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As anyone who works with systems knows, they can be a tricky business. To predict anything useful from a holistic, systems point of view, one needs to know, first, which are the fundamental elements that make up the system as a whole. Second, one needs to know as much as possible about the various states of each of those elements. Third, one needs to know how the elements interact with each other, and fourth, one needs to know as much as possible about the various inputs and outputs from the elements and the system as a whole, as well as, fifth, the larger context that the system is embedded within. Gathering data (either quantified or intuitive) can be daunting, and one never knows if one has missed some important factor or distorted the picture by either over-emphasizing or under-emphasizing an element. Such distortions are inevitable due to personal history and unconscious biases. Ideally, the study of systems (especially ones having to do with human beings) has got to be as simple and clear as possible while doing justice to the complexities of what one is studying or attempting to change in some way. Indeed, a main debate in systems theory has to do with whether or not it is even possible to ever obtain all of the data that one would need to be able to predict with a reasonable degree of certitude what a system would do. Since the whole is greater than the sum of its parts (Aristotle), and since even the parts have parts, anything with even a relative degree of complexity is probably impossible to have certitude about. Ironically, to have a full understanding of a system, one would have to know all the possible data about each and every part. To obtain that, one would virtually need to duplicate the system under study, an impossibility. For example, to be able to predict with certainty what an individual will do in a particular circumstance, one would have to know everything there is to know about the person, including all of the influences on him or her at any given moment. In other words, one would have to have more information about the person than the person has about themselves! Prediction with a high degree of certitude about human behavior is, understandably, virtually impossible. Given these problems, those interested in studying systems (especially groups of human beings such as teams and organizations of all sizesas well as their multitudinous activities) are always looking for a way to cut through these thickets of practical and philosophical problems. There must be a way to think comprehensively about systemsthat is, to approach systems from a systems level of analysis rather than from the level of trying to measure the parts that make it up.
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one could even say that the nine personality types of the Enneagram are specific examples of the more general Domains. In other words, the types are the Domains on an individual and psychological level. It is the Domains that are fundamental, not the nine personality types of the Enneagram. The Domains operate at a very high level of generalization, and are not traits for each type. The Nine Domains themselves are universal principles that can be easily understood and seen in everyday life. Everyday life presents us with dozens of complex, interdependent systems or organisms that embody the Nine Domains. For example, a Nine Domains analysis can be applied to everything from the design of a house, to the elements of a good painting, to the faculties of human nature, to the Nine Domains of loveand many hundreds (doubtless, thousands) more. In practical terms, the Domains thus can be used as a cross-check for completeness for a system, organization, or complex activity of any type or scale. The Domains answer such fundamental questions such as: What factors are necessary for achieving a particular goal? What does each Domain contribute to the whole? What is missing from what already exists? What factor is distorted or over-done in some way? And, from the point of view of the Enneagram personality types, What is each type really about?
The Nine Domains help us to stay focused on discovering the necessary capacities which each Domain brings to the whole. Without each Domain, the whole would not be whole, well-functioning, and thus not sustainable. All of this might well be more easily understood if we see an example, such as The Domains of Fundamental Human Needs, as follows. Note that three of the Domains have to do with the individual (Two, Three, and Four), three with the other (Five, Six, and Seven), and three with relating to the world (Eight, Nine, and One). All are necessary!
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For more about the Ichazo-Arica presentation of what Ichazo calls the Domains of Consciousness, see http://www.ocean-moonshine.net/e142857369/index. php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=32&MMN_ position=69:38 The Nine Domains of Consciousness according to Ichazos Arica Theory are the following: 1. Sentiments 2. Health and Security 3. Creativity 4. Intellectual 5. Social Interaction 6. Work and Activities 7. Position and Authority 8. Laws and Moral 9. Spiritual As the reader can see, the language and interpretation of Ichazos Domains of Consciousness are different from what Don Riso has developed and is presenting here.
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