What are the cultural codes?
A code is a set of rules and regulations which govern behavior. In sociology they are called “norms and attitudes.” These codes are often unconscious and are understood simply as the “way things are done,” and “the way things are.” The beliefs, values, and practices of the cultural code are held as the “truth” by those utilizing that code for living their lives in the society they find themselves conditioned and socialized in. Usually, people socialized at lower level codes are not even aware that other cultural codes and stages of psychosocial development exist.
Understanding the cultural code is the expertise of one of the authorities in the culture. This authority figure understands what makes the culture tick. They use this knowledge for their own benefit and for their class. Outsiders are marginalized and dominated by those who know. An important form of power is to “keep people in the dark.” Knowledge and skills are only provided on a “need to know basis.”
Unlocking the secret of cultural codes is what we intend to do. Currently, only a few people deeply involved in human development really understand the cultural codes that inform the ways we think and the values we live by. But that is changing. It is time for all of us to gain entry to understanding our own humanity.
Beck, Don Edward; Hebo Larsen, Teddy; Solonin, Sergey; Viljoen, Rica; Johns, Thomas Q.. Spiral Dynamics in Action: Humanity's Master Code (p. 24). Wiley. Kindle Edition.
Donald Trump said during the 2016 presidential campaign to the people fearful of their perceived helplessness and sense of victimization, “I alone can fix it.” And they voted for him to save them from the doom they falsely apprehended.
Donald Trump provided a message to people at the egocentric level of psychosocial development who believe in the strong warrior code where might makes right. Trump’s promise to unlock the secrets of the cultural code that resonated with them led to their choosing him to lead them out of their experience of fear caused by their ways of thinking which are no longer relevant to current planetary circumstances. The egocentric way of thinking in this era of American history being at a lower level of development than required in the time of global interdependent way of life on planet Earth led to harmful consequences for the people of the United States and other countries.
Understanding codes of psychosocial development and how they are facilitated and sustained by societies in which individuals participate is fundamental to being an aware, wise citizen at our current stage of human development.
The age of the strong warrior and egocentric thinking is past if homo sapiens are to survive as a species.
In the next article the characteristics of the various cultural codes will be described.