The Blog That Ate Mind Chatter

Okay, everyone. Let’s take a breath.

I realize that these posts about human development have become pretty intense for some of you. There is a lot of information, a lot of terminology, and some complex ideas. So let’s pause for an easier-to-understand, more relaxed post.

And, at the end, I’m going to add a few recommendations you might want to look into, if you’re interested.

Let’s get started. First, let’s zoom out from the details for a few general comments about what I’ve shared so far about development. (Trust me, this will be easy stuff, and interesting.)

Here, in my opinion, is the basic underlying idea I want you to understand about development:

Everyone is doing their best to make sense of and deal with the challenges of being a human being. In the broadest sense, what “develops” is your perspective about what it means to be here, what the challenges are, and your ability to deal with them.

Let’s face it, as my friend Saniel Bonder says, “It’s hard being here.” Some people think it’s only hard for some people, and that for others it’s easy. Others think it’s hard because they’re doing something wrong, or there’s some secret they haven’t found yet, or because they’re broken in some way.

I’d be willing to bet that most people who come to Centerpointe do so because they’re experiencing how hard it is to be a person. They want help, and they’ve heard that Holosync, along with what I teach, really does help. And, though it does help–in fact, quite a bit–the truth is that it’s hard being here for EVERYONE–whether you’re rich or poor, adored or have no friends, enlightened or completely unaware, famous or obscure, or anything else, in some ways it’s hard for every human being to be here.

Let me tell you why.

First, as you’ve no doubt noticed, some portion of the time, you don’t get what you want. That, in and of itself, makes being here hard. Right?

Now, as you learn some of the skills of the concrete operational level of development (the rules of cause and effect, and how to use them to successfully do things in the world), it becomes easier to get what you want more often.

If you learn the more advanced skills of formal operational–the ability to use abstract thought, to see the relationships between people, things, situations, ideas, and so forth, and to take the perspective of others, see the total ecology of a situation, and so forth–you can get what you want more often still.

And, if you develop further (into levels I haven’t talked about yet), you’ll very likely improve your odds even more.

Still, there there will always be times when you don’t get what you want.

Second, there are times when you get what you don’t want. And, again, the more skills you have at each developmental level, and the higher the level you attain, the less often you’ll get what you don’t want. You might even learn how to make the times when you get what you don’t want into opportunities.

And, at higher developmental levels, the tendency is for your sense of well-being to become increasingly independent of whatever you do or don’t get, but I’ll get into that when I talk about the levels beyond formal operational.

[Shameless commercial message: FYI: Though I don't mention these terms, my Life Principles Integration Process online courses are designed to take you through a step-by-step process through concrete operational (increasing those skills), into formal operational (increasing those skills), and beyond, to the even higher developmental levels. You can listen to a free preview lesson, if you're interested, at www.centerpointe.com/life/preview, or read all about it at www.centerpointe.com/life.]

Besides the inevitablity of sometimes not getting what you want and sometimes getting what you don’t want, there’s a third reason why it’s hard to be here:

Everything in the universe exists “in time”–it comes into being, and eventually it passes away. You’re employee of the month, and you feel good about it, but next month someone else is employee of the month and your award-winning glow is in the past.

You enjoy being young and vibrant, but then you get old.

You feel good, but then you get sick.

You have a beautiful meal in front of you, and then it’s gone, consummed.

You enjoy your children, and then they grow up.

You love your dog, but it grows old and dies.

You get a new car, but it gradually becomes “just transportation.”

And, the biggie: you’re born, but eventually you fall apart and die. Like everything else, you, too, come into being and eventually pass away.

That’s the way it is. All things eventually pass away, including you and me, and it makes it hard to be here. And every person, even if they’re really good at distracting themselves from these “problems” feels them lurking in the background of their consciousness.

What’s more, because we’re sensitive and have sensitive bodies we can enjoy all kinds of things about life–sights, sounds, touches, smells, tastes, and other sensory delights–but this sensitivity also makes us subject to pain, injury, and disease.

Every human being, then, is doing his or her best to make sense of being human in light of these “drawbacks” to being human.

At the sensorimotor stage, where you make sense of the world entirely through senses and movement (after all, you’re a baby), you don’t have many ways to deal with these drawbacks, but you probably do notice (or at least suffer in some way) when you don’t have enough of what you want, or when things pass away (Mom is there holding you and feeding you, and then, after a while, it’s over and she puts you in your crib). At this stage, you’re totally dependent upon others, and if you’re reasonably well cared for, you make sense of being alive in that way.

