The Human Psyche System and Living System Psychology

Purpose of Human Psyche System and Living System Psychology

The purpose of the Human Psyche System and Living System Psychology Blog is to present a new foundation for more effective human life and work. It discusses the stage-by-stage evolution story of our Human Psyche System, formulates Living System Psychology and then uses this new knowledge to contribute to leadership practice for Living System Life and Work.

It is consistent with the wisdom of Rudolph Steiner, an early Living System life pioneer. He gave us the concept that only one who understands the underlying patterns of human life can become a truly practical person. He saw new leadership practice coming out of internal human nature rather than conventional leadership practice coming out of response to external non-human forces and events. This means nothing less than a discontinuous break from what generally exists.

John Clayton Caris

Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 6 - Individual Psyche Stage Periods

Click on Image to enlarge it.

This diagram symbolizes the rise and fall of psyche stage dominance through the life of a highly evolved individual in our culture. The peaks represent approximate periods when a person’s conscious and unconscious are aligned in the same stage. This means that their psyche is balanced between the conscious and unconscious sub-systems.

It is normal that we begin to transform into each psyche stage first in our conscious, intellectual life and later we become aware consciously of our unconscious, emotional life. For some time after we first enter a new stage, we behave as split humans – Our conscious becoming dominant in the new stage and our emotions remaining dominant in an earlier stage. Great confusion, turmoil and troublesome behavior can result. Split people are problems for themselves and for others. For example, fundamentalist Terrorists tend to be split between unconscious Stage C emotions and conscious Stage D intellect and emotions.

The Key idea is – If you understand the dominant psyche stage patterns of individuals and groups you can know how to lead, organize and manage them for maximum performance consistent with their stage patterns – Not Yours. This is a foundation for Isis Group leadership work – You cannot lead anyone without knowing who you are and who others are in Human Psyche System stage evolution. This is what Rudolf Steiner said – Only those who understand life can become truly practical persons.

John Clayton Caris

Links to previous Posts in this series:
Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 1 - Terminology
Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 2 - Individual Psyche Structure
Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 3 - Psyche System Stages Diagram
Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 4 - Terminology Table
Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 5 - Collective Psyche Stage World Eras

Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 5 - Collective Pysche Stage World Eras Diagram

Click on Image to enlarge it.

At critical times in individual lives and for collective mankind there come transcendent transformation eras into a new stage of the Human Psyche System that did not previously exist on Earth.

First, the Transcendence comes to a relatively small number of leading-edge human individuals. Their numbers gradually accelerate until they emerge as the new Genre of world leaders living and working in the newly emerging stage of individual human psyche - A new individual Paradigm. Second, these transcendent individuals catalyze and then develop the newly emerging stage of collective human psyche - A new collective Paradigm.

This two-fold process of Transcendence - Individual and then Collective - is the root cause for each great Transformation Era of human history when the previous dominant stage of human leadership is replaced by the newly emergent stage. The results of this process are the major turning points in human life, organization and affairs on earth.

The first diagram above shows the rise and decline of the various Human Psyche System stages in world leadership and the resulting great collective transformation eras of human history. The earliest transition era - From Stage A to Stage B - took at least 10,000 years. The second transition era - From Stage B to Stage C - took 2,000 to 3,000 years. Since then, the transition eras have been significantly shorter. The shaded areas on the diagram designate the periods when the world was undergoing traumatic upheaval to a whole new concept and practice of human life and affairs.

The peak of the curve for each stage represents the period of history when the world leadership Paradigm of that stage was dominant in human affairs. A complete curve for Stage A is not shown because it would require the diagram's time scale to extend backward several hundreds of thousand to maybe a million years. There is little historical knowledge about Stage A.

The second diagram below uses an expanded time scale to better show the more recent transformation eras. The Stage D Era in the West is best known as the Middle Ages. Its peak of power came about 1000 A.D. when the Stage E began its transcendence into world leadership. The Stage D to Stage E transformation era is best known in the West as The Renaissance - that I prefer to name the 1st Renaissance. Near 1800 A.D., Stage F began its transcendence into world leadership. Western events directly related to the emergence of Stage F are the French Revolution and the rapid growth of socialism throughout Europe in the early 1800's. The rapid rise of Stage F marked the peaking of Stage E power. Since then, up until today, Stage E and Stage F have been in a shared, but combative, dominant power relationship in human affairs.

