Spiral Dynamics - The Ultimate Model of Human Development
Spiral Dynamics - Another Comprehensive Model of Human Development
Imagine that on your journey of self-discovery and personal development, that there is a general structure the psyche takes on as you mature.
That would be pretty helpful to know, wouldn’t it?
Allow me to introduce Spiral Dynamics.
This framework completely changed my life.
Spiral Dynamics is a model of human evolutionary development.
If you read last week’s post, you read about Ego Development Theory, which is also a model of human evolutionary development.
The two models are very similar, in that both emphasize that human maturation coincides with an increase of holism in the psyche.
That is, as the individual matures, they develop the ability to take on deepening and higher-order perspectives of self and reality, resulting in a more intelligent, flexible, integrative, accepting, and empathetic existence.
I find Ego Development Theory to be the superior framework for explaining individual development, whereas I see Spiral Dynamics as the best framework for explaining the development of entire cultures and societies.
You’re going to want to listen up, because major insights about your own evolution as a human are going to be discussed here.
I will be summarizing, paraphrasing, and at times directly quoting from the book Spiral Dynamics by Dr. Don Beck and Christopher Cowan
Spiral Dynamics Overview
In Spiral Dynamics, there are 8 different stages (MEMES, as they are often called).
Each stage represents a general worldview, values system, set of beliefs, ego structure, and overall mode of psychological existence.
Because each stage represents an entire worldview structure which contains assumptions about how everything works, “Each stage will have a preference of dress styles, language trends, popular cultural norms, architectural designs, art forms, religious/spiritual expressions, social movements, economic models, philosophies, and moral statements of how living should be done.”
The work for this model was started by psychologist Dr. Clare W. Graves, who had a desire to know why people are so different, why some change and others do not, why some people think “in the future”, while some are still living in the past, and how to navigate it all.
Graves sought to integrate biological, psychological, and sociological development into a single model.
Thus, Spiral Dynamics is a model of biopsychosocial development.
“What I am proposing is that the psychology of the mature human being is an unfolding, emergent, oscillating spiraling process marked by progressive subordination of older, lower-order behavior systems to newer, higher-order systems as man’s existential problems stage.” - Clare W. Graves
Stages 1-6 are known as the Tier 1 stages, meaning that one operating from within these stages believes that their worldview is the single correct or “right” one.
Tier 1 stages cannot deeply see the validity of other worldviews. Anyone outside the worldview structure that one identifies with is seen as weird, crazy, confusing, different, delusional, wrong, or insane.
But Stage 7 (Yellow) represents an entrance in Tier 2 consciousness, accepting that no one worldview is the truth or the “correct” one, and realizing that different levels of development will yield radically different ways of thinking.
Life conditions heavily influence an entity’s level on the Spiral. Those in a living situation in which basic survival is a struggle will not be able to move up the spiral as easily.
In short, different times, socioeconomic circumstances, and geographic location will produce radically different minds.
Spiral Dynamics integrates all of these different ways of thinking and viewing the world together.
“Societies ebb and flow, wax and wane, progress and regress along an evolutionary pathway, but over time, they move forward.”
Of course, in a crisis situation, an individual or a society will regress down the spiral, but over time, development only moves forward. Humans only become more and more mature.
Before we get into the descriptions of each of the stages I want to make one thing clear.
No one person or society is at a singular stage.
You will find different aspects of yourself and your culture in a variety of different stages.
The stages are just general descriptions, general trends. Do not be so rigid and take them as absolutes.
The book notes that generally a society has a “center of gravity” at a particular stage, and other aspects of itself in 2 or 3 different stages (Ex: America is roughly 50% Orange, 25% Blue, 25% Green)
And again, you’ll want to read closely because profound insights about your own development as a human will be discussed, as well as the development of your own and other cultures.
Without further adieu, let’s get into the stages!
Beige
“Do what you must to stay alive.”
One at this first, rudimentary stage barely has a distinct sense of self. Only the immediate satisfaction of survival needs is what matters.