At the preoperational stage (also called preconventional, prerational, and several other names) you learn to talk and begin to use symbols, but you don’t yet understand cause and effect or the general rules (especially cause and effect) regarding how the world works. For this reason, you tend to use magical thinking to make sense of the world and your place in it. And, for a while, this works, which is why some people stay at this stage, sometimes for life. In the modern world most people at this stage are protected by their parents (unless they grow up stuck at this stage, which puts them at a severe disadvantage).

If an entire society is at this stage–a tribal society, for instance, with no understanding of modern science–the entire group makes sense of the world by looking to mysterious spirits, keeping the traditions of the tribe, and obeying the elders.

Let me make one thing clear: any way of making sense of the world works as long as it works. When it doesn’t work any longer, the person (or society) using it will develop a new way of making sense of things. For some reason, these ways of making sense of things, regardless of culture or historical era, follow a certain progression.

The scientists and researchers who have studied such things are not pushing a certain point of view when they say this. They are just looking at the evidence and sharing what they see. If other researchers disagree, the questions are sorted through using a peer-review process where eventually an agreement is reached–which is pretty much always overturned when new information comes to light later.

So, I’m not being negative about preconventional thinking as some of you have accused me. I’m pointing out that this way of making sense of life has, first of all, been improved upon in later stages. In fact, the fact that there are later stages shows that earlier stages didn’t work for someone at some point. Otherwise, how (or why) would the later stages develop? Why would an individual or a society leave behind a certain way of making sense of the world for another if the original way was still working?

And, as long as a certain way of making sense of things IS working, there’s no reason to change it. A way of making sense of who you are and why you’re here and why it’s often so hard to be a person will work until it doesn’t. When it doesn’t, you go through a period where you feel confused, adrift, chaotic, until you come up with a new way of making sense of things–one that explains the new conditions the old way couldn’t deal with.

As we gain more experience in life (also assuming that our brain develops properly, so we can process what we experience and learn to use symbols and concepts in a more accomplished manner) we begin to see, through our day to day experiences in the world, how the laws of nature (including the process of cause and effect) work to generate what happens. This everyday experience exposes the strategies used at the preoperational stage as inferior, and as we see better ways of making sense of things we move into the concrete operational stage.

At concrete operational, we make sense of the world in a new way. But in addition to developing skills that allows us to get around in the world, accomplish the daily tasks of life and, in general, manage concrete things and situations, another key shift takes place: we begin to learn to take the role of other.

This new perspective allows us to notice others who share our perspective, which allows us to become part of a group. We trade magical, egocentric thinking for groupcentric thinking and the security of being a member of the group. Being a part of a group gives us a new way to deal with the fact that “it’s hard to be here”: the “truth” (the particular myths) of our group gives us a ready-made way to make sense of the world, and having other people who believe as we do gives us a sense of security (it also blinds us to the fact that there are other groups and that they think they are just as right as we do–and that we are just as wrong as we think they are).

If, for instance, you’re a concrete operational (conventional) Christian (there are Christians at evey developmental level past sensorimotor, but the majority of Christians are at concrete operational) you very likely see the world in terms of good and evil, and your group tells you how to be on the side of “good” and avoid “evil.” In the Christian world, at this level, you go to heaven if you do certain things and believe certain things, and go to hell if you do or believe other things.

This simple rule, “everything goes into two piles, the good, or appropriate, and the bad, or inapproriate”–and knowing the consequences of each–makes it easier to make sense of the world. Every decision, every idea, every person, every action, fits in one pile or the other. There are few, if any, shades of gray, no paradoxes, and no intangibles.

You see this in George Bush, for instance. He’s sure of what he does because he’s sure that he knows what the rules are (everyone at concrete operational is sure of what the rules are, though these rules might change from group to group–look at concrete operational-level Muslims for instance). These rules tell President Bush and others like him what is right and what is wrong. Then, the only thing necessary is to act consistently with those rules. You may disagree, but personally I don’t think George Bush is dishonest, as many on the left say. I think he’s simply acting consistent with his beliefs. He is acting honorably and normally for someone who sees morality from a concrete operational point of view.

If you are at the concrete operational level you might have different rules, but you, too, will act in keeping with your rules, whatever they are, because rules are a key part of making sense of the world at this stage.

If you are a Christian at this developmental level all those other people who aren’t part of your in-group (Muslims, for instance, or Buddhists, or atheists, or pro-abortion people, or whatever) are in trouble, because they don’t know the truth that you’ve found. And, as long as you stick to the rules of your group, you’re fine.

