Communication at Different Levels of Consciousness

Communication at different levels of Consciousness
Find a topic of contention that you have or had with someone. Explain the situation to your practice partner. Make arguments from each level of consciousness below for both sides by wearing the hat with the corresponding color.

1. Archaic—No Hat: Dead or Alive.
Argue that immediate action is needed to safe life.

2. Magic—Black Hat: Safe or Unsafe, Superstitions, Tribal Belonging.
Victim and perpetrator. Poor me. Argue with magical believes and mystical spirit beings or unseen outside forces. Show allegiance to elders, custom, clan, close family.

3. Egocentric—Red Hat: Good or Bad for me. Boundaries.
Express self, to hell with others and future consequences. I want it all and I want it now. Avoid shame, feel no guilt, demand respect. Set strong and tight boundaries. Fight to gain control at any cost.

4. Mythic—Blue Hat: Right or Wrong thinking. Higher Authority.
Argue for the need of order and stability. Justify position/truth based on higher authority. Make sacrifices now for future rewards from a higher authority. Punish for wrongdoing.

5. Rational—Orange Hat: True or False. Win or Lose.
Separate people from the problem. Be rational and leave feelings and emotions out of the conversation. Focus on interests not positions. Think Win-Win if possible but accept if the other loses.

6. Pluralistic—Green Hat: Sensitive or Indifferent.
Explore the inner beings of self/others (how does each of us feel about the situation). The goal is authentic human connection and mutual understanding versus practical solutions. Insist that your feelings, observations and truths are valid, as there are no objective external truths, and everyone is equally right from their own perspective.

7. Integral—Yellow Hat: Integrated or Partial.
Context is everything! Focus on what is morally good, relatively true (most competent people would agree), aesthetically beautiful, and functional/practical. Win the argument even if losing the relationship. Act in your self-interest without doing harm to others.

8. Transpersonal/Post-Integral—Black Hat: Evolutionary/Embodied or Fixated/Disembodied.
Show curiosity and compassion for all earlier stages. Be willing to lose the argument and maintain the relationship. Find greater truth and advance into novelty through synthesis of thesis and antithesis with equals.