This is the 8th and final lecture of [[Keith Campbell]]'s *[[PA Psychology of the Self]]* from [[Peterson Academy]] Common ways to talk about self growth or maturation include self-actualization—being the best version of yourself, self-transcendence—growing beyond yourself, and Jungian individuation. Unlike other biological creatures that measure growth by biological markers, human growth is largely cultural. To independently support oneself in a society is the basic marker for human maturation. Getting a job, being economically independent, moving out, starting a family are all common paths to go about in today's society. Psychological growth happens alongside cultural growth. 'Adulting' as a choice seems to be a recent phenomenon, and is presumably an elitist thing. It is Keith's observation that in recent times there is less of a pressure for people to develop, making 'adulting' optional. This phenomenon of people just not growing into adults is called [[Peter Pan syndrome]] or what Jung called [[puer aeturnus]], eternal boy, which is the archetype of somebody that never grows up. ## Beyond Basic Adulting: Optimization vs Alchemization What lies beyond basic adulting? Optimization, which works by treating oneself as a machine and fine tuning every part towards a specific goal. Optimization would help reaching a specific goal faster. Optimization works well if and only if one's goals are clearly defined. The costs of optimization is tunnel vision, and loss of optionality because of it. The contrasting approach for Keith is the alchemical approach, which involves being open to opportunities, and taking risks. This is akin to seeing where the winds take you. Jung's fallow period where he did nothing but stay alone in a cabin for visions and writing was not optimal, but pivotal for his career—that was an example of this approach. ## End points of development Abraham Maslow's idea of [[self-actualization]] argues that "what one can be, one must be!" What lies beyond that is perhaps moments of [[self-transcendence]], where one grows beyond the known limits of oneself, usually involving mythical experiences. Related to this is the alchemical parable of winemaking where fruit is transformed into spirit. ### Short-term #### Flow Flow state experiences studied by [[Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi]]. He called these optimal experiences, where one is so focused on the task that they lose self-awareness and feel like they are following the 'flow.' In sports, it is being 'in the zone.' These are moment of short-term self-transcendence. People self actualize as they come of of these optimal experiences. These are external. Internal self-transcendence can come from meditative practices. ### Medium term #### Post traumatic growth [Post traumatic growth]([[Post traumatic growth]]) is development that occurs because of trauma, where trauma served as the motivation to grow. The protagonist in The Razor's Edge is a given example of such growth. I think this can be otherwise understood as a growth as a positive response to traumatic experiences. #### Mythical experiences Mythical experiences also lead to medium-term growth. The four descriptors of mythical experiences, according to William James, is 1) [ineffability](Ineffability.md)—meaning they are hard or impossible to explain 2) having a noetic quality—meaning there is a transfer of knowledge or intelligence in that experience, 3) transiency—meaning they are short-lived, and 4) passivity—meaning the person is being acted upon in such an experience, as if beheld by something of a higher power. Harvard has a Mythical Experiences Questionnaires (MEQ) to measure mythical experiences. Apart from typical religious experiences, people today can also reliably get mythical experiences from psychedelics. There is important research done by Katherine MacLean and Matt Johnson and Roland Griffiths, at John Hopkins about how psychedelics led permanent personality transformations, especially in trait openness in a substantial amount of people. In contrast to the lab induced psychedelic trips in a lab, shamanic practices like that of the Ayahuascan ceremonies also reliably produce mythical experiences. The book Antipodes of the Mind documents various people's experiences. ### Long term #### Maslow and Rogers — Humanists Most common long term self growth is spoken in terms of [[self-actualization]] and [[self-transcendence]] in reference to Maslow and Rogers. This started in the 1950s and 60s during the human potential movement, which focused on bringing out the best version of people. Self-actualization is more of an ideal, as almost nobody is ever self-actualized. It is a life long pursuit. Within that pursuit there will be small windows of peak experience that are self-transcending. Here is Keith's summary: > The optimal life in the humanistic psychology world is to focus on being the best version of yourself you can be, but be open to transcending yourself into something greater than yourself, even though that will only be for a short period of time. That's the American self-actualization, self-improvement model. Be really good, occasionally mystical experiences, but don't get too weird. Come back. #### Jung Another model of long term self growth is [Carl Jung's model of individuation](Individuation.md). This is about turning the Self from something that is primarily unconscious to something that is conscious. Jung envisions the human person as being made of opposites—ego vs shadow, self vs soul etc. In terms of personality, he also categorizes ours modes of relating to the world as opposites, as intuition is opposed to sensing, and thinking is opposed to feeling. To grow is to balance out these opposites, and move towards wholeness. This is a journey of discovery instead of optimization, and throughout there is a process of connection and alignment, and the goal is to be properly aligned to the center of the collective unconscious, or the Self, or the Godhead.