Don't worry. I mostly know what I'm doing.
There is a show, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (which I do not suggest to anyone under the age of 16. The show might have some cool insight, but it's still the Japanese being silly Japanese), that was written with a certain philosophical idea in mind. Once I knew what this idea was, I decided to research the idea even further, and I have come out of it with not only existential knowledge, but religious insight as well. I wish to write today about Spiral Dynamics.
Philosophy, to me, is like a vacation spot I visit every now and then with a group of my friends. It's not a subject I often talk about, but I always have fun when I do. You have to be with the right people to have a truly uplifting philosophical discussion and not a debate. I feel like I have the perfect group of friends for just such pleasantries.
Clare W. Graves developed the philosophy of Spiral Dynamics in the 60's, and his students and peers eventually compiled everything into a book called Spiral Dynamics in 1996. I picked up a book today called Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership and Change: Exploring the New Science of Memetics that expounded on the 1996 book. With my little understanding of philosophy, I will try to use the most basic terms I can do describe how I understand Spiral Dynamics.
You ever take those tests that say, "Oh, you have a red personality because you have such-and-such attributes"? Or do you pay attention to horoscopes? These are all attempts to categorize the human psyche and help us understand our relationships with each other, among other things. The man who came up with Spiral Dynamics was striving to achieve the same categorical objective, but I want to focus more on his look on how our existence is constructed and develops, and then put some Mormon doctrine and testimony in there. I think there is a lot to learn from these incredible ideas, whether you're atheist or devoutly religious.
There are two scales to look at how Spiral Dynamics works: on a social scale and on a personal scale. On both scales, everything moves in a cycle. We move from order to disorder, harmony to chaos, all the time. The only difference is, time moves, our adaptability changes, and we continually change because our environment changes. Thus, our cycles never meet back at the same point. They ascend, because we are continually learning and growing. Our lives become a spiral of past regrets and hopes for the future. We learn from mistakes and strive to achieve great things.
As a society, our spiral has begun to pick up pace tremendously in the last couple of decades. As I was reading my book, it pointed out that the world once run by smoke signals and the Pony Express has been shattered by immediate satellite communication and jet planes. We're sharing more information than we can keep up with. People today don't just need to keep up with modern trends; the continually have to prepare for the next trends. In a nutshell, the world is moving crazy fast, and if we're not able to anticipate or adapt to change, we're going to be flushed down the humanitarian toilet.
As individuals, we also grow and progress, retaining our past knowledge and learning every day. There is never a day we don't experience something new. There are new leaves on the ground. That person didn't say hello yesterday, but they did today. We are progressive creatures. If you feel you are stuck or have backtracked, you are creating an illusion for yourself. Memories and experiences of the past are proof that you have moved forward, have grown and are a greater being. Whether the events leading up to today have been good or bad are up to you.
The first of four of the summarized points of Spiral Dynamics, as quoted from the book, says: "Human nature is not static, nor is it finite. Human nature changes as the conditions of existence change, thus forging new systems. Yet, the older systems stay with us."
The anime Gurren Lagann very much deals with the idea that whatever circumstance we are placed in, we have every ability to change ourselves or our environments to overcome our handicaps. When the main characters, born in a cave underground, finally discover the surface world, they discover that there is a higher race using giant robots to suppress everyone. So what do the humans do? They steal a robot and begin to fight against the higher race! Now, I won't go through the whole show, but that is one of many examples in which the show portrays Spiral Dynamics.
We are spiritual sons and daughters of God. God has given us the potential to grow to become like Him. Our potential, then, is infinite, and not finite or static. Our very natures do not allow us to remain still. We grow, or we diminish, but we never remain the same. The ultimate choice is whether we grow into glorious beings, or diminish into darkness.
The second summarized point says: "When a new system or level is activated, we change our psychology and rules for living to adapt to those new conditions."
When you get a smart phone, do you try to use it like a brick Nokia phone and use a 12-digit number pad to text and make calls? No. We adapt and learn for each new experience we come across because we want to keep up with the trend or make out own lives easier. That is the purpose and very definition of the word "invention", by the way. An object to make life easier. Or, we have a desire to learn so that we can more fully appreciate the world around us, or benefit our fellow man. New things occur in our lives, whether we seek them or not, and we have the mental, emotional, spiritual and physical capacity to adjust ourselves to accommodate this new influence in our lives.
There was a talk by John Bytheway that really touched me as he read something called the Serenity Prayer.
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.Life gets tough, often when we didn't ask for it to. Sometimes death takes a loved one away; a move into a new town brings fear; you've been let off from a job. These are all factors in our lives that are unchangeable. Once something has happened, it is stamped in the timeline of the Eternities, and it is impossible to take it back. So what choice do we have? We have the choice to make our futures better. We have the choice to touch the people around us. We have the chance to find gratitude in every little thing. And, with God's help, we have the power to overcome whatever life throws at us. One of the greatest examples of God's grace is His ability to give us strength and "courage to change the things [we] can". We can adapt to our circumstances, and change them if we need to, in order to make our lives more comfortable and fulfilling. This is one of God's greatest gifts for us.
The third point says: "We live in a potentially open system of values with an infinite number of modes of living available to us. There is no final state to which we must all aspire."
