Ego Development Theory - The Grand Model of Human Development
A Quick Note
In the contents of this post lies a summary of Dr. Susanne Cook-Greuter’s (Harvard psychologist) Ego Development Theory.
Learning this framework completely changed how I see the world.
Through learning this framework, I was finally able to harmonize all human worldviews and values and see how they develop and unfold over time.
If you have ever wondered any of the following questions, you will absolutely eat this letter up:
Why are some people so loving and inclusive, while others are so seemingly hateful and divisive?
Who is more right: liberals or conservatives?
What is ideal human maturation like?
How can I become a more developed human?
What really is self-actualization?
What is the ego?
Know that there are other human developmental models out there (and they all say basically the same thing), but I share Ego Development Theory for I find it to be the most comprehensive and easiest to relate to.
I guarantee with 100% certainty that reading this letter will leave you with a greater understanding of human nature.
This post will be the summarized version that shares the key insights of Cook-Greuter’s Ego Development Theory, but at the end I will provide resources to deepen your inquiry.
I will be summarizing, paraphrasing, and at times directly quoting for Cook-Greuter’s original research paper titled Nine Levels of Increasing Embrace in Ego Development: A Full-Spectrum Theory of Vertical Growth and Meaning Making.
Without further adieu, let’s jump into it.
Overview of Ego Development Theory
In essence, Ego Development Theory “describes the unfolding of human potential towards deeper understanding, wisdom and effectiveness in the world.”
This framework is a theory of vertical development, which is the process of developing a more holistic, expansive, sophisticated, and complex way of viewing self and world.
In essence, the ego is the storyteller, or as Cook-Greuter often writes “the central processing unit”, through which reality is interpreted.
And this theory is looking at the specific structure the ego takes on as it matures, analyzing what is in awareness and how one responds to and makes sense of it.
Development unfolds in a stage-like sequence defined by ever-deepening, expansive, and complex worldviews.
The stages start at birth (ego-centric) and culminate in ego-transcendence (cosmos-centric).
An individual’s stage of development determines what they believe, what they are aware of, and “therefore what they can describe, articulate, cultivate, and change.”
“Each level or stage represents a distinct, qualitatively different, uniquely defined, and increasing complex view of self and reality.”
Later stages can only be reached by living through earlier stages, and once one surpasses a stage, they retain access to that lens of viewing the world.
In other words, a person who is more developed can understand less mature worldviews, but one at a lower stage of development cannot understand the higher ones.
Generally speaking, consciousness follows a trajectory of expansion towards increasing holism.
Know that these stages are just idealizations that no one fits into entirely.
No person is 100% in a stage, they may have a center of gravity at one stage, but aspects in themselves in multiple.
Now, let’s get into the stage descriptions.
The Symbiotic Stage
There is not much to say for this stage, considering this stage is where babies are born at, completely undifferentiated from the mother/caregiver.
One has zero sense of self at this stage, and to even be reading this letter means you have far surpassed this level of development.
Let’s move on.
The Impulsive Stage
At this stage, the self slightly differentiates from the caregiver, but is still governed purely by their impulses, and is entirely dependent on others for their survival.
The Impulsive will require fulfillment on demand or else they kick, scream, cry, or withdraw themselves.
In short, others are seen purely as objects to gratify one’s needs.
This stage mostly describes young children. Adults will not be at this level unless they have severe mental impairment.
No one reading is at this level of development. Let’s move on.
The Self-Protective/Opportunistic Stage
This is the first stage in which one can be somewhat autonomous, for one begins to grasp that others have their own wants.
A more differentiated sense of self emerges in that one can relate to others in rudimentary, strongly black and white terms such as being bigger or smaller, or stronger versus weaker.
Most children in developed countries go through this stage in pre-puberty years, but adults can also be at this stage.
An adult with a center of gravity at this stage would likely be considered a malignant narcissist, as they would not hesitate to manipulate smaller and weaker people to gratify their needs.
