Radical Man: The Process of Psycho-Social Development

This is a mature, robust, detailed, often dense existentialist broadside and theoretical alternative to man's attempt to address his world through increased fragmentation and control rather than through greater integration and synergy. The foil for the author's attack and the alternative he eventually introduces and tests, is the behavioralist's approach to theorizing, whereby the world is sliced and diced into arbitrary and artificial categories, with the narrower and misguided aim of trying to gain more control over it. Under this research paradigm, mathematical tools are used to quantify the "so-called "dependent and independent variables." They are then manipulated ("factor analyzed" and correlated, for instance), impervious to the confounding meaninglessness of the analysis due in large part to the original erroneous assumption that the facts involved are "objective" and unrelated; that is: impervious to the reality that the facts being manipulated are not strictly independent, but are indeed part of the same continuously related whole. According to the author, increased fragmentation (man's more conservative approach to his existence), invariably leads to such analytic and political meaninglessness: more and more "apparent control" is claimed over less and less psychological terrain. This, process then of course becomes a self-fulfilling downwardly regressing prophesy into the inevitable psychological abyss of stasis, paranoia and increased fear and entropy. The author's main point is that with each cycle of the behavioralist's "illusion of control" comes the built-in existential trap of increased constriction of individual creativity and freedom, eventually leading to the inescapable end product: arbitrary rule by oppression and tyranny. The author proposes a novel existentialist escape from this well-known behavioralist trap, which leads to increased synergy and to upwardly spiraling cyclical integration, decreased entropy (or increased order), and more creativity. In reality, and for the individual, this alternative is conceived of and implemented simply: by being one's authentic self, facing the world squarely with authenticity, and by not living in a constant state of fear and denial. According to existentialist philosophy (Abert Camus, Jean Paul Sartre, and Authur Koestler in particular are quoted liberally), each new struggle in life offers man a new opportunity to plot a course towards excellence, increased creativity, increased effectiveness and towards an eventual defeat over the source of the struggle: constriction, fear and un-freedom or tyranny. By facing each struggle squarely, that is honestly and without denial, even man's greatest fear, the fear of death can be overcome. The correct methodological approach to the world, according to the author's existentialist perspective, is "field theory," which is the same paradigm used by both evolution and quantum physics. Implicit in both is the notion that everything is connected

This book changed my life in the sense that it served as a foundation for my first Master's thesis on Predicting Revolution, work that has not yet been surpassed. I myself developed one side of the matrix, finding through the secondary literature that revolutions were generally distinct within each of the following domains: Political-Legal Military-Law Enforcement Socio-Economic Ideo-Cultural Techno-Demographic Natural-Geographic It was not until I chanced across this work, which the author points out is the first ever theoretical dissertation at the Harvard Business School. I share the author's disdain for the Know-Nothings stepped in their rote learning who label all that they do not understand as "naive idealism." They've become prostitutes, while the author and those like him continue to "live free." What this book did for me personally was provide and explain "Radical Man" in terms precisely suited to explode my first thesis from something pedestrian to something that today, a quarter of a century later, is still "best in class" (available at OSS.Net in Library, Steele's Early Papers). He provided a model of psycho-social development with the following elements: + Perception + Identity + Competence + Investment + Suspension & Risk + Transcendance + Synergy + Integration + Complexity Along the other side of the matrix, that allowed me to create a framework in which the secondary literature could be pigeon-holed into a third of the boxes, and then I did primary research to both complete the other two thirds, and to operationalize each element (identify specific collectable data with which to determine the degree of risk, scope, etc.). Charles Hampden-Turner is in my view one of the great minds of our time, and I point readers to my review of The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable so as to meet the second mind that I most admire in my time (there are others, of course, like E. O. Wilson, Alvin Toffler, but see my reviews for the details). See also: Maps of the Mind: Charts and Concepts of the Mind and its Labyrinths Riding The Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business Public Philosophy: Essays on Morality in Politics The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to Create a World That Works for All The New Craft of Intelligence: Personal, Public, & Political--Citizen's Action Handbook for Fighting Terrorism, Genocide, Disease, Toxic Bombs, & Corruption This one is free online at Army War College Strategic Studies Institute The new craft of intelligence: Achieving asymmetric advantage in the face of nontraditional threats (Studies in asymmetry)

"Radical Man" has had more impact on my life than any other secular work. It taught me the value of nonconformity in a nation of sheep. Certain situations call for an independant act to counter the dictatorship of tradition or personal influence, power or popularity. Did you ever feel disappointed in yourself after letting a bully or a blowhard run roughshod over others? "Radical Man" authorized me to object, question, stand up, reject. Independance, I learned, is more than merely a democratic abstraction. The book taught me the importance of reaching out to others outside of my sphere of influence, of taking chances, of the value of vulnerability and how these experiences can teach me more about myself and others. I initially read this book as part of a class assignment in college. Since then I've tried to re-read it every decade or so and have bought extra copies to pass on to people of sufficient depth. That may sound elitest but it's not a simple read. Several graphs, no pictures and it's not easy to dance to. The message is:we can stand up when creepiness seems to be carrying the day. or