Very ancient, primitive, loose groups of early humans might have been at this stage, but virtually no one in the modern world is at this level of development unless they are severely mentally impaired.
As we ascend the spiral, you will notice a pendulum, back-and-forth like pattern of differentiation from community, followed by re-integration into community.
Whereas Beige is a stage solely concerned for the self’s survival, this stage is transcended when one realizes they are a part of a tribe, and plays an active duty in maintaining the well-being of the tribe.
Enter Stage Purple.
Stage Purple
“Keep the spirits happy and the tribe’s nest warm and safe.”
Stage Purple first came online in humanity’s history when hunter-gatherer tribes became more coordinated, resulting in basic survival needs being met easier and easier.
With basic survival coming about easier, people now had time to think about the reason things happen, and make cause and effect distinctions.
And because humans had such little knowledge at this time, magical thinking was used to explain reality.
Many ancient tribes explained the world through spirits and such, in which the tribe would adopt various customs, rituals, and respect sacred objects and places so as to keep these spirits happy.
And so, decision-making at this stage is always done in the name of custom and tradition. Typically, one must respect the Chief and elders, for they have the most knowledge.
It must be emphasized that one hardly has a sense of self distinct from the community at this stage. The community is all they know, one in a Purple community does not know of other perspectives.
There are virtually no fully Purple societies in the world today, unless they are a remote tribe, isolated from the rest of the world.
It is important to note that Purple-thinking can yield significant wisdom, but what gets transcended in later stages is the magical, superstitious, fear-based thinking that is used to explain reality.
Remember how when you were a kid you had various superstitions?
I know for me, whenever I would watch a New England Patriots football game when I was young, I fully believed that if I wore my Tom Brady jersey and they lost, that it was my fault because I wore the jersey.
But now that we are adults, this superstitious thinking seems like nonsense.
That is because we have transcended Stage Purple, yet we also still have access to this paradigm of meaning-making when it serves us.
Naturally, as survival became even easier, humanity transcended this stage as greater exposure to the world revealed the limitation and falsehood of a number of the customs and traditions.
And in this, people gradually started to differentiate from their Purple community, leading us to Stage Red, a more individual-oriented stage.
Stage Red
Stage Red first came online approximately 10,000 years ago with the agricultural revolution, which made survival even easier, allowing for larger communities to take hold.
Red is commonly known as the ego-centric stage, for the ego more fully emerges following its differentiation of the Purple tribe.
Because Stage Red emerged in a time in which there was constant tribal warfare, resources were often difficult to come by, and the world was still a mysterious place, “a jungle full of threats and predators”, naturally Stage Red sought homeostasis through domination of their competitors.
Typical Red characteristics include:
Defending reputation at all costs
Displaying power over others
Immediate gratification of impulses
Lack of personal responsibility
Always blaming others (admitting blame would be a sign of weakness!)
At this stage of development, one has an extremely strong us vs them mentality.
They view their in-group as family, but anything outside of their group as hardly even human.
At Stage Red, an overly zealous ethnic identity can lead to warfare, slavery, genocide, etc.
Nazi Germany is an example of a society that displayed an array of Red qualities.
Prime Red in history was when empires ruled the world and constantly sought to expand their territory/influence (Think: Mongol empire, Byzantine empire, etc.)
Red societies typically have rigid hierarchies with a monarch-type figure at the top that exerts power and control over those of lower status.
A solid example of this is Feudal hierarchies.
Spiral Dynamics cites Red as describing 15-20% of the world population, with only 5% of the world power being at Red.
In short, most of humanity has transcended Stage Red, but it still remains prevalent, particularly in less developed regions.
An example of Red in today’s world is gang culture and prison hierarchies.
It does not require deep introspection to see that red-thinking can cause a lot of chaos.
For this reason, Red is transcended amidst the chaos it has created when a new paradigm of meaning-making emerges to harmonize the chaos.
It is at this point that a stronger morality takes hold, typically facilitated by religion, often in a fundamentalist way.
Enter Stage Blue.