A textbook opportunist phrase would be “If I understand what others are after, I can better work them to get what I want.”
The Self-Protective/Opportunist is able to recognize rules, and will follow them for their own advantage and avoidance of punishment.
One at this level of development is unable to admit being at fault and will always project the blame onto the other in order to protect their extremely fragile sense of self.
An adult at this stage can still achieve considerable “success”, particularly in contexts when domineering, unilateral power is given respect, often in gang cultures and prison hierarchical structures.
It is important to recognize that this narcissism stems from an enormous uncertainty and sense of vulnerability from inhabiting a world they do not understand.
The Opportunist is unable to make significant cause & effect distinctions, so to them the world is just a confusing, dangerous place, and so they buckle down and protect the only thing they know, which is their own self.
Still, no one reading this inhabits this stage as their center of gravity.
Let’s move onto the conventional stages.
The Conformist Stage
Remember when you were in middle or high school and so direly wanted to fit in and not be viewed as an outcast?
You were in the conformist stage then.
This stage is the first that is considered “fully socialized” by academics. And so, this stage marks the beginning of the “conventional” stages, whereas the prior stages were “pre-conventional.”
This stage of development typically comes online in early adolescence, and is marked by a shift from ego-centric to group-centric thinking.
Individuals at this stage experience greater trust and less fear in the world than Self-protective/Opportunist folk due to the realization that they can be accepted and fit in by adhering to the law & order of their culture.
The chief concern of the Conformist is fitting in, and social pressures will force the Conformist to identify with groups: my family, my tribe, my nation, etc.
And because one at this stage is so locked into social survival, they will adopt the norms, values, customs, and overall identity of their in-group without introspection.
Because Conformist’s lack the ability to see that others of different groups can believe different things as equally fervently as they do, those outside of the Conformist’s in-group will be seen as weird, threatening, delusional, crazy, or downright wrong.
In the life of a Conformist, they will “try to uphold tradition and avoid rocking the boat. They aren’t ready to make a stand to the group and express their true thoughts, their expression will be limited to regurgitating the values, thoughts, and beliefs of the group, and won’t seek to go outside that as it is threatened to their identity.”
A major aspect of self-worth for the conformist comes through acquiring material goods and status symbols (what the in-group sees as valuable).
In essence, the Conformist does not yet have a sense of separate adult identity away from the herd. They are still defined, virtually completely, by the in-group.
But, as you will begin to see, progression through the stages typically follows a pattern of differentiation and integration.
One became integrated into the Conformist herd, but now it is time to differentiate again.
Enter the Expert.
The Expert Stage
In your desire to be seen as unique and special, differentiated from your high school clique, parents, and other in-groups, you were coming to inhabit the Expert stage of development.
In developing the ability to introspect through what Cook-Greuter calls the “3rd person perspective”, the Expert becomes interested in cultivating the behaviors that lead to success and respect.
Given this, the Expert may be the first stage to get into “self-improvement”, for their chief concern is finding a sense of uniqueness and to gain respect for what they know and are capable of doing.
This stage typically comes online in late adolescence and early adulthood, for crossing into adulthood (in the modern West) means figuring out who you are and the type of work you want to do.
In western society, the center of gravity is at Expert, for finding one’s own unique voice and separate identity is the most widely supported and rewarded movement given the society’s emphasis on agency and individualism.
Due to the nature of this stage being one of differentiation, one may leave the traditions, values, and belief systems of their family and community of origin behind.
But although the Expert is defined by their differentiation, their identity is still defined by culture-at-large, for they derive their self-worth from their uniqueness, or their “expertness.”
Given this, “Experts tend to focus on doing things right or correctly, not yet on doing the right things.”
In short, the Expert is still differentiating themselves within the confines of conformism.
Success for the Expert can lead to feelings of superiority.
Think of “highly educated” specialists like engineers, scientists, tech workers, and others in the hard sciences.
