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Model of Hierarchical Complexity

Stages of hierarchical complexity

The following table gives descriptions of each stage in the MHC.

Stages described in the model of hierarchical complexity (adapted from Commons, Crone-Todd, & Chen, 2014)

Order or stage	What they do	How they do it	End result
0 – calculatory	Exact computation only, no generalization	Human-made programs manipulate 0, 1, not 2 or 3.	Minimal human result. Literal, unreasoning computer programs (at Turing's alpha layer) act in a way analogous to this stage.
1 – automatic	Engage in a single "hard-wired" action at a time, no respondent conditioning	Respond, as a simple mechanism, to a single environmental stimulus	Single celled organisms respond to a single stimulus in a way analogous to this stage
2 – sensory or motor	Discriminate in a rote fashion, stimuli generalization, move	Move limbs, lips, toes, eyes, elbows, head; view objects or move	Discriminative establishing and conditioned reinforcing stimuli
3 – circular sensory-motor	Form open-ended proper classes	Reach, touch, grab, shake objects, circular babble	Open ended proper classes, phonemes, archiphonemes
4 – sensory-motor	Form concepts	Respond to stimuli in a class successfully and non-stochastically	Morphemes, concepts
5 – nominal	Find relations among concepts	Use names for objects and other utterances as successful commands	Single words: ejaculatives & exclamations, verbs, nouns, number names, letter names
6 – sentential	Imitate and acquire sequences; follow short sequential acts	Generalize match-dependent task actions; chain words	Various forms of pronouns: subject (I), object (me), possessive adjective (my), possessive pronoun (mine), and reflexive (myself) for various persons (I, you, he, she, it, we, y'all, they)
7 – preoperational	Make simple deductions; follow lists of sequential acts; tell stories	Count event roughly events and objects; connect the dots; combine numbers and simple propositions	Connectives: as, when, then, why, before; products of simple operations
8 – primary	Simple logical deduction and empirical rules involving time sequence; simple arithmetic	Adds, subtracts, multiplies, divides, counts, proves, does series of tasks on own	Times, places, counts acts, actors, arithmetic outcome, sequence from calculation
9 – concrete	Carry out full arithmetic, form cliques, plan deals	Does long division, short division, follows complex social rules, ignores simple social rules, takes and coordinates perspective of other and self	Interrelations, social events, what happened among others, reasonable deals, history, geography
10 – abstract	Discriminate variables such as stereotypes; logical quantification; (none, some, all)	Form variables out of finite classes; make and quantify propositions	Variable time, place, act, actor, state, type; quantifiers (all, none, some); categorical assertions (e.g., "We all die")
11 – formal	Argue using empirical or logical evidence; logic is linear, 1-dimensional	Solve problems with one unknown using algebra, logic and empiricism	Relationships (for example: causality) are formed out of variables; words: linear, logical, one-dimensional, if then, thus, therefore, because; correct scientific solutions
12 – systematic	Construct multivariate systems and matrices	Coordinate more than one variable as input; consider relationships in contexts.	Events and concepts situated in a multivariate context; systems are formed out of relations; systems: legal, societal, corporate, economic, national
13 – metasystematic	Construct multi-systems and metasystems out of disparate systems	Create metasystems out of systems; compare systems and perspectives; name properties of systems: e.g. homomorphic, isomorphic, complete, consistent (such as tested by consistency proofs), commensurable	Metasystems and supersystems are formed out of systems of relationships, e.g. contracts and promises
14 – paradigmatic	Fit metasystems together to form new paradigms; show "incomplete" or "inconsistent" aspects of metasystems	Synthesize metasystems	Paradigms are formed out of multiple metasystems
15 – cross-paradigmatic	Fit paradigms together to form new fields	Form new fields by crossing paradigms, e.g. evolutionary biology + developmental biology = evolutionary developmental biology	New fields are formed out of multiple paradigms
16 – meta-cross-paradigmatic (performative-recursive)	Reflect on various properties of cross-paradigmatic operations	Explicate the dynamics of, and limitations of, cross-paradigmatic thinking	The dynamics and limitations of cross-paradigmatic thinking are explained as they are recursively enacted

Integral Theory (Ken Wilber)

https://www.quora.com/Cultural-Evolution-Do-all-humans-have-the-same-level-of-consciousness

Cultural Evolution: Do all humans have the same level of consciousness?

Aiden Thornton, Director, People & ChangeAnswered Jul 12, 2012

This is a great question to explore.  You may have already come across this literature - but is a large body of evidence on this topic. Although its often referred to as " stages of adult development" rather than " levels of consciousness".  There are many people who have written on this topic including: Kegan at Harvard University, Bill Torbet, Cook-Greuter, Jenny Wade, Spiral Dynamics, Loevinger, Ken Wilber  - and lots of others.  We have got some solid evidence that adult humans can go through 6 to 10 stages of development ( depending on how you look at things ) which are characterised by overarching worldview, values, cognitive complexity, socio-emotional intelligence, psycho-spiritual intelligence etc.... The sum of all of this is often called "ego development".  There are a number of ways to measure these levels of development including The Sentence Completion Test, Subject-Object Interviews, and a few other surveys and tools.  Lots of great work being done in this space in a few pockets around the world. So that was a long way to say - yes there definitely are stages of development / levels of consciousness.

https://www.quora.com/What-are-different-levels-of-consciousness-and-thinking

What are different levels of consciousness and thinking?

Siddharth Nayak, Pursuing PhD in NeuroscienceAnswered May 16, 2016

There are 3 main levels of consciousness as explained by Sigmund Freud’s Psychology. The sublevels which each of these main levels cover are shown in the image above.

I hope I have answered your question. If not, please feel free to drop a comment below. I’ll try to answer them in my leisure. Thank you !