one model: four situational realities
From the raw existence of our life on planet earth, we engage our senses and experience four subjective realities. In return, we actively behave by constructing our impressions, interpreting our situation and generating our unique responses. This is our creative power exercised in our life. The four situational realities are:
Reality #1: Born on planet earth in motion:
The planet earth is in motion and therefore, all that is on the planet is in motion. This fact requires a “movement” response from all livings things in the form of activity. Our human response is goal oriented and is conceptualized in the form of four basic tasks of life (self, relations, work and activity), where each task has an independent psychological goal (significance, belonging, usefulness and stability). These tasks/goals are derived from the four realities that exist as we find ourselves on the planet earth in the vast universe. All interest in “motivation” is but an interest in how we respond to life, as the word “movement” is derived from the same language source as “motivation.” Our striving is from deficit to success, from felt “minus” to a felt “plus” position. We strive to develop the self, create belonging, achieve a solution to provide for basic needs and activity to create the stability, the impression of increased security and a higher quality of life, in the context of participating in the creation of community.
Reality #2: Born with needs not provided:
We exist on the thin and muddy crust of a planet that does not automatically provide essential food and shelter, except for our goal oriented efforts. We must put forth individual effort, create cooperative group efforts, and contribute to providing shelter and food to reduce our anxiety about surviving as an individual and as a species. Existential anxiety is a response to our doubts that basic needs will be met into the future. In response to uncertainty, this kind of basic effort is currently most easily observed during times of natural disasters, when it is satisfying to see the spirit of “pulling together” and the benefit of neighbors helping neighbors. In short, we must activity work and be useful with others to continue our own existence and perpetuate the human species. Beyond this, we work to create a higher quality experience in life.
Reality #3: Born as unitary individuals:
We are born by separating from a mother as helpless and dependent infants, immediately needing others to survive, as nature has not provided us with the biological equipment to survive alone. The initial experience of the “social feeling” in relations with others is the first experience of security for the helpless infant, a deep source of relationship security leading us to solve the unpleasant feeling of separateness. Having co-evolved with all others from our birth, we are social beings, socially embedded and we have a life-long desire to belong in the context of these relations. Due to the reality of death, we must replicate ourselves by conceiving and birthing children in the context of sex, love, family and community relationships. We have a deep wish to belong with others and are constantly motivated to satisfy this desire, whether children are involved or not.
Reality #4: Born as helpless infants:
We are born as unique but helpless individuals and possess a continuous desire (a striving) to be competent and significant among others throughout our lives and make efforts to overcome basic and universal inferiority feelings. Our uniqueness means we are creative in our subjective interpretations about life and we respond uniquely to movement. We create unified meanings to life and all of our thoughts, actions, feelings, physiology, memories and dreams lead toward unified goals as we create a unique life-style and sense of self-significance. We are each a whole system, undivided, and are differentiated by our self-created guiding themes, though influenced by genetics and past experiences. Who we are is important to us and our task of self-development toward competence and the goal of being uniquely significant among others is always motivating for us. We strive to find our place in the world and desire that it be a uniquely recognized existence by others.
The planet earth is in motion and therefore, all that is on the planet is in motion. This fact requires a “movement” response from all livings things in the form of activity. Our human response is goal oriented and is conceptualized in the form of four basic tasks of life (self, relations, work and activity), where each task has an independent psychological goal (significance, belonging, usefulness and stability). These tasks/goals are derived from the four realities that exist as we find ourselves on the planet earth in the vast universe. All interest in “motivation” is but an interest in how we respond to life, as the word “movement” is derived from the same language source as “motivation.” Our striving is from deficit to success, from felt “minus” to a felt “plus” position. We strive to develop the self, create belonging, achieve a solution to provide for basic needs and activity to create the stability, the impression of increased security and a higher quality of life, in the context of participating in the creation of community.
Reality #2: Born with needs not provided:
We exist on the thin and muddy crust of a planet that does not automatically provide essential food and shelter, except for our goal oriented efforts. We must put forth individual effort, create cooperative group efforts, and contribute to providing shelter and food to reduce our anxiety about surviving as an individual and as a species. Existential anxiety is a response to our doubts that basic needs will be met into the future. In response to uncertainty, this kind of basic effort is currently most easily observed during times of natural disasters, when it is satisfying to see the spirit of “pulling together” and the benefit of neighbors helping neighbors. In short, we must activity work and be useful with others to continue our own existence and perpetuate the human species. Beyond this, we work to create a higher quality experience in life.
