Individual vs Collective Self-Identity

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PART III - LOWER LEFT What is more important to you: To see yourself as an individual? or To see yourself as part of a wider culture? Let's analyse this! But first, a recap:

Part I - the interior individual • Subjective experiences • Thoughts • Emotions • Values Part II - the exterior individual • Objective facts • Behaviours • Biological processes • Observable Part III - the interior collective What the hell does that mean?

If you go to a country on holiday, chances are a few things occur immediately: 1) I don't speak the language 2) I don't know what the signs mean 3) People are acting differently + I don't understand their 'rules' 4) Everyone knows what the rules are but no-one speaks about them

This is a classic sign of a lack of understanding of the interior collective It covers things such as: • Language • Customs • Expectations • Culture We can only understand these from WITHIN I.e. Learning the language, living in that country, understanding the art, etc

To understand myself or another, I need to use language I need to then interpret the meaning of those words It is no different here, except on a wider scale To understand the customs, you must engage with people WITHIN that system

We could study the culture from the outside, but it would be missing something important We could look at the great Greek columns, but it doesn't tell me anything about what it means to be Greek! Understanding mythology can be a fantastic insight here. Why?

The meaning of those myths can only make sense within the culture that it was created It transcends beyond JUST ONE person It is a SHARED story, a shared culture, belief and worldview

This is why the lower left quadrant is so important It gets us beyond our individual viewpoint, and places us within a shared context and a shared history I am whole, but I am a part I stand alone as a full human, but I am a human that fits within a larger group

So, 3 quadrants down, and one to go We have looked at what it is to be an individual - from the inside (1st person) and the outside (3rd person - scientific) We have now seen the importance of culture, from the inside. What does the outside of this look like?

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: typefully.com/_itsmrclark/QSUwBmv