Spiral Dynamics is a theory of human development Evolutionary psychology attempts to explain psychological traits—such as memory, perception, or language—as adaptations, that is, as the functional products of natural selection or sexual selection. Adaptationist thinking about physiological mechanisms, such as the heart, lungs, and immune system, is common in evolutionary biology introduced in the 1996 book Spiral Dynamics by Don Beck Don Beck is an American management consultant and co-author of the book Spiral Dynamics and Chris Cowan. The book was based on the theory of psychology Psychology is the scientific study of human or other animal mental functions and behaviors. In this field, a professional practitioner or researcher is called a psychologist. Psychologists are classified as social or behavioral scientists. Psychological research can be considered either basic or applied. Psychologists attempt to understand the professor Clare W. Graves Clare W. Graves was a professor of psychology and originator of a theory of adult human development. He was born in New Richmond, Indiana, and originally targeted at a business management Management in all business areas and organizational activities are the acts of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal. Resourcing encompasses the deployment and audience. "Spiral Dynamics" is a registered trademark A trademark is a type of intellectual property, and typically a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, or a combination of these elements. There is also a range of non-conventional trademarks comprising marks which do not fall into these standard categories of the National Values Center, Inc.

Some of the ideas of Spiral Dynamics have been adopted by American author Ken Wilber Kenneth Earl Wilber II is an American author who has written about adult development, developmental psychology, philosophy, worldcentrism, ecology, and stages of faith. His work formulates what he calls Integral Theory. In 1998, he founded the Integral Institute, for teaching and applications of Integral theory and other members of the Integral Institute The Integral Institute is a think-tank founded in 1998 by American philosopher, psychologist, and mystic Ken Wilber. The purpose of the Institute is to gather and attempt to integrate the various viewpoints found in a number of major fields of knowledge. For example, the Integral Institute currently has a number of branches including Integral.

Contents

Overview

Spiral Dynamics argues that human nature is not fixed: humans are able, when forced by life conditions, to adapt to their environment by constructing new, more complex, conceptual models In the most general sense, a model is anything used in any way to represent anything else. Some models are physical objects, for instance, a toy model which may be assembled, and may even be made to work like the object it represents. However a conceptual model, may only be drawn on paper, described in words, or imagined in the mind. They are used of the world that allow them to handle the new problems. Each new model includes and transcends all previous models. According to Beck and Cowan, these conceptual models are organized around so-called vMemes: systems of core values or collective intelligences Collective intelligence is a shared or group intelligence that emerges from the collaboration and competition of many individuals. Collective intelligence appears in a wide variety of forms of consensus decision making in bacteria, animals, humans, and computer networks. The study of collective intelligence may properly be considered a subfield of, applicable to both individuals and entire cultures.

In spiral dynamics, the term vMeme refers to a core value system A value system is a set of consistent ethic values and measures[clarification needed] used for the purpose of ethical or ideological integrity. A well defined value system is a moral code, acting as an organizing principle, which expresses itself through memes A meme is a unit of cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena. (The etymology of the term relates to the Greek word μιμητισμός ([mɪmetɪsmos]) for "something imitated".) Supporters of the concept regard memes as (self-propagating ideas, habits, or cultural practices). The prepended and superscripted letter v indicates these are not basic memes but value systems which include them. The colors act as reminders for the Life Conditions and Mind Capacities of each system and alternate between cool and warm colors as a part of the model.

Within the model, individuals and cultures do not fall clearly in any single category (color). Each person/culture embodies a mixture of the value patterns, with varying degrees of intensity in each. Spiral Dynamics claims not to be a linear or hierarchical model, although this assertion has been contested.[citation needed] According to Spiral Dynamics, there are infinite stages of progress and regression over time dependent upon the life circumstances of the person/culture, which are constantly in-flux. Attaining higher stages of development is not synonymous with attaining a 'better' or 'more correct' values system. All stages co-exist in both healthy and unhealthy states, whereby any stage of development can lead to undesirable outcomes with respect to the health of the human and social environment (see Shadow & Spin-off or Sub-Personalities).