Click on Image to enlarge it.

Then, about 1900 A.D. the Stage A' - Living System humans began their transcendent appearance in human affairs. I name the period since the early 1900's as the coming of the 2nd Renaissance. It promises to be the most tumultuous and beneficial transformation era in history since humans first emerged out of the pre-human animals more than a million years ago. This time leading edge humans are emerging into Living System Life and Work. Their leadership influence is already far greater than their still relatively small numbers. Like all previous stages I believe Stage A' will grow to dominant influence in human affairs and faster than any previous stage.

Since the early 1800's, the world has been in continuous transformation upheaval. Since the early 1900's there is a unique situation in human history. Previously, transformation eras involved one rising and one declining stage. Now there are two declining stages - Stage E and Stage F - and one rising stage - Stage A' -that is much more than just a new stage because it also brings a whole new phase of human life not known to any of the earlier six stages of mankind.

As you learn more about Living System Psychology and the Human Psyche System you will become more profoundly impressed that the period ahead of us is truly a 2nd Renaissance, even though the challenges to move beyond today's transition trauma will be substantial.

John Clayton Caris

Links to previous Posts in this series:
Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 1 - Terminology
Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 2 - Individual Psyche Structure
Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 3 - Psyche System Stages Diagram
Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 4 - Terminology Table

Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 4 - Terminology Table

Click on Image to enlarge it.



This Table extends the Human Psyche System Terminology.

It shows:
– When each stage was world leader
– And the period when each stage is dominant in the life of highly evolved persons today.

John Clayton Caris

Links to previous Posts in this series:
Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 1 - Terminology
Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 2 - Individual Psyche Structure
Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 3 - Psyche System Stages Diagram

Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 3 - Psyche System Stages Diagram

Click on Image to enlarge it.

This diagram shows the sequence of the Human Psyche System evolution process through its Phases, Cycles and Stages. The process of Human Psyche Evolution starts at the top of the diagram. It proceeds first through Phase I of human life as three bi-polar Cycles of two Stages each.

During Phase I, at each Cycle human life proceeds through a back-and-forth psychological “flip-flop”. The first Stage of each Cycle is driven by its specific type of Individualism and Independence in the pursuit of its specific type of “End-Point” goal. That is the psychological “flip” from the second Stage of the previous Cycle. Then the second stage of each Cycle is driven by its specific type of Collectivism and Dependence in the pursuit of its specific type of “End-Point” goal. That is the psychological “flop” from the first Stage of the same Cycle.

“End-Point” goals mean that the human individual or collective tries to achieve some specific position in life and/or quantity of some specific types of resources as end-points that define a successful life. The “End-Point” goals often substitute for life purpose and for measures for achieving that purpose. The result is a flip-flopping, end-point driven type of life process. It is really a closed process because it is considered to be ended if the desired end-point is achieved. At that point life purpose shifts from the drive to achieve the specific end-point to the drive to protect and defend the end-point results. The point is that Phase I life purpose and process are not “Open Ended” – They are a sequence of end-point focuses that lead to continuous disagreements, anger and conflicts.

On the diagram, you see Phase I human life composed of six Stages – Three Cycles of two Stages each. Mankind’s Phase II of human life you see just starting at its Stage A’ – Living System, 2nd Renaissance Human. The whole concept and practice of human life begins to transform during the concluding stage of Phase I life – Stage F. Life becomes an open-ended, continuous flow process of Living System Life and Work at Stage A’.

During the first two Cycles, the basic structure of the Human Psyche System is forming. You see the psyche’s Conscious/Unconscious dimension forming at Cycle 1 and the Personal/Collective dimension forming at Cycle 2. At Stage D, or Adolescence, the human psyche’s basic structure is formed. Throughout the World, the underlying human psyche patterns of Stages A through D are uniform.

But, Cycle 3 brings a mirror-image human behavior split between the West and Orient. When I later discuss the details of Cycle 3 – Stages E and F – I use this split to explain world geo-political and economic forces over the last 200 years. This fascinating story explains the materialism of the West during its Stage E rise and dominance and how the more recent materialistic power of the Orient arose out of its Stage F behavior.

I emphasize that each Phase I stage is driven by its own type of End-Point Goals. This has profound effects on how individuals and organizations find purpose, are motivated, form relationships, do strategy work, organize, and operate.

