Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Hierarchy of Chores

Slowly waking up, not stoically looking forward to the chores of the day, even though they are not bad. I need to go by the credit union, get money to have the front, passenger-side tire replaced (it has a bubble from a split in the tread), and return of two library books (one of which I wish to renew because I’ve been reading everything but it). Did I really get all that in one sentence? Two, actually.

Actually, it’s a fascinating book: Stages of Faith, by James Fowler, who treats faith as what I call Lines of Development. The best known Line of Development would be Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. These stem from researching the development of various facets of the individual, and are a contribution of our civilization, starting around 1900, by James Mark Baldwin. Baldwin’s daughters sparked his interest in developmental psychology, which later inspired the more-famous works of Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg.

Kohlberg’s morals development I’ve mentioned before, summarizing his stages or levels into egocentric, ethnocentric, and worldcentric. Carol Gilligan expanded on Kohlberg by looking into gender differences, showing females have Levels of Caring, where males have Levels of Justice. Clair Graves applied these same procedures into determining a hierarchy of values, which today goes by Spiral Dynamics, and can also be applied to groups and nations. Fowler applied this method to individual Levels of Faith, which brings us full circle for the moment.

I have no idea why I’ve developed such a passionate curiosity for Levels or Stages of Development, but I have. There are a number of such personally passionate topics, unrelated to each other. For example, the Younger Dryas, a period following the last ice age where temperatures returned abruptly to ice-age levels for 1300 years, then just as abruptly returned to the mild Holocene temperatures warmer than today. What power can shift world temperatures so drastically and abruptly? There are now two major hypotheses, both of which leave some major effects unexplained. This interest originated before the current debate on global warming, and neither side of that argument can explain the Younger Dryas.

So, you have a peak into the world in which I live. Though of no merit in everyday life, or may even be an impediment to daily functioning, these are items that give me passion. As Joseph Campbell instructs, “Follow your passion!” I agree!

So, I’ll renew the library book—after the tire, of course.

4 comments:

  1. The tire was replaced and the library book renewed. Enjoyed some designer coffee, my reward for doing my tasks, stopped by the grocery to spend $4.71 on the week's groceries.

    I am now cooking a pot of okra, corn, black beans, an onion, a can of diced tomatoes. I would have also put in a can of chili starter, but the can of tomatoes were spiced with green chili peppers. I no longer do spicy since spicy has become stronger than me. I am now trying to figure out what to put in to mellow the spice. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  2. sour cream?

    i like your explanation of the dryas. i think it is the first time you have explained it where my eyes didn't glaze over.

    how do you manage to spend $4.71 on groceries? what do you eat?

    ReplyDelete
  3. The $4.71 was at Aldis, across the street from the super Walmart. To give you an example, they have the 12-grain bread I prefer for $1.89 where Ingles has it for $3.00+. Aldis does not furnish bags, takes only cash or debit cards, and rents you a grocery cart for $.25 (refundable when you return it to the chain locks that hold them.

    I should perhaps keep my explanations to one paragraph or less? (grin)

    I have added an Irish potato to the spicy concoction, but have some sour cream and will try that should the potato have no effect. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tinar, The sour cream helped but not completely. It definitely improved the taste of the concoction. Thanks.

    Main problem may be I've lost a cap and the spice gets direct access to a nerve or two. Landlady gave me some herb that helps. I forgot to ask her what it was, but will.

    Thanks, again.

    ReplyDelete