Stage Blue
First coming online roughly 5,000 years ago, Stage Blue is known as the purposeful, yet authoritarian stage.
In response to the chaos that Red created, Blue comes online to enforce a strict code of morality, ethics, and overall way of life.
In both Judeo-Christian and Islamic history, it was an all-knowing, all-powerful God that brought these chaotic states into order, leading to a more harmonious, united, whole.
Being a stage of reintegration into community, conformity is mandatory or else one will be punished.
In a strongly Blue society (think society’s defined by religious fundamentalism), one must obey authority, do right, abide by the rules, because to do otherwise would be to go against the word of God and to the Blue society, that is the worst thing one could ever do!
Although Stage Blue helps unite a larger number of people, resulting in higher-order functioning of societies, anything outside the Blue worldview is viewed as wrong, weird, crazy, delusional, or even as an enemy.
Some of the most obscene atrocities in humanity’s history have come as a result of Blue thinking.
The Spanish Inquisition and Salem Witch Trials are prime examples of Blue-thinking.
But do not think I am painting Blue in a negative light.
Every stage has its benefits as well as its limitations.
The beauty of Stage Blue is its emphasis on morality. Religion is morality, it is the intent to do good at all costs, and to serve God.
This is exactly what the world needed to clean up the Red chaos, but the limitation of Blue is the absolutist aspect of their way of relating to the world.
Stage Blue has a difficult time taking in perspectives of anyone outside their school of thought, which can lead them to thinking everyone else is bad or wrong, which can cause mass destruction in the wrong circumstances.
Thinking in Blue ways does not strictly refer to fundamentalist religion either, it can also be a political orientation, philosophical adherence, or other way of thinking/living.
As long as the belief structure is extremely rigid, with absolutist morals and rules, it is likely Blue-thinking.
If any of you are familiar with the NoFap movement, I have found many relate to not masturbating/ejaculating in a highly absolutist way, thinking that the act of stroking one out a singular time will yield one’s downfall as a human being.
Despite being a strong current within humanity’s consciousness for 5,000 years, Blue still maintains a strong influence today, even in more developed countries, with Blue holding 25% of the power.
When it comes to America, Evangelical Christians, The Republican Party, and political talk show hosts such as Ben Shapiro and Steven Crowder all display Blue-thinking with their rigid, absolutist thought structures.
Inevitably, lack of freedom under the Blue umbrella leads to bitterness which creates a desire for independence.
And even though Blue promotes morality, a sense of purpose, self-confidence, and direction in life, the conditions of it leaves one with doubts of genuine love and acceptance.
This leads one to questioning the authority, leading to the desire for breaking free, giving birth to Stage Orange, which is the stage that dominates Western Society today.
Stage Orange
Being a stage of differentiation, Stage Orange first came online 300-500 years ago with the spreading of democracy, individualism, human rights, freedom of expression, and capitalism.
This stage is known as the “prosperity” stage, as one acts in their own self-interest in order to win the “game of life.”
One at this stage is strongly driven by individual success, that is making money, being successful, having nice, luxurious things, and being of respectable status.
Essentially, money is like life’s report card to the Orange-thinker, and having nice, expensive things shows off to others that one is successful.
Morals at Stage Orange become based primarily on individualist ethics, rather than religion, so Orange folk tend to strongly emphasize human rights, legal freedoms, and minimal government interference in the “free markets.”
In reaction to the dogma of fundamentalist religion at Stage Blue, science and rationality take a strong hold at Stage Orange.
This is one of the primary, groundbreaking features of the emergence of Orange, as new discoveries about the nature of our world open the door for a more truthful worldview, along with innovative technologies that drastically increase the longevity and quality of life.
As a result of this, many atheists and agnostics are born at Stage Orange.
Of course, one can still be religious in an Orange state of mind, just in a less fundamentalist way that effectively integrates science and rationality into its worldview.
According to Spiral Dynamics, Orange describes 25-30% of the world population, over 50% of the U.S. population, and holds over 50% of the world’s power.
I’m sure many of us can relate to Stage Orange, see it in ourselves, and in the society we inhabit.
