Introduction

Abstract

The theory I am about to offer you, the reader, is a complex one with revolutionary implications for the way we conceptualize adult thought. It is one that I am convinced is immensely important and useful. The complexity of this theory is due to its power to synthesize many fields in psychology, other sciences, and the humanities as well. Its importance is partly due to that same feature, for the theory I am about to offer you is a way to describe how humans balance mind, heart, soul, and the needs of others, over time. This theory provides a cognitive vantage point for a “general theory” of psychological-social-spiritual life-span development.