Identity Types

'This' and 'That' Identity Types

Normally, all the individual members of a collective mind are required to submit their personal identities to the dominance of the prevailing culture. In a contemporary market democracy the dominant cultural Sub-Theme is the Status of Self through Number. The form of Number that most readily converts to Status is money. Status of Self through Number is an expression of ‘That’ mind stream. No alternative Status expression, higher on the Spectrum than Number, is culturally recognized. Identity expressions of Wisdom or Psychic Powers do not normally merit any Status recognition in our contemporary society.

While all the identity expressions higher on the Spectrum are culturally ignored, everything below the level of the Status of Self through Number can be recognised as culturally valid within contemporary societies. But this recognition is only given if the lower identities have been properly adapted to the dominance of Number. This means that all ‘This’ mind stream individuals living in ‘That’ dominated plutocracies have to adapt their identity expressions to a version of Number. This requirement produces ‘This’ Status identities fashioned around Style of Number, usually Style of money, which are often coupled with Warriorship of Number, involving the arithmetic scoring of competitive sport.

Although it is necessary for an identity to embrace three Themes, the three Themes do not all participate equally in the identity. They form a hierarchy. The highest Theme within an identity is the most detailed of the three, and is also dominant. The two lower Themes of identity adapt to its requirements by adjusting themselves in such a way as to reflect and reinforce the values of the Sub-Theme that dominates the highest Theme. In order to successfully achieve this hierarchy only the highest Theme of an identity is opened out to reveal the Sub-Themes. The two lower Themes are closed to the consciousness of the Sub-Themes and take on the specialised form of expression that is adopted by the highest Theme.

This means that a fully participating person living in a contemporary market society dominated collectively by Number status has access to the Sub-Themes of Status of Self, which is the upper level of identity, but only has generalised expressions of Fertility and Survival. These generalised expressions of the lower Themes are dominated by the prevailing culture of Number. In this way individual identities are properly integrated and internal conflicts are minimised.

The following diagrams show profiles of ‘This’ and ‘That’ identity types that generally prevail in contemporary Number dominated societies.

Figure 14 Modern Culture

The experience of individual identity in a contemporary Number dominated society can be summed up in a simple formula: you can't acquire significant Status without money; you will find it difficult to get married and procreate without some kind of money-earning potential; and you can't live without money to buy food and housing. In this way Status, Fertility and Survival are all ruled by Number (money).

In homogenised contemporary societies individual representatives of the two mind streams usually appear to be quite similar. Two men, one of each type, might appear similar in many respects. Both may be wealthy, and have a keen interest in business; and both may have dedicated their lives to the acquisition of more money. But whereas one identifies more with the Status and power derived directly from the Number that he possesses — i.e. the number of dollars and the number of employees etc — the other identifies with the life-style and the things that money can buy. Often a ‘That’ mind stream type has a better understanding of how to invest money while a ‘This’ mind stream type is better at spending and enjoying it.

In plutocratic, Number-dominated societies ‘This’ mind stream people are held captive by ‘That’ mind stream. It is a ‘That’ age. It was the opposite when ‘This’ mind stream dominated the aristocratic culture of the European Middle Ages. It will reverse again with the coming of the post-Number age of Wisdom. The cultural evolution of Christianised Europe has been a process of ‘This’ and ‘That’ mind streams collectively leap-frogging each other as the civilisation climbs the Spectrum.

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