wings, disintegration, integration....

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: i'm definitely a member of the one wing school. that is, i think that your personality is anything BUT a "composite" of things. you are one person, with one personality. and, we label the 18 possible sorts of human personality with numbers in a nice little circle because it is convenient to look at like that. and, these 18 types are neatly organized further into 9 archetypes. so, you're one of 2 subtypes of 1 of 9 archetypes. a while ago sometime, someone coined the term "wing" and we've been cursed with this silly title ever since. : let me say, there is no wing. : you have one personality, and it is a whole and complete human personality. it is not partitioned off into neat little boxes called "5" and "4" and "6". there is no internal register that measures the strength of your wings. there is no 5-center in the middle of your brain with 4 and 6 sections on each side gaining or losing prevalence. that's just silly. : you have one personality. : there are 18 types of personality. : i dont' see whythis is so hard to buy. i mean, we're all here discussing a system which we believe andfind useful, and in that system there are only 9 types. why is it so strange to simply say there are 18 subtypes? if you ask me, it makes the most sense. : why is it silly to say we can switch wings or have both wings? i will never EVER be a 56. there are a LOT of differences between be and a 56, even tho we share a great deal in terms of base motivations, typical approaches to problems, etc. what we DONT share is the way all of those things are manifested. ie, 5s all have an obsession with their personal performance, particularly mental/intellectual performance. 56es typically fear insanity, or the loss of this ability to perform mentally. 54s typically see their mental capacities as setting them apart from the rest of society, bolstering their self-image of individuality. this is just one example, and there are plenty. : and it gets even stickier when talking about 3s 6es and 9s. have you ever met a 91? now, have you ever met a 98? chances are, if you said yes to both questions, the 98 talked to you first, while the 91 just looked at you for a few days and said nothing. how could a person do BOTH things, have BOTH habits? it just doesn't make sense. how could a 6(5/7) be both overprepared for forseen disaster and impulsively attack forseen disaster without any thought whatsoever? it just doesn't make sense. : what's more, i think the most prevalent criticism of the one wing model is seriously misguided. that is, that having one stuck wing polarizes and limits your personality. 1) it doesn't polarize it any more than having a personality type in the first place. 2) it only limits you in that it defines what your likely motivations/habits/etc and their manifestation. : look, we're all here talking about the enneagram. we all accept that there is such a thing as a "personality type" and that it, so a great extent, sets limits on what you are likely to think and do, and lays guidelines for the likely reasons BEHIND what you think and do. why is it so strange to say that you can't have 2 wings, or that it is simply a matter of typing? if you ask me, the 18subtype model is more keeping with the form and function of both the human personality and the system of the enneagram. : that having been said... : i think this is where the controversy about wings changing strength comes from. at certain times, you will act more like your "wing" than at other times. your wing is the type that you would sometimes like to think you are. when we are deeper into our self-delusions, we tend to act more like our wing. some have described this as disintegrating thru your wing. : on the other side, your wing is where you draw a lot of personality traits that are not addressed by the archetype of your main type. that is, "5" doenst describe a whole personality. "56" does, becasue 6 fills in the gaps in 5. you can't fill in the gaps with both 6-things AND 4-things. (that's why you can't be a 46, btw.) when we integrate, a big part of that is expressing and releasing the things which we repress. many of these traits are stereotypical traits of our wing. ie, a 54 allowing himself ot fall in love with someone and actually feel attachment and emotion will do so in very 4-ish ways; becoming passionate, artistic, romantic, the whole schpiel. a 56 will tend to be loyal and encouraging and whatnot in the same situation. (you'll have to forgive me, i've seen very few 56es in love. perhaps this was a bad analogy.) but anyway, this is what we call integrating thru your wing. : : another thing thatbothers me.. : riso/hudson's "9 levels of health." total bs. it is SO SO SO SO SO SO much sloppier and fuzzier than that. and, what's even worse, i think that they violently misconstrue the entire phenomenon by leaving out the effect of the wing in integration/disintegration. : 5->7... a good thing? : well, if A is similar to B, then B is similar to A, right? so, a healthy 7 acts like a healthy 5. so, there must be a point in being a healthy 5 where you act something like an integrating 7. the difference is that, for a 5 to act like this is relatively easy, while for a 7 to act like this takes an epiphany and divine intervention :) that is, this is at the very tippy top of 7 healthiness, while its only about halfway up on the scale of 5 healthiness. above that is the point where 5 acts like a healthy 8 (does NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT *become* a healthy 8!) and this point is godlike for a 5 while only mildly healthy for an 8, and so on and so on. likewise, while being unhealthy, a 5 acs something like an unhealthy 8 (tho the 8 has to get a lot unhealthier to act like that) THEN proceeds to unhealthy 7 territory. (tho, a 7 acting like that isn't as unhealthy as the 5 is when they do it.) : but the biggest problem of riso's little scale thing is that you can change from moment to moment! and, within an unhealthy/stressed moment, there can be healthy thoughts! you simply cannot put this phenomenon into a nice organized filing system. : when you act like your wing unhealthily, it's just being annoying, i've found. (if you wanna know how you annoy people, look at your wing. it's probably a good guess.) : i don't think you can make concrete levels then peg yourself at one of them. that having been said, i think the continuum looks a little like this... : : healthy : integrating, acting something like very healthy "up" type : healthy, acting like healthy wing/healthy "down" type : regular, act like base type slightly colored by wing : annoying, pretending to be wing-type : unhealthy, acting like unhealthy "up" type : disintegrating, act like very unhealthy "down" type : unhealthy : : do not take this out of context, or assume that by this list i mean to say that there are discrete points where these levels meet. health is a VERY fuzzy and extremely dynamic system. : isaac

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