04-21-2017, 01:47 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-21-2017, 02:57 PM by Eric the Green.)
It's a great theory, and like Generations/Turnings theory recognizes patterns in an integrated whole. You could say Strauss and Howe are part of "integral consciousness." Of course, although it recognizes rhythms, it is spiral; not just cyclic.
But, it's not quite accurate enough for my taste.
Even Bob might agree, because it does not recognize the dawn of agriculture as an epochal phase. It jumps straight from the cave men of the old stone age hunting culture to the warriors and emperors who enlisted the passion and loyalty of humanity in the violent projects of conquest and empire. And today's feminists might start to wonder, where was the age of goddess and fertility worship, when matriarchy prevailed in some places? How about the age of relative peace when villagers and city-dwellers built stone circles and temples everywhere to their ancestors which aligned with the stars and the cycles of the sun and moon? The pre-agricultural tribes didn't build these structures, and the Mars-era people stopped building them. The age of sacrifice and bliss which Joseph Campbell wrote an entire book about, when the cycle of fertility was venerated above all else? When people were organizing in early civilizations and towns beyond mere tribes, and specializing into different occupations and about 4 classes of people, and dependent on agriculture rather than hunting and gathering-- but not yet engaged in working with metals and constant warfare, veneration of power and violence, and personal advancement?
And it neglects the fact that the late middle ages and Renaissance were constantly engaged in the battle of church versus state, and the increasing power of ever-more powerful lords and kings engaged in reducing feudal anarchy into recognized, dynastic nation states. Church and State are not the same. That was the whole issue that preoccupied the people making history in those times. The move toward secularism and recognizing realities rather than religious dogma was progressing long before the "modern" age of industry and progress began.
And it is common for Americans to neglect the huge role that socialism, Marxism and communism have played in shaping society since the middle of the 19th century. And this industry-based, labor-movement culture is certainly not the same as today's feeling-oriented, eco-feminist, multi-cultural and politically-correct, anti-hierarchy, anti-racist green, post-modern culture.
And wasn't there a transition from an earlier phase even before beige? Humans go back millions of years.
So that's why I developed my own updated version of spiral dynamics.
But, it's not quite accurate enough for my taste.
Even Bob might agree, because it does not recognize the dawn of agriculture as an epochal phase. It jumps straight from the cave men of the old stone age hunting culture to the warriors and emperors who enlisted the passion and loyalty of humanity in the violent projects of conquest and empire. And today's feminists might start to wonder, where was the age of goddess and fertility worship, when matriarchy prevailed in some places? How about the age of relative peace when villagers and city-dwellers built stone circles and temples everywhere to their ancestors which aligned with the stars and the cycles of the sun and moon? The pre-agricultural tribes didn't build these structures, and the Mars-era people stopped building them. The age of sacrifice and bliss which Joseph Campbell wrote an entire book about, when the cycle of fertility was venerated above all else? When people were organizing in early civilizations and towns beyond mere tribes, and specializing into different occupations and about 4 classes of people, and dependent on agriculture rather than hunting and gathering-- but not yet engaged in working with metals and constant warfare, veneration of power and violence, and personal advancement?
And it neglects the fact that the late middle ages and Renaissance were constantly engaged in the battle of church versus state, and the increasing power of ever-more powerful lords and kings engaged in reducing feudal anarchy into recognized, dynastic nation states. Church and State are not the same. That was the whole issue that preoccupied the people making history in those times. The move toward secularism and recognizing realities rather than religious dogma was progressing long before the "modern" age of industry and progress began.
And it is common for Americans to neglect the huge role that socialism, Marxism and communism have played in shaping society since the middle of the 19th century. And this industry-based, labor-movement culture is certainly not the same as today's feeling-oriented, eco-feminist, multi-cultural and politically-correct, anti-hierarchy, anti-racist green, post-modern culture.
And wasn't there a transition from an earlier phase even before beige? Humans go back millions of years.
So that's why I developed my own updated version of spiral dynamics.