Based on my review of the psychological literature, it seems like contemporary psychology has a bit of a blind spot. Specifically, psychology seems to have systematically underestimated the limits of human potential, and has made proclamations about human nature that are based on an incomplete sample size.
In short, psychologists can only study states of consciousness they are capable of recognizing. And that becomes a serious problem if human development extends far beyond what most adults ever experience.
The Forgotten Question of Human Potential
Much of modern psychology emerged from the study of dysfunction, and the attempts to “fix” that dysfunction. This focus was understandable and necessary – obviously we want people who aren’t well to get better.
But thinkers like Abraham Maslow believed something important had been lost in the process. Maslow argued that psychology had become so obsessed with illness that it had neglected the study of exceptional human beings – people who demonstrated extraordinary creativity, wisdom, integration, meaning, and transcendence.
The Limits of Ordinary Consciousness
One of the most fascinating developments in developmental psychology is the idea of postformal development.
Most people assume psychological growth largely ends in adulthood. But researchers studying adult development increasingly discovered evidence that cognition itself may continue evolving throughout life.
Researchers such as Robert Kegan and Susanne Cook-Greuter have argued that these later stages of development are exceptionally rare. Some estimates suggest that only around 1–2% of the population consistently operates from the highest measured stages of adult development.
This means that the overwhelming majority of human beings – including psychologists themselves – may never directly experience the kinds of cognition associated with the highest developmental stages.
And this creates a profound epistemological problem for the entire field.
Psychologists Cannot Measure What They Cannot Perceive
Every science is limited by the instruments it uses. For psychologists, their primary instrument is their mind, which gives them the ability to perceive and understand the mental states of others. Psychologists use their mind to construct studies, assessments, and other tools that they use to study humans.
But the problem is that researchers operating within conventional modes of cognition may struggle to recognize more developed forms of awareness when they encounter them. They simply don’t realize that certain things can be measured or studied, and so these things get omitted from research through a lack of awareness.
So when psychology makes proclamations about human nature, it isn’t considering the full range of human growth contained within postformal development. And, it is not considering the fact that humans are able to grow into these new forms of consciousness with the right tools and support.
The Decline of Humanistic Psychology
Abraham Maslow is generally seen as a humanistic psychologist, which means he focused primarily on issues of potential and “self-actualization”. It is interesting that following his death, psychologists largely abandoned his worldview and moved to investigations driven by statistics and population averages – the kinds of comfortable investigations that Maslow was asking them to re-examine.
If you read into the issue, you’ll find that psychologists found the kinds of questions Maslow was asking to be “too hard to measure”. This is partially because fully-developed human beings are so rare, and partially because psychologists themselves could not even perceive what Maslow was asking them to study. Instead of deeper phenomenological studies, they opted for statistics.
A Civilization Organized Around Lower Possibilities
The consequences of this blind spot may extend far beyond psychology research. Educational systems are often designed around average cognition rather than exceptional development. Even most therapy and coaching is oriented around “fixing” and not growth, and is conducted by professionals who are themselves trapped in lower stages of growth.
In many ways, the blind are leading the blind. And I find that disappointing.
Part of my personal mission is to explore the development of postformal consciousness and develop tools to support people in gaining these capacities. And, my greatest challenge so far has been drawing attention to possibilities that people may not be able to perceive… or even conceptualize.