CHAPTER V
DEVELOPMENTAL DYSPLASIA
"Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains."
-Rousseau
5.1 THE EXISTENCE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF DYSPLASIA
Preamble
Reference is made to the Erikson-Piaget-Gowan
Periodic
Developmental Stage Chart found in Chapter II. It declares that
affective-cognitive stages occur in a periodic fashion with three phases
as follows:
(The World) |
(The Ego) |
(The Other) |
Sensorimotor |
Preoperational |
Intuitive |
Concrete Operations |
Formal Operations |
Creativity |
Psychedelic |
Illumination |
Love? |
An immediate question which comes to mind is "What happens when there
is developmental lag so that affective and cognitive growth in these stages
is uneven?" Formerly (1972, 1972a) we had used the Piagetian word "decalage"
for this purpose, but the article of Kohlberg and Mayer, published also
in 1972 but after our books, employs the word "decalage" in a slightly
different context. This has popularized its American usage in a way which
would have provoked confusion, had we continued in this manner. Horizontal
decalage
in
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Kohlberg's usage means the spread or generalization of a stage across the range of concepts and actions to which the stage applies. Hence, in order to avoid resulting confusion, we have in this volume substituted another word "dysplasia."
We borrowed the word "dysplasia" from W. T. Sheldon (1947-19) who says of it: "Dysplasia is indicated by the amount of disagreement among the different (bodily) regions." Sheldon, of course is referring to somatotypes, but Webster's New International Dictionary (Second Edition) defines plasia as a "combining form denoting development . . . "
Dysplasia, in our usage, means a disagreement, dissonance, or disparity either between the age of the individual, which should place him in one stage, and the (different) stage he is actually in (an absolute dysplasia), or disparity between the cognitive stage he is in and the affective stage he is in (a relative dysplasia). The concept involves some aspect of developmental lag, arrest, or slowdown which means that in some part of his development the individual is behind schedule.
The effects of developmental dysplasia are that the individual tends to accept the achievements of any one stage as comprising the totality of self, and further potentialities of higher stages are not discerned or appreciated.
This section is concerned with the orderly expansion of energy in developmental process; but the effect of the environment on individual development is much less orderly. These environmental conditions may be propitious for accelerated development or may be so inimical as to stunt it. One expects such environmental irregularity in an open society, and guidance, besides trying to assist students across the regular discontinuities of development, also attempts to assist them in withstanding the irregular and varying amplitudes of environment.
Furthermore, we should understand developmental stages as a range not a milestone (in which the individual may plunge ahead to new experiences or dip back to previous ones). This ambivalence is necessary until the individual is comfortable enough to escalate into the more complex experiences of the next stage without the artificiality of developmental forcing.*
In this
discussion, the relative dysplasia refers to differences in level
between the cognitive and affective stages (Absolute dysplasia refers
in contradistinction to the difference between the developmental stage
which should occur at a given individual's age, and the cognitive or affective
developmental level which he has actually reached).
(page166)
Postulates About Dysplasia
The following are tentative hypotheses, based largely on intuition,
offered as an approach to a developing field, and as structure for hypotheses
to be tested by research.
1. In relative dysplasia, it is cognitive development which lags, not the affective. (Possible rare exceptions will be discussed later).One might hazard some examples of these modes for the various affective levels as follows:2. Because of the three-phase periodicity of the developmental process, the dysplasia is never more than a two-stage lag. Hence, the only possible modes are:
a) ENGAGED MODE: Cognitive and Affective Development are both at the same stage. Example:, 7-7: the individual has the Parental-Psychedelic seventh stage without dysplasia.b) DISPLAYED MODE: Cognitive Development is arrested at one stage below Affective. Example: 7-6: Parental-Creative dysplasia.
c) DEGRADED MODE: Cognitive development is two stages below Affective. Example: 7-5: Parental-Formal Operations dysplasia.
Another way of saying the same thing is that Cognitive dysplasia prevents affective development from advancing more than two stages ahead. Therefore, when arrest occurs in cognitive development, affective development is eventually also blocked.3. Dysplasias are generally (but not impossibly) irremediable. That is, once cognitive development falls behind affective development, it is only in rare circumstances that it can recover its position. This irreversibility is a statistical phenomenon, not a natural law, but it is generally seen in developmental differentiation, an example being the "irreversibility" aspect of the Ginsberg theory of vocational choice. This hypothesis postulates that a 6-5 dysplasia does not become a 6-6, but a 7-5 or a 7-6, thus maintaining the dysplasia. Since dysplasias of more than two steps are not theoretically possible, the only movement for a 7-5 is to become an 8-6. This may help to explain why there are a lot of 7- 5's. It would also help explain why the 7th and 8th cognitive stages are so excessively rare. For a developing individual could not get into the 7th cognitive stage with more than a one-stage dysplasia, and he could never get into the 8th stage at all unless development proceeds evenly (without dysplasia) at all stages.
