Nichola, I so appreciate this article, not just for your insight, but for the comments you putting this out there inspires. This is what I love about Medium.

Here's my comment: this article gives the social science behind what I understand about the human soul. However, I think we all need a way to move forward that can take us beyond the frustration of how people behave. I don't think it's necessary to believe in reincarnation to ponder my position on this, but I hope that readers will consider this perspective.

In his book, The Instruction, Ainslie MacLeod writes about the soul ages. There are 10 levels or soul ages that we each go through. We may spend more time in one level than another depending on how we learn the lessons given us in each level. Typically, as younger souls are less apt to see the bigger picture of the soul and repeated incarnations, they move more slowly through the younger levels.

Younger souls have less experience with the many horrors this world can inflict on the human body, therefore they have less empathy for what others suffer. Not only do they have less empathy, it's much easier for them to process the idea that any suffering others may be going through is due to their "choices" and God is punishing them. They have the attitide of "who are we to interfere with that divine judgment?" while having no idea that the judgment comes from them.

Because of the younger soul's insecurity, they are challenged to comprehend the lessons placed upon their soul. This is why younger souls take much longer to get to the older soul level (levels 6-10.) This is why the world has a much higher concentration of younger souls.

Interestingly, political roles are almost exclusively filled by younger (level 3 to 5, moslty 5) souls whose greed, protectionism and isolationism rule their behavior. They don't understand that there is enough to go around, so they need not fear that if others "have," they may 'have not," and so they are motivated to judge others as unworthy, take control and rule with little to no compassion for anyone beyond their "circle of trust."

The youngest of souls are relatively new to the physical world and therefore feel insecure and tend to keep to themselves in small communities. This results in the tendency to only look to and value those closest to them, particularly souls in similar levels with values they can understand.

Their thinking is very black and white, and they will fight to the death to keep the world as they need to see it because they literally believe evil will overcome them and their loved ones if they do not.

Because younger souls have less of an appreciation for humanity and the connection we all have to one another, they are incapable of recognizing the humanity in "others." They will believe that others are unworthy to justify them taking from them (rights, property or even life) in order to protect that which they believe they could lose if they don't protect their own.

The challenge of the older souls is to recognize this tendency in ourselves and override it. To let go of our judgment of others and their behavior and find compassion for all so that we may find ways to work together.

This is of utmost importance of older souls in this time.

Parenting allows us the opportunity to put this loving approach to work, although sadly many parents don't get it, either. Just understand that younger souls (children) are going to do what they're going to do. Understand that the toddler didn't bite the other child because they are evil, but because they didn't know how else to protect what's theirs. A good parent won't blame them, judge them as evil and underserving. Rather, they will understand that the child is merely trying to navigate the world with the little experience they have about how it works, and find ways to use that understanding in negotiating with them without condescension (which is just another form of judgment.)

If the older souls amongst us could do this--even though it can feel very unfair--we would have peace on earth, guaranteed.