Reality #3: Born as unitary individuals:
We are born by separating from a mother as helpless and dependent infants, immediately needing others to survive, as nature has not provided us with the biological equipment to survive alone. The initial experience of the “social feeling” in relations with others is the first experience of security for the helpless infant, a deep source of relationship security leading us to solve the unpleasant feeling of separateness. Having co-evolved with all others from our birth, we are social beings, socially embedded and we have a life-long desire to belong in the context of these relations. Due to the reality of death, we must replicate ourselves by conceiving and birthing children in the context of sex, love, family and community relationships. We have a deep wish to belong with others and are constantly motivated to satisfy this desire, whether children are involved or not.
Reality #4: Born as helpless infants:
We are born as unique but helpless individuals and possess a continuous desire (a striving) to be competent and significant among others throughout our lives and make efforts to overcome basic and universal inferiority feelings. Our uniqueness means we are creative in our subjective interpretations about life and we respond uniquely to movement. We create unified meanings to life and all of our thoughts, actions, feelings, physiology, memories and dreams lead toward unified goals as we create a unique life-style and sense of self-significance. We are each a whole system, undivided, and are differentiated by our self-created guiding themes, though influenced by genetics and past experiences. Who we are is important to us and our task of self-development toward competence and the goal of being uniquely significant among others is always motivating for us. We strive to find our place in the world and desire that it be a uniquely recognized existence by others.
Realities Matrix
Comments
- This matrix integrates Existential philosophy and the psychological works of Erich Fromm and Alfred Adler. From this ONE MODEL we derive the four choices available to us in the areas of Providing, Partnering, Parenting and Personalizing. Each choice is executed as a Task towards a Goal.
- “A feeling of strength comes when a person realizes that goals represent choices, and there is gain in self-confidence when the individual comes to realize that he or she makes choices and sets goals.” -Eva Dreikurs Ferguson
- “I began to develop the finalistic viewpoint of Individual Psychology, and came to the conclusion that we must look upon the psychic life as a movement, directed toward the solution of certain almost immutable life tasks.” – Alfred Adler
- “All forms of behavior (thinking, feeling, acting, physical responses) are thought of by Adler as movement of the individual in his field of action.” – Forgus and Shulman.
- Chaos is the goal of the individualist, who believes that he or she can succeed without others, or at the expense of others, and has no need for “the group” or the “community.”
- Stability found in the context of community requires leadership, selected by the democratic process of social living and socially interested capitalism.
- Known by the existential philosophers with the German word “aengstlichkeit” from which English has translated into the expression “angst” referring to pervasive anxiety.
- “Man is not only a rational and social animal. He can also be defined as a producing animal, capable of transforming the materials which she finds at hand, using his reason and imagination. Not only can he produce, he must produce in order to live.” - Erich Fromm, Man for himself: an inquiry into the psychology of ethics.
- Self-elevation is the goal of striving for individualistic entitlement; to be above all others. Paradoxically, regardless of the "successful" hieghts attained, it fails because it moves against social interest and cooperation. This is also why it persists as it feeds on chronic dissatisfaction resulting in chronic unhappiness.
- “The most sensitive estimate of the value of any activity is its helpfulness to mankind, present and future.” – Alfred Adler
- “The deepest need of man, then, is the need to overcome his separateness, to leave the prison of his aloneness.” -Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving.
- Hypothesized by Adler as the “social feeling” with the German word “Gemeinschaftsgefuhl.” Adler writes: “Human psychological life is not capable of doing just as it likes but is constantly confronted with tasks which have arrived from somewhere. All these tasks are inseparably tied up with the logic of man’s communal life.”
- Control is the goal of domination behavior. Successful domination feeds on dissatisfaction and generates incentives for even more domination, however unsatisfying the results might be.
- “Every human being brings the disposition for social interest with him; but then it must be developed through upbringing, especially through correct guidance the creative power of the individual. We can assume that the innate substratum of the ability to cooperate will become increasingly stronger through the training of the generations.” -Alfred Adler
- Hypothesized by Alfred Adler as the “inferiority feeling” with the German word “Minderwertigkeitsgefuhl.” The “inferiority feeling” is understood to be universally experienced by all humans in the form of inadequacy and incompleteness. Courageous living will overcome the power of this feeling where a pattern of cowering results in deeper feelings of inferiority.
- “Every human being strives for significance, but people always make mistakes if they do not recognize their own significance lies in their contribution to the lives of others.” - Alfred Adler
- The basic self-interest goal of withdrawal is “safe-guarded” vanity, as vanity simultaneously refers to both excessive pride and the lack of usefulness. “The vain character is satisfied with elevating himself over the rest of humanity by a trick, and etching the character of others with the sharp acid of his criticism. It is not strange that such individuals occasionally develop a fine technique, since they have extraordinary practice and training in it.” - Alfred Adler
- “ . . . the striving for significance, seeing as character, must be regarded as a social function which can show itself only within the social frame.” - Alfred Alder
- Discouraged impotency results from pursuing self-elevated ambitions.
- Encouraged potency results from pursuing social-interest contributions.