Sunday, September 26, 2010

Parallel universe

It is Sunday. If you watch political "debates," you see what the Enneagram theory elucidates. People live in different worlds. When one person starts talking, the other person takes exception to every sentence because the assumptions behind the sentence is unacceptable.
For example, Republicans believe (and it has the power of religious belief), that "government is the problem." Non republicans (democrats, independents, people who read books), don't accept that.
But every ideology is something like an Enneagram style. It operates out of a "model of the universe." In certain Enneagram styles, the universe is really dangerous; in others, it is not. The world is different.
Take a less incendiary example: for some people UFO's are just not real because, in some sense, they simply are not (and maybe CAN not) be part of their world. For others, they keep scanning the sky because "they've seen 'em." My mechanic, a hard hat realist, has seen UFO's. The pharmacist, a no-nonsense realist, knows they don't really exist.
I'm a theologian. In my universe, let's talk about divine intervention. The Rapture - devoutly believed by many bumper-stickered native-- it is not going to happen. I know, because in my world, in my model of the universe, it just is not going to happen. I'm as sure of my belief as they are of theirs.
Every Enneagram style has a set of beliefs about what is/is not going to happen because that's the world is.
The smaller your world, the more rigid your beliefs. Except mine. Rapture is NOT going to happen.

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