I am not saying in this conception of adult behavior that one style of being, one form of human existence is inevitably and in all circumstances superior to or better than another form of human existence, another style of being. What I am saying is that when one form of being is more congruent with the realities of existence, then it is the better form of living for those realities. And what I am saying is that when one form of existence ceases to be functional for the realities of existence then some other form, either higher or lower in the hierarchy, is the better form of living. I do suggest, however, and this I deeply believe is so, that for the overall welfare of total man's existence in this world, over the long run of time, higher levels are better than lower levels and that the prime goal of any society's governing figures should be to promote human movement up the levels of human existence.
— Clare W. Graves[citation needed]

First tier vMemes

These vMeme levels are focused on different themes for existence, and include almost all of the worldviews, cultures, and mental attitudes up to today. New systems build on adaptations of previous levels and seek to solve problems created by living in those earlier ways. (Attaching concrete examples to these levels of psychological existence is difficult and often misleading because (a) there can be multiple reasons for the same behavior and (b) centralization in a single level regarding all aspects of living is rare. Some advocates of Spiral Dynamics argue that these are ways of thinking about things, not types of people. However, Spiral Dynamics does explicitly define a category of people labeled "Spiral Wizards" who have attained equilibrium around "higher level" vMemes.[1]

Beige

Archaic-instinctive—survivalistic/automatic/reflexological

Purple

Animistic-tribalistic magical Magic, sometimes known as sorcery, is the practice of consciousness manipulation and/or autosuggestion to achieve a desired result, usually by techniques described in various conceptual systems. The practice is often influenced by ideas of religion, mysticism, occultism, science, and psychology.[citation needed]-animistic Animism is a philosophical, religious or spiritual idea that souls or spirits exist not only in humans but also in animals, plants, rocks, natural phenomena such as thunder, geographic features such as mountains or rivers, or other entities of the natural environment. Animism may further attribute souls to abstract concepts such as words, true Tribal order

Red

Egocentric-exploitive power gods/dominionist

Blue

Absolutistic-obedience mythic The term mythology can refer to either the study of myths or a body of myths. For example, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece. The term "myth" is often used colloquially to refer to a false story; however, the academic order—purposeful/authoritarian Authoritarianism is a form of social organization characterized by submission to authority. It is opposed to individualism and democracy. In politics, an authoritarian government is one in which political power is concentrated in a leader or leaders, typically unelected, who possess exclusive, unaccountable, and arbitrary power

(Amber is Ken Wilber's current name for Blue)

Orange

Multiplistic-achievist scientific Science is a systematic enterprise of gathering knowledge about nature and organizing and condensing that knowledge into testable laws and theories. As knowledge has increased, some methods have proved more reliable than others, and today the scientific method is the standard for science. It includes the use of careful observation, experimentation,/strategic Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked. How a battle is fought is a matter of tactics: the terms and

Green

Relativistic-personalistic—communitarian Communitarianism, as a group of related but distinct philosophies, began in the late 20th century, opposing individualism. Not necessarily hostile to social liberalism or even social democracy, communitarianism emphasizes the need to balance individual rights and interests with that of the community as a whole, and argues that individual people/egalitarian Egalitarianism has two distinct definitions in modern English. It is defined either as a political doctrine that holds that all people should be treated as equals and have the same political, economic, social, and civil rights or as a social philosophy advocating the removal of economic inequalities among people

Second tier vMemes

The Spiral Dynamics theory sees the following systems as emerging levels that gradually move away from a focus on subsistence-level concerns of the First Tier, and towards a being-level existence. The existence of two different tiers of psychological development was introduced by the founder Graves. Cowan claims it is possible Graves introduced the tier system as a marketing instrument. Up to today there is no research evidence the two tiers exist. Cowan no longer supports the existence of two tiers but claims the only thing now known about the Yellow and Turquoise systems is that they are more complex versions of Orange and Green. The open-ended theory suggests that the levels Coral and beyond are not yet substantially formed and will solidify as a greater portion of society develops towards those memes.

