HOW MUCH YOU KNOW ABOUT "HUMAN DYNAMICS"?

Human Dynamics Frequently Asked Questions


The following questions have sometimes been asked by people who are introduced to Human Dynamics.

1. Does one's personality dynamic ever change?

No. The fundamental mental-emotional-physical patterning which determines how one processes information, learns, communicates, etc. seems to stay the same. However, each personality dynamic is capable of infinite development. Each matures over time along its particular developmental path, so a person's behavior can change considerably over time, while the underlying processes remain the same.

We have followed children on videotape from a few months of age for a period of over twelve years. The personality dynamics clearly remain consistent - the pattern seen at the beginning simply unfolds.

2. Are you saying that the personality dynamics are genetically determined?

It may be. The patterning appears to be there at the beginning of life. We have been able to identify the personality dynamics of infants only a few weeks of age. We have also seen that while only about 5% of the population are mentally centered, every mentally centered child or adult that we have seen has had at least one mentally centered parent. In the case of one exception (two emotionally centered parents), a grandparent was mentally centered.

3. Does this mean that the environment exerts no influence?

No. But it exerts an influence upon a particular personality dynamic. It does not change the personality dynamic, but it will help or hinder the development and well-being of the individual, depending upon whether the influence is in accord with the needs of his or her personality dynamic.

Thus, for example, the development of a physical-emotional child in a classroom will be helped or hindered depending on whether the teaching approaches meet his or her needs as a physical-emotional learner.

4. Isn't this just another way of categorizing people - of putting them in boxes?

No. In recognizing and developing understanding of the distinctions in people's fundamental functioning as whole mental-emotional-physical systems, we are freeing people from the inhibiting negative labels so often put upon them. (For example, mental-physical people as aloof, not caring; emotional-objective people as pushy, too quick; emotional-subjective people as soft, unfocused; physical-mental people as mechanical, uncaring; physical-emotional people as slow, too detailed.)

Lack of recognition of the distinctions leads to misinterpretation, negative judgments, misunderstanding, poor teaching and learning, poor use of one another's gifts, and often outright conflict. Recognition of them permits greater mutual understanding, and far more qualitative interaction.

5. After identifying my own personality dynamic, will I be able to identify the personality dynamics of other people? If I can't do that, how will this information help me in interacting with others?

To be able to identify someone else's personality dynamic is not the point. However, if you begin to observe people consistently through these windows, you will probably find that you will increasingly have a good probability of recognizing people of different personality dynamics. If an individual hasn't identified her or his personality dynamic, even if you think you have guessed correctly, ask questions! For example, ask: how would you like me to give you information - would you like written information before we meet? do you want this information in a bullet or outline form? do you need time to process this information before we make a decision?

And then listen carefully to the responses - to guide you in your next exploration. This procedure will enable you to make better connections with those with whom you interact and to learn more about their fundamental way of processing whether or not they ever identify their own personality dynamic.

6. How do you know this? Who thought up this model?

This work has been intuitively perceived and systematically investigated. It has not been thought up. One could make an analogy to the system for describing plant life in families, genera, and species -- it is a descriptive system based on what actually exists in nature; it is not the only way of looking at the distinctions among plant life, but it has proven extremely useful.

7. What kind of research has been done?

The research has been qualitative and exploratory. There have been relatively few attempts to quantify our research because that is not the direction of our interest nor does the subject matter lend itself to quantification. The single most important piece of research has been the thousands of people who have participated in the self-identification process in seminars. Additionally, more than 400 videotaped research projects (from USA, Canada, Israel and Sweden) have been completed with infants, children or adults; one particular research piece has been videotaped over 150 times.

More rigorous research (non- social science) is planned within the next few years; this will follow-up on initial explorations in distinctions in metabolism and sound patterns between the personality dynamics.

8. How does Human Dynamics relate to "diversity training"?

This work is about diversity. Since each personality dynamic lives in all cultures, we are looking at a human system that is large enough to include all groups, yet fundamental and simple enough that it can be trained.

However, our approach is distinct from many current forms of diversity training: we focus on the unifying themes rather than on the diverse patterns.

9. Can someone be a mixture of several personality dynamics?

No.

10. What about people with multiple personalities ... do all the personalities share the same personality dynamic, or can they be different? What about identical twins?

Of those that we have seen (which has not been many) with multiple personalities, all of the personalities have shared the same personality dynamic; identical twins also have the same personality dynamic.