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Stage |
(Dysplasia 0) |
(Dysplasia 1) |
(Dysplasia 2) |
Love? |
(Jesus, Buddha) |
(St. Francis) |
(Isaiah) |
Integrity |
(Gandhi) |
(Blake) |
Person |
|
(Cayce) |
|
WASP |
|
Hippie |
|
Problem Child |
The characteristics of the engaged mode column seem to be a kind of mature and complete achievement resulting from excellent mental health and shown in unselfish and altruistic ways. Inspection of Figure VIII in Chapter III shows why this is so. High mental health of the engaged mode is characterized both by a fuller scientific exploration of nature on the external environment, and a fuller contacting of the generalized substratum of consciousness in the inner environment, so consciousness is enriched and exhilarated by gaining a larger purview of action and cognition.
The characteristics of the degraded mode appear as immature underachievement, which does not own nor recognize its potential, which concentrates more on personal and selfish tasks, and which therefore is more petty and less altruistic. As indicated in Figure VIII, this narrow range of cognition, both in the outer and inner environments, leads to stereotyping of the environment in line with one's preconceptions, and in lack of ability to contact the real ground of one's being.
It would be a fascinating task to chart the prevalence of these dysplasia types in the adult population. Even a cursory inspection will turn up the overwhelming prevalence of the 7-5 (parental-formal operations) dysplasia. Indeed, this degraded modal type is the most common in our culture. One wonders why? Is it because developmental forces within the individual commonly produce escalation to the parental stage affectively and the formal operations stage cognitively? Is it primarily the result of cultural pressure and expectations? Why should this dysplasia be more common than an equal level between cognitive and affective development? Why do most of us fall into this double dysplasia? Should our culture change its educational system to avoid it? Or should it concentrate on environmental stimulation to help adults escalate out of it?
The problem may be clarified by charting the cognitive and affective descriptions of each higher developmental stage, and then
(page168)
identifying individuals who fit these specifications. The construction of such a chart is given in Table XI, detailing personality characteristics applicable to each stage. Readers of Erikson, Havighurst, and Maslow will find many of these markers borrowed from their writings. One could presumably expand such an endeavor into a check list of an instrument measuring whether or not individuals had acceded to given levels. The development of tests of this sort would be a highly useful undertaking.
If one now turns to those self-actualized people Maslow used for his study, one again finds the double dysplasia since most are 8-6 (Ego Integrity- Creativity) types. Of the fifteen characterizations of self-actualizing people, only two (the Mystic or Oceanic Feeling, and Gemeinschaftgefuhl - a brother feeling for all mankind) are descriptive of the seventh cognitive stage of psychedelia. We can even predict the commonest course for those who become self-actualized: 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-5, 7-5, 8-6.
The probable track of those who become self-actualized suggests that our most important task as educators is to induce the development of creativity during the intimacy stage so as to prevent the dysplasia from getting started. This in turn suggests that schools of higher education have greatly shirked their task of making young people more creative by inflicting on them a curriculum which is formal, restrictive, and stultifying instead of open, discovery-oriented, and creative.
Some Possible Exceptions and Their Significance
When there is a relative dysplasia between the affective and cognitive
stage, it is the latter which is in arrears. While this statement is true
in the overwhelming percentage of cases, it is desirable to consider whether
rare exceptions are possible, and hence significant. Important theoretical
consequences often flow from exploring rare but not mythical phenomena.
Let us have a look at some examples:
Ex. 1. A ten-year old girl with an I.Q. of 150 could be in the fourth stage (industry) affectively, but in the cognitive stage of formal operations, and hence reasoning in syllogisms.(page 169)Ex. 2. A brilliant youth, aged fourteen, while still in the fifth stage (identity) might already have escalated into the sixth cognitive stage (creativity) and be producing original works of music, poetry, or mathematics.
Ex. 3. A bright and idealistic young adult of twenty-three might have escalated into the seventh cognitive stage (psychedelia) although affectively only in the sixth stage (intimacy).
TABLE XI: PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HIGHER DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES
(page 170)
In each of our examples, one may note the presence of high intelligence which may have led to the speeding up of cognitive development. But like synchrotron light emission (which is the "penalty" electromagnetic waves pay for exceeding the speed of light in a given medium) there is likewise a penalty in these rare cases. This takes the form of a temporary slowing down of another affective task. The effect, first noted by Kinsey of the latency of sexual appetite (not development) in bright youth is an illustration. So would the rare effect of not needing to go through a parental stage to reach psychedelia.
