Basics: What's with all the color references?

In many of my notes I apply the concepts of Integral Theory as developed by Ken Wilber. One of Integral Theory's primary elements is an adopted version of the Spiral Dynamics system developed by Clare Graves, Don Beck, and Chris Cowan. A basic description of the color system that I refer to (Red, Blue, Orange, etc.) can be found at the bottom of this page.

Spiral Dynamics: Usage and Caveats

I want to talk a little about my application of the Spiral Dynamics model in these notes. My adoption of the color system (the "Spiral of Development") is explicitly adapted and I want to anticipate and validate any future comments that I am misusing the model.

I learned of SD from Ken Wilber's works, primarily A Theory of Everything, which is also a heavy adaptation of the model. (As I understand it, Wilber's and Don Beck's spiritual and developmental interpretation of the model goes against the explicit wishes of SD cofounder Chris Cowan.) I have no illusions that this application is mainstream. I do have serious delusions that KW's application of SD leads to valuable insights when it is taken with several grains of respect and caution which I generally (but not always) see in Wilber's usage of SD, and which I try very hard to incorporate into my personal usage.

As my wording may not always make this clear, let me make some caveats now. The SD colors are never meant to group or typify people; they are meant to group and typify patterns of thought that influence people's perceptions, beliefs, and actions. A person is never assumed to be coming from a single developmental level, and as Barrett Brown once commented, to use such categories to delimit people is dehumanizing; and that is something I care deeply about avoiding.

I do use SD in an informal sense to group and describe ways of perceiving and ways of responding to stimuli. I understand that this usage exceeds SD's explicit domain (the values that people respond most strongly to) and I have no current plans to stop using the terms in a broader sense to indicate developmental levels in general. When I get tired of playing with colors, or when the usage of SD terms starts to make my meaning significantly unclear, or when I find other, more appropriate terminology that appeals to me more, then I'll consider changing my vocabulary. If you feel that my usage of SD is unacceptable and you want to contact me, I am certainly open to discussion.