Have you noticed an air of superiority some of these types exude? Like they have it all figured out, are rarely at a loss for an explanation or answer to something?
These are textbook Experts, as having a sense of intellectual superiority is common.
Experts will always have an explanation, rationalization, or some other form of intellectualization to explain away what does not fit their beliefs.
This is because the Expert wants to feel precisely as that, an Expert! And so they must know, they must be useful, and must do whatever to feel unique, special, and respected, for their identity hinges upon this need.
But, remember the pendulum of differentiation to integration!
Now, the Expert’s differentiation will lead to a re-integration of the self into a larger cultural context, leading to an identity based on self-chosen criteria.
Enter the Achiever.
The Achiever/Conscientious Stage
If you’ve been to college in the western world, you likely understand the Achiever stage well.
The higher education system in the West is oriented towards producing the Achiever, which is essentially a mentally capable, emotionally self-reliant, rational, independent adult.
Given that education and much of the business world is based on the premise of adults pursuing their self-chosen interests, one comes into the Achiever mindset with an ability to deeply reflect on past experiences, choices, and patterns of thought, and use that to achieve their ideal, self-chosen, identity.
With their ability for deeper introspection, one at this level of development can now notice inconsistencies in themselves and the belief systems they adhere to, “see that the way a problem is framed is the problem”, and are more capable of revision and reorienting towards their life goals based on their introspection.
And with their identity no longer being shaped as strongly by the Conformist herd, nor by their need to feel separate from the herd, Achievers gain a sense of self-authorship to their lives that allow them to pursue what they are more truly called to in life.
With this, Achievers become committed to working towards the betterment of humanity through their lens of what they see as the ideal future.
Given this, one at this level will bend or break rules in order to serve the greater good, whereas earlier stages would break them simply because they did not like them or felt constrained by doing so.
This is a huge leap in development!
In prior stages, one was so concerned about fitting in and feeling special, that they could hardly reflect on the deeper impact their work was having on the world.
The Achiever now embodies a morality that is truly world-centric! Great!
But, there are several limitations to the lens of the Achiever that limit their effectiveness in the world.
And these limitations primarily stem from the Achiever’s viewpoint that they are an “independent whole, rather than being an interdependent parts of multiple, overarching systems.”
In short, they are still blind to the acquired nature of their beliefs, believing in the inherent realness of their identity and in the external world, leading to the blind acceptance of “facts.”
Given this, Achievers will often view Science as the pinnacle method of uncovering the truths of the universe, that everything “out there” is just waiting to be discovered, analyzed, and explained, and through this we will eventually know everything there is to know.
At this level of development, “knowledge, measurement, and prediction are taken for granted as means to control nature, self, and society.”
In short, the overarching system and underlying assumptions of who we are, and how we know what we know are rarely questioned.
Due to their rigidity in their worldview, the Achiever does not truly fathom that there are earlier, more limited perspectives.
They don’t understand that the Opportunist will exploit the system if given half a chance, simply because their sense of self is so limited and they don’t know any better.
They don’t understand that Conformists will not perform well when given an opportunity to take initiative and to make a special contribution.
And they may very well find themselves frustrated by the Expert’s fixation and sense of superiority when it comes to their narrow specialty, lacking the ability to reflect on what the work means in relation to the entire organization and to the world at large.
In fact, the chief anxiety of the Achiever is becoming consumed and absorbed back into the Conformist/Expert state of mind, as the pursuit of their self-chosen, authentic interests and goals define their identity.
In short, the Achiever still thinks their way is the one right, best way, and does not understand nor appreciate how they came to inhabit the worldview they hold today.
But, it is time for the pendulum to swing again, and with this one’s entire identity will come into question once again.
Enter the Pluralist.
The Pluralist Stage
The Pluralist stage marks the first of the post-conventional stages.
Conformist, Expert, and Achiever were all part of the conventional stages, with roughly 80% of adults inhabiting those stages.
Only 10% of humans occupy the post-conventional stages of development, with the vast majority of them occupying this first Pluralist stage.
