0.0 So what the hell is this all about? This video is about levels of thinking.
4.0 It's theoretical, but also has colorful jokes throughout.
9.0 I use this diagram a lot in my videos because it helps explain some of the wild things people say and do.
13.0 It's based on the work of several researchers, but I've tried to make it easier to read for a wider audience.
21.0 The model of consciousness I studied includes quadrants, levels, lines, states, and types, but today I'm focusing on levels.
28.0 I want to make a long, detailed video on each level, but for now, this is a short version to get the ball rolling.
36.0 Before we start, here are some misspelled vegetables, because apparently being cute helps.
40.0 Here's a cactus. So, these levels are stages of psychological development, studied by many researchers.
47.0 Some famous models come from Jean Piaget and Abraham Maslow, who came up with the hierarchy of needs.
54.0 Everyone is born at the bottom and nearly everyone gets up to at least a certain stage by adulthood.
60.0 How you develop depends on your surroundings, choices, culture, and the brain you were born with.
66.0 The quadrants are different ways of looking at reality: your mind, your brain, your culture, and your society.
74.0 All of these happen at the same time—your mind is your brain, culture is lots of minds, and society is what those minds do.
83.0 People are never truly “in” a level; you just slowly develop the ability to think at higher levels as you gain experience.
90.0 We all use the lower levels every day—like when you have to use the bathroom, that's a level one process.
100.0 Some people make it to higher stages, some never do. Most people spend most of their time in the four middle stages.
108.0 The first world-centered stage is only very common in modernized places.
111.0 At this stage, you can adopt a world-centered understanding—seeing how people think based on where they're from.
117.0 Before that, there are just “right” and “wrong” ways of thinking, so you’re either doing it right or you’re not.
127.0 After that, it's more like, “Maybe I’d think that way if I was from there.” That’s where global thinking begins.
135.0 Speaking of global thinking, this is my first sponsored video—brought to you by Atlas VPN.
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194.0 Now, back to levels of thinking—what they are, how they work, and how to move on from lower stages.
201.0 Higher does not always mean better; it just means more aware, not a better person.
218.0 The lower level of awareness is just seeing things; as you go higher, awareness becomes more complex.
230.0 When I make mistakes, I usually know why they're happening because I can see through what's going on in my mind.
246.0 Sometimes, I choose women who probably won't stick around because I don't think I can support them, and that doesn't feel good.
259.0 I try to change things, but sometimes it gets fuzzy, and I end up repeating the same experiences.
276.0 The ability to see through your mind and the complexity of the world isn't about being good, it's about getting it.
286.0 Moving up levels doesn't always make you more effective; for example, one level is famous for making people into hippies.
295.0 At that point, you realize everyone has their own way of seeing things—who's to say what's right or wrong?
304.0 For example, someone might seek validation from someone they're not interested in, plan how to get more, and then question if that's right.
324.0 The progression goes: wanting something, knowing how to get it, controlling the interaction, knowing if it's right or wrong, then becoming the author of your own sense of right and wrong.
340.0 At the “hippie” level, it’s like, “Who is anyone to judge my choices? My choices are right for me.”
351.0 That's why they call that level the individualist.
357.0 When I went through this level, it stressed me out because I saw so many different philosophies and ways of living, I didn't know how to pick one.
382.0 At this level, you realize you'll never know what happens until you try it—so you see what works for you, for us, and notice others have different things that work for them.
394.0 That's level five: understanding, “I'm like this because I'm from here, you're like that because you're from there.”
400.0 At level six, you realize “where I'm from” is really just myself—everyone is just from their own self.
410.0 How can one self have an idea that's better than another self?
420.0 Higher is more complex, but complex isn't always good; you can have a really good shoe or a really bad car.
433.0 If higher isn’t always better, why should we grow? Because higher is usually better—our complex world requires complex thinking.
