Wyatt

Spiral Dynamics starting to be accepted by sociologists and psychologists

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After watching Leo's videos on Spiral Dynamics, I was fascinated enough to read the original book by Den Beck and Chris Cowan. A fantastic read that goes even deeper into spiral dynamics than Leo's videos, not only explaining the values and morals of each stage, but also why people change on the spiral and how you can become a wizard of the spiral (becoming a second-tier thinker and integrating the pieces of the spiral into your psyche). 

You have to wonder: with such a fantastic model, why aren't more psychologists and sociologists talking about spiral dynamics? Are they too low on the spiral to appreciate it? Or are they too caught up in old ideas of their field?

Fortunately, there are a few that are really starting to understand it, whether they call it spiral dynamics or not.

Bradley Campbell and Jason Manning are authors of "The Rise of Victimhood Culture." They study genocide, specifically the mindset and justifications of those killing others, as well as the psychology of the victims of genocide. Over the past few years they've been studying American victimhood and have identified 3 evolutions in our America's culture, specifically how individuals get acceptance and recognition from society:

1. Honor culture: This was the culture from the mid-1700's up until the early-mid 1900's. People in honor culture are very concerned with the honor and positive recognition of themselves and their family from others. This is why, when Alexander Hamilton insulted a man, the man challenged him to a duel to defend his honor. This is how Alexander Hamilton died. We look back on this event and think it's silly, but in the eyes of someone living in a culture predicated on honor and acceptance of others for your social status, this only made sense. This idea of culture fits in very well with stage Blue. Blue is a stage focused on the collective. They value nationalism (honor of your country and state), moralism (honor of what you think is right and wrong), and religion (honor of your church and the higher power it praises). Honor culture is the way that stage Blue gets acceptance from the group.

2. Dignity Culture: Near the mid-1900's, American values advanced into dignity culture. Dignity culture is not concerned with how others view you. What's more important than the acceptance of others is the acceptance of yourself. If there is a dispute, you will either not worry about getting into an altercation because their "sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you." If it comes to it, and another person is not showing you any respect, you handle it with legal action and allow others to handle the dispute. But to keep your reputation you try your best to ignore what others think of you so you can think highly of yourself. This ties in with stage Orange. Stage Orange swings towards the individual, focused on self-acceptance, self-achievement, materialism, and selfishness. Dignity culture and stage Orange are very interrelated. 

3. Victimhood Culture: It all started about 10 years ago. There are numerous factors that led to this transition in culture, but individuals and groups became more accepted by society the more they became victims. Now, the more that people view themselves as the victim, the more positive attention they get from others. They view the world as those who are the oppressors and those who are the oppressed. There are groups in this country that are legitimately victimized, like African Americans and Muslims and Native Americans, but others who are not systematically oppressed are jumping on the victim bandwagon. The rise of the term 'microaggression' is a clear example. If another person says something that they don't consciously mean to be offensive but it causes you to have a slight negative emotional reaction, we would call this a microaggression. Those who are part of victim culture will complain about this online or to their friends, hoping for a sympathetic reaction about the triggering encounter. We've all met the perpetual victim: "Why did that person say that to me? How could they treat me like that? Why is the world against me??" This is a clear example of stage Green. Green's whole motive is to create equality, unity, and acceptance. If you're not treating everyone else with TOTAL respect and acceptance, you're not following along with their values. Everyone is equal, and if any specific person or group is talked to or treated in a way that's not equal, they're a victim. 

There are some serious problems with victim culture. Those that are genuinely oppressed and discriminated against don't have as strong of a voice if everyone also feels like the victim. On top of that, if you're part of victim culture, taking responsibility for your actions and what you do isn't important anymore. What's more important is controlling other people's speech and actions to stop them from being oppressive. This victim mentality also allows for truly terrible people to justify their actions. "Well, everyone is getting offended at everything! Just because I'm part of the KKK doesn't make me a bad person. Everyone is calling everyone an oppressor, so I'm fine!"

TLDR: I think I'm seeing a rise in an unhealthy aspect of stage Green. Am I missing something here? Am I not fully integrating certain aspects of stage Green? Or are we seeing a rise in an unhealthy expression of this stage on the spiral?

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Hello Wyatt, I study sociology and started to spread the word. I told a Professor because I would say she's yellow. She is very open minded for new theories. But I have to confess that the general sociology culture in my university is somewhat Blue. There is a group for every believe system. I'm one of the few 'in between', after I've been stuck in one believe system for 2 years. A problem is that many people work unscientific, but frame it as science. At the same time they reject mysticism, yoga, meditation and so on as wack. However, I feel there is a change in the culture. Maybe we'll soon enjoy more yellow science.

Thank you for your Input. I'll read Campbell and Manning.

 

20 hours ago, Wyatt said:

I think I'm seeing a rise in an unhealthy aspect of stage Green. Am I missing something here? Am I not fully integrating certain aspects of stage Green? Or are we seeing a rise in an unhealthy expression of this stage on the spiral?

I feel that the next western  terror regime will be a green one.

 

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