Series

3.0.3 Series and PsychologyIntroductionThe Series of the Periodic system represent the different regions or fields in life. For instance, the Carbon series represents the body and Silver series is the field of culture. Each Series has its own vision on life, its own world view.
In psychology, levels similar to those of the Periodic system have been described. Very well-known are the levels of needs of Maslow. There are many more and they have a lot in common, but they also show differences. By comparing them with the themes of the Series they are brought into perspective, the perspective of nature in the form of the Series.QualitiesThe different systems use different concepts to describe the levels. They talk about needs, visions, centres of reference and vision, cultures and stages of moral, intellectual, religious development and evolution. In the first instance this looks strange, as they address the same topic. On looking closer it turns out that these different concepts are just different aspects of the same thing.Central is the region with which one identifies. The needs relate to a region. For instance, the Carbon series is connected to the body, which has a need for survival and thus for food, and safety. The world view is magical, like that of a child.
The table “Psychological systems qualities” shows the systems, their name and criteria. Indications are given if they address psychological aspects, the region, the role or development aspects.ConclusionThe correspondences between the Series and the different systems of development are quite remarkable. It seems that most researchers have come to the same conclusion about the levels of evolution and development.
The Element theory has an advantage in that the levels are given by nature in the form of the Periodic system. By taking the Series as the basic system, the other systems come more into perspective.
There are some striking aspects in the comparison. Frequently the Hydrogen series and Uranium series are not present in the various systems. The reason for this is that they are probably too vague and airy and thus difficult to see clearly. In some spiritual systems, for instance Spiral Dynamics, the spiritual level is very much subdivided, in order to represent many levels of spiritual development. From the point of the Element theory it would be more natural to make a subdivision of 7 levels in that spiritual level, a kind of fractal.MaslowAbraham Maslow has described a hierarchy of needs. They are often represented in the form of a pyramid. They mostly correspond very well with the Series. The first version of this idea was published in 1954 with 5 levels of needs. In 1970 he extended his levels with 3 new ones. The update fits even better with the Series. The Silver series fits with the level of aesthetic and cognitive need. The need for transcendence fits the Uranium series.KohlbergLawrence Kohlberg describes the regions as stages of moral development. He describes 6 levels of morality. They are in very good accordance with the aspects of the Element theory. He has no level for the Hydrogen series. One can hardly speak of the morality of a foetus.GebserJean Gebser distinguishes 5 structures of human consciousness. They fit the 7 Series when one splits her mental structure in two for the Iron series and Silver series. The integral structure is fitting for both the Gold series and Lanthanides. A mental structure for the Uranium Series is not present in her description.KeganRobert Kegan describes in “The Evolving Self “ a theoretical integration of three traditions: the humanistic and existential-phenomenological tradition, the neo-psychoanalytic tradition and the constructive developmental tradition. He describes an order of consciousness. His levels correspond well with the Element theory. Differences are that he starts numbering at 0 and that there is no level corresponding the Uranium series.FowlerJames Fowler was director of both the Center for Research on Faith and Moral Development and the Center for Ethics. He is a minister in the United Methodist Church. He describes stages of faith development, which go along the lines of Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. In his description he uses numbers starting from 0 instead of 1 and he attributes them to ages different from the Element theory. In general his stages fit very well with the Series.GravesClare Graves describes stages of human development in her “Emergent Cyclic Levels of Existence Theory”. She describes each level as emerging from the previous one, an idea taken over by Don Beck in Spiral Dynamics. Emergent Cyclical Theory is not a very well-known set of levels of existence.LoevingerJane Loevinger conceived 10 stages of ego development. They coincide quite well with the Element theory when one fuses her stages 4 and 5, fitting the Iron series and fusing stages 6 and 7, fitting the Silver series.PiagetJean Piaget describes stages of cognitive development. The typical thing is that the six stages describe the development in the first year. In contrast, the main description of the Element theory is about the whole life. But the pattern is fractal, it can be found in all kinds of divisions and subdivisions. In Piaget’s description the level of the Uranium series is lacking, the Gold series and Lanthanide level are described as one.BronfenbrennerAn interesting system is the ecological system theory of Urie Bronfenbrenner. He describes the systems of regions that a child or human being is in contact with. They fit quite well with the levels of the Element theory. Bronfenbrenner does not describe row 1, the Hydrogen series.
The central circle in the ecological system is the individual, with his sex, age and health, which is equivalent to row 2, the Carbon series.Spiral dynamicsChris Cowan and Don Beck used Grave’s theory of human development as the basis for their book "Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership, and Change". A level for the Hydrogen series is lacking. There are several levels representing the Uranium series.WilberKen Wilber developed his integral theory, which builds on the ideas of Spiral Dynamics and Sri Aurobindo. The Integral Theory is a theory of everything, with an integral vision on life, God, the universe and everything. It describes the evolutionary stages. These coincide with the Series of the Element Theory. Wilber connects the stages to colours and social groups.
These stages then can be applied to 4 fields, 4 quadrants of life: internal individual, internal collective, external individual, external collective. These quadrants can also be described as: I, We, It and They. Or they can be described as: personal, cultural, physical and social.AurobindoSri Aurobindo has described integral psychology, a description of several levels of development. This description of levels is very spiritually oriented.