These rare exceptions suggest that cognitive acceleration of this type is most effective in preventing the usual dysplasia in which the cognitive stage lags behind the affective. They also suggest that many minitasks of each level do not get explicated through to the Van Rhijn symbolic level, but are only half-way let out in movement, ritual, and art, and that symbolic conductance (i.e. high intelligence) is very useful in the full cognition of the world of experience, and hence in preventing the usual dysplasia. As a corollary we might add that if this hypothesis is true, there will be found in every dysplasia, a focus of disease in the stasis or lack of cognitive experiencing which then forces such experiences to be let out at the lowest (or prototaxic) level in trouble either in the body or in the environment, somewhere in the self-concept. Such a concept is a powerful tool for an insightful counselor, since it suggests that every talent which lies fallow foments its own dis-ease and difficulty.
Another and more general method of avoiding dysplasias is to provide the kind of intellectual and emotional stimulation which produces creative young people in the sixth developmental stage. This point requires enormous changes in the sterile curriculums of high school and college. Paul Brandwein's "predisposing factors" (1955) in his charming book about his phenomenal production of young scientists is a step in the right direction, and so is Sidney Parnes' teaching of creativity to Buffalo undergraduates, but many more are needed.
Human institutions including the family, the church, and education exist to satisfy the Maslovian hierarchy. When lower order needs are done, their clear task is to help young adults become self-actualized. Many institutions seem to have forgotten their responsibility for this role, but this is no reason for letting them off the hook. This kind of development is not only important for the individual, but it is vital for the survival of the species. Creativity insures evolutionary progress, and the response to tomorrow's challenges. The development of significant numbers of creative and self-actualized persons within a given culture is a number one priority for a culture to live and flourish. We now know where we want to go, and we have a map telling us how to get there; it is our own failure if we do not commence the journey, both as individuals and as a race.
(page 171)
The Hindus divided man's life stages into three; first, the student, then the householder, and finally the holy man, thus ascribing religious value to the life process. But values may reside inherently in human development, not in outside religious fiat, and such values have to do with movement of self-concept away from body image to the more environmental interests, and eventually away from egocentric concerns to genuine altruism. These humanistic values are as genuine as religious ones, and have the added virtues of being within the reach of all and amenable to the changes wrought by scientific discovery. We would do well to educate for these values, to prize them more in our civic and social life, and to portray them more positively to youth.
In Summary:
1. The essence of man's humanness lies in his possibility of escalating into developmental stages higher than those expressed by the American Dream of vocational adjustment to material success and a happy conjugal and family life.(page 172)2. This escalation is possible for emotionally sound, superior (above 120 I.Q.) adults, if proper environmental stimulation is at hand.
3. The proper function of social institutions is to further and stimulate this development.
4. These developmental stages are clearly conceptualized by the Erikson-Piaget-Gowan periodic table of cognitive and affective developmental stages.
5. Inspection of the chart indicates that most adults (who have achieved financial success and a happy marriage) are arrested in the seventh parental affective period, and the fifth formal operations cognitive period.
6. The facilitation of escalation into the eighth affective period (ego-integrity) and into the sixth, seventh, and eighth cognitive periods (creativity, psychedelia, and illumination) represents the task/ opportunity.
7. This task/ opportunity is vital for every individual, and is also necessary for survival and evolutionary progress of the species.
5.2 THE IVY LEAGUE DYSPLASIA STUDY
(Author's note: This study is based on an examination of the Thirty-Fifth Report of the class of 19xx, alumni of one of America's most prestigious male colleges. Because of the severe ethical problems involved in the invasion of privacy in the quoting of such autobiographical material, and the fact that it is necessary to use this material without the knowledge or consent of the authors, very stringent methods have been taken to protect the identities of the respondents. This has included the changing of all proper nouns and other identifying words, and the frequent combination of several reports into a melange which would destroy the idiosyncratic flavor of any given biography, but preserve the similarity of context and concern. Since our interest is not on personal but on developmental levels, it has seemed that this substitution, together with this explanation of it, is the most effective compromise in the problem of using data on living individuals without giving personal offense.)
What percentage of superior adults reach self-actualizing levels,
and how and where are the others scattered on the highway of life? For
anyone interested in the development of human potential, this is a fascinating
question. We set out to find out.
The methodology was to examine the autobiographical records of an Ivy League College class, thirty-five years after graduation. At this time, most of the members were between the ages of fifty-five and sixty, so one would expect that major changes would occur in but few instances from then on. The criterion for selection of these individuals to college in the first place required competence which would be equivalent now to SAT scores of 600 or better, a full standard deviation above the average secondary senior population in the 1920's. We may consequently assume that these subjects were in the top ten percent intellectually, and that the minimum I.Q. range would be in the 120's. We are told (Torrance, 1962, Getzels and Jackson 1962) that in this range, individuals can become creative, so theoretically one could expect outstanding accomplishment and creative production from all of these subjects.
