For thousands of years
Chinese society based their collective ethic
on four distinct stages of life.
0 - 21 - years Student
21 - 42 - years State Servant/Steward
42 - 63 - years Parent/Mastership/Home estate
63 - 84 - years Retirement/Sage/Adviser
The motivation for living the good life
in each stage of the evolving consciousness,
is based on relative perceptions of Time
Infants live in the here and now
and then ambitiously begin to look ahead into the future
for the next forty two years
and remain concerned with what value society places on them
At menopause one arrives at self mastership,
accepts present circumstances
and concentrates on building a sound home and family.
At retirement the sage looks backwards into the past,
takes stock of life
and is more concerned with what he or she feels
towards the society that supported their life,
rather than what others think of him or her.
I am now three years into that final stage of life
and spend much of my retirement in past reflections
It is these summations of the past
that I share on these philosophical forums
with little concern for what you think of me
and much concern on my part
for the affect the past has on present circumstances
and its portents for the future
I don’t particularly like these age guidelines. I find myself in many of the roles at once.
I hope never to cease being a student. One of my ‘tag-lines’ which comes up colloquially with friends relatively often is that I refuse to ever consider myself a ‘grown-up’ because it implies that I am finished with growing.
Yet, I do consider myself an ‘adult’, which many people twice my age still have trouble with (as an anthropologist, I know you can appreciate the lack of an ostensible rite-of-passage in modern society, and the effect this oversight can have upon the individual psyche). In this capacity I do my best to make responsible decisions, to focus on community rather than personal benefit, and so on. This sort of makes me the servant, but in a larger sense I personally feel what you claim to in the retirement age - a freedom from care regarding the opinions of my peers. In fact, to be able to access personal truth is prerequisite to being able to espouse it, and this is no mean task. Perhaps it is this level of access that takes so many so long to achieve. Unabashed self-reflection is daunting and complicated. How can we be honest with others before we are honest with ourselves?
Then, on the parent/mastership phase, I can’t ever see myself engaging with this role autonomous from the others. I have no urge toward estate-building. I would like to raise a child someday, but it’s for the irreplicable experience of it, not the ego of building on my prestige and ‘worth’ or of vicariousness or of creating something ‘in my image’.
I was taught about these guidelines by an English teacher in 9th grade. It was an important moment of self-reflection from which I have never turned back. Though I didn’t articulate it as such at that time, and it was another 4-5 years before I was consciously ‘dedicated’ to the process, it was probably the moment at which I subconsciously decided to embark upon lifelong self-improvement. Simply knowing what stages lie ahead for you and reaching for them can greatly accelerate the agenda.
Is my age relevant to the discussion? Am I simply being precocious, looking for approval, or striving to instill you with a particular image of the kind of person I am? Well, of course I want you to respect me because that’s the only way you’ll bother reading any post I ever make here, but beyond that I don’t have any particular desire for anyone’s approval or agreement with my ideas. I’m just callin’ 'em like I seez 'em. I think it’s clear that, at the very least, I believe in what I’m saying. So the question is, am I self-deluding? Am I still just playing in the sandbox, awaiting some peer-pressure to sway my life this way or that?
I don’t know, are you deluding yourself? From what i’ve seen, self-delusion seems as natural, and necessary, as breathing. What people say and what they do are often two different things entirely. kohlberg’s research is based on what his subjects said their moral justification would be, isn’t it? A lot of assumption have been made.
What do you see when you look at current society and the people in it? Do you use public transportation? Have you ever taken the time to observe, how they all swarm together at the door to get a seat like there is no tomorow. And then listened to what the say, on the train, bus, metro. How they self-confidently complain about how everyone else got it wrong, and how they are better than that. Well not exactly in these words, but it often boils down to this. And what about the dim, joyless look in their eyes as the go to work…
To the both of you, what if I don’t really like what I see in society and don’t think I’m capable of changing it?
I took the “respect your elders because they are wise beyond their years” to heart, and I’ve asked the older generation for the type of advice they wished they had at my age. None of them had anything to say. I mean they seriously have just shrugged their shoulders, all of them. One old guy told me to go to the doctor early for check-ups. I swear this is the extent of wisdom from western old folks.
