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Enneagram Type 5 Board Archive The usual: 5w4 or 4w5Posted by interlocking (63.249.99.95) on January 11, 2003 at 06:07:22: This seems to be a frequent query. I've read several Enneagram books, and the messages here on telling the two apart. It seems that a common way of putting it to the test is the idea that fives primarily strive to understand the world, while fours primarily strive to understand themselves. My problem is this: How can you do one without the other? A person is part of the world and their own mind shapes their perceptions of the world, so understanding the world must include understanding oneself. Since who a person is is irrevocably shaped in some manner by the world, understanding oneself must include understanding the world. In my mind, the two are not separable, so I cannot have one over the other as a primary motivation. As far as fears go, not understanding runs pretty deep, but so does not being understood. They strike at different levels, although I think fear of not understanding runs deeper. Fear of not being understood provokes a more obvious emotional display, but the fear itself is not as deeply terror-inspiring as the fear of not understanding things. Fear of not being understood *does* provoke an extremely fourish emotional display, although I tend to keep such displays private or near people who don't mind dealing with them. Fear of not understanding is so paralyzing that no emotional display is possible except maybe shaking. Likewise, in private, or only around people who don't mind dealing with it. Someone posted about whether major life decisions are made by "thought" or "feeling". I use a combination of logic and intuition to make such decisions, which can include emotions. Is there a real litmus test or do some of us exist between the two?
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