This is also one of God's truths, and I think it is often forgotten. Happiness can be granted to anyone in an infinite amount of ways. Sometimes, what seems like happiness leads to sadness. I know that God gives us commandments not so that we can all become obedient blobs, but He truly wants to protect us and make us happy. A Divine Being knows what will make his children miserable just as much as a parent knows that touching a hot stove will make their child miserable. Thus, commandments truly protect us. Now, everyone is very different in their obedience. Everyone is also very different in how they grow, learn, express themselves and interact with one another. Pres. Uchtdorf supported this ideology with these words:
"...While the Atonement is meant to help us all become more like Christ, it is not meant to make us all the same. Sometimes we confuse differences in personality with sin. We can even make the mistake of thinking that because someone is different from us, it must mean they are not pleasing to God. This line of thinking leads some to believe that the Church wants to create every member from a single mold—that each one should look, feel, think, and behave like every other. This would contradict the genius of God, who created every man different from his brother, every son different from his father. Even identical twins are not identical in their personalities and spiritual identities.
It also contradicts the intent and purpose of the Church of Jesus Christ, which acknowledges and protects the moral agency—with all its far-reaching consequences—of each and every one of God’s children. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are united in our testimony of the restored gospel and our commitment to keep God’s commandments. But we are diverse in our cultural, social, and political preferences."
As a missionary for the LDS church, I am grateful for the wonderful Christians I met both inside and outside of the church, using their various talents and abilities to bless God's children. Too many people are concerned with the culture of Mormonism in this church. I ask for a return to the true lifestyle of Zion: the worship and love of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and our spreading the message that He yet lives and speaks to us today. Everything else after that is simply what makes us unique. Diversity is such a wonderful thing.
The fourth and last point is...very vague to me: "An individual, a company, or an entire society can respond positively only to those managerial principles, motivational appeals, educational formulas, and legal or ethical codes that are appropriate to the current level of human existence."
If I'm reading this right (which, if I'm not, please let me know), this says that stability in society is based on appealing to the trends that are currently going on. This is where I have to step in and say, the Gospel of Jesus Christ goes against this principle by always staying firm with the commandments and laws that God established Himself in the beginning of time instead of following social trends. Our general authorities often say that the world is straying farther and farther away from God's standard, and I don't need to reference any outside sources to prove this one correct. Many of the church's standards are unpopular to the world, and I'm proud of it. I'm glad that we have such a strong anchor in the scriptures and in our faith. Without it, we'd be "tossed to and fro, driven with the winds and tossed" just as much as many in the world are today. So I suppose, within the laws of the fourth point, our own personal spirals grow and benefit from the gospel as we live those principles that are accepted of God.
The reason that Spiral Dynamics has stuck with me is because it means that we have limitless potential as well as the power to overcome any environment or situation we're in. For me, God is such a big part of it because He gives us the courage and guidance to overcome. I've had too many experiences to deny that God helps us in the details of our lives. I've been able to conform to my situation or make changes to my environment, especially recently, in order to find happiness and joy.
These are all the thoughts I wish to share on this subject at this time. If you would like to discuss certain points with me, please leave a comment. Like I said, I don't often delve into the realms of philosophy, and there are always those with larger brains than me swimming in this ocean of the collective conscience.
I like it. :) I like Elder Uchtdorf's quote and your derivations from it. I am not familiar with the anime, so I can't really comment on any of that.
ReplyDeleteI have a nitpick though, maybe just even a slightly-related tangent, but I don't like it when people (church authorities or otherwise) say that "the world is this" or "the world is that". How assumptive of us. I know there are girls in the East fighting for their rights to proper treatment, there are Americans working everyday on our domestic violence issues, there are monks and nuns teaching peace, people serving others (charity being the pure love of Christ).
I would dare say that the world is not going bad at all, but that we're just experiencing more of it through media, information, and ingenuity. People have always killed, people have always raped, people have always lied, but we get better at it everyday and more people know about it.
I can see that. The mission taught me that "being of the world" meant that material possessions or pride were more important to a person than their family and friends, which unfortunately, is the very case among many of the poor class I saw. "The world" has always been on Earth. Wickedness has always been here. But as the sharing of information grows, so does evil's sneaking hand slither into the lives of those that are becoming connected. Quentin L. Cook said, "President Dieter F. Uchtdorf and I were recently in an Amazon jungle village and observed satellite dishes even on some of the small, simply built huts. We rejoiced at the wonderful information available in this remote area. We also recognized there is virtually no place on earth that cannot be impacted by salacious, immoral, and titillating images." It's not that the evil has changed, but its spread and influence has increased. What's worse, people are ok with it.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time Elvis' dance moves were deemed "inappropriate". Now we can't watch TV without women in bras being man-handled in a bedroom.
"It's not that the evil has changed, but its spread and influence has increased. What's worse, people are ok with it."
ReplyDeleteWell said. I hadn't thought of it that way and I have to agree now that I have. I definitely think media content has increased evil influences through the broadcasting of sexuality and violence. I can't recount all the homicide cases I've read that link directly to a violent movie or TV show (I hate Dexter more than anything in this world - and yes, it is one of those shows).