Stages of development.

Stage 1. We choose lives in primitive environments. Cave men. Tribal. Ethiopia. Someplace where our survival is at risk. In the Amazon jungle. Our concern is nothing but survival.

The food sucks. Like when you see Anthony Bourdain visiting some filthy tribe where they eat food tainted with dirt or worse. Like when you see Bizarre Foods afficianado Andrew Zimmern visiting Ethiopia and seeing their filthy marketplace, trying their horrible food. (Not that there isn't also good food there.)

People in Stage 1 are out of place in civilization. And if they find themselves in civilization, they had better be watched. They don't have concepts about civility. All they understand is survival. There's a reasonable possibility that they will become murderers, completely without conscience.

Stage 1 is animalistic. When souls first started visiting earth, the earth was younger, peopled by primitive tribes, and everyone started out together in Stage 1. Now there aren't that many people starting fresh here. Most of us are far beyond this stage. The ones who aren't are now living out on the fringes somewhere, in the Amazon jungle and the other places mentioned above. Those Stage 1 souls who have chosen to live in society probably can't hold jobs, probably can't lead normal lives, and are probably seen as mentally deficient or dangerous.

It's possible for them to make it financially in society. Not likely but possible. Joel Steinberg was in Stage 1. He was a practicing attorney. He tyrannized his girlfriend and beat the crap out of her regularly, also beating the crap out of her one year old baby and six year old daughter, eventually killing the little girl. He didn't know he was doing anything wrong. Stage 1 has no conscience, generally. Truth was in his fists.

I read about Eskimos who were in Stage 1. One of them saw another on top of the igloo, seen through the hole in the top of the igloo. The man inside the igloo admired the other man's big stomach and threw a spear into it. Dead. Stage 1. No conscience. Nice target.

There are no relationships. There's fucking but there are no relationships.

People in Stage 1 are known as infant souls.

Stage 2.

Stage 1 people need to be taught how to behave. By the time they reach Stage 2, they have been taught how to behave. Be good. Obey some damn rules, you idiot.

Stage 2 people have learned some damn rules. In fact, they are pretty much all about rules. They needed it. Now they got it.

Stage 2 people are all about rules. Law and order. Don't ever break the rules. They make good cops. They make good busybodies on the PTA, bitching about how someone else is behaving.

Lots of Stage 2 people live between the east and west coasts of the USA. Nice little house, pretty little lawn. Well behaved children. Strict upbringing. Polite. Yes sir. No sir. Good soldiers.

No germs allowed. No dirt allowed. God knows they learned their Stage 1 lessons about filth. They have learned to go to the opposite extreme and be super clean, and proud of it. Good. That's an improvement.

They tend to be very conservative in their politics. Everybody should be good. Nobody should be a bad bad homo. Nobody should be a bad bad hippie or socialist. Nobody should get a bad bad abortion. Be a good little dooby. Obey the rules. Don't be bad.

Stage 2 souls are known as baby souls.

Stage 3.

Stage 3 people are eager to "be all that you can be". They want to be rich. They want to win the game of life, which to them consists of the rule "he who dies with the most toys wins". They want to drive a Mercedes. More to the point, they want you to see them get out of their Mercedes.

Their motto is "There's me, and there's you, and I just beat you."

Stage 3 people make their mark on the world. Unlike Stage 1, who can't hold a job, Stage 3 will sure as hell try to hold the best damn job they can get. Not necessarily something they enjoy, but sure enough something that pays. Something with status.

Stage 3 people like to send their kids to Harvard. Stage 3 kids want to be in Harvard. Then get the prestige and high paying job. Really not the worst ambition to have.

The U.S. is a Stage 3 country. We're the best, and if you think otherwise, we don't mind kicking your ass.

Stage 3 people are known as young souls.

Stage 4.

Stage 4 people care more about relationships than they do about success. Success isn't enough. Stage 4 people often have a lot of emotional drama in their lives.

They are also very far from Stage 2 goody goodiness. They will try out being bisexual, try some drugs, this and that. They are most likely pretty left wing and freedom-oriented as opposed to totalitarian baby-oriented.

They want rich experiences in food, try damn near everything, get gourmet about it, and not to impress, but just to experience.

Then they mope to their psychiatrist and beg for some xanax or something. Commit suicide a few times. Oh, the drama of life! It's too much for me to cope with! Does anyone really love me?

Stage 4 people are known as mature souls.

Stage 5.

World weary, uninterested in the rat race, eccentric, with much to teach. Kinda sloppy, kinda lazy. Happier puttering around the garden than making money. When it comes to materialism, their attitude tends to be "Oh fuck it".

Interested in spiritual things.

Stage 5 people are called old souls.

These are just loose caricatures, meant to paint a broad picture, that's all. Not meant as exact definitions. Just a little introduction to soul ages. Take it with a grain of salt. Whatever that means. You get the general idea, hopefully.