Spiral Dynamics - a System of Worldviews
| Spiral Dynamics is one example amongst several
(note the 'see also' section on this linked page) of a psychological
development system for humans - although SD is unique (and contentious)
in that it goes on to propose that individual psychological development
AND social/cultural development proceed on similar lines. Spiral Dynamics can be thought of as a system of worldviews that proposes that worldviews travel through a knowable/predictable path of developmental phases according to changes in the external environment. Life Conditions awaken Ways of Thinking SD proposes that individuals grow and develop through exposure to experiences and circumstances - these are known as 'Life Conditions' in SD terms and that experience of these Life Conditions awakens a series of 'Ways of Thinking." Everybody has the capacity to think in all ways but, as our exposure to Life Conditions is uneven, so we are all at unique places on the spiral with different Ways of Thinking. That is, each of us has different Ways of Thinking on the go, caused largely by the different Life Conditions we have been in and are experiencing. The idea of vMemes However SD claims that the Ways of Thinking - which are made up of various contributing memes, cluster together around a core meta-meme. This meta-meme is, in SD terms, called a vMeme (where v stands for Values) and it acts as a kind of attractor that holds a cluster of memes together in something like a coherent whole. This makes it possible to reduce the variety of individual uniqueness into some 'categories' and propose that a person, a group of persons or, even, a whole society, is thinking from a describable, limited number of vMemes or from certain 'centers of gravity'. A summary The graphic below attempts to summarize the Spiral Dynamics system. Each vMeme (confusingly labelled a 'meme' in the graphic) is assigned a color and the vMemes are arranged as a hierarchy according to the level of complexity found in the Life Conditions that generated this Way of Thinking. Beige is used to signify least complex Life Conditions and, consequently, least complex Ways of Thinking. Turquoise is used to signify most complex Life Conditions and, consequently, most complex Ways of Thinking. |