Yellow

Systemic-integrative

Turquoise

Holistic Holism is the idea that all the properties of a given system (physical, biological, chemical, social, economic, mental, linguistic, etc.) cannot be determined or explained by its component parts alone. Instead, the system as a whole determines in an important way how the parts behave

Applications

Don E. Beck spent several years applying the theory of Spiral Dynamics while working with individuals and groups in South Africa involved in the transition from Apartheid Bantustan · District Six · Robben Island [2][3][4] for which he received a legislative honor from the state of Texas.[5]

Pathologies

According to Don Beck Don Beck is an American management consultant and co-author of the book Spiral Dynamics and Ken Wilber Kenneth Earl Wilber II is an American author who has written about adult development, developmental psychology, philosophy, worldcentrism, ecology, and stages of faith. His work formulates what he calls Integral Theory. In 1998, he founded the Integral Institute, for teaching and applications of Integral theory, each vMeme has both healthy and unhealthy versions. The pathologies are sometimes referred to as being "mean" as in "Mean Green vMeme" (MGM) or "Mean Orange vMeme" (MOM) . As examples, the MOM includes the extremes of capitalism Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production are privately owned; supply, demand, price, distribution, and investments are determined mainly by private decisions in the free market, rather than by the state through central economic planning or through democratic planning; profit is distributed to owners who invest in like exploitation, environmental devastation and a general lack of ethics and sensitivity, while the MGM includes performative contradictions like anti-hierarchy, anti-competition, etc.

Cowan disputes that any credible evidence exists for the existence of the "Mean Green vMeme" and that it is a misrepresentation of the theory. While he recognizes the problems mentioned above, Cowan argues that they exist in other value systems as well, such that attaching them only to the Green vMeme is too simplistic. He considers the term "mean" to be inappropriate and a theoretical distortion when questions of adaptation or maladaptation, congruence or ineffectiveness are more to the point. Psychopathology Psychopathology is the study of mental illness, mental distress and abnormal, maladaptive behavior. The term is most commonly used within psychiatry where pathology refers to disease processes. Abnormal psychology is a similar term used more frequently in the non-medical field of psychology potentially exists at all levels and is a different dimension.[6]

Todorovic[7] offers data and analysis leading to the conclusion that the "Mean Green Meme" conjecture is contradicted by the data. Todorovic further concludes that MGM is a "failure of analysis" based on a variety of misconceptions about spiral dynamics and constitutes an "alarming misdiagnosis" and brands MGM a harmful "form of spiral fundamentalism."

Criticisms of Spiral Dynamics

Critics point out that the model's implications are political as well as developmental and that while the terminology of the theory is self-consciously inclusive, the practical implications of the model can be seen as socially elitist and authoritarian.[8] In his work on the subject, Beck emphasizes that one of the characteristics of "tier two" individuals, also called "Spiral Wizards", is their ability to make superior decisions for all parties concerned and to manufacture consent for their approaches at lower levels using resonant terms and ideas. In addition to outlining an underlying developmental theory, Spiral Dynamics gives explicit suggestions to these "Wizards" for both consensual and non-consensual management of "lower-tier" individuals. One critic of Spiral Dynamics, Michel Bauwens, has argued that some conceptions of what it means to be "second tier" have come to resemble Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (German pronunciation: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈniːtsʃə]; in English UK: /ˈniːtʃə/, US: /ˈniːtʃi/) was a 19th-century German philosopher and classical philologist. He wrote critical texts on religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy and science, displaying a fondness for metaphor, irony and's idea of the Übermensch The Übermensch is a concept in the Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche posited the Übermensch as a goal for humanity to set for itself in his 1883 book Thus Spoke Zarathustra (German: Also Sprach Zarathustra).[9] Co author Cowan has publicly dissociated himself from the ideas that are currently being promoted by his ex-partner Beck.