Stages A, C and E are each driven by a different type of Individualism and independence – While Stages B, D, and F are each driven by a different type of Collectivism and dependence. For example, the reasons for the recent rise of political correctness, populism, drug dependencies and collectivist power groups are no mystery. They are to be expected – They are underlying Stage F behavior characteristics.

Recall that all of Phase I life is a process of human “Flip-Flops” in each Cycle from one type of unbalanced individualism to its opposite as one type of unbalanced collectivism. You note that Stage A’ is shown as a totally different pattern – End-Point goals and flip-flops between Individualism and Collectivism are gone. Life becomes a continuous flow process and is interdependence-collaboration driven. Goals become milestones embedded in a continuing process – Not ends in them selves. This has profound meaning for the emerging pattern of Living System Life and Work, especially for leadership, strategy, organization, operations and entrepreneurship. The psychological sources for inherent disagreement, anger and conflict are absent.

John Clayton Caris

Links to previous Posts in this series:
Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 1 - Terminology
Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 2 - Individual Psyche Structure

Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 2 - Individual Psyche Structure

Click on Image to enlarge it.

The human psyche is a living energy system in which we are embedded. It is not the Brain – Which is the biological living system that enables us experience the psyche in our life.

You need to be aware of the human psyche’s structure, that develops through several stages. This diagram shows you the human psyche system structure when fully developed – It has two bi-polar dimensions and four sub-systems.

The two psyche system dimensions are
– The Personal/Collective Dimension; and
– The Conscious/Unconscious Dimension.

The four subsystems of the individual psyche system are:

– The Personal Conscious (PC) – A central portion of the PC is called the Ego.
– The Personal Unconscious (PU) – A central portion of the PU is called the Shadow.
– The Collective Conscious (CC) – The CC contains the conscious patterns and forms of what is called Culture.
– The Collective Unconscious (CU) – The CU contains energy patterns shared by all humans called Jungian Archetypes.

The Human Psyche System is open in two ways:
– Open through the Conscious subsystems to external experience on the Operating plane of life and work through the physical senses; and
– Open through the Unconscious subsystems to internal experience and the knowledge of the Universe on the underlying Morphic Field plane of life and work through the intuitive senses.

Each Human Psyche sub-system is a fascinating story whose details are beyond our needs now. We discuss each sub-system later when we focus on specific stages.

John Clayton Caris

Links to previous Posts in this series:
Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 1 - Terminology

Human Psyche System Definitions - Part 1 - Terminology

Click on Image to enlarge it.

This table defines the Human Psyche System terminology we use to identify the human psyche stages. There are seven psyche stages known so far. Each stage is a whole pattern of human life – A human Paradigm. Each has its unique pattern for life purpose, motivation, learning, leadership, organization, relationship, etc.

The first six stages – Stages A through F – Compose Phase I of human life. Phase I contains three bi-polar cycles of two stages each. The two stages of each cycle are complementary opposite psychological patterns of each other:
- Cycle 1 – Stage A – Primitive, Hunter Gatherer Human and Stage B – Mystical, Tribal Human;
- Cycle 2 – Stage C – Heroic, Early Imperial Human and Stage D – Absolutistic, Medieval Human; and
- Cycle 3 – Stage E – Linear System, 1st Renaissance Human and Stage F – Relativistic, Collectivist Human

Each Phase I Cycle has a common underlying pattern - A Cycle Paradigm. All Phase I stages have a deeper underlying common meta-pattern - A Phase Paradigm. These Phase and Cycle Paradigms underlie the discontinuous Paradigm differences of the psyche stages. As you learn the natures of the specific Phase, Cycle and Stage Paradigms, this way of defining the Human Psyche System becomes clear.

The seventh stage – Stage A’ – Living System, 2nd Renaissance Human begins a new Phase II of human life - A whole new phase of human life whose underlying Paradigm is discontinuously different from the Phase I Paradigm that underlies all Phase I stages. This explains why the human transformation into Stage A' is so profound in human affairs.

The emerging results of the current transformation of leading-edge persons into Stage A’ is Mega-Force 1 of the four Mega-Forces now driving the world human transformation. I cannot over emphasize that this is a unique transformation in history. It is not just a Human Psyche System stage transformation – But also, the coming of a whole new Phase of human life that breaks the underlying patterns for all previous stages of human life. It is a big deal – That is why I call it The World’s Biggest Story that is Almost Invisible.