There are still 4 more stages to talk about!
So listen up.
We are discussing the cutting edge of humanity here.
The path to a more peaceful, harmonious, and united world lies in developing humanity into and through the post-conventional stages.
This is important!!
Now, the Pluralist.
The key insight for the Pluralist is that one’s interpretation of reality is entirely dependent on the position of the observer.
Developmental psychology calls this the systems view, for now individuals can analyze and compare entire systems of thought from increasing distance.
All of a sudden, the validity of the perspectives of others is realized, and the vast diversity of worldviews, beliefs, values, and preferences must be taken into consideration.
Many come to the Pluralist worldview through traveling to foreign countries, in that they can see how one has virtually no say in what their worldview is. They are completely shaped by the culture they grow up in.
If you’ve attended university, especially when it comes to Liberal Arts programs, you may have noticed a strong emphasis on multiculturalism, diversity, equity, and inclusion of all.
This is a Pluralist value system.
In general, university liberalism, social justice movements, and hippie cultures are examples of Pluralist thought.
The Pluralist has the capacity to take on what Cook-Greuter calls the “4th person” perspective, allowing “individuals to stand outside the system they grew up in and observe themselves and their cultural surroundings from a higher elevation. From there, one gets a better view of the whole system at play, and one can look at the familiar status quo through a new lens and query and deconstruct its assumptions, values, and beliefs.”
What naturally comes along with this 4th person perspective is the focus on epistemology, which is the study of where knowledge comes from, leading the Pluralist to examine how they came to believe what they believe, and how one knows and proves things at all.
In inquiring, the Pluralist realizes that society molds the minds and hearts of its citizens, and now they can perceive how deeply their entire worldview has been shaped by the environment in which they were raised.
The entirety of the Pluralist’s value system comes into question, for they realize that their way is not the one correct way, and they acknowledge that their life would be radically different if they were born in a different historical context, geographic location, socioeconomic class, religion, etc.
With this more holistic view, the need for rational explanation naturally declines and the experience of life itself becomes the main subject.
In short, there is a shift from being primarily doing oriented to being primarily being and feeling oriented.
And now, the task of the Pluralist is to “redefine themselves uniquely and independently of these givens based on their own experience, values, and conclusions.”
One at this stage of development typically seeks to make a contribution to the world that is independent of any socially approved roles or tasks, in a way that is unique to them.
But being at this point of development can be both liberating and confusing for the Pluralist.
On one hand they are liberated for they have access to a deeper understanding of the world and can explore more authentic ways of operating in it, but on the other hand they can be profoundly confused for now there are unlimited ways of viewing the world, all of them equal in validity and one not being “inherently” better than the other.
With this fledgling mode of meaning-making, the Pluralist will likely fall into what philosopher Ken Wilber describes as “aperspectival madness.”
Aperspectival madness is the complete flattening of perspective and deconstruction of Truth.
A Pluralist in aperspectival madness will believe that Truth is nothing but a social construction, and that no perspective has universal validity.
The irony in this is that claiming there is no Truth is in itself a Truth claim, so this argument kind of defeats itself.
Without a metric for Truth, one in aperspectival madness is relegated to operating within their egoic biases, which is in always some form selfish and partial.
So, as the Pluralist matures, they realize that successful living will require some of the values from earlier stages, and they will come to appreciate that some perspectives are higher than others.
Still, the Pluralist is defined by numerous inner voices and subpersonalities, with the self asking:
Who am I?
What is going on?
How can anyone tell with certainty who they really are as things are always changing and growing?
Rather than the 4th person perspective bringing about a sense of greater internal harmony, experience “may feel like a cacophony more than a symphony.”
The chief anxiety of the Pluralist is being absorbed back into the “rat race” of society coupled with the fear of never finding a clear sense of self-identity from which to operate.
All of this also contributes to the natural worry that comes along with growing past the center of gravity of society, as those still operating in the conventional mindset will often view those in a post-conventional mindset as weird, confusing, and aloof.
