Tell a strength from its deficient form
Take one capacity you rely on most and check whether it still serves you or has hardened into the only way you will act.
Why it works
Gidley, summarising Gebser, describes an efficient phase of each structure and a later deficient phase; for the mythic structure she places the efficient form at the peak of its creative force (Gidley 2007, p. 87; for the mental structure, scan p. 73). The test used here, that a deficient form claims only its own view has validity, is Gebser’s account of deficient magic manifestations such as mass assemblies, propaganda and slogans (Gidley 2007, p. 68, quoting Gebser p. 154 in her numbering; scan p. 153). Hampson paraphrases Gebser that efficiency declines as a structure overextends through over-quantification, meaning counting and dividing past any useful measure; Gebser’s own wording for the mental form is that the ratio “immoderately oversteps the bounds of measured direction and moderation” (Hampson 2007, n. 45; scan p. 93). Applying that test to a personal capacity such as fixing things is this page’s extension, not Gebser’s.
How to do it
- Name one capacity you use most at work or at home, such as fixing problems, being the reliable one, or analysing before acting.
- Write two sentences on what it does well in its efficient form, then two on how it looks when it is overused.
- Notice when you feel you must do it yourself, or cannot let another approach run, even when the cost is visible.
- Ask one person who knows you well which of the two forms they see more often, and write down what they say without arguing.
Evidence
Efficient and deficient phases: Gidley pp. 67–68 and 87; scan p. 73 for the efficient phase of the mental structure. The claim-to-exclusivity test is Gebser’s on deficient magic manifestations (Gidley p. 68; scan p. 153). Overextension through over-quantification is paraphrased by Hampson (n. 45; scan pp. 93–94). Applying these to personal capacities is an extension by analogy and has not been tested. (anecdotal)
Gebser’s deficiency examples concern mass movements, rationalism and sorcery, not individuals. Gidley reports that the language of deficiency and pathology is somewhat problematic against contemporary research on stage transitions, citing a 2002 paper by Commons and Richards, “Organizing components into combination: How stage transition works” (Journal of Adult Development), which this page has not read. She uses the deficiency language only where relevant. Treat any deficient label as an interpretation to test against what happens.
Sources
- Gidley, J. (2007). The evolution of consciousness as a planetary imperative: An integration of integral views. Integral Review, 5, 4–226.
- Hampson, G. P. (2007). Integral re-views postmodernism: The way out is through. Integral Review, 4.
- Gebser, J. (1985). The Ever-Present Origin (N. Barstad & A. Mickunas, Trans.). Athens, OH: Ohio University Press.
Common mistake
Treating the deficient form as a flaw to be removed. The point of the distinction is that the capacity is still needed; what needs examining is the claim it has started to make about the whole situation.
Practice this with IX Coach
More practices for Jean Gebser’s Structures of Consciousness
- Name the older ways of knowing you still carry
Find the ritual, loyalty or belief-in-cause-and-effect that still shapes a reaction, and say what it holds together before you judge it.
- Let an older view inform the newer one
When a new insight seems to dismiss a gut feeling or a tradition, ask what the older view protects before deciding which one wins.
- Notice clock time against lived time
Pick one activity and compare how long it took on the clock with how long it felt, to see how much of your day is only measured.
- Hold your view without needing it to be the only one
State a view you care about, then write what it sees clearly and what it cannot see, without giving the view up.
- Notice when a way of seeing has run its course
List the explanations that used to work and now give less, and look for the questions they have stopped answering.
- Bring a belief back to its origin in the present
Trace a belief you hold to where it first formed, then hold that origin as present rather than as a finished memory.
Related concepts
- Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory (AQAL), Made Practical
Five elements for catching what your view of a situation leaves out, held as a map rather than a truth
- States vs Stages of Consciousness: Wilber, Combs and O’Fallon
Why a powerful experience and a lasting change are different things, and how each one grows
- Spiral Dynamics, Made Practical
Understanding how value systems develop and how to navigate across them
- Terri O’Fallon’s STAGES Model, Made Practical
Twelve stages built from three repeating questions, and how to work with the one you are in
- Integral Methodological Pluralism: The Eight Zones of Inquiry
Eight angles on one question, how to sweep a problem through them, and where the framework is contested
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