Like the emergence of any stage, Orange solved numerous problems, radically enhancing the quality of life for humanity.
Yet, because I am so growth-oriented, I will focus mainly on the limitations of Orange, and explain how excessive Orange thinking may very well contribute to the downfall of humanity.
Being so focused on individual success can cause lots of problems, particularly because there is a lack of concern for the greater whole, for the larger fabric of life.
And because Orange has access to such advanced technology, the potential for harm is even greater.
The vast majority of businesses and corporations in the world operate with the Orange mentality of seeking maximum profit, maximum financial gain.
In doing this, numerous corporations cut production costs as much as possible, resulting in wage slavery for many bottom-level employees, or production is outsourced to foreign countries where workers work in inhumane conditions.
And in being so fixated on financial gain, there can be a lack of consideration of the effect of a company’s actions on the environment, which is responsible for excessive greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to the rapid destruction of Earth’s biosphere.
And if you know anything of what the climate scientists say about where we are headed given our rate of greenhouse gas emissions, you know we are likely headed into environmental catastrophe.
This capitalistic, individual-oriented thinking that defines Stage Orange will have to give way to a new mode of thought in order to harmonize the world.
But luckily, this new mode of thought has already been born.
Orange is transcended once one realizes that material pleasures do not buy happiness, that constantly viewing others as competitions leads to loneliness and misery, that one’s own selfishness is hurting themselves, other people, and the planet, and that the entire materialist worldview has left one devoid of inner spirituality and out of touch with the greater ecology of life.
With this, the pendulum shifts back towards community in search of a higher purpose.
Enter Stage Green.
Stage Green
With the introduction of Stage Green, which only showed signs of first emergence roughly a century ago, one becomes more aware of the suffering of others in the world.
Peace, connection, love, and unity drive decision-making at this stage of development.
With this way of thought, Green naturally shifts away from Capitalism towards Socialism.
Lots of social justice movements happen at Green. The Civil Rights movement, the 1960’s counterculture movement, climate change activism, and Black Lives matter are all examples of Green movements.
Seeing the suffering that excessive individualism, authoritarianism, and hierarchy has caused, green naturally seeks to level the playing field with their emphasis on multiculturalism, diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity for all.
If you have gone through a college liberal arts program like I have, you likely noticed the strong Green values the university exudes.
The United States, particularly in more democratic states (especially California) have strong green values, but Scandinavian countries such as Norway, Denmark, and Sweden are examples of cultures that are more strongly Green.
Spiral Dynamics cites Green as describing 10% of the world population, and holding 15% of the power in the world. These numbers will be inflated if speaking strictly in terms of more developed, “first world” countries.
With feelings taking stronger precedence over achievement, new types of spirituality emerge here, often in a “new-age” fashion, emphasizing peace, communion, and harmony, with hippies saying phrases like “it’s all love, man!”
This emphasis on togetherness and the well-being of all is an enormously beneficial shift for humanity. But again, because I am so growth-oriented and want all of you readers to be the most you can be, I will put my main focus on revealing the limitations of Stage Green to you.
You see, Stage Green is still a Tier 1 stage, meaning that they still think that their worldview is the one, “correct” one.
They still view Blue fundamentalist christians and Orange individualists as weird, wacky, crazy, different, and downright wrong at the end of the day. They do not phathom that these worldviews develop and unfold into each other over time.
This green mentality can cause a strong Group Think, and can become toxic, creating cults of victims with their widespread censorship of whatever they deem as “politically incorrect.”
In essence, Green can become strongly dogmatic with its emphasis on community, as one is inclined to conform to whatever the Green ideals are, and are shunned whenever they are out of alignment with them. Think of Cancel Culture and all the mayhem that has caused.
While, yes, Green is more accepting of others, they still do not truly accept the validity of earlier, more limited perspectives.
The political polarization of the United States between the Republican and Democrat parties is largely a result of Tier 1 thinking.
