i am a huge fan of kohlberg's stages of development. i learned about this baby in high school and it has proven to be one of those bits of knowledge that was imparted to me that has had real staying power. here is the essential overview:

Level 1 (Pre-Conventional)

1. Obedience and punishment orientation

(How can I avoid punishment?)

2. Self-interest orientation

(What's in it for me?)

Level 2 (Conventional)

3. Interpersonal accord and conformity

(Social norms)

(The good boy/good girl attitude)

4. Authority and social-order maintaining orientation

(Law and order morality)

Level 3 (Post-Conventional)

5. Social contract orientation

6. Universal ethical principles

(Principled conscience)

the beauty about these levels, or how they were explained to me, is:  just because you have reached the 3rd level and can make decisions based on your projection of what its like to live life in someone elses shoes, it does not mean that you revert to the 1st level and try to avoid punishment. 

i find it really important to remind myself of this muli-level way of existing. it helps me sympathize and understand those different than me (quite a few people...). it also make me feel better about my own inconsistant feelings about how the world is progressing. kohlberg, for what it's worth, started flapping about how there could be more levels that are possibly linked with religion, but i think he was fine to stop theorizing at level 3 stage 6. 

i feel like, if more folks learned and retained this knowledge, the world would be a better place. business would have better ethics and the planet and all its inhabitants would be healthier. i dont believe in silver bullets..... but this is pretty damn close! ok, ok, so it's not that close, but def. a possible part of an overall solution.

for the record: education, education, and education is the key for the betterment of the world.