Assimilation-Contrast Effect

I viewed a video by Claire Edwards today, The COVID-19 Genocide of 2020, in which she makes statements directly linking “5G” and the spread of the virus. I want to use this as an example of the “Assimilation-Contrast Effect,” a model developed by Dr. Don Beck that utilizes Spiral Dynamics as a way of understanding conflict. Below is one representation of the model — note this is a crude “map”… obviously not the terrain, but nevertheless useful for understanding how our values motivate our actions.

You will recognize the colors of the Spiral starting at Red on either side and evolving toward more and more “integration” (a by-product of increasing complexity of thinking) as consciousness moves away from the values of the “extremes” on both sides. Here are some definitions of each “meme”:

So all of us have the capacity for all of what Dr. Beck calls “Degrees of Intensity” of belief. The particular beliefs we each express represent ways of coping with our perception of our life conditions. So there are many people who perceive that life is a win/lose fight for their strong moral convictions, so at the extreme Left (L-5/6) and Right (R-5/6) we find the same intensity of Red/Blue energy, resulting in seemingly similar extremist behaviors… but for VERY different beliefs. This is one of Spiral Dynamics key ideas… that the same underlying value system — unhealthy Red-Blue Zealots on either side, for example — can be expressed for very different motivations, yet the underlying values dynamics are similar (partisan all-or-nothing positions).

5G-ILAN strives to inject Integrator thinking into the conversation (another word for that is “balance”), with the intention being to start a conversation into a new way of thinking, a broader worldview, which transcends and includes the previous value systems, to discover solutions which can benefit humanity as a whole.

Spiral Dynamics proposes that every person has a “center of gravity” somewhere on this spectrum which is most comfortable for them… where they tend to “abide”. You can locate yourself on this spectrum. Then think of others — anyone that comes to mind, and visualize where they might be on the spectrum.

Another useful exercise is feeling how YOU feel when you drop into the other Degrees than your own. See what arises in you, and place THAT feeling on the spectrum. This is how this tool becomes psychoactive.

Which brings to me to…

This is a video of Claire Edwards in a press-conference-style environment, reading a kind of manifesto that covers a wide range of topics, specifically her belief in the connection between 5G and COVID-19, with strong convictions.

Where would you place this video, and by inference Claire Edwards, on the spectrum?

I’d venture somewhere between L-4 and L-5. If you guessed something close, then I think we’re on the same page. Now go and watch the video for a bit again, and feel your resonance or resistance to things she says. Feel how she’s tugging you toward her end of the spectrum. Can you feel how powerful a tool that is? And it’s used all of the time.

I see the ACE happening everywhere I look… especially with radical left- or right-wing memes. They are everywhere these days, and they have a great impact on us, because: a) they’re dramatic — “If it bleeds, it leads”; b) they’re eyeball-attracting (something that is more and more a currency in today’s online environment); and therefore c) we’re the “product” as a commodity to be cultivated, manipulated, addicted, resulting in life-depleting energy. Many studies have proven this is happening more and more, and of course 5G will only make all of that worse.

The reason we call it the Assimilation/Contrast Effect is because of two phenomena that ACE points out.

Assimilation, where we deny or ignore differences between our own preferred position, and pull the other positions close us into our zone of acceptance. This is a form of distortion that can lead to agreement.

Contrast, where we displace or contrast other positions by pushing them further away than they actually are — “you’re either with me or against me” sentiment. Both extremes will “contrast” the middle/center views into the camp of the “enemy”. This causes the middle to vanish into “us” and “them” polarization which generates intractable conflict.

Sidebar — “Fake News”

We need look no further for examples of this than the whole “fake news” pattern which is operating freely in today’s internet and mainstream/TV media environment. Note that both online and TV are required for fake news to propagate quickly. The reason fake news works so well is because it’s what the major social media platforms have designed into the structure of their algorithms — to reward misleading and polarizing toxic information. No matter how much they say they want to stop it, it’s built into their business model. Clicks and ads are prioritized over quality, and the “attention economy” thrives on flamethrower rhetoric, which is often false, but attracts eyeballs.

One reason fake news memes spread faster is because they are more attractive to our human nature, which thrives on drama, novelty, and peer status (I’m sharing important news to my friends so they’ll like me.) Open-source software is freely available to easily manipulate perceptions and falsify reality (“deep fakes”), which threatens the essential “truth” needed for democracy to thrive.

So an important solution is to develop integral expressions which strengthen the democracy “middle”, and dis-incentivizes fake news by reframing the unhealthy business models which created this in the first place, as news moved from being a healthy Blue “public service” in exchange for using the public’s airwaves, to an unhealthy Orange profit-driven news model. This is one of many instances where restoring healthy Blue values is an essential part of the solution to restoring integrity and truth to the fourth estate.

Conclusion

Lastly, one may ask how to deal with the extremes on both sides? Clearly they feed on one another. The answer is simple, but not easy. As the middle of each side is strengthened, its voices rise louder than the extremes, enabling the middle on each side to dampen down the extreme rhetoric on its own side. It is the job of the middle to deal with its own extreme position… removing the oxygen from them can redirect energy toward the middle.

It is for this reason that I do not believe the Claire Edwards video is a healthy expression, and while I can relate to much of what she said, there is much that IMHO does not contribute to healthy integrated solutions.

I welcome others’ thoughts on this.