Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10

1. p. 21: "Basically, Graves discovered that there are around eight major levels or waves of human consciousness... as we will see."

     Hazelton quoted Graves: "Briefly, 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 an individual's existential problems change. Each successive stage, wave, or level of existence is a state through which people pass on their way to other states of being. When the human is centralized in one state of existence, he or she has a psychology which is particular to that state. His or her feelings, motivations, ethics and values, biochemistry, degree of neurological activation, learning system, belief systems, conception of mental health, ideas as to what mental illness is and how it should be treated, conceptions of and preferences for management, education, economics, and political theory and practice are all appropriate to that state." C. Graves, "Summary Statement: The Emergent, Cyclical, Double-Helix Model of the Adult Human Biopsychosocial Systems," Boston, May 20, 1981.

2. p. 21: "The same is true with Graves model; to date, it has been tested in more than 50,000 people from around the world... no major exceptions found to the general scheme."

     Hazelton said (from Kim's notes): "This is a statement made by Don Beck in a lecture at Integral Center; he said that much of this data is on computer file in the National Values Center, Denton, Texas, and is open to qualified researchers."

3. p. 21: "(Let me just say that 'Spiral Dynamics' is a registered trademark... used here with grateful permission.)"

     Hazelton said (from Kim's notes): "Both of my lectures--today's and tomorrow's--about Spiral Dynamics, I have shown to Don Beck, and he said that he was in substantial agreement with my points. Of course, this does not mean that he agrees with every little detail, but only that my presentation is faithful to Spiral Dynamics as Don sees it.

      "What I particularly admire about Don Beck's work," Hazelton continued, "is that he has found a way to both remain faithful to the spirit and findings of Graves, and yet also continue to modify, update, and refine Graves's pioneering work. For, like any great pioneer, Graves's work is now quite dated. Graves did not have a fully articulated understanding of the four quadrants, the relation of levels and lines, the relation of stages and states, the higher levels themselves (including the transpersonal stages and states), and the nature of recent breakthrough discoveries in the various quadrants, such as brain neuroscience, genetic factors, neurophysiology, and chaos/complexity theories; finally, a sophisticated understanding of the influence of what we call the Lower-Left quadrant (or cultural background), so intensively investigated by postmodern epistemologies, is also lacking in Graves. Beck has attempted to combine these new breakthrough discoveries with the pioneering work of Graves to arrive at a much more integral and comprehensive psychological model than Graves possessed, while still incorporating those aspects of Graves that have stood the test of time. He has done so by plugging the original Graves model (which is a phase-2 type of model) into an 'all-quadrants, all-levels, all-lines, all-states' model (a phase-4 model), thereby moving toward a much more integral psychology. You can see an outline of this Spiral Dynamics Integral, or SDi, at www.spiraldynamics.net. See also www.globalvaluesnetwork.com.

     "(One caveat: those of you practicing spiritual contemplation will not find in SDi an elucidation of the higher, transpersonal states and stages. This is because research on these post-turquoise developments is scarce, and Beck tries to remain close to available evidence. The nature of these higher states and stages is investigated in Integral Psychology. There have been attempts to reduce spirituality to expressions of the first- or second-tier memes, but these reductionisms fall short of the mark, and seem to reflect a merely theoretical attempt to grasp transpersonal states and stages, and not a direct experience of those realms, which are thoroughly post-turquoise.)

      "Of course, there are some scholars who insist on presenting a 'pure Graves' model (for use in business, politics, education, etc.), but 'pure Graves' today simply means outmoded, obsolete, and inadequate. Using such outmoded models for business consultation, education, and so on, produces much less than adequate outcomes. This is why Beck's move toward a more integral model is impressive.

      "Don Beck is a valued, founding member of Integral Center. If you would like to work with Don Beck, you can contact him at drbeck@attglobal.net. I should also mention that two other members of IC, Jenny Wade and Peter McNab, have also updated Graves into more integral models (see, e.g., Wade's Changes of Mind), as have theorists such as Wyatt Woodsmall. For my friend Chris Cowan's interpretations of Graves, see the Cowan link at www.spiraldynamics.com. One thing all of these theorists--and virtually all of us at IC--agree on is the absolutely profound and lasting contributions of a remarkable genius called Clare Graves. (For a fuller discussion of all of these themes, please see Integral Psychology.)"

4. p. 22: "Spiral Dynamics... as proceeding through eight general stages, which are also called memes."

     Hazelton continued (from Kim's notes): "Spiral Dynamics speaks specifically of vMEMEs or 'value memes,' which are organizing principles underlying virtually all forms of human behavior. For our introductory lectures we have simplified this to just 'memes,' but the important differences should be remembered. See Beck and Cowan, Spiral Dynamics. For various criticisms of memes, see A Theory of Everything, endnote 9 for chapter 1; for criticisms of Spiral Dynamics, see the same book, endnotes 6 and 10 for chapter 1."

5. p. 24: "Approximately 0.1% of the adult population, 0% power."

     Hazelton added, "If you add up all the percentages at each meme, you will get more than 100%, because there is some overlap."

     Kim pointed out that Hazelton wrote a widely respected textbook on developmental psychology, called Up the Spiral Staircase: Studies in Where You Want to Be Going: Cambridge, Harvard Yard Publishing House, 2000.

6. p. 29: "Because second-tier consciousness is fully aware of... the necessary role that all of the various memes play."

     Hazelton added (from Kim's notes): "The existence of these waves of consciousness is why many philosophical arguments are not really a matter of the better objective evidence, but of the subjective level of development of those arguing. No amount of orange scientific evidence will convince blue religious believers; no amount of green bonding will impress orange aggressiveness; no amount of turquoise holism will dislodge green pluralism--unless the individual is ready to develop forward through the spiral of consciousness unfolding. Intellectual debates and 'dialogues' across stages are almost entirely worthless, since real understanding would require a subjective transformation on the part of some of the participants, and frankly, that is unlikely."

7. p. 34: "In the end, the only justifications...have the form 'justified for me.'"

     Hazelton: "See One Taste (a book written by a member of IC), Nov. 23 entry, for references and extended discussion."