Human Life-Span Development and General Systems Models

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  • Gowan John A.

Abstract

Fractal or General Systems models have been extended into the area of human life-span development, by myself, deliberately, and earlier by my father, and others, following their own agendas (not intentional GS models). A short discussion with both models is presented below.

Human Life-Span Development and General Systems Models
(Revised Nov., 2007)
John A. Gowan
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    Intoduction

    In applying the 4×3 matrix form to the life-span developmental cycles of humans, I chose a generation period of 24 years and a cell period of 6 years. The generation period coincides nicely with the physical “markers” for completion of growth at age 24 (wisdom teeth and final brain development), the cessation of reproductive ability at age 48 (menopause), and the end of the average life span at age 72. The 6 year internal division or individual cell of the generation cycle corresponds to generally recognized growth and social “markers” at ages 6, 12, and 18 – the end of childhood and the beginning of school (6), adolescence, the beginning of sexual maturation (12), and graduation from school, the (legal) beginning of young adulthood and (typically) dispersal from home (to college, the military, or jobs) at 18. The transformative period from 18-24 marks the period of integration of the individual into the adult world at large, including the search for a mate, culminating in a transformed and completed identity through marriage and in-laws (age 24).

    Discussion

    In the two succeeding generation cycles (parent and grandparent cycles), the 6 year internal cells are not so obviously marked or easily recognized, but the hypothesis of the General System matrix says they are there nevertheless, and that they consist of stages which are higher system analogs of those in the 1st growth cycle.

    Two of these later stages which are commonly recognized are the “mid-life crisis” at about age 42, in the reproductive generation, and its higher analog “retirement” in the grandparent generation at about age 66 – both events leading into transition periods from which we hopefully emerge onto the new and higher plateaus of the next generation cycle – the beginning of wisdom in the first case, and the beginning of spirituality in the second (whether in this life or the next).

    I have extended the 4×3 72 year “core” life span development cycle to a 4×4 model, accommodating our modern longer life span with a 4th great-grandparent stage of non-specific and highly individualistic spiritual development stages, which is perhaps simply the beginning in this life of what in more “natural” circumstances would be happening in the next. Some of these higher spiritual stages are discussed in my father’s book “Trance, Art, Creativity” . There is also the suggestive notion of the “second childhood” applied to those who have lived long enough to begin a 4th generation cycle, perhaps (in some cases) recapitulating the cycle of development of this life rather than moving on to higher stages.

    The “GRST” (Gather, Repeat, Share, Transform) growth stages of the General System matrix are perfectly obvious both horizontally and vertically in the life span developmental table. Here “Gather” corresponds to growth (in various forms), “Repeat” to reproduction, and “Share” to society; “Transformation” characterizes the period of transition between generations, or at the end of life. Corresponding to the four generations, I have chosen the terms “Metabolic” for the 1st generation “growth” cycle, “Reproduction” for the 2nd generation “parental” cycle, “Perception” for the grandparent “leadership” cycle, and “Spirituality” for the 4th or great-grandparent “counselor” cycle. These are the general characteristics which define and describe the major tasks, attributes, or contributions of each generation.

    ERIKSON-PIAGET-GOWAN PERIODIC DEVELOPMENTAL STAGE CHART

    A second developmental table, reproduced from my father’s book “Development of the Psychedelic Individual”, is shown below my own life stages model. Although my father’s table was not produced deliberately from any fractal or General Systems model, it is easy to see that the essential ingredients of either a 4×3 or 4×4 psychological model are present. This model incorporates formal, standard, psychological markers and parameters of development, absent in my own General Systems model.

    Links:

      Table I:  