449.0 Some problems can't be solved at the level they were created.
455.0 Everyone has a different “fingerprint” of development—your lines or capacities are all developed to different levels.
466.0 For example, you could be very high cognitively but low morally, or vice versa.
478.0 Someone might understand history and politics but have low empathy, or be great with people but not get the bigger picture.
488.0 As I go through the levels, try to remember where you went through them and what that felt like.
492.0 Level one is “survive”—just basic moment-to-moment needs like food and sleep.
503.0 If we lived at this level, we'd be in small survival bands, not thinking much about each other's thoughts.
513.0 Level two is “connect”—now you can think about what's in someone else's mind and what they want or need.
521.0 Primitive people at this level might do rain dances or throw virgins in a volcano, thinking it affects the world.
534.0 Level two is all about how what I do affects what others think about me and what they do for me.
553.0 At this level, we'd be focused on safety, security, and maintaining dependable habits in small tribal groups.
562.0 Level three is “control”—still very popular in modern society.
572.0 At level one, I have my own needs; at level two, I know others have needs; at level three, I know others are aware of each other's needs.
599.0 This creates social situations—think Mafia, sports teams, firemen, police, military, and so on.
634.0 Levels two and three involve thinking about thinking, but mostly for getting what you want and having power over others.
643.0 Level four is “belong”—the primary drive is to fit in, motivated by second-person perspective.
651.0 At level one, you have your own needs; level two, you see others’ needs; level three, you understand the social web; level four, you realize everyone is in their own situation.
677.0 This is where you get the wisdom of “don’t judge someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.”
694.0 When level four was new, it was basically medieval empires or nation-states—large groups living by shared rules.
708.0 Level four focuses on good versus evil and conformity to social norms.
726.0 You can see second-person perspective coming online in children when they start looking in the mirror more, realizing others see them too.
738.0 Level four is the beginning of what we traditionally call morality.
744.0 For example, someone sees “man bad” on her phone, projects that onto her boyfriend, and decides to break up because it feels true.
764.0 At this level, you can step back and look at yourself as a second person and ask if you’re doing the right thing.
773.0 This is the first point where consciousness becomes obviously important—a lot of people just react to what they see on their phones or TV.
803.0 Level four typically functions through conformity and agreement—agreeing on what's right and wrong, creating and following rules.
814.0 That can solve some problems, but there are infinite ways to decide what’s right and wrong.
826.0 Level five introduces objective observation as a value—let’s figure out which set of rules is better by taking a third-person perspective.
842.0 The first three levels are about me; level four is “if I was another person in my culture, how would I see my behavior?” Level five is, “if I was an alien, how would I see my culture?”
861.0 This is the first time you can go, “I get why they’re like that—they’re from somewhere else.”
869.0 Level five has only been around a few hundred years; it’s where we get science and modern conveniences.
878.0 Level six is where things get fun. Level five is about objective observation, but level six recognizes the role of the perceiver.
890.0 A different perceiver equals a different perception, bringing in the fourth-person perspective.
894.0 At level one, you have your needs; at higher levels, you step back more and more, seeing the context and the observer’s influence.
919.0 The way you look determines what you see—there are multiple valid perspectives.
960.0 Everyone has a unique, personal, subjective reality that’s not observable to others.
974.0 Level six is a good example of why higher development isn’t always better—it’s a high degree of moral development, but it can go off the rails.
985.0 For example, if someone does something wrong by your culture’s standards but says, “That’s how we do it where I’m from,” level six might say, “Who are you to judge?”
1012.0 This can lead to the idea that anyone can do whatever they want, and we can’t judge.
1025.0 That’s why we have some of the problems we see today—some people are just doing whatever they want, and laws don’t distinguish.
1039.0 At this point, there’s a break in the chart—we’re moving up to “second tier” consciousness.
1046.0 Level seven is the first level that can understand and include all previous ones.
1055.0 At level four, you might have a Christian church and a Muslim mosque arguing over who has the truth; at level six, everyone can get along with more understanding.