In short, there are numerous disparate, dis-integrated aspects of the self at the Pluralist stage of development.
Maturation of the Pluralist into the Strategist is defined by the synthesis and harmonization of the numerous voices and subpersonalities, along with all of the perspectives, value systems, and worldviews that exist in the world.
Enter the Strategist.
The Strategist Stage
At the Strategist stage, one’s system's view of reality becomes more deeply internalized, as they can place their “experience into the context of multiple worldviews and within people’s whole lifetime.”
Whereas the Pluralist valued all ideas equally and struggled to harmonize these perspectives, the Strategist understands that not all perspectives are of equal validity, in that those higher are more open, holistic, flexible, inclusive, and integral.
One at this stage of development can also appreciate natural hierarchies in life, whereas the No Truth pluralist would often view all hierarchical structures as a form of oppression, and seek to flatten them.
In essence, the Strategist is willing to acknowledge “that some members of society are better equipped for certain tasks, or more cognitively differentiated than others. They embrace the notion that all human beings deserve respect, but also know that not all opinions and all perspectives deserve the same attention.”
The Strategist also moves beyond the Pluralist’s concern of finding individual meaning and new, self-chosen values, for now the Strategist’s expanded 4th person perspective sees themselves as part of system moving forward in unfolding history, and they have a core, integral duty in the unfolding of this history.
And so, the chief concern of the Strategist is self-actualization, development of self and others, integration of disparate aspects of self, and owning one's shadow side.
In short, Strategist’s become better at “walking the talk” when it comes to embodying a world-centric value system. They derive their identity from their own actualization and sacrifice for the greater good.
Due to their valuing of contribution, authenticity, and genuineness, companionship for the Strategist is intimate, involves deep questioning, and mutual self-actualization and fulfillment are essential.
One’s life work is about “becoming the most one can become” (for the world), rather than the Achiever’s work being about becoming the best one can become.
The Strategist asks: “how does my life and my contribution matter beyond my lifetime and my immediate realm of influence?”
Basically, the Strategist is infused by a grand possibility of what can be, but now, unlike the Pluralist, their vision is based on a deeper understanding of what it takes to develop the self, organizations, and society at large.
Given their deep understanding of human nature coupled with their long-term thinking, Strategists are often visionaries, leaders of organizations, therapists, coaches, and consultants.
The main limitation of the Strategist is their attachment to being a “transformer” of people and society-at-large.
For this, Strategists may become depressed when they feel that they are not bringing their unique gifts to the world and fall short of their expectations in becoming the most they can be.
Their deep insight into human nature can also lead to feelings of superiority and self-inflation, and they can become frustrated by the lack of efforts of others to develop themselves.
The Strategist is so concerned about their own development and the development of others that, although they may have a regular meditation practice and attend retreats, they may fail to see that “their very efforting is in contradiction to accepting what is.”
To put it simply, the Strategist, although inhabiting a radically more expansive worldview than earlier stages, is still living in ego, and they are not yet inhabiting the Truth that all meaning-making is ultimately arbitrary, and that to discover Truth requires making a leap beyond the mind.
Enter the Ego-Aware Stage.
The Ego/Construct-Aware Stage
We are now touching on the highest cutting edge of humanity, with less than 1% of adults in developed nations embodying this stage.
Being a stage of differentiation, one at this level of development once again questions everything they thought they knew to be true up to this point.
With the introduction of the 5th person perspective, one becomes aware that meaning is “constructed, invented, and self-generated rather than inherent in things, events, and concepts.”
If you’ve ever had a psychedelic experience or very deep meditation experience, you may have felt the limitation of language and the ultimate absurdity of it to explain anything at all.
You are tasting this Construct-aware stage in this experience.
Basically, to enter the 5th person perspective is to realize that who we believe we are (the ego) is the storyteller of our reality, and it has completely constructed our sense of reality.