On the basis of the autobiographical protocol submitted for the Thirty-Fifth Anniversary book, ratings were made on each respondent by the writer in line with the scale detailed below. There are a number of sources of errors in this procedure. First, the class member may not have responded; second, his response may misinterpret his status; and third, his response may be misjudged by the rater. In
(page173)
rebuttal, however, it may be said that the respondents did not know that they would be rated; that such an occasion leads to a rather open and frank disclosure in most cases, and that we are not trying for individual accuracy, but merely attempting to distinguish between groups, so that individual errors may generally be expected to cancel each other out.
This last point is not true, however, with regard to the non-respondents. The history of any kind of questionnaire response is that those who do not respond represent a sub-population heavily weighted with unfavorable aspects, with problems such as homosexuality or alcoholism, lack of career success, or other types of untoward experience. We have no way of compensating for this situation or of proportionally allocating the non-responders to their appropriate tales.
The Survey Categories
The survey included the inspection of autobiographies of about five hundred class members. These were divided into eight categories, with category one the non-responders. Categories from two to eight comprise a series of levels which progress in a continuum from egocentricity toward freedom and creativity. At the lowest level, self-concept is concentrated on bad things happening to the self, then it progresses to "my possessions, my children, my hobbies, my concerns, my accomplishments and my creations." The development of self-concept from the inner self to the phenomenal self, the environmental self, and then via hobbies, art and travel to more altruistic aspects of unselfish interest is especially clear. There is also more disclosure as one goes up the scale, but it is more objective, more filled with concern for others, less with self-reference, and less idiosyncratic. This type of developmental progress is explicated elsewhere (Gowan, 1972).
We start with level 2.
2. Those having unhappy or untoward experiences, or none at all; the sick; the unfulfilled, the self-pitying, and the incoherent:
In this category there is a disposition not to disclose or communicate (this seems to be a professional disease with some attorneys), and a (perhaps justified) concern with the body and its troubles.
The following are illustrations of very short complete biographies which
fall in this category:
-) I do not consider that I have anything to report which would be of interest to the class.(page 174)
-) During the past ten years nothing of interest has occurred.3. Those primarily concerned with money and material success, (rather than in home and family relationships), or other more altruistic pursuits. Many of these biographies are very brief and say little or nothing about anything except business.-) Unlike many of my illustrious classmates, I have little of accomplishment to report. My health has had several ups and downs.
-) I will be surprised if I am around for the Fiftieth Reunion.
-) Rather than waste words with many trivialities, let me say that I was divorced in 19XX following an unpleasant experience. My two children are grown. My daughter Shirley* was graduated with an S. B. in Education at Vanderbilt University in 19XX. My son was graduated from St. Marks in June 19XX and from Princeton, cum laude in June 19XX with A. B. He is now a first-year student at the University of Maryland Medical School.
-) I contrive to struggle to make a living and educate my children in the practice of law [note incoherence, JCG]. My only accomplishment was giving my son a graduation gift of two months vacation in Asia. Otherwise, life has been dull and boring without any appreciable success, unfortunately.
-) Still concerned with hardware* consumer goods marketing. Find it as fascinating as ever. Currently it's a bit more fascinating because the products are my own.-) I own and operate four grocery* stores in North Dakota, a business commenced by my father sixty years ago.
(page 175)
-) As I enter old age, I am fortunate to earn a wage of which I am proud. I am a company man.-) I have worked with the Columbia Mutual Insurance Company for the last thirty-five years. I am a member of the Trail Club, the Grand Jurors Association, and other clubs.
-) Still engaged in the job of keeping United Airlines employees up-to-date on current company procedure so that we will remain boss of the friendly skies. The work is very rewarding because of the ever-changing problems of the air transportation business.
-) Still on the payroll - still paying off the mortgage - still shelling out for education.
-) The most significant thing I did in the last ten years was that I sold my business.
4.
Those primarily concerned in home and family relationships including
children and grandchildren.
This is the modal pattern and includes
most "normal" people. Examples:
-) Four of our five offspring are married, and seven grandchildren are on the roster. Our youngest is in the armed services.(page 176)-) For the fifteen years of fighting my first wife's illness, ending in her death, she was my only consideration. Thought the world had come to an end for me, but am now remarried to a wonderful woman, and find myself with four stepchildren to work for. My son, John, is a captain in the Marines, while daughter, Nichole is a teacher, now living in New Hampshire with a husband and four children.