Figure it out yourself as soon as you can, because old age doesn’t prove higher stages of anything. I’m starting to think I’ll just be more confused.
In my theory on the evolution of consciousness
I define seven distinct states of individual development
between birth and death
each stage is related to technology-based perceptions of space and time
Stages of Individual Consciousness
0 - 3 years Infant
3 - 11 years child
11 - 14 years puberty
14 - 21 years teen
21 - 42 years apprentice (steward)
42 - 63 years parent (master)
63 - 84 years sage
Thanks for the link.
very interesting analysis of ethical behavior.
Kohlberg’s problem is that he was analyzing dysfunctional subjects
who had unequal development in left and right brain communications
thus his conclusions are flawed to some extent.
In an ideal child training milieu
of equal dual brain development
(within the family and home environment with parents as guides)
by age seven we can be ethically self-policed
and by puberty each one of us is capable of profound levels of creative inspiration
and sound ethical application
I still feel that applying specific ages to the process is somewhat contrived. In Kohlberg’s paradigm, some people die at 80 having never surpassed stage 3, which is certainly an observable phenomenon. Likewise, he said that the individual who made it to stage 6 was exceptionally rare, on the order of 1/100,000, and even making it to 5 was only about a 50/50 shot. Part of the schema includes that an individual is not capable of rationalizing the thought processes of a person who is ‘above’ them in development. It’s not just that they aren’t there yet, it’s that they can’t conceive of being there.
Any distortion during any stage of childhood rearing
will produce the anomalies you are referring to
They do not relate to how things will happen
if all children were reared in a more natural manner
Everything relates to education.
It begins in the womb
continues through unbroken mother/infant body contact
breastfeeding
careful weaning
childhood freedoms and disciplines (zero text-book indoctrination inside a classroom)
and if properly conducted
produces the sound precursor of an adult moral attitude
and creative intellectual curiosity
by puberty
Our Global Stewardship Foundation’s Heartstart dual brain home-school program
is designed specifically to produce a self-policed, self-tutored psyche
after undergoing pubertal rites of passage
Eight of our children have been through the program
over the past twenty tears
By age 21
all have reached a universal stage of consciousness
and are acutely aware of how every thought, word and deed
is interrelated and inter-depent
This is not to say that can execute every decision that way
at this stage of their experience
they remain open to argument when questioned
and can quickly see any point they might have missed.
This is not the case
in general consciousness
after twelve years of systematically State-enforced child indoctrination
The State ends up producing a pseudo-intellectually rebellious psyche
that remains immaturely opinionated
and easily led to unsound judgment.
throughout life
The vast majority end up on the mass production line
robotically toeing the line
while hundreds of millions of creative geniuses
never realize their full potential
The first three years of life
are the most vital
if your parents screw that up
you are screwed for life
and are never weaned
You only hope thereafter
is a spiritual awakening
death of an unfulfilled life
and rebirth
0- 3 years
Natural birthing
three years breast-feeding
until weaning
unbroken body-contact (never put the baby down and leave it alone)
three year sibling spacing (no spiteful sibling rivalry)
active yet peaceful home-life
infant tied to mom’s body
constantly observant of all that is going on
plenty of cuddling tickling and fun
All that good stuff
coming from parents who are profoundly conscious
of how easily mental and emotional dysfunction can take place
and who see parenthood as the most vital occupation on the planet.
The HeartStart Homeschool program goes on from there…
Hmm that does sound pretty good for a young child. Is it possible for the majority of modern families, though? I think it would require space, constant parental presence, etc…
three years breastfeeding? I just don’t know. Anyone know how long other apes breastfeed, respective of their sexual development? Say the ratio you’re proposing here is 1:4 (breastfeeding till three, puberty at 12). What would be the equivalent for apes? Is it fair to make such a comparison? Maybe not.
I think when they can walk up to you and ask for it it’s a little creepy. I know this is a huge debate in developmental psychology, and it occurs to me that this is the extreme outer position, the upper limit, of the range of what is considered normal, acceptable, and healthy. Wouldn’t a more moderate approach (say the experts range from 6months to 3 years, so say, 1.5 years?) be more advisable?
I’m also curious what you teach, which was itlogs question, not just how you interact with infants.