Through carving out distinctions in experience, identifying and labeling them (including our own self), our ego has created a conceptual reality.
This conceptual reality is removed from reality itself, for the ego is merely a central reference point for self-identity formation, and it will create its reality in order to serve its bias of surviving and thriving.
One at this stage of development realizes it is impossible to grasp Truth from the mind alone.
But still, with this realization one is far from free of the ego’s reign.
At this stage of development, one becomes keenly aware of the ego’s desire to create a sense of permanence through making sense of the world. And now, this mechanism is often viewed as a constraint to further growth and deeper understanding into the nature of reality.
In short, Ego-Aware individuals can see the non-dual nature of reality, as all concepts blend and melt together, only able to be defined by everything that exists outside of it.
Good vs evil, beauty vs ugliness, self vs other, are now recognized as two sides of the same coin, for they mutually necessitate and define each other.
One at this stage lives on the edge of meaning and meaninglessness.
It is realized that meaning-making is just a tool of the ego.
And they become acutely aware of how the ego’s automatic judgment and striving for what it sees as “good” is what creates all unhappiness and suffering in themselves and in the world.
Although non-rational sources such as “intuition, bodily states, feelings, dreams, archetypal and other transpersonal material” become increasingly important to one throughout the post-conventional stages, the ego-aware individual turns to these sources as the primary object of attention.
With this, “Ego-aware individuals report more often than people at earlier stages that they are watching or witnessing the parades of thoughts and feelings come and go without trying to direct them.”
Through this process of regularly and repeatedly turning “inward”, the door opens for the possibility of knower and known to merge, where the separate self-sense vanishes and the non-dual nature of reality is directly experienced.
Such experiences at this level of development are often short-lived, for the ego’s desire to confirm and self-affirm its state comes back online.
Here, one may experience the paradox that the more one comes attached to non-attachment, the more attached one becomes.
In other words, it is known that non-attachment will bring internal peace and freedom from suffering, but the ego, by its very nature, is attached to itself, to its permanence, to its survival and thriving.
And so the ego will be heavily reluctant to let go of the identity and reality it spent its entire existence crafting.
A key difference between the Ego-Aware and the Strategist is the Ego Aware’s willingness to be content with not-knowing and relish in the mystery of being.
In contrast to the Strategist, the Ego-Aware also does not recast their emotions and experiences into a “positive” lens.
In other words, whereas the Strategist would come into contact with their shadow and reintegrate this disparate part of themselves in the name of their “self-actualization”, Ego-Aware individuals feel no need to re-embed parts of themselves in a positive light.
They can just be themselves, completely spontaneous and unmitigated because the need to defend one’s identity and look good has been lifted.
In short, a greater authenticity emerges.
One at this level of development are often leaders and will build their own organizations or work alone in whatever way they perceive to be their best contribution to humanity.
Therapists and coaches’ operating at this level of development can typically have a deeper impact on the client, for their authentic vibration and deep understanding of human nature allows them to offer transformational, non-distorted feedback in ways that those at earlier stages could not.
The chief anxiety of the Ego Aware individual is that fear that no one understands them in their full complexity nor can sympathize with their experience, due to being so far developed being the center of gravity of society. This can lead to a profound sense of loneliness.
But, once one makes the leap into inhabiting the non-dual state, one reaches what Ego Development Theory deems as the pinnacle of human development.
Enter the Unitive Stage.
The Unitive Stage
This phrase is basically the ego-transcended stage.
The labeling of this stage is basically the catch-all phrase for the “enlightenment” stage.
There is lots of nuance when it comes to this height of development, which is why I would recommend looking elsewhere for stage theories of enlightenment, such as Ken Wilber’s Integral lens or Daniel Ingram's Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha.
But still, plenty of insight can be derived here.
Less than 0.1% of humans inhabit the Unitive stage as their center of gravity.
Think of the world’s great mystics and sages, such as Jesus and Buddha.
These are Unitive people.