For some people, though, at some point, the whole black and white, rule-oriented way of deciding what is right and wrong, and what to do about it, stops working. It no longer keeps away those feelings of uncertainty about life. Some people begin to notice that no set of rules covers all the nuances of life, all the different possibilities, all the possible situations, and this is the beginning of the transition into formal operational (postconventional) thinking.

If you develop a larger perspective than that of concrete operational, you begin to see that everything really doesn’t fit neatly into two piles. There are multiple “truths” and there’s no easy way to tell which dogma is THE dogma–or if any of them are really “true.” You go beyond merely noticing and manipulating concrete things, events, people, situations. You also begin to notice and focus on the relationships between these things.

You also learn to think in a more abstract way, to think ABOUT thinking, to see possibilities, to think “as if.” You begin to see that the world is full of uncertaintly, paradox, unknowns, even though you might not feel all that comfortable about it. Principles, rather than rules, become a new and additional tool to use in making sense of being a human. (Notice that you don’t totally abandon the tools of the previous level. “Law and Order,” for instance, is a big part of conventional thinking. When you move past conventional thinking, however, that doesn’t mean that you are now in favor of chaos and anarchy. Laws and order in society are still good things, but how they are determined and enforced may change.)

At formal operational you also begin to adopt a more individualized way of functioning because an individual sense of self is developing. You still are likely to be a group member (another example of the fact that you don’t get rid of everything from the previous level), but now you don’t derive your identity solely from your role in the group. And, you can be part of several groups and handle the fact that each group may have a different set of beliefs.

All of this is part of a growing ability to handle the fact that life is uncertain and paradoxical, and that there are many different approaches and points of view. Seeing this, you can be more flexible about things. Before, you needed to have things be either this or that, good or evil, us or them, liked or disliked. You now begin to see that there are many shades of gray in the world, something that would have been disconcerting at the concrete operational stage. In the levels beyond formal operational this ability to see and be okay with paradox and uncertainty will increase.

With this new point of view, your identity is no longer determined by your role in the group and the group’s ideas, but rather by your own individual sense of who you are and your own individual principles–something you have to figure out for yourself, and try out in the world.

In some cases, you may feel at odds with the world. Conventional strategies that used to make sense may not appeal to you any more. You may also feel frustrated that others (those still at concrete operational) can’t see what you see. Most of the insoluble disputes in the world are between people at different developmental levels. Hoping that a person at one level will see things from the point of view of another level is futile. People see and make sense of the world from their level of development, and other levels will look wrong, or incomprehensible. (At the highest levels this begins to change, something we will look at in a later post.)

Once a person develops a few levels past formal operational (something we’ll get to later), they reach what some researchers call the “second tier” of development. At this point, a person has the ability to look at the preceding levels and see and appreciate the value and point of view of each. Such a person’s perspective has grown to the point where they can view the entire developmental spiral without being immersed in their own point of view, as if it was the only “correct” point of view. Up to this point, one’s developmental level has been subject, but now it (and, in fact, the entire sequences of levels) becomes object. Until that point, each level sees their own point of view as the only point of view that makes sense, while the others are seen as mistaken–or worse.

In writing these posts, I’m trying to give you this perspective. Some of you are able to look from this perspective and appreciate all of the levels, while others are still stuck in your own individual perspective–which is, ironically, as it should be.

But let’s return to the idea of making sense of being a human being, and the fact that it’s hard to be here. If you develop past formal operational (to levels of meaning-making we haven’t looked at yet), you will develop additional strategies for making sense of being human and dealing with the fact that it’s hard to be here. At these transpersonal, transrational stages, something really amazing begins to happen: you stop organizing your experience of life around what you always thought was “you”–the separate ego, the separate self.

There are several levels of doing this, culminating in what is generally referred to as enlightenment. We’ll get to these stages in another post. All of these perspectives, however, are ways of dealing with, of coping with, of making sense of the fact that it’s hard to be here, it’s hard to be a person, it’s hard to exist in a universe where things come into being and eventually pass away, and where you sometimes don’t get what you want and sometimes get what you don’t want.

Wherever you are in the developmental spiral, you’ll stay there until that particular way of making sense of the world doesn’t work for you any more. At that point, if a transition to a higher stage is to happen, you experience a crisis of sorts, sometimes intense, other times easier (it often depends on whether or not you have someone to help you through it or not).

