I Said All That To Say This...
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The physical and emotional developmental levels work in tandem. The physical level provides, processes and stores the data. The emotional level responds to the processed data. This in turn produces more data which is then processed and stored, which produces more data. I call this a data loop. The question being considered is: How do patterns of fearfulness, uncertainty, and self-doubt cause brain function to establish a data loop which perverts an individual's developmental progress and prevents the individual from maturing and becoming an authentic Adult?
Emotional developmental level processes respond to the physical developmental level data. Emotional response reflects the nature of the physical data. Wholesome functional input produces wholesome functional output. Unwholesome dysfunctional input produces unwholesome dysfunctional output. This is pretty straight forward; no magic, just good logic. As has just been presented, developmental progressions follow natural continuums. Let's review these developmental continuums.
neediness.......................completeness
dependence........................independence
self-consumed........................selflessness
instability........................stability
insecure........................secure
borderlessness.......................definitive concept of Self
external security systems........................internal security systems
conditional affection........................Unconditional Love
naive innocence........................knowledgeable innocence
immature........................mature
childhood.......................Adulthood
When caregiver behavior and socio-cultural traditions reinforce elements at the immature end of a continuum, a static data loop is created similar to a scratch on an old vinyl record. The child reaches a pivotal developmental event, and wham! Dysfunctional caregiver behavior creates a dysfunctional experience and the child has to go back and repeat the pre-requisite skills. When another opportunity presents itself, the same caregiver behavior creates the same dysfunctional experience for the child and the child has to go back and repeat the necessary steps to prepare for another try. In time, the child, the individual, is locked in at that level of development. They just can't get past that skip in the record.
When caregiver behavior, and in later years, socio-cultural traditions provide incrementally appropriate functional experiences for the child, a progressive data loop is created. This could be viewed as an ongoing curly-cue, or again, like the expanding spiral on those old vinyl records. The music just keeps on playing.
Dysfunctional caregiver behaviors are those behaviors which produce negative, destructive energies, inspire a sense of insignificance and are generally considered to fit in one or all of these categories; fear, uncertainty, and doubts about ones Self. Incrementally appropriate functional caregiver behaviors are those behaviors which produce positive, productive energies and inspire the individual's sense of significance. Dysfunctional caregiver behaviors produce a static data loop. Incrementally appropriate functional caregiver behaviors produce a progressive data loop.
We best look at some examples to see how this plays out. As we do, remember, an infant's cry represents neediness, dependence, self-focus, instability, insecurity, borderlessness, external security systems, conditional affection, and naive innocence. When a child is caused to voice their physical concerns with a cry, they are reinforcing their position on the immature extreme of their developmental continuums, calling into question their significance and creating a static data loop. A child's cry is an Adult-informing behavior. As an infant, a child's cry is expressing an authentic physical need and not abstractly attempting to manipulate their caregiver. It is best for the child when these authentic physical needs are anticipated and satisfied before they cause the child to become fearful and concerned. When a pattern of fearfulness and concern is established and the child is repeatedly caused to doubt their significance, these compromised authentic physical needs exacerbate the child's authentic emotional needs. This creates a primary physically driven developmental static data loop and a secondary emotions driven developmental static data loop. Each cycle causes the child to be increasingly fearful and concerned about their significance. As the cycle continues, doubts about their significance develop into a full blown sense of insignificance. Raising our children is a 24/7 reality and makes a CEO's job description pale in comparison. If anybody deserves multi-million dollar bonuses it is those who provide direct care for our children. No occupation is more demanding and no occupation is more important.