      Human Life-Span Development 4×3 General Systems Table

      Comments -> Origins:
      Birth and Initial Growth 
      of the Generations      		 Gender:
      Family Relations,
      Siblings      		 Society:
      Mutualism,
      Peer Groups      		 Transformations:
      Life Stage 
      Transitions
      Level ->
      Parameter ->
      Action ->      		 Individual
      Physiological
      Gather      		 Family
      Genetic
      Repeat      		 Social
      Legal
      Share      		 Species
      Evolutionary
      Transform
      Comments on the 
      Generations:      		 STRUCTURAL HIERARCHY
      Metabolic
      Youth
      Age 0-24
      Growing
      (Gen. 1)
      Gather      		 G
      E
      N
      E
      R
      A
      T
      I
      O
      N
      S
      		 0-6
      Birth, Child;
      Growth; Asexual
      Functional Development;
      Self-Awareness;
      Natal Home
      Speaking      		 7-12
      Boys and Girls;
      First Adult Teeth;
      Gender and Family
      Awareness;
      Grade School
      Reading      		 13-18
      Adolescence;
      Puberty;
      Friends, Gangs;
      Social Awareness;
      High School
      Writing      		 19-24
      Young Adult;
      Love, Marriage;
      In-Laws;
      Wisdom Teeth,
      Final Brain Development;
      Death of Grandparents;
      Global Awareness;
      College, Military, Dispersal
      Specialization, Jobs
      Reproductive
      Parent
      Age 25-48
      Creating
      (Gen. 2)
      Repeat      		 25-30
      Adult
      Employment
      Establish New Home
      Children Born      		 31-36
      Raising Children
      Gender Roles      		 37-42
      Career 
      Social 
      Productivity      		 43-48
      Mid-Life Crisis;
      Children Disperse
      and Marry;
      Menopause;
      Graying, Balding;
      Death of Parents
      Perceptual
      Grandparent
      Age 49-72
      Leading
      (Gen. 3)
      Share      		 49-54
      Middle Age
      Birth of Wisdom
      Children Establish Homes
      Grandchildren Born      		 55-60
      Grandparenting
      Family Mentoring
      and aid;
      Gender Merger      		 61-66
      Professional
      and/or
      Social
      Leadership      		 67-72
      Retirement;
      Reflection,
      Enlightenment;
      Death (average);
      Grandchildren Disperse
      and Marry
      Spiritual 
      (Ancestral)
      Great Grandparent
      Age 73-96
      Counseling
      (Gen. 4)
      Transform      		 73+
      Old Age; Medically Extended Lifespan;
      Spiritual Development; Highly Variable Stages;
      Grandchildren Establish Homes, Great Grandchildren Born;
      “Second Childhood”, Death, Transfiguration
      Ages are averages only; females develop earlier, live longer
      J. A. Gowan and A. T. Jaccaci (revised Nov. 2007) 

                TABLE II  

      ERIKSON-PIAGET-GOWAN PERIODIC DEVELOPMENTAL STAGE CHART

      DEVELOPMENTAL 
      LEVELS 
      (see below)      		 ATTENTIONAL  
      MODES (see across) 
      ——————————— 
      DEVELOPMENTAL 
      LEVELS (see below)      		 LATENCY 
      3  it,  they 
      THE WORLD      		 IDENTITY 
      1  I,  me 
      THE EGO      		 CREATIVITY 
      2  thou 
      THE OTHER
      INFANT ERIKSON 
      (Affective)

      PIAGET 
      (Cognitive)

      		 TRUST vs. MISTRUST 
      1 
      SENSORIMOTOR vs. 
      CHAOS      		 AUTONOMY vs. 
      SHAME AND DOUBT 
      2 
      PREOPERATIONAL 
      vs. AUTISM      		 INITIATIVE vs 
      GUILT 
      3  
      INTUITIVE vs. 
      IMMOBILIZATION
      YOUTH ERIKSON 
      (Affective)

      PIAGET-GOWAN 
      (Cognitive)

      		 INDUSTRY vs. 
      INFERIORITY 
      4 
      CONCRETE OPER’NS 
      vs. NON-CONSERVATION      		 IDENTITY vs. 
      ROLE DIFFUSION 
      5 
      FORMAL OPERATIONS 
      vs.       DEMENTIA PRAECOX      		 INTIMACY vs. 
      ISOLATION 
      6 
      CREATIVITY vs 
      AUTHORITARIANISM
      ADULT ERIKSON 
      (Affective)

      GOWAN 
      (Cognitive)

      		 GENERATIVITY vs. 
      STAGNATION 
      7 
      PSYCHEDELIA vs. 
      CONVENTIONALISM      		 EGO-INTEGRITY 
      vs. DESPAIR 
      8 
      ILLUMINATION vs. 
      SENILE DEPRESSION      		 .


                

      Table II: The Erikson-Piaget-Gowan Life Stages Table

      Table II from: Development of the Psychedelic Individual. A book by Prof. John Curtis Gowan (1974)

      See also: Development of the Creative Individual. A book by Prof. John Curtis Gowan

