Changing the system I set out to observe
As mentioned back in this post, each of the Kegan stages has something that the person is subject to, it is the water they swim in, their “subjective ground”, and something which was formerly their subjective ground, but has now become an object to work with. In stage 3, the person is subject to emotional […]
Back in 2017 when I was 33, I read Susan Cook-Greuter’s paper ‘Nine Levels Of Increasing Embrace In Ego Development: A Full-Spectrum Theory Of Vertical Growth And Meaning Making’ and recorded a short own-words summary of the stages and my personal reflections on them. I thought people interested in Kegan stages would like to see […]
I realised with a bump the other day that I no longer view a person being both a scientist and religious as a contradiction. This is another example of a u-turn of my opinions in recent years. I was watching TV and two characters were having a discussion. The person was talking about how they […]
In order to compile my list of possible fluid mode institutions, I relied on a series of distilled principles about what Kegan Stage 5 is, or does. I have distilled this from my own reading, from sources I found particularly useful to me. At the bottom I will link to other bloggers who have found […]
I find criticisms of Elon Musk to be really annoying. They normally lie along two lines: Elon Musk is really mean and pushes workers too hard Elon Musk’s companies are not very profitable/they miss his crazy targets These criticisms are expressed in a sort of triumphant way, as if to say, “Checkmate! You cannot escape […]
(cross posted from my personal blog) Sexuality In The Past Sexuality in the Anglo and European West for some recent previous generations was a simple affair. In the Victorian worldview, when categorising things was the preoccupation, the population was divided into two categories, men and women. If a person (a subject), founds themselves to be […]
Consider the following found in a recent email from Adbusters: How can we have spaceships and virtual reality and starving children at the same time? Weighing the almost magical technological advancement of recent years against the regression of our relations with nature and each other, one wonders what kind of life we will propel ourselves […]
At topical moments in time, I have been comparing my views on things to those around me. This serves to hold up a mirror to the way I think about things, compared to the way others think about things. In most cases I used to think the way other people do, but now, somehow, I […]
Required Reading Robert Kegan’s personal development framework, summarised here by David Chapman. You might also like to read my earlier thoughts about what Stage 5 or “fluid mode” is, or means, for individuals. This post will be taking huge liberties with material that is intended to describe personal, cognitive and social development of an individual by […]
Cover Photo by James Walshe Intro: You already know this stuff Sometimes people feel they don’t grasp Postmodernism because they believe it must be complicated, when in fact many parts of it are “obvious”, “normal” or already part of everyday life. We live in a postmodern world and from the end of high school onwards […]
In Robert Kegan’s book, the fifth stage of cognitive, personal and social evolution is called the Inter-Individual Stage. I find this to be the least useful of all the names for the stages. According to his framework, one moves from “being” one’s current environment to “having” it as a tool. At stage 3, one “is” […]
"Theories 2011-20 and other selected writings" is an epub containing all the posts from Theory Engine up to end of 2020 plus some Twitter threads AND selected greatest hits from the personal blog. It comes in at 73,000 words, which is as long as a real book. Choose your supporter price, and enjoy your read!
NB: The book may take 24 hours to arrive by email!