Spiral Dynamics is the process by which people mature and grow, and in fact the process that cultures go through as they progress as well. When you reach a new level, you do not go back to a previous level permanently. You will live in the new level as your entire worldview, thinking that you have found the answer to all your problems. Because you have. As always, however, new problems or needs or desires will arise and you will need to grow again.
Like in the Maslow article, you can see where you fall on the spiral and you can see the next steps to go for further improvement.
Beige is the very first level of existence where most animals live. It is all about trying to eat and not get eaten. One could say this is the birth of the true experiencer. This level is purely reactionary, input and output.
This is the mindset you go into when your life is threatened or when you're starving to death etc.
The next level is purple. This is when you begin to notice that the other things you see around you are actually the same thing as you. You notice there are other beings with the same goals as you, simply to stay alive and not be eaten. Shared values create peace instead of eating or being eaten. This means that purple people can help each other. This is your tribes of cavemen working together to take down a Mammoth. Everything is done for the good of the tribe as opposed to the individual.
This is the level you go into if you and your family are in danger.
The next level is red and swings back to focus on the individual. Domination and will power. This level it is all about taking advantage of others and using everything for your own benefit. Any rules or laws set in place by the caveman or the spirits of the earth only apply to those weaker than you. Me me me.
This is the level you go into if you feel personally slighted and rage at something in order to get what you want.
The next level is blue this is where a society forms. Everyone follows the same cause for the greater good. People work together for the mutual benefit of all and violence between each other is lost almost completely. A real culture can form here, in fact you could say that the culture that we live in now is a blue culture.
This is the level most people live at while living in society and trying to help their community.
The next level is orange. This is where a person who lives in the society decides to play the game for their own self interest they can learn and solve problems and you society to help themselves. This person wants to see their status within the society improve.
This is the level you go into if you are looking to get that promotion at work or business capitalists generally.
Green swings back to focus on the Society. But instead of focusing only on your city or culture, the green person understands that the world is all part of the same system. They desire harmony and peace worldwide. They are eco-friendly and still believe that all problems can be solved through one system of values.
This is the level you go into if you are a hippie or into world peace. If you've ever said "save the dolphins" or anything like that.
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This ends the first tier of spiral dynamics, each of the levels before hands were their own individual person traveling through and growing. To grow past green is to become somewhat jaded about the world and give up on your grand schemes of saving the world.
The next tier begins with level yellow. Little yellow is a person who is awakened to the way the world works and understands that change is natural. They will flow with life and do whatever they need to do while living fully and responsibly. They understand their own mind and the games that it plays on them and try to further their own goals despite this. A yellow person is capable of recognizing the previous levels in another person instead of simply seeing everyone as potentially becoming like themselves.
The final level so far discovered is turquoise. This is when a person ceases to see themselves as a person and is enlightened to the true nature of reality. They are one with nature and completely relinquish control to be part of the flow.
If you can see where you are on the spiral, but aren't sure what to do, just wait for my next article, combining the Hierarchy and the Spiral to create the baseline non-contextual improvement path!