All The World's A Stage...
A few days ago I picked up a book by M. Scott Peck entitled The Different Drummer; I was familiar with his acclaimed effort The Road Not Taken and thought it would be a good read. I was wrong. Most of it was dry and ineffectual but there is a section in the middle that for me, explains a lot. I'm going to try and share it below, but if you can, find a copy of the book and read p. 188-196. Note: All quotes belong to the author.
According to Peck, there are four stages of spirituality that a person travels through. They are:
STAGE 1: Chaotic, antisocial- "Most all young children and perhaps one in five adults fall into Stage 1. It is essentially a stage of undeveloped spirituality. I call it antisocial because those adults who are in it seem generally incapable of loving others... I call the stage chaotic because these people are basically unprincipled. Being unprincipled, there is nothing that governs them except their own will...there is a lack of integrity to their being."
Hello, first period.
STAGE 2: Formal, institutional- This "is the stage of the majority of churchgoers and believers. One is their attachment to the forms (as opposed to the essence) of their religion...it is no wonder that people at this stage of their spiritual development become so threatened when someone seems to be playing footloose and fancy-free with the rules."
STAGE 3: Skeptic, individual- "people in Stage III are generally more spiritually developed than many content to remain in Stage II. Although individualistic, they are not the least bit antisocial...They make up their own minds about things...They make loving, intensely dedicated parents...active truth seekers."
Hello, older sister.
STAGE 4: Mystical, communal- these individuals see the "underlying connectedness between things: between men and women, between us and the other creatures and even inanimate matter as well, a fitting together according to an ordinarily invisible fabric underlying the cosmos.
I like to think that I am at stage IV, if only because I feel like I've passed through the skeptical phase and see the essence of my faith, instead of the forms. In other words, I don't believe in God because my parents told me to.
Peck goes on to mention that it is impossible to help people if you are two stages above them. What this means, in theory, is that the best teacher for my first period class (Stage One) would be a strong Stage Two. You know the kind- the basketball coach who demands complete silence and doesn't take any crap. Now that I think about it, most of the teachers I had growing up were Stage Two. The only ones that truly helped me in my journey were Stage Threes and Fours, of which there weren't many. So as a Stage Four, I have nothing to offer them. They are unprincipled and unreligious, which means we have nothing in common. With Stage Two people, at least, we share a sense of religion. This is why I have some success with my other classes.
I feel as if this theory is effective because I can easily place anyone I know into one of the four categories. But maybe I'm biased. My question to you is this- does this make sense? If so, where do you think you fall on the scale?
According to Peck, there are four stages of spirituality that a person travels through. They are:
STAGE 1: Chaotic, antisocial- "Most all young children and perhaps one in five adults fall into Stage 1. It is essentially a stage of undeveloped spirituality. I call it antisocial because those adults who are in it seem generally incapable of loving others... I call the stage chaotic because these people are basically unprincipled. Being unprincipled, there is nothing that governs them except their own will...there is a lack of integrity to their being."
Hello, first period.
STAGE 2: Formal, institutional- This "is the stage of the majority of churchgoers and believers. One is their attachment to the forms (as opposed to the essence) of their religion...it is no wonder that people at this stage of their spiritual development become so threatened when someone seems to be playing footloose and fancy-free with the rules."
STAGE 3: Skeptic, individual- "people in Stage III are generally more spiritually developed than many content to remain in Stage II. Although individualistic, they are not the least bit antisocial...They make up their own minds about things...They make loving, intensely dedicated parents...active truth seekers."
Hello, older sister.
STAGE 4: Mystical, communal- these individuals see the "underlying connectedness between things: between men and women, between us and the other creatures and even inanimate matter as well, a fitting together according to an ordinarily invisible fabric underlying the cosmos.
I like to think that I am at stage IV, if only because I feel like I've passed through the skeptical phase and see the essence of my faith, instead of the forms. In other words, I don't believe in God because my parents told me to.
Peck goes on to mention that it is impossible to help people if you are two stages above them. What this means, in theory, is that the best teacher for my first period class (Stage One) would be a strong Stage Two. You know the kind- the basketball coach who demands complete silence and doesn't take any crap. Now that I think about it, most of the teachers I had growing up were Stage Two. The only ones that truly helped me in my journey were Stage Threes and Fours, of which there weren't many. So as a Stage Four, I have nothing to offer them. They are unprincipled and unreligious, which means we have nothing in common. With Stage Two people, at least, we share a sense of religion. This is why I have some success with my other classes.
I feel as if this theory is effective because I can easily place anyone I know into one of the four categories. But maybe I'm biased. My question to you is this- does this make sense? If so, where do you think you fall on the scale?
posted by Yorick at 6:21 PM
4 Comments:
Of course we all want to be a stage 4, right? I agree with you that M. Scott Peck's Road Not Taken was probably his best work.
I disagree with the thought that we are incapable of helping those two stages below us, and the need to categorize individuals doesn't really appeal to me. But it's an interesting read... Innately we all really do categorize individuals in our effort to understand them or come to peace with who we think they are and how they fit into our lives.
By the way, I came across your blog at a boring day at work a few weeks ago and could not stop laughing as I skimmed through your posts. I now check it pretty much everyday, which helps your hits. Would love to dialogue more on this issue.
Thanks for the comment- I think I'm guilty of oversimplifying Peck's approach- he quickly admits that within each stage are subtle gradations, i.e. some are much more Stage 2 than others. Also, people can move back and forth between the two stages. He also mentions that in order to be truly healthy, we have to stay in touch with our Stage One selves. Jungian theorists call this keeping in touch with the "Shadow".
Sorry if I made it sound dreadfully simplistic, but I understand your point about categorization. I don't put as much weight into Peck's theory as I do someone like, say, Kohlberg or Piaget.
Good thing about not putting as much stock into Peck as Piaget or Kohlberg. Their theories are taught. Peck's credentials include a best selling book... the likes of Dr. Atkins or J.K. Rowling.
Peck,however, places individuals on certain levels whereas Piaget and Kohlberg focus more on the developmental stages we all experience. From cognitive development to postconventional reasoning. The likes of which seem to have bypassed your first period class.
What would be interesting would be to examine sprituality in terms of the stages of Kohlberg's development. Might have already been observed, I only read basic Kohlberg theory in college.
http://www.iona.edu/academic/arts_sci/orgs/pastoral/UNDERSTANDING_SPIRITUAL_DEVELOPMENT.html
You'll have to copy and paste the URL above, but apparently there have been some studies that have attempted to correlate cognitive and spiritual development.
Looking at it, I think Peck might have simply stolen his theories from several other major psychologists. Below is a quote.
"The transformation process has been extensively studied by psychologists and by developmental theorists, and is now a subject of interest in adult cognitive development and education. There is significant agreement on how the growth of meaning develops through adulthood. A look at the final stages in the various theories identified herein (see Table 1), shows that each describes a stage that involves a commitment to beliefs, a willingness to challenge assumptions, an integration and autonomy which moves away from social conformity, and an ethics based on a "higher order" principle. These are the same qualities associated with one who is considered to have developed "spiritually," and seems to imply that spirituality is something that is the work and task of adulthood, particularly after midlife."
There are several parallels to this line of reasoning and Peck's- the blind acceptance, the questioning, and the return to the old values, this time with more meaning.
Fish, good to hear from you. I thoroughly enjoy your blog.
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