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aqal
September 2009 
(R)Evolution and the Sensitive Soul
Posted on Jun 22nd, 2006
by 
Peter
Peter
[ (R) for Rapid - thanks to Elizabeth Sahtouris for this one. ]
They don't mix well.
What is it about the closed Sensitive Self (Spiral Green) that makes it such a draining system to engage? (And I emphasise "closed" - "open" and even "arrested" I have had great joy engaging). And why do I find myself feeling increasingly unsympathetic and impatient towards it?
One of Clare Graves' key conclusions was not that it was our task to get everyone to second tier, but rather that we should aim to meet people where they are at, creating the habitats that allow them to flourish as the people that they are (so in AQAL terms create alignment across quadrants).
However another of his major findings was how "value systems" emerge in interaction with "life conditions" (in AQAL terms, the four quadrants co-arise / co-evolve). Now our current global life conditions are those of the sixth major species extinction on planet earth - according to scientific definitions of numbers and rates of disappearance. In the previous five extinctions, the dominant species has gone down with many others, unable to adapt. So it would be an exception if we survived this one. However, there is a signficant difference with this one - we are the primary cause of it, so we can also turn it around. We are also now aware of this evolutionary process itself, that we are.
Now these life conditions call firstly for seeing ourselves as part of the interconnected and evolving whole that our planet and universe is, and secondly for us to design integral interventions and act rapidly whilst learning continually on the job.
The Sensitive Self has an issue with both of these demands. Seeing ourselves as part of an evolving whole, and therefore as evolving ourselves, has implications - namely that different people are at different levels of development, which means that I am at a different level of development to others around me - more evolved than some and less evolved than others. Particularly that last one is tricky for Green.
It's my experience that Green is the last major stand of the ego (by which I mean our sense of separate self). It is a confusing system. It calls for inclusion and tolerance, and believes that everyone has their own truth and therefore must be included in everything. The result is that if anyone tries to tell someone centred in closed Green that they have an obligation or responsibility to do something, they are likely to get told in no uncertain terms that they have no right to tell them what they should do, as they are their own individual with freedom to be who they want and do what they like - so bugger off with your authoritarian oppression. However the evolutionary context implies a natural hierarchy where others do exist who can see things more clearly than you, and whose leadership it should therefore be normal for you to follow. This, in my experience, is where Green reaches its limits, and will often freak out projecting all sorts of past hurt about not being honoured, respected, included etc etc. Not very pleasant stuff to have to deal with.
The other demand - natural design and rapid action - is also too much for the Green system. The reasons are obvious really - design and action are not things best done by including anyone who wants to be included (or by people democratically elected), but by people who have the vertical and horizontal competencies to do so. Would you rather have your airplane passengers elect pilots from amongst their own numbers, or have qualified people appointed by the airline? We need functional teams, appointed by those with complex enough value systems to be able to make that fit - and if that selection team does not include you, then the ego and Sensitive Self goes ape.
So basically, the primary reason for us to facilitate as many people as possible (including ourselves) out of Orange/Green into Yellow/Turquoise is not that the latter are better systems, but that the planetary life conditions are demanding it, and if we want to survive this time round then we had better get on with it.
So no more time for pandering to hurt egos, trying to help people feel like they belong, meeting lacks in people by granting them a place, giving in to demands for diversity and inclusion just for the sake of it, or submitting oneself to heart-sharing sessions just to make someone else's Sensitive Self feel better.
Only time for standing in our own strength, free of the past, connecting with others to have an impact when the need requires, thinking for ourselves and trusting our insights checked with a community of the adequate, and aligning all that we do behind a purpose that serves the good of the whole.
Time to get on with it. If we upset Sensitive Souls on the way, that hurt belongs to them and not to us. Don't let it distract us and drain our energy. Release the past, feel the pull of the future and joy of the present, and do what needs to be done.
Access: PublicTagged with: evolution, integral, green, ego, wilber, spiral dynamics, aqal, emergence, extinction, sensitive self, graves
“The other demand - natural design and rapid action - is also too much for the Green system. The reasons are obvious really - design and action are not things best done by including anyone who wants to be included (or by people democratically elected), but by people who have the vertical and horizontal competencies to do so.”
exactly. this thing is so obvious. hierarchy naturally happens to a group, tribe, community. people who do best in certain things naturally lead. so it floors me why some people deny “elitism” altogether. oh well.
Good stuff, this. Some comments:
“different people are at different levels of development, which means that I am at a different level of development to others around me - more evolved than some and less evolved than others. Particularly that last one is tricky for Green.”
I got some good ol' green goin' for me, and the way it usually lights up is by homing in on the first, rather than the last. Could be a types thing, but I think it's particularly scary, after having condemned jugdment (oxymoronically ;-), to find yourself thinking that you may be more evolved than others… Yikes, did I just say more evolved? Like better? Better tear that down again ;-). I'm really not trying to put down the sensitive self here - simply observing rule 6a: don't take yourself so fucking seriously! Works for me…
Also: “So basically, the primary reason for us to facilitate as many people as possible (including ourselves) out of Orange/Green into Yellow/Turquoise is not that the latter are better systems, but that the planetary life conditions are demanding it, and if we want to survive this time round then we had better get on with it.”