-) Happy? Yes. Same wife, employer, home, although we do labor now in the countryside rather than in the shadow of Alma Mater. Biggest future problem, launching a son into college.
-) I am enjoying good health, a busy stimulating life, and a rewarding family.5. The HAT syndrome. These respondents have escalated beyond child-orientation (although they have had a normal family life, and often describe their children) to an interest in hobbies, art, or travel. Their horizons have broadened from children to interests, and while these are avocational, they are often strongly held. Also placed in this category are those whose service record transcends the mere making of money, but does not quite reach the altruistic concerns of the next stage. Successful physicians are often in this category as are certain cases of high corporate officials whose position forces them into trusteeships and other public responsibilities. Examples:-) The last ten years have seen my two older children get married, and by the time this appears, a third will be married. We are also anticipating a grandson soon. Our two boys were fortunate enough to graduate from Alma Mater, and I enjoyed vicariously their college years. We are still living in the same house we bought twenty-five years ago.
-) A good portion of the past ten years has been devoted to daughter, Mary, now in her second year in college, and Hugh, a junior in prep school. Growing up with them has been an experience for my wife and me, - sometimes trying to be sure.
-) I play the violin in the Exurbia County Orchestra, play poker occasionally and do gardening. Recently I have taken up oil painting.(page 177)-) I continue to collect paintings as a hobby, and to experiment with color as a passion. My restoration work is done at home, but it has recently taken me as far as Milan.
-) Am chief medical consultant for the Kentucky Rehabilitation Commission in which capacity I attempt to help non-medical personnel in setting policy for dealing with the medical profession.
-) Hobbies include badminton, squash, skiing, and sailing. Our sailing friends are chagrined to find we have now bought a powerboat.
-) Principal adventures in the last ten years have involved ocean racing and coastwise cruising including four trips on the intercoastal waterway. In the 19XX race, our best performance included eighth place in a fleet of 144 boats, and earned me a silver cigarette case three months after I gave up smoking.(page 178)-) Principal interest is duplicate bridge. Became a life master and play in one or two tournaments each year. Favorite vacation area is the Caribbean, but have two weeks reserved in Yucatan.
-) We have done some traveling in Europe and the West Indies, but continue to spend much of our time at our place on Monhegan Island.
-) I have remained close to the law, and have been involved in a number of interesting cases, some of which received public attention. Our respective professions have taken my wife and me to various cities in the States and to Denmark, Germany, and Spain. In addition we have visited friends in Bolivia and Brazil. A few years ago we acquired a small cottage on a ski slope near Henniker, N. H. While the children ski, the parents relax. As a matter of fact, we enjoy it the year around. This accounts for our absence from New York on weekends. Our basic interests and diversions are the same as they were in 19XX, a very heavy reading program in our respective professions, and for pure fun: music, people, and travel. We have discovered Shakespeare and the theatre on records.
-) I have been involved in various charitable affiliations such as serving on the Board of the Boston Home for Little Waifs for eight years, and at the present time am very busy as president of the Hippocrates Hospital, since we are trying to raise a million dollars for the building program. Athletically, I still play squash, and enjoy participating in local golf tournaments, and surprised everyone, including myself, by winning the championship this year at my home club. We are looking forward to traveling once the boys are in college.
-) Someday, someone sapient will say that the time between the Twenty-fifth and the Thirty-fifth Class Reunions is when the
men are separated from the boys... These have easily been the best ten years of my life; we have traveled considerably, lived more graciously, and established lasting friendships with people we like. We are keenly interested in things ecumenical, particularly interfaith discussion and dialogue groups.-) My wife and I love country living near Avon. She plays tennis and bridge and still runs her small nursery school. We both enjoy trips to North Carolina in the winter for quail shooting, and the annual fall trip to Maine on the Allagash for salmon fishing and woodcock. I spend some time in breeding and training springer spaniels and English pointers, and do a considerable amount of shooting each fall.
6.
These respondents report something not heard before - concern. They
have been able to make successful careers and marriages without becoming
fixated by them, and as a result, they have made another step in the flight
from egocentricity to altruism -
they are concerned about their fellow man. These concerns center in
a service career usually, and have to do with humanistic, idealistic, altruistic,
or philanthropic attitudes. The protocols are more lengthy so we reproduce
only the "concern" area here.
-) Having transferred from Rutgers to Illinois University, I am professing, writing, and consulting for industrial clients and the government.(page 179)-) Am now chief of staff at Hippocrates Hospital, teaching medical students, and staff, consulting in the area, and my general practice make a full schedule.
-) I wish the peace-keeping mission in Vietnam were over. There must be some classmate who would like to run for president on a "let's compromise" ticket.