To the right of each psyche stage pattern name in the diagram, I give in parentheses the life period when a given psyche stage tends to be dominant for highly evolved persons today. For example – The life of Infants from birth to about 1 year is dominant at Stage A – The life of Young Children from 1 year to about 2 ½ years is dominant at Stage B – The life of Older Children is dominant at Stage C – The life of Adolescents from late childhood to mid-teens tends to be dominant at Stage D – The life of Young Adults tends to be dominant at Stage E. Life at Stages F and A’ arrives later and is more complex.

Earlier human stages can remain dominant in the lives of less evolved persons and groups much later in life than shown on this diagram. Many persons today in our society live out their lives dominant at Stages D and/or E without ever evolving to Stage F or Stage A'. Another example important in today's events is the Terrorists of all types - They behave as being driven by Stage C and D dominance. Of course, I am not saying that all humans driven by Stages C and D are terrorists. This fascinating situation we discuss later.

John Clayton Caris

Living System Psychology - Is It Practical; Is It an Advantage; and Why Does It Appear Strange?

I write this Post to answer three Questions I am asked about Living System Psychology: Is It Practical; Is It an Advantage; and Why Does It Appear so Strange?

From the Mindset of an emerging Stage A' - Living System, 2nd Renaissance Human who is aligned with the current World Human Transformation, the answers to these questions are simple and direct. They are Yes, it is Practical - Yes, it is an Advantage to use - and It is Not Strange at all because it is the natural thing to believe and use if you wish to be most successful now. I explain these answers next.

Psychology as the central underlying foundation for human life and work is a new concept and practice that emerge at Stage A'. This became recognizable in human affairs about 1900 A.D. except for rare earlier individual examples. Its importance for emerging leaders has accelerated since the 1970's. Conventional linear system life and work (Stage E) or earlier stages of human psyche evolution (Stages A through D) cannot perceive psychology in this way and therefore cannot practice it. Relativistic system life and work (Stage F) acts as an essential bridge stage between the linear system pattern and the living system pattern of life and work.

What I am saying is valid but it may be diffficult to understand until one is able to adopt the new Mindset. It should become clearer as you discover the contents of this Blog and the other Isis Group Network materials.

Now let's answer three Questions from a Living System human's Mindset.

Living System Psychology - Is It Practical?

Rudolph Steiner, an early example of a Stage A' - Living System Human, wrote near 1900 A.D in his book Theosophy:

"Only he who understands human life can become a truly practical man."

Steiner was a pioneer in transforming human life and leadership. He was saying that the practical management of human affairs is based on a profound understanding of inner human life rather than the conventional focus on external non-human forces and events. His ideas are a natural result of the new stage of the human psyche, the Stage A'.

It is a discontinuous break from what generally exists even today. It is a leap in what it means to be Practical. It is the leap from the conventional focus of being Practical in terms of the external material world to being Practical by focus on 1) First understanding the internal world of human affairs and their psychology so 2) Second it is then possible to become Practical in the external world in transformed ways.

Carl Jung, another Living System pioneer, wrote in 1961 in the memoir of his life's work - Memories, Dreams, Reflections:

"There is a general feeling to be sure, that we have reached a turning point in the ages, but people imagine the great change has to do with nuclear fission or fusion, or with space rockets. What is currently taking place in rh human psyche is usually overlooked."

Both Jung and Steiner were saying essentially the same thing - That the key to understanding human life and taking Practical actions is the underlying psychological patterns of mankind. Thus, Practical actions really flow from the underlying psychology.

There is in progress a massive transformation in what is Practical. Human psychology is now primary for those who can adopt the new Mindset. Living System Psychology, the Human Psyche System and its stage-by-stage process of human evolution are the central tools for understanding human life and thus being Practical in the emerging Stage A' pattern.

Living System Psychology - Is it an Advantage?

A good way to answer this question comes from a talented software "Hacker" named Paul Graham, whose psyche appears to operate in the Mindset of an emerging Stage A' leader. (Please note that a Hacker is a talented sofware creator - A Cracker is the software criminal that does harmful and illegal things with computers.) Paul Graham wrote in an essay about successful software development entitled Beating the Averages:

"In business there is nothing more valuable than a technical advantage your competitors don't understand."