The emphasis Spiral Dynamics places on exercising power derived from greater developmental attainments has also been characterized as derivative of a number of other past political theories emphasizing decision-making by a select elite, including Plato Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the foundations of Western philosophy and science. Plato was originally a's idealization of the philosopher king Philosopher kings are the hypothetical rulers, or Guardians, of Plato's Utopian Kallipolis. If his ideal city-state is to ever come into being, "philosophers [must] become kings…or those now called kings [must]…genuinely and adequately philosophize".[citation needed] It should also be noted that, within this paradigm, Spiral Dynamics is itself characterized as a "second tier" concept, implicitly flattering those who support the theory and potentially inviting confirmation biases Confirmation bias is a tendency for people to prefer information that confirms their preconceptions or hypotheses, independently of whether they are true. People can reinforce their existing attitudes by selectively collecting new evidence, by interpreting evidence in a biased way, or by selectively recalling information from memory. Some.[citation needed]

Further, some criticisms of Spiral Dynamics have been dismissed as expressions of lower-level memes, particularly the "mean green meme." This internal refutation of external critiques was one of philosopher Karl Popper Sir Karl Raimund Popper, CH, FRS, FBA was an Austrian and British philosopher and a professor at the London School of Economics. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of science of the 20th century; he also wrote extensively on social and political philosophy's criteria for establishing that a system of belief is non-falsifiable and for distinguishing non-science from genuine scientific theory.[10]

Some critics dispute the universality of the linear or emergent transitions proposed in Spiral Dynamics, due to the high degree of variation they see among human cultures over time. The claim that humans have changed systemically on psycho-social dimensions, such as self concept or the human propensity and reasons for self sacrifice, over the time period proposed in Spiral Dynamics, is not supported by mainstream anthropology, the social sciences, or evolutionary biology.[11]

Other theoretical elements

Clare Graves' original theory on which Spiral Dynamics is based was known as the "Emergent Cyclic Double-Helix Model of Adult Biopsychosocial Systems Development" or, more simply, the Emergent Cyclic Levels of Existence Theory (ECLET).[citation needed] The colour system was added in the 1970's as a graphic element to decorate training materials used by Cowan and Beck. The term vMeme was introduced by Beck and Cowan in Spiral Dynamics where the color language replaced original Graves terminology. Graves had used letter pairs to refer to each level and had not considered any connection with memetics Memetics is a term coined by Douglas Hofstadter in the 1980s, relating to the notion of meme, introduced by Richard Dawkins, as genetics relates to that of gene. Beck and Cowan emphasized 'change states' which are part of the Graves theory. They identify landmarks on the transformational path between the levels. Graves' original theory uses a double helix In molecular biology, the term double helix refers to the structure formed by double-stranded molecules of nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA. The double helical structure of a nucleic acid complex arises as a consequence of its secondary structure, and is a fundamental component in determining its tertiary structure. The term entered popular model to show the interrelatedness of an individual's perception of life conditions with their inner neuronal systems, producing a level of psychological existence. This double helix of two interacting forces is referred to as a spiral in 'Spiral Dynamics.

Further theoretical development

Following the release of their book, Beck and Cowan taught this theory in two courses, SDI and SDII. They ceased their formal working relationship in 1999.[citation needed]

Beck and Ken Wilber Kenneth Earl Wilber II is an American author who has written about adult development, developmental psychology, philosophy, worldcentrism, ecology, and stages of faith. His work formulates what he calls Integral Theory. In 1998, he founded the Integral Institute, for teaching and applications of Integral theory (with his integral theory) became interested in each other's work, resulting in Beck developing a branch of spiral dynamics that he calls Spiral Dynamics Integral. This version of the theory uses integral concepts such as the four quadrants. Beck is also associated with the spiritual teacher, Andrew Cohen[12][13]. This approach continues to be applied and further developed in organisational and societal contexts.