1077.0 At level seven, you understand how to actually give each previous level what it wants, so everyone can live in harmony.
1086.0 The fourth-person perspective gets expanded through time, creating awareness of the self as a history of experiences.
1101.0 At level seven, you realize everyone’s unique view developed over time, and everyone else is developing too.
1116.0 At level six, everyone belongs everywhere; at level seven, people belong where they fit best.
1126.0 If a behavior doesn’t fit here, it has to go where it belongs; if it does, we can all learn something new from it.
1134.0 I call level seven “harmonize”—it’s not about radical inclusiveness, but recognizing interrelated systems and how they work together or clash.
1153.0 People at level seven tend to naturally recognize development, even without studying this chart.
1161.0 My life coaching client described his development through the levels as his answer to a question.
1181.0 There isn’t a large collection of people at level seven yet, though you can find some in places like San Francisco, New York, and Alabama.
1194.0 I’m trying to build a community of people up at this level to work on things from this higher perspective.
1201.0 I’m not sure the numbers are accurate, but I enjoy meeting people at this level because they can balance and synergize things naturally.
1217.0 The higher the levels, the harder they are to explain—level eight is pretty rare, and even those who reach it don’t spend much time there.
1230.0 Level eight appears when you take another step back and witness yourself changing over time, moment to moment.
1247.0 At level eight, you’re aware of your own mind constructing itself as you go.
1261.0 For example, looking at a donut, you might feel hunger, guilt from a past experience, social shame, and recall a stomach ache—all influencing your current desire.
1285.0 Once you’re aware of all that, you can decide whether to listen to it or not.
1296.0 It sounds silly with donuts, but imagine this with global politics or relationships—being aware of your feelings and where they come from gives you more power to choose your actions.
1330.0 This gives you a lot more power to change your behavior in situations like this.
1341.0 Imagine if more people could see their reactions and know where they come from, instead of just reacting in the moment.
1349.0 That’s why you should be thinking about thinking!
1351.0 Level nine is very hard to describe; I think I spend some time there.
1359.0 At this level, it feels like all I’m ever doing is watching and wishing, and that’s all I’ve ever been doing.
1366.0 In the first three levels, you’re the main character; at level four, everyone is their own main character; at level eight, you’re just watching the show happen.
1386.0 You’re not even identified with being the show anymore—you’re just watching yourself be.
1410.0 You’re watching yourself emerge over time, interacting with the present moment, knowing your history and what it’s made you like.
1424.0 You’re looking at yourself looking at that, and how you do the looking is what’s important at this level.
1440.0 You might need to look at a different part of yourself or function in your life, depending on the situation.
1450.0 It’s like what you’re watching is watching itself, and at each level, you’re watching something different—your needs, others’ reactions, your situation, expectations, reality, your origins, your habits, etc.
1496.0 If that makes any sense, that’s this chart and how it works—the levels part, anyway.
1505.0 If you want to move up the levels, the best way is to sit with your thoughts and figure out where they come from.
1515.0 For example, sometimes I worry my scribbly drawings are embarrassing to show to 200,000 people.
1524.0 Why am I embarrassed? Maybe I’m worried it’ll have a negative impact, like people not liking my channel.
1543.0 But if I have no evidence that’ll happen, what’s wrong with it? Problem solved—I can do this for now, and that’s why I called this level “complete.”
1573.0 I hope you enjoyed this presentation on levels. I’ll do another, much longer, one at some point, but I’ll make it fun.
1582.0 Video’s done—you can close it if you want, I’m just going to ramble for a minute.
1594.0 I’m going to do a video on self-maximization—how to make yourself the best possible partner so people want to keep you.
1602.0 I’ll also talk about itemized delusion—breaking people up into groups and discussing the general delusions they have about themselves and the dating market.
1613.0 I’ll cover the “not people zone” and even argue with Mac and Murphy soon.
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