He was writing about software development, but his concept applies broadly. Living System Psychology is now the core "Technology" for effective leading-edge human action, including leadership, organization and entrepreneurship. Because almost nobody now has any idea about what Human System Psychology is or how it can be used, it is a powerful competitive advantage for those who do know. The vast majority of your competitors don't understand it. Even in the future it will remain a great advantage because the majority of existing individuals and organizations will probably not be able to transform themselves or their organizations to Stage A' Living System Life and Work.

So, Living System Psychology is an Advantage.

Living System Psychology - Why Does It Appear Strange?

Living System Psychology is based upon Living System science that results from the Stage A' human psyche. The psychologies of earlier Human Psyche System stages are based upon non-living system sciences. Therefore, they are discontinuously different from Living System Psychology - They are inconsistent with it.

One example illustrates this psyche stage difference. The well known Freudian approach to psychology is based upon and consistent with Linear System science (Stage E science). While the still lesser known Jungian approach to psychology is based on the emerging Living System science (Stage A' science).

Linear System science and Living System science are qualitatively discontinuous. From the mindset of Linear System Science, anything consistent with Living System science will appear to be Strange. From the mindset of Living System science, anything consistent with Linear System science will appear to a limited special case of Living System science where the "living" characteristics are reduced to zero.

The first, Linear System science, is the science of independent mutually exclusive events on the conscious plane of reality. Linear System science statistical distributions are peaked, like the well known Gaussian, or Bell Curve, distributions. The logic of Linear System Science is Either-Or, not both simultaneously. It is uni-polar. This Linear System Science is what is generally known as "science" and therefore is not Strange to most.

The second, Living System science, is the science of inter-dependent complementary bi-polar events on both the conscious surface plane of reality and the unconscious underlying plane of reality - With the unconscious plane of reality being the primary guiding influence. This is called the "Morphic Field", or underlying guiding field. Living System science statistical disributions have no most probable peaks. They follow a Power Law distribution, commonly refered to as the "Long Tail". The logic Living System science is Both-And. It is bi-polar. This Living System science is not yet generally known as "science" and therefore does appear Strange to many.

Therefore, from a Living System mindset, Living System Psychology is Not Strange at all - But from a Linear System mindset it is Strange.

John Clayton Caris

Living System Psychology Overview - Part 3

Living System Psychology Review

This outline Reviews and summarizes the Foundation Principles and Key Concepts for Living System Psychology that I presented in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.

First - To understand the emerging World Transformation to Living System Life and Work we must understand the history of mankind - for both individuals through a lifetime and for collectives through history.

Second - The Human Psyche System stage profile of one’s psyche determines the nature of one’s current life.

Third - The psyche stage profile of a collective’s leaders determines the nature of that collective’s current life.

Fourth - The Human Psyche System evolution process has two complementary parts for each stage that follow each other in cyclical sequence. It is bi-polar. One pole is Inter-Stage Transformation – The shorter, turbulent, discontinuous leap to a new stage. The other pole is Intra-State Development – The longer, gradually changing, development within a given stage.

Fifth - Individuals born, raised and conditioned in a collective tend to evolve in their own life up to the most evolved stage of that collective. This is called Recapitulation.

Sixth - Not all individuals, collectives and their cultures are equally evolved. There is a diversity of dominant psyche stages and psyche stage profiles at different locations throughout the world, and even at one location. These stage differences are the source for much disagreement and conflict.

Seventh - There are two types of inter-stage psyche transformation for both individuals and collectives: The Recapitulation type – This is individual transformation up to the stage of their current collective. And the Transcendence type – This is individual transformation to a stage beyond the stage of their current collective stage.

Eighth - Individual Transcendence results in personal growth traumas and in the eventual transformation of their collectives. Individual transcendence always occurs before collective transcendence to the same stage. Collective Transcendence of leading-edge institutions results in the buildup to the transformation of other institutions they interact with. This leads to the eventual transformation of the World’s leading society into a new era of human history. That is now started again for the seventh time in human history.

Ninth - If an individual’s psyche stage evolution at any stage is prevented from going to completion, psychological problems are buried in the psyche - Mostly in the unconscious part of the psyche. At this time much of our society has reached the point in psyche evolution (Stage F pattern) where those buried problems naturally emerge from the unconscious. This contributes to the chaos of our time.

