Once an individual has made it through these four stages, they start over at stage one, but at a higher level of complexity. All humans seem to be inclined to go through these stages naturally, however, they process can easily be disturbed and people stray off the path for many reasons.

what do I do with this map?

You might like to start by getting your bearings. Where are you these days in this map? Where have you been recently? What sort of problems have you been running into, and do you think you might want to take a step or two backwards to try finding a better path to where you want to go? Or are you bored with where you are right now and maybe it's time to jump head first into the next stage!

the waypoints of life

The stages of human growth and development are:

Note, these are very basic stages. Each individual may feel, act, and seem quite different as they go through these stages, depending on their specific environment and biology, however, on a more fundamental level they have all the same basic needs and motivations as everyone else at that level.

some background info

For practical purposes, our spiral map starts with birth. The spiral pattern does exist in earlier stages of biological development, and indeed seems to apply to all living and even non-living things on all levels of complexity - from atoms to cells to mammals and all the way up to planets and galaxies. The terminology of the stages is obviously different for things that are very different from humans, but the basic cycle does seem to be the same for everything:

what does this look like in reality?

In modern society, humans generally seem to start out by moving up through the stages very quickly, one stage every year or so, and then progress slows as they get older. The first round of stages, 1-4, occur in early childhood, and most modern cultures would probably expect an individual to have moved into at least the second round of the four basic stages (stages 5 and up) before they would be considered to be at a rational, adult stage of development. However, as you can imagine, people move through the spiral at wildly varying rates. Some folks happily settle into one of the middle stages and stay there for most of their lives, while others continue to grow and expand more and more fully until they are pushing up the daisies. Some folks move quickly through all of the stages, while others may run into roadblocks here and there that delay their progress. There is apparently no biological requirement to move beyond the first four stages, though healthy individuals naturally do so when the physical, emotional, and intellectual environment allows growth to happen. Frustration and suffering happens when individuals begin moving into a stage but don't find the resources, information, or support that they need for successful growth in that stage.

does this mean we're selfish half the time?

Once someone has successfully gone through a stage, they will include it in their life, just like the nautilus includes more and more material in its shell as it grows. People continue to be able to access the knowledge, understanding, motivations, and skills that they gained during previous stages. That means that once an individual has made it past the first four stages they will have the basic understanding that they are both independent individuals and an integral part of a larger community, and that their own health is intertwined with the health of their community. So, while individuals may be in a stage where they are focused on themselves, they will always have a core motivation for caring for their community, and vice versa. And, as people progress through the spiral, their sense of community naturally grows from a small group of friends and family, to the whole world, and to the whole universe. Also, the needs of all the previous stages are still important as people move up the spiral, but these needs will not be the focus of the individual once they have been met consistantly. In other words, as we mature, we have more and more needs, but they become easier to meet. Only when previous needs are continually not met for a long period of time will the individual temporarily regress back to a previous stage, subsequently moving back up the spiral as soon as the more basic needs are sufficiently met again.

body, mind, and spirit

Finally, the three elements of human beings - body, intellect, and emotions (aka body, head, and heart, or body, mind, and spirit) - can move through the stages separately if the situation warrants. The separate development of the three human elements gives us a map for understanding Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences theory and Ken Wilber's lines theory. An individual can develop a high level of complexity physically, emotionally, or intellectually, or any combination of the three in any or all of the four quadrants of the spiral. For example, an individual who's physical and emotional development has made it to stage 8 might be motivated to create a dance, music, acting, arts, gymnastics, or sports program to bring diverse people together to make a more beautiful world. And a person with a high cognitive (intellectual) development who is in a self-reflective stage, stage 5 or 9, might immerse themselves in books about science and/or philosophy to answer their personal questions about how to be a better person. All three elements can move through the stages together, and when that happens we tend to call that individual "well balanced". Though equal levels of physical, intellectual, and emotional development are not at all necessary for health and happiness, and people can be very successful and content with a wide range of different development levels. And, if you've intellectually made it up to stage 7 or beyond, you'll see how having a diverse range of intelligences makes the world a healthier and more robust place!

want more?

Wander around the website and discover a variety of different ways of understanding and using The Wise Turtle's Spiral Growth theory:

• Assess your own level of physical, emotional, and intellectual health with the Spiral Growth Worksheet (PDF Download)
• See how The Wise Turtle's Spiral Growth theory relates to other developmental growth theories: Developmental Theories Compared
• The Wise Turtle's Spiral Growth theory is based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Hierarchy of Needs
• Wikipedia entry on: Abraham Maslow - Hierarchy of Needs theory
• Integral Institute & Ken Wilber's AQAL theory (PDF download)
• See how The Wise Turtle's Spiral Growth theory fits into AQAL theory: AQAL Spiral Theory
• Elisabet Sahtouris' biology-based Cycle of Emergence theory (Flash site)
• Spiral Dynamics' spiral development theory
• Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences theory
• The Wise Turtle blog

Want even more? Inspired? Just want to share your thoughts? Contact The Wise Turtle and see what she has to offer you!

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