Cowan does not subscribe to these developments and promotes a version of the theory which he describes as remaining more faithful to the original research of Clare Graves and extending from it. He continues to use the term 'Spiral Dynamics' to describe his work since he co-created it. With his partner, Natasha Todorovic, he has undertaken work in integrating Spiral Dynamics with NLP Neuro-linguistic programming is a controversial approach to psychotherapy and organisational change based on "a model of interpersonal communication chiefly concerned with the relationship between successful patterns of behaviour and the subjective experiences (esp. patterns of thought) underlying them" and "a system of alternative and other models, and in developing corporate strategy and practical applications.[citation needed]

Each of the external websites listed below promotes the organization of one of the two co-authors.

See also

References

  1. ^ Beck, Don and Cowan, Chris (1996). Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership and Change. Blackwell Business. ISBN The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering (SBN) code created by Gordon Foster, now Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin, for the booksellers and stationers W.H. Smith and others in 1966 1557869405. .
  2. ^ DC Wahl, S Baxter, The Designer’s Role in Facilitating Sustainable Solutions, MIT Press Journals 2008. online
  3. ^ The story behind ‘Invictus’: Man aided team now onscreen. Denton Record-Chronicle, December 24, 2009, found on Invictus: Reflections on Power and Love, Don Beck and Rugby in South Africa. Integral Leadership Review Volume X, No. 1 - January 2010
  4. ^ Don Beck and Graham Linscott, The Crucible: Forging South Africa’s Future, Denton 1991, ISBN 0-62016241-4
  5. ^ http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/74R/billtext/html/HR00627F.htm
  6. ^ Chris Cowan, Wilber's misrepresentations of Spiral Dynamics, Part I - Part II
  7. ^ Natasha Todorovic, "Mean Green Meme: Fact or Fiction"
  8. ^ "Jeff Meyerhoff, Social Evolution"
  9. ^ Michel Bauwens, "A Critique of Wilber and Beck's SD-Integral", P/I: Pluralities/Integration, no. 61: March 23, 2005
  10. ^ Popper, Karl R. (1971). Open Society & Its Enemies. Princeton University Press. ISBN The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering (SBN) code created by Gordon Foster, now Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin, for the booksellers and stationers W.H. Smith and others in 1966 0-691-01972-X. .
  11. ^ Tilly, Charles (1984). Big Structures, Large Processes, Huge Comparisons. New York Russell Sage Foundation.
  12. ^ Leap Into the Future: Leadership for the 21st Century
  13. ^ Don Beck & Andrew Cohen - A Perspective That Changes Everything

Bibliography

External links

Categories: Integral theory | Self-help books | Sociological theories This category contains various sociological and sometimes interdisciplinary theories. It includes the main articles of the different Sociological paradigms which can be found in Category:Sociological paradigms. For the different variants of theories of these paradigms, please see its individual sub-category. For philosophical theories about

 

The above information uses material from Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License The purpose of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other functional and useful document "free" in the sense of freedom: to assure everyone the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it, with or without modifying it, either commercially or noncommercially. Secondarily, this License preserves for the author and publisher a.
Some facts may not have been fully verified for accuracy. [Disclaimers Wikipedia is an online open-content collaborative encyclopedia, that is, a voluntary association of individuals and groups working to develop a common resource of human knowledge. The structure of the project allows anyone with an Internet connection to alter its content. Please be advised that nothing found here has necessarily been reviewed by]
This page was last archived by our server on Wed Jul 21 01:50:54 2010. [ refresh local cache ]
Displaying this page or its contents does not use any Wikimedia Foundation's resources.
The owners of this site proudly support the Wikimedia Foundation.

[Hide]▼
'Spiral Dynamics' Blogs
Another note on Spiral Dynamics
weblog.tomgraves.org
Another note on Spiral Dynamics

Tom G

hu, 01 Oct 2009 12:30:38 GM

A couple of quick follow-ups on my recent post on the . Spiral Dynamics. cultural-assess​ment framework, which I use in some aspects of my work on business-archit​ecture and enterprise-arch​itecture. First, as per his comment on that post, ...

Google Blogs Search: Spiral Dynamics,
Mon Jan 11 01:32:08 2010
[Hide]▲