Tenth – Conclusion - We live and work at one of those few times in human history when a new era of human history emerges – The seventh. We name our new era - the 2nd Renaissance. The transcendent individual responsible for it we name the Stage A’ -Living System pattern human who uses what we define as 2nd Renaissance Living System Life and Work concepts and processes. This results in a transformed leadership/management profession and a new definition of who are truly practical persons and what are the right means for them to use.

John Clayton Caris

Links to other Posts in this series:

Living System Psychology Overview - Part 1 - Foundation Principles
Living System Psychology Overview - Part 2 - Key Concepts

Living System Psychology Overview - Part 2

Living System Psychology – Key Concepts

This outline of Key Concepts for Living System Psychology extends the discussion of the Foundation Principles I outlined in Part 1 of this series of posts.

- Living System Psychology, its Human Psyche System and its structural stage process of human evolution are the knowledge foundation for understanding and implementing Living System Life and Work – Individual and collective. They are the tools for understanding what the current World Human Transformation is, how it evolved in human affairs, and where it is now going.

- The Human Psyche System is a non-physical energy system that organizes as a nodal network of psyche stage sub-systems and operates as a partially open Living System whose evolution progresses through a specific sequence of phases and stages – For a human individual through a lifetime and for human collectives through history.

- The Human Psyche System for an individual contains four sub-systems: The Personal Conscious; The Personal Unconscious; The Collective Conscious; The Collective Unconscious

- The Human Psyche System stages are like “Themes” that underlie human lives, groups and organizations. Human differences – individual and collective – at a given stage of evolution are like variations on the basic underlying “Themes”.

- Each Human Psyche System stage is a complete pattern of human conscious and unconscious life - a Life Paradigm. These stage Paradigms are shared human “Morphic Fields” that underlie individual diversity and local geographical collective differences worldwide.

- Human Psyche System stages are the underlying sources and driving forces for all that materializes in human affairs. So far in human life – individual and collective – seven stages have appeared on Earth. The seventh stage is just emerging and beginning to drive the current World Human Transformation to Living System Life and Work.

- Each individual Human Psyche System stage Paradigm has its own underlying pattern of emotions, thinking, motivation and behavior.

- Each collective Human Psyche System stage Paradigm has its own pattern of collective purpose, leadership/management, organization and entrepreneurship.

- Throughout the world at a given time, not all individuals and collectives are equally evolved. They live in different psychological spaces as determined by their Human Psyche System stage profiles.

- Individuals and collectives evolve through Human Psyche System stages in a specific sequence of stages and in a bi-polar cyclical process. One pole is Inter-Stage Transformation and the other pole is Intra-Stage Development.

- For Inter-Stage Transformation, individuals evolve by a discontinuous, non-linear leap from one psyche stage to the next at critical times in their life. These psychological leaps are usually traumatic, often painful, but lead to greatly enhanced human capacity.

- For Intra-Stage Development, individuals evolve by continuous, gradual, quasi-linear change within a given psyche stage until they experience stressful conditions their current stage cannot deal with. This leads to transformation to the next stage.

- Individual psyche system evolution usually continues through life, but it can stop, or may appear to retrogress under extreme conditions.

- Individual Inter-Stage Transformation is the root cause and driving force for collective Inter-Stage Transformation. Collective transformation occurs when both a critical mass of transformed leadership within the collective and forces from outside are reached.

- Collectives also undergo Inter-Stage Transformation by discontinuous, non-linear leaps from one psyche system stage to the next.

- Collective Inter-Stage Transformations are the chaotic, crisis filled, traumatic, destructive periods of history as one era decays and another is born.

- Collectives also undergo Intra-Stage Development by continuous, gradual, quasi-linear change within a given psyche stage until they experience stressful conditions their current stage cannot deal with. This leads to transformation build up. Transforming individuals are catalysts for the collective transformation.

- Collective psyche system evolution has continued through history. It forms a grand pattern and process for human history. Collective transformations take much longer than individual ones.

- Human Psyche System stage evolution, like the stage evolution of all Living Systems, is irreversible. Psyche stage transformation irreversibly changes the nature of stages already functioning in a given Human Psyche System.

- Reversible retrogression to earlier stages of the Human Psyche System does not occur. Linear systems can be reversible – But living systems, like the Human Psyche System, are non-linear and irreversible. The overall patterns of previous stages remain, but the details of how they are experienced in emotions, thoughts, motivation and behavior are discontinuously changed.