Here, “the Absolute Truth is realized, but it cannot be grasped by rational means and by making an effort, it can only be experienced directly. Unitive individuals therefore seem to transcend narrow ego-boundaries.”
“The separation of self from others is experienced as an illusion, an invention to safeguard the ego’s need for permanence and self-importance to defend against the fear of its death.”
In short, reality is no longer viewed through the lens of ego.
The Unitive’s experience of reality is one of an all-encompassing, “witness” consciousness that has a universal/cosmic perspective as an organizing principle.
This way of viewing reality is not centered around the ego although one retains access to the ego when useful.
Here, one is able to witness all prior ways of understanding and meaning making with compassion and equanimity.
With this, it becomes effortless for the Unitive to embody unconditional love, in that they do not value their own ego above anything else.
The Unitive can see an entire world in a grain of sand, and can cherish the “being” in everything and feel at one with them.
Unitives feel themselves to be embedded in, intertwined with, and at one with Nature at all times
Being is their ground, and they are not looking for a new or different experience.
What is here right now completely fulfills the Unitive individual.
“Peak experiences no longer have an out-of-this-world quality, they have become a familiar way of being and experiencing. They form the ground and are no longer “peak.” From moment to moment only the present is real. Radical openness releases individuals to be in tune with goodness, truth, and beauty and to relish them wherever they are present, which is everywhere.”
It is common for Unitive folk to serve as catalysts in shaping others’ lives, for being who they are without an agenda, they demonstrate a way of being human that is radically different from everyday, conventional ideas of what it means to be an adult.
Although still concerned with creating a better world, they create no tension around goal achievement and recognize that “doing and thinking are just modes of existing, but not intrinsically more valuable than feeling, being, or non-being.”
To summarize, the Unitive Stage is basically the catch-all stage for the enlightened individual who sees past the illusion of self and embodies a non-dual identity.
To put it simply, human development culminates in the ego-transcendence.
And to transcend the ego is not to get rid of it, but to simply to inhabit it more fully.
All comprehensive human developmental models point towards this.
The ego is just the storyteller of reality, but the story is not inherently real. It’s only real as long as you are bought into it, and to make the leap outside the story you will essentially have to “die”, that is to be released into the groundless ground from which you arose…but you can do this without your body physically dying.
Some Final Insights
Remember, these stage descriptions are just idealizations that no individual could ever completely fit inside.
When used to stereotype people, this model can actually be dangerous, which is why you should not take it in a literal way.
Consider this model and its stage descriptions as gross generalizations that roughly follow the gradual trend of human development that inevitably culminates in ego-transcendence.
And don’t make the mistake of thinking that you must reach the Unitive stage as fast as possible.
This is just the ego biting you in the ass.
Trust the process.
Accept yourself for where you are at.
Focus on what you naturally feel called to.
Life will lead you to the next insight, which will lead to the next step that needs to be taken.
But, it is important to emphasize that movement up the stages coincides with an increase of awareness.
Here are some practices to help you increase your awareness:
Intaking new perspectives via books, podcasts, videos, and films
Writing about the perspectives or talking about them with people to harmonize them in your mind
Following your curiosities
Following what makes you excited
Following your heart
Getting out of your comfort zone
Asking yourself questions and deeply contemplating them
Spending intentional time in Nature
Stream of consciousness journaling
Art (painting, drawing, writing, etc.)
Self-inquiry
Meditation
Intentional psychedelic use
Hiring a life coach
Living at your edge
Embracing suffering
Traveling to a foreign country
Hanging out with cool people that make you think different
And finally, here are some amazing resources to learn more about Ego Development Theory:
Susanne Cook-Greuter’s research paper: http://onesystemonevoice.com/resources/Cook-Greuter+9+levels+paper+new+1.1$2714+97p$5B1$5D.pdf
Actualized.org’s lectures on Ego Development Theory:
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That’s all I have for today guys!
Have a great day, and peace!
-Wyeth