In this “change crisis,” you notice that the old way doesn’t work very well any more, which creates uneasiness, discomfort. The world doesn’t make sense anymore, which can be a quite disconcerting feeling. The problems of being human I listed at the beginning of this post become more obvious because your old ways of keeping them at bay don’t work as well. You go through a period of chaos, where things temporarily don’t make sense. Finally, hopefully, your view of yourself, the world, and life reorganizes at a new and higher level, one where you have a larger and wider perspective. Then, once again, things “make sense.”

I have written quite a bit about this process of chaos and reorganization and how humans respond to it. I’ll post something about this at some point, since this process is one of the most interesting things I’ve ever noticed about how the universe works.

But I digress (again). As we develop, each new and broader view sees with more clarity the reality of the problem of being a human being. At the same time, the wider perspective of these higher stages better equips you to deal with these challenges. At the highest levels, it becomes clear that these problems really aren’t problems after all. They exist, but you begin to see that making them into a “problem” is a choice. You develop the ability to “let whatever happens be okay.” And, at the highest levels you no longer identify yourself as a center of action and thought (a separate self). You have a “self” but this self isn’t who you are, any more than any other idea about something is the same as the thing it represents. At this point, the “problems of life” aren’t really problems. They are conditions, perhaps, but not problems.

Let’s look at a few change points between developmental levels, to see how an old way of seeing things and operating in the world can stop making sense, requiring a new way of seeing and being.

When you went off to school for the first time, you entered a new world. At that time of life you were very likely, in a developmental sense, pre-rational, preoperational, and narcissistic. You were pretty good at making sense of your world at home, centered around mom, dad, the rest of the family, and your immediate neighborhood. What’s more, how well you made sense of it wasn’t that crucial, because other people were taking care of you.

This new situation, however, was quite different. You were with an adult not from that small circle, and that adult had a definite agenda for what was going to happen. There were a lot of other kids, but it wasn’t a play situation. There were rules, and a new kind of order and structure. You were expected to learn many new things, take your turn, and keep to a schedule. You had to get up in the morning at a certain time, leave for school at a certain time, go home at a certain time, eat lunch at a certain time. While you were at school, someone else decided what you were going to do, when you were going to do it, and for how long.

To deal with all of this, you had to develop a new set of skills and a new, more group-oriented perspective. For most children, this kicks off the beginning of conventional, concrete operational thinking. And, in developing that new way of seeing things, you had to transcend your old way of making sense of the world, and at the same time include parts of it in your new view. For a while, you were a bit unsteady on your feet, but after a while you mastered this new way of understanding things and being in the world.

It’s very likely that another developmental shift happened when you went off to high school (or even middle school). Now you were expected to get yourself from one room to another, and do so on a tight schedule. You had to keep track of your assignments and books and get quite a number of tasks completed on time, which meant you had to learn to manage your time (something you were learning in grade school, but were now much more on your own in doing so). There were many other things you had to learn: new ways of being a part of a group, new ways of thinking and using your mind, plus dealing with a new interest in the opposite sex (or, perhaps, the same sex), new kinds of social events–and a lot more.

Again, your old way of making sense of things was not adequate, and new skills and perspectives had to be mastered. Some mastered them better than others. Generally those who stayed at concrete operational were at a disadvantage over those who began the transition to formal operational. Many high schools (for better or worse) divide students into at least two tracks, consisting of the formal operational college-bound kids, and the concrete operational kids who may not go to college. Do you remember those standardized tests you took way back then? Many of them were designed to determine if you were concrete operational, or formal operational college material.

Another transition happens when a person goes off to college. Now, in addition to everything else, you have to manage many tasks you previously had help with, or which someone else took care of: keeping track of your own checkbook, paying your bills, finding a place to live, buying your own food and preparing it, being the sole caretaker of your car, and so on. Plus, once you’re in college it’s less likely that anyone will check up on you if you don’t go to class or turn in your homework. To a much greater degree you’re on your own.

Again, in order to deal with all these new things, you must develop new skills and new perspectives. If you do, you make it. If you don’t, life is more difficult. It’s almost a cliche that college freshmen come home for Thanksgiving not so sure they like college, but usually by Christmas break they’ve learned how to deal with the demands of their new life.

There are other transitions, of course, including entering the job market (this time not for pocket money, but because you have to pay your rent), and getting married and starting a family. As before, these new situations require new skills and new perspectives. Those who develop these new perspective are more successful in these situations; those who don’t struggle. My point is that all through life, as our situation changes, our old way of making sense of things may need to change, and that change involves seeing things from a wider perspective, which involves a developmental leap.