- Individuals live and work at a given time as guided by the characteristics of more than one psyche stage, but usually with a different degree of intensity for each stage. However, one stage in their psyche system profile is usually dominant.

- There is no evidence that an individual or a collective can skip a stage along their evolution sequence.

- A new stage of leadership has emerged throughout history when the world had become stagnant or consumed with excesses – A time when the world critically needed qualitative transformation in structure and process if mankind was to continue to advance.

- Today, those conditions are present again. New leader/managers functioning in a new Human Psyche system stage are emerging. They are undergoing the most profound psyche transformation in human history.

- The most evolved collectives within world society are beginning their collective transformation, amid crisis and destructive disorder, to a new phase of life and work. These institutions and their leadership/management are beginning to be re-created – Because they must if they are to successfully lead the world into the needed new era.

- There is evidence that our Creator has in process a Grand Plan for our lives and for human history. Our time seems to be experiencing the most critical transcendent turning point in that plan since mankind first appeared on Earth.

John Clayton Caris

Links to other Posts in this series:

Living System Psychology Overview - Part 1 - Foundation Principles
Living System Psychology Overview - Part 3 - Review

Living System Psychology Overview - Part 1

Do not be concerned if you do not understand all that I write in the three posts of this Blog Series named Living System Psychology Overview. I am introducing you to a transformed human foundation for successful life and work. It is based upon a Living System Science concept and practice of human psychology that is dramatically different from conventional psychology.

As you become acquainted with the materials in this Blog named Human Psyche System and Living System Psychology, these posts and the ones to be published soon can make sense to you if you are willing and able to transform away from conventional mindsets. This a non-linear learning experience in which what you now know and believe are not only of little help to you - They may be a serious blockage to your learning. That is the way it is when you enter a path of learning that is a Discontinuous Break from what now exists. That is of course what is required if you are to understand the World Human Transformation now in progress.

Always recall the words of Frank Herbert, the author of the Dune Books. He wrote:
"The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand."

Hopefully this series of Blog Posts, this whole Blog and all the other Blogs of the Isis Group Blog Network will enable you to discover things you do not understand and thus be the beginning of your knowledge of today's emerging World Human Transformation and its marvelous new path for Living System Life and Work - The New Pattern for Success.

Now let's begin this Blog Series.

Living System Psychology Foundation Principles

This outline presents Foundation Principles for Living System Psychology.

- Living System Psychology is founded on the Human Psyche System and its Structural Stage process of psyche evolution for both human individuals and collectives.

- Living System Psychology and the structure and dynamics of the Human Psyche System are consistent with the principles of Living System Science.

- The Human Psyche System is the most fundamental living system at the core of human life. It and its living system evolution process underlie all human affairs. They are the cause for all that manifests humanly - Internally and in the external world.

- Whatever manifests in human affairs are constructs of the current Human Psyche System stage profiles of persons, collectives and their leaders at a given time and location. This means that all areas of human action, including science, the arts, emotions, thought, motivation, behavior, leadership/management, organization, entrepreneurship, are governed by the psyche stage profiles of the individuals and collectives taking the actions.

- Human Psyche Systems, for individuals and collectives, are non-physical energy fields composed of both conscious and unconscious sub-systems. The individual Human Psyche System is not the brain. The brain is a bio-physical living system that enables the individual to experience the psyche.

- The Human Psyche Evolution Process is a living system process. That means it is bi-polar and cyclical. The Human Psyche System evolves by continuous, quasi-linear development within a stage (Called Intra-Stage Development) and then evolves by discontinuous, non-linear transformation between stages (Called Inter-Stage Transformation). Periods of development evolution and transformation evolution follow each other in cycles.

- The Human Psyche Evolution Process for both individuals and collectives progresses through the same specific sequence of stages – Individuals through a lifetime and collectives through the course of human history.

- So far in individual and collective human life seven Human Psyche System Stages have manifested. The seventh is the stage that is now driving today’s World Transformation.

- The Purpose for Living System Psychology is to enable you to understand how the process of Human Psyche System evolution has led through individual lives and through human history up to the psyche stage now manifesting as today’s World Transformation to Living System Life and Work in the lives of leading-edge humans.

John Clayton Caris

Links to other Posts in this series:

Living System Psychology Overview - Part 2 - Key Concepts
Living System Psychology Overview - Part 3 - Review