We need dialogue with others who think and feel differently from ourselves because we so easily deceive ourselves. Every project we develop, from science and technology, to art and culture, is a long conversation with others. In these activities, our self-protection and self-promotion, as well as our desire to defeat others, clouds our self-awareness, but we can correct that problem through dialogue. When we avoid conflict and difficult conversations, we cheat ourselves of expanding our self-awareness or knowledge. Even well-meaning people may avoid conflict and gossip behind the back of a family member, co-worker, or leader and in this way dismissing another person or another position. Conflict avoidance is often a step towards dehumanization. In this fascinating conversation, Mike and Polly talk about how conflict avoidance diminishes waking up.
You may believe that conformity means compliance or popularity. In this podcast, Polly and Mike talk about conformity (in terms of Loevinger’s Stage Development) ...
What does it mean to be impulsive from the perspective of how you see yourself and other people? When does this way of acting...
At the later stages of Ego Development, people naturally encounter self-evaluated standards in place of group norms and begin to feel intensive responsibility for...