we created
them.”
Deeper understanding mind, thought,
language, knowledge, belief…
=> the (epistemic or) “post-metaphysical
turn”
53Murray, November 2010 53
54. SECOND TIER - GOING “META”
(FROM ITC-2008)
Meta-cognition (thinking about thinking)
Meta-knowledge (knowledge about the nature and limitations
of knowledge); META-BELIEF!
Meta-learning (learning how to learn, also called triple-loop
learning)
Meta-dialog (dialog about how we engage in dialog)
Meta-decision making (making decisions about how we will go
about making decisions)
Meta-affect (investigating the feeling of our feelings; somatic
awareness of feeling states)
Meta-leadership (supporting leadership in others)
Murray, November 2010 54
55. PERSPECTIVE-TAKING THROUGH
DEVELOPMENTAL LEVELS
Formal-op/Orange
Multiple verifiable
data sources;
> collect, analyze
> find the/best truth
> (quality, rigor)
• suspend judgment
• consider possibilities
• control uncertainty
+ skeptical of traditional
authority and ‘common
sense’
Inclusive/Green
Multiple opinions,
values, world-views;
> empathize & understand
> Many/no ‘truths’
> (authentic, fair)
• avoid judgment
• include everyone
• thrashing in uncertny
+ skeptical of experts and
all authority and leadership
2nd Tier/Integral
Systems, systemic;
> Nature of: mind,
ego, ‘truth,’
knowledge, belief,
power, dialog…
> (truth about truth)
• balance reason,
emotion, intuition…
• work with uncertnty
+ skeptical of ego, method,
skepticism?
Murray, November 2010 55
58. FRIDAY EVE – BOHM DIALOG & U-THEORY
Murray, November 2010 58
59. FIVE PART CONVERSATION TO
CHOOSE A TOPIC FOR EXTENDED DIALOG
“U” dialog #1 … in 15 minutes
Brainstorm
Group reflections
Silence (guided mediation)
Bohm dialog
Summary and reflection
Murray, November 2010 59
60. FOUR QUADRANT CONTEMPLATION
(it) Sensation; 5 senses & interior
(its) Physical environment
(I)Thoughts, intentions,
(we) Group sense
Murray, November 2010 60
61. AWARENESS OF THOUGHT ITSELF
David Bohm:
…a pervasive incoherence in the process
of human thought is the essential
cause of the endless crises affecting
mankind…
underneath [humanity's dilemmas]
there's something we don't
understand about how thought
works" and that what is needed is a
"very deep [and] very subtle
awareness of thought itself.
61Murray, November 2010 61
62. BOHM “ON DIALOGUE”
Dialogue is a powerful means of understanding how thought functions.
[One becomes] aware that we live in a world produced almost entirely
by human enterprise and thus, by human thought.
In Dialogue, a group of people can explore the individual and collective
presuppositions, ideas, beliefs, and feelings that subtly control
their interactions. It provides an opportunity to participate in a
process that displays communication successes and failures. It can
reveal the often puzzling patterns of incoherence that lead the group
to avoid certain issues or, on the other hand, to insist, against all
reason, on standing and defending opinions about particular issues.
Dialogue is a way of observing, collectively, how hidden values and
intentions can control our behavior, and how unnoticed cultural
differences can clash without our realizing what is occurring. It can
therefore be seen as an arena in which collective learning takes place
and out of which a sense of increased harmony, fellowship and
creativity can arise.
Murray, November 2010 62
63. BOHM DIALOG
Thought habits determine our reality
Thought is more collective than individual; more
unconscious than conscious
Problem with fragmentation (vs. wholeness)
Dialog vs. debate
Understand thought by witnessing our own
Power of coherence of thought
Impersonal fellowship
The group as a collective consciousness is
meditating; aware of itself
Murray, November 2010 63
64. BOHM/INSIGHT DIALOG GUIDELINES
Suspend and reflect on thoughts and feelings
Observe assumptions, judgments, reactivity,
desires, impulses, sensations (“proprioception”)
Listen deeply; soften to allow many perspectives;
suspend certainty
Feel into the whole; the context beyond yourself
Slow down, enjoy silence: decide to speak or not;
trust emergence
Usually: speak to the center or group and avoid
two-person dialogs
Speak your simple truth in this moment
Murray, November 2010 64
65. “U” DIALOG #2
Brainstorm
Group reflections
Silence (guided mediation)
Bohm dialog
Summary and reflection
Murray, November 2010 65
70. A HEURISTIC SPECTRUM
OF DEVELOPMENTAL NARRATIVES
70
Beliefs &
World Views
Skills &
Capacities
WHAT one believes HOW one
believes/thinks
What on does/can DO
(Values, Identity,) (Virtues, Habits)
Murray, November 2010 70
71. SOME PROBLEMS WITH DEVELOPMENT
AS A WORLDVIEW OR BELIEF SYSTEM
Beliefs: perspectival, culturally bound, fallible
Attached to identity and support in/out group
Beliefs can “clash” in struggles of power and
identity; skills are “cognitive tools”
Beliefs-systems can be ideologies/dogmas
(manipulation/misconception/misuse)
Charismatic propaganda, peer pressure
(inculcation/adoption vs. teaching/learning)
71Murray, November 2010 71
72. THE VALUE OF BELIEF SYSTEMS
Motivation, intention,
vision!