-) I join with millions of others in trying to convince our president that we should cease bombing in Vietnam and bring our troops home as soon as possible. I urge the spending of the same billions of dollars to improve the economic welfare of that beleaguered nation and to assist the millions of our own citizens who are lacking cultural, educational, and economic advantages.
-) I mentioned in the Twenty-fifth Report, I'd formed an abiding interest in the visual art of painting. My involvement deepening, eventually I came to be the founder of an arts association in my home town and be its president its first three years of existence. The association survives as an active cultural force in the community.-) The most meaningful event in my life during the past ten years? No question - the murder of John Kennedy. This abysmal tragedy - I can view it only as such - had for me ineffable implications I could never put into words. Not the least of these is a belief that, as all races bring special gifts to the world, so the Celt, after nine centuries of underdogism, had made at last a chance to enrich humankind with the fruits of his peculiar genius: humor and a kind of political idealism. We could have used more of these for a little longer.
-) Still "batting it out" at the University of Oregon. Ended my stint as department chairman two years ago and am now happily busy chasing the research, with a good team of five predoctorals. We've been lucky enough to make numerous trips to Europe, partly because of the fact that the professional group I'm associated with never meets in the U. S.! Also you taxpayers sometimes put up the money which has supported my work for lo, these fourteen years.
-) It's a good life. Around the edges there still are the "brownies" in the Russian River, the Steelhead in the Columbia, and the brant in Puget Sound. And on the winter nights "offseason" there's the treasure of the Sagas, north European archaeology, and even educational TV.
7.
These respondents, besides having genuine concern, report a history
of action and accomplishment at a moderate level. There is often a
book, or several articles (but not a large and voluminous production).
There is office-holding in the public interest, but usually at the community
or county level. While these people are very successful, they seem to be
operating at cruising speed, versus the all-out kind of activity which
is reported at the final level. Examples:
(page 180)
-) During the summer of 19XX I was invited by the government of Matabelia to visit its universities and discuss the problems of higher education confronting them and the USA. Both my wife and I are active in many organizations.
-) After seventeen years of advising large corporations on their technical-economic problems, I felt I was ready to join up and try to put advice into actions. The last four years have been fascinating and rewarding in that respect. Living in the West has also been a stimulating change for us old New Englanders.-) Some of the philosophy behind my views on the industrial research appeared in my book, Uses of Research and Development. Life has been good!
-) Pro bono publico I have endeavored to help the World Federation of Child Welfare and the International Vision Union augment their meager resources. In a world increasingly dominated by Government, private societies, and foundations, although liberally supported in the U. S., are still very inadequately financed in the international field.
-) The Americans living abroad - now numbering perhaps one million outside the military forces - are as much political animals as their fellow citizens in the U. S., and reflecting these interests I have become chairman of the Whig Party. Currently a bi-partisan committee is actively backing S18XX now before the Congress, which would greatly improve absentee registration and voting procedures.
-) For the last two years I have been a lecturer on History at the George Washington University twice a week.
-) Have served as executive secretary for the Good Government Association of the City of Swickley. Our aim is to make racial integration of our high-income residential suburb a livable process for Black and White alike. We helped, I do believe. Many more people in Swickley are acting knowledgeably and responsibly toward integration than was the case two years ago.
-) My wife and I play bridge, and there are always books and music. Our commitments to the welfare community of Pittsburgh involve a modest amount of work. Once in a while I play tennis. Mostly I remain a consultant to the city of Swickley on human relations, and I do not ever expect to lose this interest.
8. These
respondents report numerous
creative accomplishments, (more than one book or a dozen articles), or
major office-holding involving public rather than private good, or both.
They
have a pattern of very successful accomplishment so that their lives are
filled with
(page 181)
action,
travel, production, responsibilities, but these are not seen as taxing,
and most of all, there is a profound sense of commitment or self-actualization.
The person is fully extended, in actualizing the potential that was in
him. These protocols are a joy to read, and we reproduce several in full
(with the usual proper noun changes).
-) In short, happy, and regular succession, I became chairman of the department, full professor, Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Tokyo, and the senior author of four books. With this came membership on editorial boards of professional journals, citations in several Who's Who, invitations to spend the summer as a visiting professor at the University of Alaska, a trip around the world, another to Siam, and the general appurtenances of the dolce vita. Professionally I have grown very interested in the problems of handicapped children, and have led a number of training workshops. I have written widely in these and other professional areas and have over a hundred journal articles in my bibliography.(page 182)-) For the last ten years I have been at the International Monetary Bank in Washington, but this year have taken a leave of absence to join UNESCO, a change, but without leaving the field of international affairs or the Establishment. My wife and I are enjoying in-town living as a change from exurbia, as well as the charged political atmosphere of this city. My two most recent books were American Banking Policy in Foreign Affairs and Dubchek's Separate Path, but my chief concern at the moment is the troubled Middle East.