Some people have trouble making these transitions, which means they are “in over their heads” in their new situation, as Harvard developmental theorist Robert Kegan has put it. My role, in many ways, is to help those who are in this situation to learn better ways to deal with life (and, to help those who have these skills and larger perspectives to go even further).

Holosync, by the way, very powerfully helps a person make these shifts. I’ve noticed this over the past 22 years, and Ken Wilber has noted that he sees it, too. Holosync moves people more quickly through these developmental levels.

Why does this happen? Remember that in each level we are at first immersed in something to such a degree that we are it (it is subject, who we are). In shifting to the new perspective, we must step out of this immersion. As this happens what we were unconsciously immersed in becomes object, something we have. We move from being unconscious of it to being aware of it. Instead of unconsciously being it, we can now do something with it, have some choice about it, “operate” on it. Because Holosync powerfully expands awareness, it makes the process of seeing and adopting a new and wider perspective (becoming aware of what you have been immersed in) MUCH easier, which tends to move you much more quickly to a new and higher level.

In a tangible sense, what does this mean? If you are struggling with some part of your life, there is a very high probability that your way of making sense of life, the world, and who you are, isn’t quite up to the challenge. You just might be “in over your head.” To resolve this, one of two things needs to happen: either you need more horizontal development–more and better skills and perspectives at your current level of development. Or, if you have adequate skills at your current level of development, it might be time for a vertical shift, a move to a higher, wider, more inclusive perspective.

Holosync helps with both. In addition, I also suggest that you take my Life Principles Integration Process online courses. As I said above, the first of these courses is specifically designed to increase concrete operational skills and abilities, then transition to a formal operational perspective, and then–in the second course–to move to the transpersonal levels beyond. (The third course is about how to apply all of this to accomplishing what you want in the world.)

So if you aren’t yet using Holosync, I hope you’ll start. Those who wait generally look back once they’ve used Holosync for a while and wish they’d started sooner. If you are using Holosync, I hope you’ll be regular in your use and continue to move to the deeper levels of the program as you become ready for them. The further you go in the program, the more profound the results become.

And, please, register for the Life Principles courses, or at least check them out. You can listen to a free preview Life Principles lesson at www.centerpointe.com/life/preview, or read about them at www.centerpointe.com/life.

If you want to experience Holosync for yourself, you can get a free Holosync demo CD at www.centerpointe.com.

Finally, here a few other items you might find useful or interesting:

1. My friend Zayra Yves has just published a new book of her amazing poetry. And, she asked me to write the introduction for the book, which I did! Zayra’s stuff is amazing, and I highly suggest that you go to her website and get the book. Her CDs, where she perfoms her poetry, sometimes with musical accompaniment, are especially cool.  www.zayrayves.com

2. I mentioned my friend Saniel Bonder at the beginning of this post as someone who has pointed out that “it’s hard being here.” Saniel is one of the highly regarded teachers associated with Ken Wilber’s Integral Spiritual Center, and I highly recomment his work, especially as it relates to the topic of this post–the fact that it’s hard to be a person. If you’re interested, check out his website: http://www.sanielandlinda.com/

3. I just returned from an amazing workshop given by Susanne Cook-Greuter and here colleague Beena Sharma. Susanne is one of the top–if not THE top–expert in the world in the field of human development. She was a student and colleague of Harvard’s Robert Kegan, another huge name in the world of development, and has extended and built upon the work of another giant in the field, Jane Lovinger. Susanne’s model of development is backed by twenty years of her own research, building on the work of Lovinger extending back to the 1950s. This is the most compelling and complete model of human development out there, in my opinion.

There are several fascinating papers you can download for free on her website, and you might consider taking her developmental testing instrument to discover where you are at in her developmental scheme (with comments to help you understand it). The test isn’t cheap though–$325. This is because it isn’t a computerized test but rather must be hand-scored, which takes quite a bit of time, and involves a scorer with several years of training. Definitely worth it, though. For the downloadable articles, click on “papers and resources.” For the test, click on “SCTi Assessment.” http://www.cook-greuter.com/

4. Finally, our next Centerpointe retreat will be April 8-14 at beautiful Glen Ivy Hot Springs just south of Los Angeles, and there are still a few spots available. If you’d like to experience (and I really mean this) 6 months of growth in just 5 days, I’d love to see you there and personally work with you. For more information go to www.centerpointe.com/retreats

In my next post I’m going to answer some of the questions you’ve asked over the last several weeks.

Be well.

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