

Human Nature Prepares for a Momentous Leap (1974) - MichaelAO
http://www.clarewgraves.com/articles_content/1974_Futurist/1974_Futurist.html

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briantmaurer
Does anyone else feel like this "leap" is somewhere in the middle of its
transition?

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smithkl42
Anytime I read about a "leap" like this, the plausible outcome strikes me as
much more likely to resemble "Brave New World", "1984", or "That Hideous
Strength". Betting on humanity spontaneously getting better than itself is a
sucker's bet.

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daronjay
Something something Age of Aquarius....

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jqm
Hahaha. I had exactly the same thought and almost posted something similar.

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earljwagner
Graves did some really interesting psychology research by asking undergrads to
describe the psychology of a healthy, mature adult human. He had his grad
students cluster the essays and they did, initially into self-expressing and
self-controlling conceptions. In time, they came to see a specific sequence of
levels in which self-expressing conceptions alternated with self-controlling
ones. This was taken up by Don Beck and Chris Cowan and further marketed as
"Spiral Dynamics". Ken Wilber then used it as the foundation for some of his
work on Integral Psychology.

Essentially, (in the Spiral Dynamics' colors terminology), Red is the "law of
jungle", survival of the fittest. Think Mad Max. Self-expressing. "express now
for reward now"

Blue is the level of delayed gratification and obeying authority. Think
Hammurabi up through to authoritarian societies such as North Korea. Self-
controlling - "sacrifice now for (spiritual) reward later"

Orange is the scientific revolution and classical liberalism. Basically,
individuals can discover natural laws for themselves and choose their economic
relations. Martin Luther, Galileo, and Adam Smith through to the ethos of Wall
Street. Self-expressing - "express self now calculatedly with little shame or
guilt"

Green is 60s pluralism and multiculturalism. The basic idea is that we can't
be truly happy unless we work to support inclusion and opportunity for all. It
gives rise to what some criticize as political-correctness and a culture of
"taking offense". Self-controlling - "sacrifice now for peer-approval"

Yellow is basically data-driven decision-making, technocracy, authority from
expertise, etc. Self-expressing - "express now but not at the expense of
others".

Turquoise is after Yellow, and self-controlling, but beyond those facts it's
widely debated. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin is seen as an example of this level
of thinker. "sacrifice the idea that one will ever know what it is all about
and adjust to this as the existential reality of existence"

Graves had been teaching intro to psych and presenting the work of Skinner,
Freud, and Rogers and others. When students asked him who was right, however,
he was frustrated that had no answer for them. After doing this work, he came
to discover that each had a niche in helping an individual transition from one
level to the next. Skinner's work on conditioning would help an individual
learn delayed gratification (red to blue). Freudian psychodynamic therapy
could help an individual overcome hangups learned from culture (blue to
orange). Sensitivity training could help someone understand others'
perspectives (orange to green). Rogerian client-centered therapy could help an
individual go beyond the need for acceptance from their peer group to self-
actualization (green to yellow).

He had another insight that self-actualization, as it was understood in the
60s and 70s, is probably a process and not a final state. There is no final
destination, as there may be levels even beyond turquoise.

Graves' unfinished manuscript summarizing all of this was posthumously
published as "The Never Ending Quest"
[http://www.clarewgraves.com/neq/neq.html](http://www.clarewgraves.com/neq/neq.html)
I just finished it and highly recommend it.

My personal take is that these levels represent "paradigms of choice". They're
levels of complexity at which you can understand your choices and the choices
of others. Individuals at each subsequent level are able to handle greater
complexity, and see more options for decisions.

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jqm
I'm skeptical. Humans adapt to circumstance and use different tools, but I'd
need some convincing to believe our essential nature has _ever_ changed since
we first climbed down out of the trees. Tribalism, selfishness, violence,
lust, love, superstition and an occasional rare burst of insight and
reason.... all still plainly manifest and driving our social world. Look at
Nigeria. Look at the local penitentiary. Look at the Mideast. Look at the
office politics in your workplace. Same motives, different manifestations.
Nothing really changes as long as the condition in which we find ourselves
remains the same. And that condition is scarcity and fear of death and pain
and jealousy and constant competition from competing tribes. A same organism
in the same conditions is likely to act in the same ways. And we do, and we
will, at least until we become something else or until these circumstances
change for everybody (which dream is very very far away).

On the other hand, maybe we are gaining the tools to change our nature through
changes in biology/physiology. This is hardly metaphysical or philosophical or
psychological though.

