jacob wrote: ↑Wed Nov 03, 2021 10:35 am
Quick perspectival key:
Beige: 1
Purple: 2
Red: 2.5
Blue: 3
Orange: 3.5
Green: 4
Yellow: 4.5
Turquoise: 5
The above shows what I believe to be the minimal Kegan level to properly function at a societal level or appreciate a societal goal without expressing the values of a given color in a "pathological way".
Any culture has relics from previous colors expressed in a path-dependent way.
For example, sports matches are still determined in a win-lose manner given a set of rules. This means that sports can be appreciated and played properly around Kegan2-3. Playing by the rules. Team loyalty from fans.
Wars exist at an earlier level. Win-lose without rules. This only requires Kegan2.
Participatory democracy is a Green invention. Democracy is about reaching a compromise between multiple different viewpoints and requires an understanding that views can be different and still be valid. This requires a minimum of Kegan4 (the ability to take a third-person perspective).
Representative democracy is an Orange invention. This only requires that you vote for someone and then "They" try to negotiate stuff in your favor.
However, bringing a sportsball (Red/Blue/Kegan2.5) mentality to democracy, that is, thinking that democracy is about winning and losing brings a societal pathological quality to the democratic process.
Similarly identity politics, that is "introducing a tribal power dynamics to the idea of acceptance" is also a pathological expression of Green values.
Being able to see why an idea would create societal dysfunction is what makes SD useful!
Society with its idiosyncratic path-dependent construction of various historical societal inventions carry the legacy of almost all previous colors but in different forms in different societies. As such one can develop one's adult ego by engaging with these institutions and thus learn to
kenn the values and societal behavior associated with a different color.
For example, team-sports (Red/Blue) can teach children about the value of second-person perspective, loyalty, and working as part of a group thereby introducing a Kegan3 perspective. Inverting, it is very hard to enjoy playing team-sports or being a loyal fan below Kegan3, because it simply does not make sense to Kegan2 why they should subordinate their interests and talents to support the team instead of impulsively doing whatever they want. Doesn't mean they can't make good players, they just don't make good team-players. Kegan2 simply lacks the perspective to see beyond their own nose-tip.
However, you'll be hard-pressed to use Red/Blue to generate internal growth beyond Kegan3
because it is simply not required. If internal development is not required, its emergence goes way down. It rarely happens spontaneously.
Similarly, in order to succeed in an Orange world, one needs to develop the internal capacity to "see where you are in 5 years" in order to have a career. That's just one example. If you're Kegan3.5 you have the ability to do that. You also need to be able to modify your behavior and play different roles given how you realize other people see you (Kegan4). Otherwise it will be difficult to play the political games to advance through a corporate ladder that is NOT based on merit but connections. As such Kegan3 will be hard pressed to advance in a faceless corp. Kegan3 will only rise where loyalty is rewarded and that's practically nowhere in corporate America anymore.
It should be increasingly clear how certain social behaviors require
at minimum a certain level of adult ego development to deploy properly.
However, this does not mean that we can just give everybody a corporate job, promote them, and guarantee Kegan4. Only Kegan3.5 will grok Kegan4. This means that an individual must learn the lessons of Kegan3.5 BEFORE they get thrown into a Color that requires Kegan4. And so on.
The brilliant part about SD is that it recognizes the existence and necessity of an unbroken chain of development. (This is where I think J+G and I are cross-talking?!).
To see how this works in terms of an individual American aspiring to Green values, it may work in the following way. H/T paraphrasing Marcus Aurelius's Meditations:
From the Red school playground I learned to stand up for myself and punch the bullies (Kegan2)
From Blue high school soccer practice, I learned to be a team player (Kegan3)
From my first few Orange jobs I learned the importance of having a plan and fitting into new work environments (Kegan3.5)
From this I realized that different teams have different traditions and ways of doing things and none are necessarily better than others (Kegan4)
But it could also develop pathologically in the following ways if the Kegan chain is broken by lessons that are too advanced relative to personal ego development:
From the Red school playground I learned to stand up for myself and punch the bullies (Kegan2)
From going to Green liberal arts college and learned that minorities have been and are still bullied to this day, so now I'm an ally who will punch back (Kegan2.5).
or
From the Red school playground I learned to stand up for myself and punch the bullies (Kegan2)
From my Red/Blue military experience I learned the values of loyalty to my fellow soldier (Kegan2.5)
From facebook university I learned that democracy is about defeating the opposition (Kegan2.5).
---
If the personal ego development chain is broken, pathologies obtain. That is the key lesson of SD. Specifically, even if you (Tier1 thinking) may not agree with the particular values and thinking of some institution (sports, church, school, politics) they still serve important functions to develop people and increase their Kegan level.
Important conclusion:
Different societies offers different ways of learning the lessons that will increase your Kegan level. A Green society has a different ways of teaching Kegan4 than an Orange society has for teaching Kegan4. However, all individuals need an unbroken adult ego development curriculum through Kegan1-2-3-4-5 and beyond and all individuals need to learn these lessons when they are ready for them from whatever exists in society to provide these lessons in order to move on to the next level. IFF you remove some of the institutions or traditions or functions that serve as BRIDGES, you WILL develop pathological behavior---people will start manifesting behavior and values w/o understanding them. That is the key lesson(*). In particular (listen up Tier1), even if you don't like the values of some system, please realize how they each do serve the purpose of bridging some Kegan level. Different countries have different systems for doing so. The important part is that all systems are present. Otherwise people get stuck or blow up in inappropriate ways.
(*) For example, Green politicians dunking on Blue church people or Law&Order people is such a bad idea. In short, SD makes it possible to avoid committing political idiocy.
I'll leave you with this:
https://youtu.be/7SgDS-16UFA?t=31 (they all play important roles)