-) In 19XX I moved with my family to Naples where we lived for two years. In 19XX I finished a verse translation of Dante's Inferno, and it was published in 19XX, while I was teaching at the University of Oregon. That fall we moved on, back to Europe and into an old house in Ferrara. In the spring of 19XX I went to Vassar as a visiting professor, and in the fall returned to Alma Mater on a one-year appointment, taking my family with me. In 19XX I was appointed Professor of Esperanto and undertook a translation of The Georgics. These two tasks divide the year between them; January-June at Camelot, and June-January in Ferrara. I moonlight at paterfamilias to six now in their teens. Publications: poems, translations of Camus (three plays), and The Chanson of Roland, an Edition of Pope's translation of The Odyssey, a long impending edition
of the poems and uncollected prose of Sidney Lanier. I play as much tennis as I can get in.-) I practice osteopathic medicine and teach as a professor at the San Francisco Medical School, and have a research laboratory with six or more full-time people working for the past five years for the Atomic Energy Commission, monitoring techniques suitable for medical intervention in atomic holocausts. My latest hobby in which the family participates is skiing and I also play golf and do some oil painting, astronomy, and play the harpsichord. Still, I find time to do medical writing, and am the author of one book, working on the second, and have over sixty publications in scientific journals.
Statistical
Results
Table XII provides information on the number and percentages of the categories in two independent samples. Looking at Table XII and taking the worst percentages (those including the dead and non-responders), it will be seen that only twenty percent of this class escalated out of the business -family -hobby level to some kind of concern, and of these, only eight percent could be considered really productive, with only three percent highly productive, and in effect, self-actualized. (When one remembers the credentials which were necessary to become a member of this group, one is reminded of the old saw: "If gold rusts, what will iron do?"). Table XII attempts an occupational breakdown to ascertain if there are any occupational differences. Education and Industry seem to be professions for self-actualization, the former better than the latter, while sales lags behind. The major value, however, for these statistics is as base data for future comparison. It is obvious that only a small number of our best educated men (if one can believe this sampling) are coming anywhere near their potential. One wonders what changes in their schooling or after university stimulation might have produced a somewhat more productive group.
Summary
This paper represents a first and rather crude attempt to find out what percent of superior adults reach self-actualizing levels of creativity, and where the others are left scattered. We have seen that it is possible to rate adults on a developmental scale which goes from
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TABLE XII: STATISTICAL TREATMENT OF IVY LEAGUE RESPONDERS STUDY
an egocentric non-disclosure, to an altruistic openness. We have found, also, that most of our superior sample get arrested in the parental stage or in the hobbies-and-travel syndrome; only twenty percent escalate to concern, and of these, only eight percent are moderately creative, and only three percent highly creative.
While most adults are stuck in the financial success-happy marriage levels, the essence of man's humanity lies in his possibility of escalating into higher developmental stages, represented by creativity and self-actualization. At these levels, self-concept which has originated in body image, has transcended "my possessions, my children,
(page 184)
and my
hobbies" and sublimes as "my concerns or my creations." Since the proper
function for social institutions, particularly education, is to further
this development, it can be seen how poorly even the best of them is performing.
But efforts to improve the efficacy of institutions in promoting self-actualization
are vital not only for individual development, but also necessary for the
evolutionary progress and eventhe
survival of the species.
5.3 STASIS IN THE HIGHER STAGES
Thus far we have assumed that dysplasia is the only bar to full progression through the eight stages. But, unfortunately, this is not wholly true. One of the more insidious aspects of the developmental process is that stasis in the latter stages involves few penalties and often some rewards from society. Unlike stasis in the lower stages which is felt as developmental arrest, stasis in the higher stages may be more comfortable than advancement.
This type
of arrest is particularly apt to happen to intellectuals, artists, and
other talented and creative persons who find enjoyment and fame in the
display of their powers in which case it causes arrest (and eventual loss
of power) in the sixth cognitive stage (creativity). Such an arrest may
even be found in the seventh stage where the psychedelic nature-mystic
experience may be enjoyed for its own sake (as Wordsworth enjoyed the daffodils)
And when upon my bed I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood
They flash upon the inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude.
And then my heart with Pleasure fills
And dances with the daffodils.
Because
either creative or psychedelic power provide health, happiness, and good
fortune, they are intensely attractive, and one may forget that the aim
of the croquet game is to advance to the goal, and play "rover" instead.
