Model of Human Development

MoHD

A Metamodern Theory of Culture

⌕ Click any row to expand its full cultural formation

What is MoHD?
A theory of the process that leads to the formation of types of culture

Mainstream metamodernism has no robust theory of culture. It has a cultural theory that describes one specific cultural moment, namely Metamodernism, derived only from a Western lineage. But a theory of culture must account for how several cultures develop, why different cultures develop differently, and how to identify distinct cultures across time and space.

"A theory of culture needs to account for how cultures develop, why different cultures develop in different ways and how to identify different cultures. A cultural theory is a description of a culture that describes or prescribes what a specific culture is or should be."

— Germane Marvel, A Metamodern Theory of Culture

MoHD is a metamodern theory of culture because it uses diunital, both-and logic. It does not pose a false dichotomy between modern ideas of universalist structures or postmodern ideas of universalising cultural relativism. It posits that there is an underlying organisational process across humanity, but that it is additive rather than a negating process.

Additive, not substitutive
Later cultural stages do not erase earlier ones. All remain available. A rational culture does not cancel the magical — it adds a layer.
11 intentions from The Gleaning
The Gleaning's 11 phases become the organising intentions that drive cultural formation at each level.
Interactions from MERC
The relational perspectives in MERC (Interior-Singular to Intersubject-Subject) become the interactions and perspectives in MoHD.
Culture as strategy
Culture is a strategy that humans organise social structures around, based on the kinds of understandings they gravitate toward.
Read the full essay on Substack ↗
The 11 Stages (0–10)
Intention → Interaction → Perspective → Knowledge → Wisdom → Understanding → Culture

Each row represents a complete cultural formation. Reading down any column shows how that dimension develops in complexity. Reading across a row shows how that stage's culture coheres. Click any row to expand its full explication.