If you watch any political debate, or talk politics with virtually anyone of the opposing party, you will see that the Republican party (Blue/Orange) and the Democrat Party (Orange/Green) simply just talk past each other and project their opposing values onto each other without deeply understanding the others’ perspectives.
Blue/Orange Republicans view Green values of diversity, inclusion, equal opportunity, and acceptance of all as threatening to their rigid mind structures of religious adherence, pursuit of the American Dream via the free markets, and “freedom.”
Whereas late Orange/Green Democrat values view Blue/Orange Republican values as excessively individualist, racist, sexist, classist, or any other “ist” you can think of, because their rigid mind structures do not fully allow for the diversity, equity, equal opportunity, and inclusion of all that Green desires.
Virtually no Democrat or Republican realizes this, and so they just bicker back and forth, talking past each other, projecting their worldview onto each other, with virtually no resolution or anything positive at all taking place.
As one becomes more aware of this, naturally the desire for differentiation emerges, as doubts of the Green collective mentality arise.
Existential questions come to the surface, you start to wonder truly why everyone is so different, why everyone believes different things, why everyone has such different goals and passions, and why all of these people clash.
One wonders more and more deeply what truly is the right way. With this, one begins to see the interconnectedness of everything more and more, how all of Earth and the human species is a system composed of many sub-systems, and how all of these sub-systems interacting go on to create the whole, and in order to build the best world possible, all of these systems must be woven together in a harmonious fashion.
Enter Stage Yellow.
Stage Yellow
Being a stage of differentiation, Stage Yellow is the first stage that has the capacity for Tier 2 thinking, meaning that they view all worldviews are valid in their own way.
In prior stages, the Stage Blue fundamentalist would have always projected their rigid, religious beliefs onto Red, Orange, and Green, thinking they are delusional for not following the way of God.
The Stage Orange rationally-minded fellow who loves capitalism and free markets would have demonized Blue and think their beliefs are stupid because they are irrational and not backed by science.
And this same person would view Green socialist policies as evil for threatening their prosperity, individuality, and freedom.
Whereas someone in Stage Green would have looked down on the Orange capitalist and demonized him for how individually-oriented he is, and hate him for not caring enough about the people who are less fortunate.
So, in Tier 2, rather demonizing, they examine why the Blue fundamentalist is the way he is, why the Orange capitalist is the way he is, and why the Green socialist is the way he is.
When a Stage Yellow person encounters racism, rather than canceling them and trying to ruin their life like Stage Green would do (which only strengthens their racist beliefs in most instances, by the way), they examine why the person is even racist in the first place, and seek to change the overarching system at play so that no more racism is more born from it.
The Stage Yellow thinker develops a big-picture, systems view of life, and recognizes that society is a buildup of a mix of various different systems.
The primary concern of Yellow is “how do we actually solve the world’s problems?”
Yellow knows that the solution is not ramming their solutions down the throat of others, but by learning how and why different people think and act the way they do, truly understanding them, and coming up with solutions based on that.
Yellow recognizes that the clashing of Tier 1 thinking has put everything in jeopardy, and bringing society into a more harmonious state involves an integral approach, emphasizing the validity of all points of view.
Thus, an integral, developmental view is taken. Blue develops into Orange. Orange into Green. Green into Yellow.
Stages cannot be skipped, but must be fully lived through and integrated into one’s way of being.
And so, society’s structure, policies, and educational system ought to be oriented towards helping each unique individual and group develop up the spiral based on where they are at.
However, Yellow-thinking has very little influence on society today, making up only 1% of the world population, and approximately 5% of the world’s power.
Most yellow-thinkers operate independently or in small organizations, taking on the roles of intellectuals, philosophers, futurists, coaches, consultants, or other prominent thinkers oriented towards making societal change at the systems level.
Due to their deep understanding of human nature, one at Stage Yellow can activate any of the prior stages when needed.
When swift action is required, one can be more authoritarian. When it is not, they will naturally be more open, flexible, and democratic.
Stage Yellow begins to be transcended when a greater spirituality creeps in through a deeper appreciation of the sheer intelligence of the universe.
