Stages of Development

All growth happens through stages of development. There are many lines of development, but there are certain characteristics which all of them have. Stages are sequential, cannot be skipped, and cannot be taken out of order. Each stage transcends but includes all the earlier stages and thus each stage is more complex than the previous ones. Subsequent stages may look like a prior stage until we actually reach that stage.

For more see the entry on the map of the Stages of Development.