Kinds of people 2

Part 1

I asked him, "Of these four, which one is right? Which is the right way of being?"

"They are all right, in their own contexts," he answered. "Each one of these worldviews emerged for the people who hold them due to their life conditions. They are appropriate worldviews for people to hold, depending on their circumstances. There is no one right way for all people to be, universally. Some ways are good at certain times, in certain situations."

"Shouldn't we be trying to encourage people to adopt that last one, the one concerned with others, and the health of the system?”

“No,” he answered. “That should not be our goal. It’s not necessary, and largely a waste of time. People can grow into being other types throughout their lives, but they only do so at their own pace, in their own time. We don’t want to eliminate any of the types. They all have something to contribute.”

"I'm not sure I can see how that only-out-for-themselves type can be any good," I said.

"That drive can actually be very useful, if it's channelled appropriately. It can be a drive to succeed, spurring us to accomplish great things," he said.

"Ah," I said. "I think I'm beginning to see. In order for there to be a healthy society, there needs to be a way for these four types to work together."

"Exactly," he said. "If any one of the types becomes dominant, it can lead to grief. A healthy society needs the balancing energy of all of them.”

Peace,

Dave Roel.

Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic.

- Marin Luther King, Jr.

Adding levels to the quadrants

We know that everything progresses developmentally. The progression of development can be broken down into identifiable stages, or levels. There are hundreds of developmental systems in the world, of course. Let's see if we can apply some useful developmental models to our four quadrants of health, career, relationships and self/shadow.

For the progression of physical fitness, I use Steve Barnes's Four Dimensional Performance Pyramid.

For the progression of career, I use William Torbert and Susanne Cook-Greuter's Developmental Action Inquiry.

For the progression of relationships, I use Knapp's Relationship Development Model.

For the progression of the self, I use Jane Loevinger's Stages of Ego Development.

With the addition of levels, we have added a useful dimension to our map, the stage progression of each quadrant — mind, body, spirit and self. ☺

Peace,

Dave Roel.

The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.

- Carl Jung

Kinds of people 1

“Listen carefully,” he said. “This is important.”

“Okay,” I said.

“In this world, you’re going to have to deal with four kinds of people. If you learn to recognize them, and know how to manage them, life will be easier for you.”

“Okay,” I repeated, intrigued.

“First, let me make sure you understand that these four aren’t all the kinds of people there are. There are others that don’t fall in these categories. The categories I’m going to tell you about don’t include children, invalids, the extremely old, those with extreme mental or physical ailments, the homeless, etc. Those are people out there, too, but I’m not talking about them. I’m also largely talking about people in the contemporary industrialized western culture. There are certainly people in non-western cultures, indigenous peoples, tribal people who live and think in very different ways from us in the industrialized west. They are out there, too, of course, but for the most part, we in the west don’t tend to run into them a whole lot. I’m talking about the types of people that you will largely have to deal with in your life. You understand?”

“Okay,” I said. “I got it.”

“So,” he said, “there’s four types of people you’ll run into. First, there’s people who are only out for themselves. They’ll do anything for themselves, and nothing for you. They don’t care about you. What matters to them is that they win. And they’ll run over you if you get in their way. There’s always going to be people like that, and they’ll be present more often than you realize. You can find them on the streets, on the sports field, or in the boardroom. Don’t think you can get them on your side, or that you can change them. All you can do is learn to recognize them, and do what you can to protect yourself.”

“I actually know plenty of people like that,” I said.

“The next type,” he said, “is the people who are committed to following the rules. It doesn’t matter what the rules are, it just matters that they are followed. It could be religious rules, or it could be legal rules, or it could be social rules. There are all sorts of different sets of rules out there, and for each one, you can find these types of people obeying them. They are true believers, unwavering in their devotion to their set of rules. They will not alter their commitment to what they know as the one true path. Anyone who is not on board with their belief is, to them, a heretic who must be corrected. There is nothing you can do to reason with them, or get them to alter their view in any way. All you can do is learn to work with them, in their unvarying, unyielding beliefs.”

“Huh. I know many people exactly like this, too,” I said, impressed with what he was spinning for me.

“Then,” he said, “there are the people who believe in progress and improvement and achievement. These people see the story of mankind as an upward trajectory, continually improving, getting better. They believe in scientific progress, that man has applied logic and reason to the world and has improved the lot of humanity, and will continue to do so. They will tell you that science and technology are boons to humanity, economic growth is always possible, and that personal achievement and improvement are desirable goals.”

“Hm,” I said, thinking about it. “I do know many people like this, too.”

“And,” he continued, “there are people who are concerned about the health and stability of the systems of the world. From these people we have environmentalism, civil rights, social justice, women’s rights, psychology, animal rights, postmodernism, the new consciousness movements, etc. They are concerned about the health of the systems, and they are putting their efforts toward correcting injustices and practices that cause harm.”

“Yeah,” I said, “I do know people like that, too.”

“These are, for the most part, the people who are out there. It’s in your interests to learn how to recognize them, and how to deal with them when you come across them. A lot of problems come up when we’re trying to get someone to change, or be a different way from what they are. Your life will be a lot easier once you give that up, and work with people as they are.”

Peace,

Dave Roel.

The highest result of education is tolerance.

- Helen Keller