…when and why to USE
skills/capacities
Power of story, myth,
narrative
Shared world-view
Synergetic action, solidarity,
meaning-generation
Stable base for new levels of
cultural evolution
Need shared beliefs
(community) to create
skills(?)
72Murray, November 2010 72
73. INTEGRAL & POST-METAPHYSICAL INJUNCTIONS
>> TOWARD CONSTRUCT AWARENESS <<
Don’t confuse map with territory
Avoid the Myth of the Given
Beliefs are perspectives:
“Things are getting better”
“Things are getting worse”
“Things are always perfect”
73
Belief….Skill
}
Murray, November 2010 73
74. INTEGRAL
POST-METAPHYSICS
Kosmic address: altitude + perspective (of S,O)
Who x How xWhat
Who: adequatio (developmental level(s) of perceiver)
How: method / tool; relationship of S,O; zone
What: quadrant (I,we,it,its)
74
the dog, Santa Claus, √-1, Emptiness, ecosystem,…
- where/how do the referents to these signifiers exists?
- “ecosystems exist only in a worldspace of turquoise or higher”
Murray, November 2010 74
75. INTERDEPENDENT MODES OF STATEMENT
JUSTIFICATION/CRITIQUE
First hand experience
Deep intuition (or gut feeling)
Most people (peers in my group) believe it
Support of experts/authorities
Reasonable assumptions/bases/premises
Logical inference (supporting truth)
It is ethically right
It is pragmatically useful (it works)
Consistent with other knowledge
Trusted sources (journal, NPR, etc.)
I used a trusted method
Aesthetic or elegant
75Murray, November 2010 75
78. WHEN MORALITY OPPOSES JUSTICE: CONSERVATIVES HAVE
MORAL INTUITIONS THAT LIBERALS MAY NOT RECOGNIZE
–HAIDT & GRAHAM
Five foundations for morality
Murray, November 2010 78
As parts within us, not as labelsShow pos and negative3 minutes prep; 30 sec play; plus 30 sec word salad
Transcend and include; self and culture;
wilber.shambhala.com/.../ excerptD/part4-1.cfm
As parts within us, not as labels
So far, just argued for the different narratives; next argue for problems with beliefs and need for more skills-based; moving along that spectrum- If I had to choose between a Turquise belief system and skills set… “Mean Green Meme” is actually a cultural identity grouping that does not reflect green skill development Think of intelligent/evolved integral non-believers; are hey second tier?
We distinguish oursleves form prior memes…How important are some of these beliefs to you or others?How do we articulate what’s unsettling (or unjustified) about some beliefs? LATER: talk about mythical, magical and metaphysical thinkiing…its ROLE
Reintegrating the subtle?
Looking at epstemology; ways of thinking, capacities; not values/needs.
POMO: Focus on what is wrong
- systems: everything is connected;
OK for Wilber! That certainty and precision creates a force; but WE don’t have to copy it…How can we bring both of these into play?- everybody is partially RIGHT; vs Everybody is (partly) wrong
Many ways we talk about it; all the models wilber mentions- stage based models…STRAW man spectrum!- not critique of existing narratives/projects; an exploration into where next
Wiping up the crowd; extreem states; - partial, always wrong-
Zone == how x what?Who, how, what enact each other (conascent)- Seean EH:Object’s [altitude & quadrivium] XSubject’s [>= devel level & quadrant]
Fig 1: Moral relevance by foundation for extreme liberals and conservatives. 1=not relevant at all, 6=always relevant.