It takes a Prospero to renounce psychedelic powers, and even he did so
with poignant diffidence. If one is too successful at any stage of development
one may want to continue at play instead of integrating the lessons learned
into the task of the next stage. This matter is further discussed in Chapter
7 under High Levels of Arrest.
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5.4 SOME COMMENTS AND SPECULATIONS
Let us
consider the emotions which surface when a person in one developmental
stage experiences phenomena of some other stage.
1. Dysplasia 2: (Degraded mode). Example, person in generativity period experiencing identity problem. The emotion will tend to be boredom. "This is rather a childish thing." It will tend to be performed perfunctorily or automatically. There will be little emotional affect.2. Dysplasia 1: (Displayed Mode). Example, person in generativity period having sexual intimacy. The emotion will be one of relaxed pleasure, with playful regression. "It was good to relax like that."
3. (Level cognitive-affective stages): (Engaged Mode). Example, person in intimacy period having sexual intimacy. The emotion is felt as less relaxed and more an "altogether overpowering thing." The experience is more like although not yet at peak experience. "It overwhelmed me; afterwards I felt tired but refreshed, and somehow fulfilled." There is a meeting of all aspects of the psyche here, so the experience is integrating.
4. Acceleration 1: Example (peak-experience). Acceleration of one stage produced artificially by temporary environmental circumstances is known as a peak experience. There is the usual Pentecostal epiphenomena, described by Pahnke, with a power surge and changed consequent behavior. The emotion is that of being overpowered.
5. Acceleration 2 or more. Example - Uncanny experience. The uncanny, "not-me," hair-raising, scary, mind-blowing experience is encountered when the individual tries and fails fully to cognize phenomena more than one stage ahead of his developmental status. In line with Van Rhijn's theory, such unrecognizable experience must either be expressed on the body through psychosomatic stress, or else explicated in archetype, myth, art, or dream. Thus in the rock opera JCS, Mary Magdalene says: "I can't tell how to love him" and concludes: "He scares me so" because she is in the intimacy period, and Jesus is far ahead of her. She would like to interpret his love as sexual, but it is incongruent with that interpretation, and this strangeness traumatizes her.
The
same situation occurs when a psychedelic drug experience overpowers the
developing ego in the identity period. Psychotic episodes or dissociated
behavior present similar experiences. The key construct here is that there
is perception of phenomena which cannot logically be absorbed at the full
cognitive level, and the ego "short-circuits," via defense mechanisms,
as a result.
The five categories mentioned above present a continuum of both
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cognition and affect. The dimension of cognition ranges in a continuum from the ego's being "underwhelmed" to its being "overwhelmed." The dimension of affect goes from lack of motivation (apathy) through strong motivation (pleasure) to over-motivation (trauma). The phenomena of past stages is insufficient; the phenomenon of the present stage is fully sufficient; the phenomena of stages yet to come is oversufficient. An immediate corollary is that emotional energy is only properly expended on uncompleted developmental tasks of the stage in which the individual finds himself. It is improperly expended (displayed or wasted) if expended on tasks of former or earlier stages, and it cannot ever be properly expended on tasks of advanced stages.
Our theory declares that properly people must become creative before they become psychedelic. It is necessary to consider the obvious objection of how some people can become psychedelic as they manifestly do without going through the creativity period. Perhaps this objection has gained validity from the fact that we have too rigorously delimited those in the creativity period as those producing creative works, such as inventions, music, prose, or poetry which are easy to judge creative. But it may be that other types of creativity, for instance, those life styles traditionally assigned to women, good social relations, home-making, and similar processes may be made truly creative, although their social product is not so easily recognized as such.
In this chapter we have attempted to show that most human beings suffer a dissonance between cognitive and affective growth in which the cognitive level lags a stage or two behind the affective. These relative dysplasias are so common as to plague almost all of human kind. Besides vitiating illumination and psychedelia, and making creativity difficult (thus effectively preventing self-actualization), such dysplasias contribute to reduced efficiency and performance, and to impaired mental health. Since the first step in the remediation of a problem is to diagnose it, this attempt at pinpointing some of the developmental dysplasias in human progress is important, but many more demographic studies on the prevalence of dysplasia are necessary.
Developmental
dysplasia results from the habit of not keeping up with the on-schedule
performance of developmental tasks. But there is a converse error which
we have called developmental forcing. This occurs when an individual
is exposed to the experiencing of tasks for which he is developmentally
unprepared, and is then required to attempt them, (as represented by acceleration
2 in the section just concluded). In recent years a number of stimuli (such
as psychoactive drugs) have been employed to increase this possibility.
Chapter VI considers this problem of developmental forcing, and the significance
of a number of "short cuts," including drugs, to psychedelia, often leading
to disaster, and contrasts them with more responsible and recommended techniques.