From the way I take SDi, life conditions are not fixed and 'out there', but rather they're in the (literally) different worlds that people inhabit. In that sense, it would be possible that whereas I'm authentically seeing only purple life conditions (for whatever 4Q reason), while you're standing next to me and seeing those high-altitude, tealish life conditions that you're seeing! ;-)
The point being, that as far as life conditions go, you can only state clearly how you see it, and then see who resonates with that and go and play with them. Some people are not going to do that, and even pointing out the nature of the life conditions as you see 'em might not make a difference at all, unless it's translated in such a way that it can 'enter their world' and that it makes sense at that level.
Notwithstanding all this, I completely resonate with your call to not get dragged down into the murky past and focus on the pull of the future in the present moment. The future is already fully 'objective' in the present (in a Whiteheadian sense), as it will need to have reproductive reference to what is here, now, even though obviously it will add a novel twist. Actuality is merely the decision amidst potentiality, and that is what the present moment is all about: you're making those decisions already, so can you make them consciously, and can you make them from your highest potential self? Ok, yeah, sure, let's!
Nice Diederick:
“From the way I take SDi, life conditions are not fixed and ‘out there’, but rather they’re in the (literally) different worlds that people inhabit. ” And your conclusions…
So this means looking for the people who are becoming aware of these planetary second-tier-triggering life conditions and facilitating flex emergence into the mindset and multiple line capacities to engage with them rapidly.
Yes!
Yeah man, let me start by giving you huge credit for putting yourself out there by initiating the Center for Human Emergence here in Holland and sharing yourself in this online community; thank you. Thanks also for creating a structure that allows us to engage with each other to learn about what dealing with action and transformation in a transformation-conscious group looks like.
Social dynamics are a bitch, whether you're dealing with closed Green or not; at least, that's my experience in the urban West. There are so many ways and options of being that are relatively new, that creating ways of being together in “safe”, aligned and constructive ways often takes time. Focusing on what I feel to be important has helped me put aside the potentially distracting wobbliness that social situations call up, even in an organisation that so clearly stands for what I believe in as the CHE. A number of times a long shadow was cast against the brightness of the potentially deep and fruitful connections I feel are possible, which required a proportional conscious effort to put the accompanying fears aside. I'm grateful for the opportunity to wrestle with what Rilke pointed out as “our deepest fears, like dragons guarding our deepest treasure”; I believe the fruits of the effort are most valuable.
My thoughts on social dynamics have lately have been directed towards the idea of a “social instinct”, as proposed by Almaas (click here for a short document on the subject; also ties in with “types” in the AQAL framework). When I consider this instinct as an extension of our survival instinct, it helps me understand why fear of being shut out, or not being included, can generate so much resistance. I agree with you that the best way to deal with this is to stand in your strength and thereby deepen this morphic groove.
I also agree with Diederick on the importance of working with those you resonate with. Pioneering is creative work, and the spark of creation is vulnerable. Working in resonance is an efficient way to fan a spark until the fire blazes brightly. On the other hand, working exclusively with those you resonate may eventually lack evolutionary tension that your being thrives under, which is why it can be fun and challenging to deal with the complexities of interpersonal dynamics and communication. Personally, some of the recent greatest difficulties and rewarding breakthroughs have come from dealing with group dynamics (my band).
On the issue of how we motivate ourselves to do what we do and using fear of extinction as a driving force… In face of all the bad news I'm happy and hopeful. Somehow, I've become immune to all kinds of “doom news”, maybe also because it's been used to manipulate so often in our collective past. It just doesn't inspire me at the moment, even though I feel I'm open to a perspective that would enable me to benefit the whole more effectively than I'm doing now. Perhaps paradoxically, a more profound realisation of who I am as a relative vehicle and player has led me to a more specialised and “small” approach to working on the big picture. I try to respect the facts, yet at the same time realise that I don't have a zillion arms to counter infinite suffering. Fun and play become serious business when a drive to survive no longer provides the energy to animate my life. On a playful note, I do see how fear of extinction can make the game exciting enough to become fun, though.
With love and respect, Roma
One thing that has helped me a lot in working with groups of people (kids and adults) is looking for the commonalities - What do we agree on? All stages and levels want to be healthy and safe. That’s pretty much a given, as survival is well-programmed into our human brain. So that’s where I start. In looking for ways to help our species find good, sustainable solutions for meeting our needs, while not trashing the planet, I try to find out where people are, and offer them better options that make sense to them, at their level. And I know that I need to do this in an all-quadrant way. It is a lot of work - definitely much harder than it would be if we were all on the same level! But reality means that we have to deal with the world at all the levels, because there simply are people all over the spiral.
So while it means a lot of work, it is possible to convince everyone, at all levels and in all quadrants, that working for a more sustainable existence is important. In other words, there is something in it for everyone!
Beige gets to survive.
Purple gets to look to nature for inspiration.
Red gets to rebel against non-sustainable policies.
Blue gets to have a sense of purpose in being the responsible caretakers of (God’s/Nature’s) blue-green creation.
Orange gets to invent, invest, and invoke it’s talents in sustainable technology and solutions
Green gets to enjoy the green-ness of it all.
Yellow gets to look at the big picture (the Earth, she’s so pretty!).
Turquoise gets to bring Integral solutions to the table.
And so on… all in self, nature, and culture, as well.
Peace, Love, and Bicycles,
Turtle