I’m assuming it’s more about teaching them how to think than what to think, but what does that, for you, entail?
Precisely
Capitalism is on the way out.
Humanism is on the way back in.
One healthy self-policed child that has been encouraged to think creatively and behave ethically
is worth more than the output of an entire corporation
of robotically indoctrinated mass-production line workers.
The current mass educational system has to be scrapped
it is producing species disaster
less than 1% excel and even they end up with poor ethics
40% drop out from boredom
the rest are mediocre or cheat at exams
Parents must be put back in charge
with their homeschool effort fully supported by society
San Bushwomen breast-feed for three years.
An infant without molars cannot survive on a coarse fiber hunter/gatherer diet.
Lactation acts as a natural form of birth control
the three year spacing of siblings
avoids unnatural sibling rivalry
no infant is pushed prematurely off the breast
and thus suffers no psychological infantile trauma
I have never heard a Bushman infant cry
it is permanently attached to the mother
suffers no colic from artificial milk products
and consequently never ends up using the crying reflex
to unnaturally control attention
HeartStart Home-School Program
3 - 7 years
Social disciplines: Free to play. Encourage personal hygiene; small daily chore. Plenty arts and crafts. Plenty TV. Nintendo. Invest plenty of personal time teaching siblings to share. The sharing ethic must be in place by age 7.This is the foundation of their future intelligence,
It is also the reason why a large and well-spaced sibling group is the best form of learning sharing social skills.
Spiritual disciplines: Encourage the child’s natural superstitious intuition regarding the invisible spirits of Nature.
Make then conscious of the Natural Laws of non-trespass - of Cause and Effect.
Get them to recognize that every trespass in thought word or deed is inevitably followed by some form of punishment
falls, cuts, scratches, bruises.etc
If spiritual guidance is carefully conducted, they end up never seeing themselves as victims of any “accident”
They accept responsibility for their own actions and do not come crying to mama for help,
By age 7 this ethical self- policing is firmly in place and remains for life.
7 - 13 years .
Social Disciplines: Free to play. No text books. Specific estate chores. Work shop skills. Kitchen skills. Arts and crafts. Gardening. Sports, camping, Hiking. Plenty TV. no restrictions. Endless oral-based field instruction in history and all the sciences; plenty basic mental arithmetic and algebraic challenges. Find ways and means to develop personal courage, both physical and intellectual. Make sure the chore-based work ethic is firmly seated by puberty.
Spiritual Disciplines: Yoga exercises. Zen meditation - every week-day morning. Right brain drawing exercises. Practice mental telepathy. (Guessing games)
Formal pubertal rites of passage.
Each child encouraged to spend several days and nights alone in the mountains.
This isolation even for such a short time brings the realization of how important community is and what each of us owes to it.
There is also a profound sense of respect for all the ages of ancestral effort that make home comforts possible.
After the ordeal each initiate is given a few simple text book lessons in 1st Grade grammar and arithmetic
and learn how to read and write for the first time in their lives.
The student is then left to tutor itself through all high school subjects, using the internet.
All of our students studied text for one or two hours a day, with zero adult supervision
Within the first three months of learning "The cat sat on the mat" each was busy on their own novels.
and three years later all passed the high school equivalency exams among the top 10% in the nation
Their ethical behavior remains near perfect.
All their academics subjects were accomplished in one twentieth of the time taken by the state.
In short from infancy onwards our children were trained to be ethically self-policed
and how to think for themselves.
They have behaved like responsible adults from puberty onwards.
From puberty onwards encourage conscientious craftsmanship
Any caring parents with a basic primary school education are quite capable of executing the same program
and producing university entrance scholars.
Taken at a national level the savings in time and money is in the trillions of dollars.
The question of how we find the time to do this on mass scale is already manifesting.
As already stated
Capitalism and its material ambitions is already bankrupt
Humanism is on the way in
Celebrities are already leading the way by having as many children as possible and realizing that fame and money is secondary.
Theoretically we end up with a well-educated ethical society
creatively dedicated to community service
keen to become parents themselves
with no need for state supervision
no police
no army
and empty prisons
How many kids have you used this program on? Any special educ. plans for disabled kids? Has any of the kids grown up and been exposed to modern, capitalist life?