This comes about through consciousness expanding to inhabit an ego-transcendent state, in which the present moment and being become the grounds of experience.
At the end of the day, global problems cannot be solved by an isolated group of people, and ultimately, human development up the spiral is an act of Nature taking its course.
With this, the pendulum switches back to community once again, but not just a communion with other people, but to a communion with all. With the universe, with God, with Source, the One, whatever you want to call it.
Enter Stage Turquoise.
Stage Turquoise
“Experience the wholeness of existence through body, mind, and spirit.”
Stage Turquoise is the final stage of the Spiral Dynamics model, accounting for less than 0.01% (less than 1 in 10,000 people) of the population, holding virtually none of the world’s power.
Turquoise folk tend to be the most advanced mystics and sages, but can also appear as a total normie for they have access to all prior modes of meaning-making and are not concerned with looking or acting in an “enlightened” way.
One at this stage of development is concerned with the well-being of all life, not just their own life, for the entire universe (including themself) is seen as a singular, dynamic organism.
By inhabiting an ego-transcendent, non-dual state, they realize the intelligence of the universe will carry everything in the direction it needs to go.
This does not mean the Turquoise individual sits around and does nothing though, for they see themselves as being an integral aspect of this intelligence and will intervene when they naturally feel called to.
You can think of a Turquoise individual as being like a Jesus or Buddha archetype. Every action they take is completely pure, authentic, loving, and unobstructed by egoic reasoning and projections.
It is important to note that many Stage Green people, and even Yellow as well, will talk Turquoise but fail to fully embody it.
For example, a Green hippie will say something like “We’re all one, man. It’s all love, man” but do not actually understand what Oneness and Non-duality is, yet alone inhabit that perspective in their day to day experience.
Because Turquoise holds virtually 0% of the world’s power, envisioning a Turquoise society is pure speculation.
Given Turquoise’ state of global, loving, unity consciousness, one can imagine that these country to country feuds and strict borders would inevitably dissolve.
People would define themselves by their ethnic and national group less and less, and more by their shared humanity and oneness with all of life.
I imagine if humanity went Turquoise, the Earth would basically just be one, giant country, of peaceful relations.
I do think we are thousands of years from reaching this utopia though, and there is a very real chance we never get there because we end up destroying ourselves.
However, I can envision a few Turquoise steps being taken so that we can move towards that society.
Let’s create a planet-wide, International Bill of Rights, that guarantees rights such as freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and protection from being enslaved.
Of course, most, more developed countries already have this.
But imagine if the entire world had this, and was cooperating to ensure the protection of all people from persecution. How amazing would that be!
This is all speculation though, and at the end of the day Turquoise is difficult to understand and articulate because so few people inhabit this level of consciousness.
Final Spiral Insights
Whatever society you were born in, your development will naturally be taken to the center of gravity of that society.
But, if you want to develop further, you will have to take a leap. That is, you will have to question everything, do inner work, and go against the status quo.
This can be an emotionally laborious process, as one leaves the values of their family and friends behind, taking a leap into the unknown.
But, it is a feature of reality that taking leaps is required for growth.
The main driver behind human development is increasing awareness.
As one goes up the spiral, they come to inhabit more and more expansive identities (ego-centric → group-centric → religio-centric → nation-centric → world-centric → cosmos-centric)
To develop up the spiral significantly faster than a normal human, try these:
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
Fully accepting whatever is in your direct experience
Traveling to a foreign country
Hanging out with cool people that make you think different
And 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 you must reach Stage Turquoise 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.
My Offers
For next week’s newsletter, I am announcing a comprehensive, 8 week program that utilizes numerous practices from the bullet-point list above with the intention of cultivating spiritual fitness (the state of being spiritually fit to find and live your life’s unique callings).
The offer will be so good that you will feel stupid to say no to it.
If you want to be a part of the first cohort (February 2024), DM me “coaching” on Instagram and we can set up a call to discuss the process further.
That’s all I have for today guys.
Have a great day and peace!
-Wyeth