On this article, we take a look at Ken Wilber and his views on Spiral Dynamics, that are advanced and have developed over time. For those who’re a Spiral Dynamics junkie, you’ll love diving in to the trivialities and nuances of this subject.
In abstract, Ken Wilber has respect for Spiral Dynamics as a system of phases that covers a restricted space of human growth, however thought of it to be extremely incomplete and partial as a psychological mannequin.
Let’s dig in to the nuances of his views on Spiral Dynamics.
Ken Wilber Makes use of It As An Intro
In his early work, Ken Wilber persistently used the Spiral Dynamics mannequin as a approach to introduce developmental psychology, and he nonetheless mentions it repeatedly in his latest books. It’s because the essential ranges match these of different main developmental fashions, which collectively kind a core a part of his framework.
Beige Survival, Purple Magic, Pink Energy, Blue Absolutistic, Orange StriveDrive, Inexperienced Pluralistic, Yellow Integral and Turquoise Holistic are ranges that you’ll find in several kinds in lots of fashions, from Fowler’s Levels of Religion to Cook dinner Greuter’s Levels of Ego Improvement, to Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Wants, to Piaget’s Levels of Cognitive Intelligence, Jean Gebser’s Buildings of Consciousness, and plenty of extra.
That Wilber persistently used the Spiral Dynamics principle as an introduction to developmental psychology exhibits us that he revered a lot of its conclusions, significantly the order and content material of the phases it proposes.
Ken Wilber, Clare Graves & Don Beck
Wilber holds conflicting opinions of Clare Graves, the researcher whose mannequin finally result in Spiral Dynamics as we all know it immediately. In some methods, he appears to revere for him. He has known as his work “pioneering” on a number of events, and regularly refers to it in his personal.
Only one instance of that is this description in his interview with Jason Todd: “Clare Graves was so astonished by 2nd-tier buildings… he maintained that [2nd tier] was the precise essence of being human.” He clearly respects Graves’ opinion.
But he has additionally known as his work “unremarkable” (see p277 of Integral Spirituality), and that it fell right into a “reductionism that’s quite astonishing.”
Clare Graves assumed that his “worth methods” had been really “ranges of existence” into which the whole lot might be plopped (even if his preliminary analysis was performed on American, white, middle-class school college students and consisted of their responses to just one easy query… an general reductionism that’s quite astonishing).”
Ken Wilber, integral spirituality p58
I really agree with Wilber on each these factors. Once I first learn Graves’ work, I used to be stunned at how simplistic his analysis was, and located it unusual that he constructed a whole psychological mannequin from it.
As for Don Beck, Wilber collaborated with him many occasions and repeatedly mentions him in his work. Beck was a founding member of the Integral Institute, and Wilber regularly praised him for taking Spiral Dynamics into the world:
“Removed from being mere armchair analysts, Beck and Cowan had been individuals within the discussions that led to the top of apartheid in South Africa. The ideas of Spiral Dynamics have been fruitfully used to reorganize companies, revitalize townships, overhaul training methods, and defuse inner-city tensions.”
Alternatively, after trying to work with main Spiral Dynamics figures to broaden the Spiral Dynamics mannequin, he lamented “it’s not potential to have an educational dialogue with people whose financial livelihood relies upon upon one mannequin being the one right mannequin.” Integral Spirituality, p86.
I’m undecided whether or not he was referring to Beck in that dig, however Wilber appeared to finally get his level throughout. In A Principle of Every part, Wilber acknowledged that Beck had built-in the 4 quadrants and a number of intelligences into a brand new model of Spiral Dynamics.
A fancy relationship certainly!
The Limitations of Spiral Dynamics
Wilber is a extremely quotable writer, and this one on Spiral Dynamics is amongst his greatest and bluntest:
As a easy introductory device, it’s great; as an precise psychological mannequin, it’s a catastrophe.
Ken wilber, integral spirituality p86
Wilber has additionally criticised Spiral Dynamics at size for an entire sequence of limitations, together with its:
- lack of protection of the states of consciousness and of state-stages (Wilber blends phases of consciousness with states within the Wilber-Combs Lattice),
- omission of upper phases of consciousness past Turquoise,
- lack of appreciation of relationship between phases and states,
- lack of protection of the unconscious and repression,
- reliance on the discredited principle of memes,
- lack of inclusion of different developmental theories,
- lack of appreciation of strains of growth.
Wilber hilariously captures the disconnect between spirituality and Spiral Dynamics on this quote, which should rank amongst his greatest ever:
You possibly can sit in your meditation mat for many years, and you’ll NEVER see something resembling the phases of Spiral Dynamics. And you’ll examine Spiral Dynamics until the cows come house, and you’ll NEVER have a satori.
ken wilber, Integral Spirituality p86
Ken Wilber: Spiral Dynamics Solely Covers Values
Considered one of Wilber’s prime criticisms of Spiral Dynamics is that it claims to cowl all areas of human growth in a single stroke, but solely covers one: the event of our values, of how we reply the query “what is important to me?”.
The unique Spiral Dynamics principle validates his opinion to some extent. In any case, the phases themselves are known as “values memes”. But the speculation additionally treats all different elements of human growth as branches of our values progress, which Wilber disagrees with.
My very own opinion is that Spiral Dynamics really covers a number of developmental strains, not solely the values line. I’ve narrowed these right down to worldview, values and psychology. Although I do agree with Wilber that Spiral Dynamics does attempt to cannabalise different developmental strains whereas missing the breadth required to take action.
Spiral Dynamics Colors
Lastly, Wilber disagrees with the selection and order of colors within the Spiral Dynamics scheme. In brief, the Spiral Dynamics colors don’t match the colors of the rainbow, that are used extensively in tantric traditions and seem within the chakra colors, for instance.
Why is that this essential? As a result of every of the developmental ranges is related to a selected chakra. The sooner ranges are extra visceral, gutty, organic, whereas the upper ranges are extra heart-based and religious.
Take a look at my chart of the Spiral Dynamics ranges and examine it to the chakra diagram:
If the Spiral Dynamics colors matched the chakra colors, we might have Pink, Orange, Yellow, Inexperienced, Blue, Purple, and Pink, which is a very completely different order.
To beat this downside in creating his altitudes system, Wilber adopted a color set that resembles a rainbow: Infrared, Pink, Amber, Orange, Inexperienced, Teal, Turquoise, and so forth.
You may like my video on an Introduction to Integral Principle.
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