      Homepage 

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  2. Gravity, Entropy, and Thermodynamics: Part I
  3. The Conversion of Space to Time by Gravity
  4. The “Tetrahedron Model” vs the “Standard Model” of Physics: A Comparison
  5. Postscript to: Spiritual and Scientific Principles of the Cosmic Tetrahedron Model
  6. Spiritual and Scientific Principles of the “Tetrahedron Model”
  7. A General Systems Approach to the Unified Field Theory – Part 4 (General Systems Discussion)
  8. Symmetry Principles of the Unified Field Theory: Part 3 of 3
  9. Symmetry Principles of the Unified Field Theory (a “Theory of Everything”) – Part 2
  10. Symmetry Principles of the Unified Field Theory: Part 2 of 3
  11. Symmetry Principles of the Unified Field Theory: Part 2
  12. The Particle Table
  13. Symmetry Principles of the Unified Field Theory (Part 1 of 3)
  14. An Introduction to the Papers (Unified Field Theory)
  15. Proton Decay and the “Heat Death” of the Cosmos
  16. Proton Decay and the “Heat Death” of the Cosmos
  17. The Origin of Matter and Information
  18. Introduction to the Higgs Boson Papers
  19. Higgs Table: Unified Force Eras of the “Big Bang”
  20. The Higgs Boson and the Weak Force IVBs: Parts II -IV
  21. The Higgs Boson vs the Spacetime Metric
  22. The Weak Force: Identity or Number Charge
  23. Introduction to The Weak Force
  24. A Description of Gravitation
  25. Introduction to Gravitation
  26. Introduction to The Weak Force
  27. The Weak Force: Identity or Number Charge
  28. A Spacetime map of the Universe: Implications for Cosmology
  29. Negentropic Information
  30. Synopsis of the ‘Tetrahedron Model’
  31. Time and Entropy
  32. Noether`s Theorem and Einstein’s “Interval”
  33. The Intrinsic Motions of Matter
  34. Light and Matter – a Synopsis
  35. A Short Course in the Unified Field Theory
  36. The Information Pathway
  37. Sect. VI: Introduction to Information
  38. Introduction to Fractals
  39. Introduction to General Systems, Complex Systems
  40. A Rationale for Gravitation
  41. About Gravity
  42. Gravity, Entropy, and Thermodynamics: Part 2
  43. A Description of Gravitation
  44. Spatial vs Temporal Entropy
  45. Introduction to Entropy
  46. The Human Connection
  47. Global-Local Gauge Symmetries and the “Tetrahedron Model” Part I: Postscript
  48. Global and Local Gauge Symmetry in the “Tetrahedron Model”: Part I
  49. Global and Local Gauge Symmetries: Part IV
  50. Global and Local Gauge Symmetries: Part V
  51. Global-Local Gauge Symmetry: Part III: The Weak Force
  52. Global and Local Gauge Symmetries: Part II (Gravitation, Section A)
  53. Global and Local Gauge Symmetry: Part II (Gravitation, Section B)
  54. The Origin of Matter and Information
  55. Gravity, Entropy, and Thermodynamics: Part I
  56. The Conversion of Space to Time
  57. The Short-Range or “Particle” Forces
  58. The Time Train
  59. Extending Einstein’s Equivalence Principle: Symmetry Conservation
  60. Introduction to Gravitation
  61. Symmetry Principles of the Unified Field Theory: Part I
  62. The Higgs Boson vs the Spacetime Metric
  63. de Broglie Matter Waves and the Evolution of Consciousness
  64. Nature’s Fractal Pathway
  65. Teilhard de Chardin – Prophet of the Information Age
  66. The Double Conservation Role of Gravity
  67. The Higgs Boson and the Weak Force IVBs: Parts II -IV
  68. Higgs Table: Unified Force Eras of the “Big Bang”
  69. The Higgs Boson and the Weak Force IVBs
  70. Introduction to the Higgs Boson Papers
  71. The Strong Force: Two Expressions
  72. Table of Forces and Energy States
  73. The Origin of Space and Time
  74. “Inflation” and the “Big Crunch”
  75. The “W” Intermediate Vector Boson and the Weak Force Mechanism
  76. The Weak Force Mechanism and the “W” IVB (Intermediate Vector Boson):
  77. Physical Elements of the “Spacetime Map”
  78. The Traveling Twins Paradox
  79. Currents of Entropy and Symmetry
  80. The Half-Life of Proton Decay
  81. Spiritual and Scientific Principles of the “Tetrahedron Model”
  82. An Introduction to the Papers (Unified Field Theory)
  83. The “Spacetime Map” as a Model of Juan Maldacena’s 5-Dimensional Holographic Universe
  84. The “Tetrahedron Model” in the Context of a Complete Conservation Cycle
  85. Symmetry Principles of the Unified Field Theory: Part 3 (Summary)
  86. Symmetry Principles of the Unified Field Theory: Part 2
  87. General Systems “Hourglass” or “Grail” Diagrams
  88. PARTICLE TABLE
  89. The “Tetrahedron Model” vs the “Standard Model” of Physics: A Comparison
  90. “Dark Energy”: Does Light Create a Gravitational Field?
  91. Human Life-Span Development and General Systems Models
  92. Man’s Role in Nature
  93. Origin of Life: Newton, Darwin, and the Abundance of Life in the Universe

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