Review: Summary

Primal Quests are about interacting with reality in a way that brings genuine happiness &/or gives purpose and meaning to life. The TET modelling enabled the Quests to be placed in 4 quadrants that accord with their psychosocial significance. It allows us to view them all simultaneously and meaningfully.

The shared human significance of the TET—the output—is transcendence of current reality. This frees up our world for new better possibilities.

The personal psychological requirement in the TET relates to the ability to be detached from our ego/self.

I identified four ways to increase our understanding via this model:

• By the approach duality i.e. diagonal layout.
• By combining effects of both axes i.e. quadrant affinities and contrasts.
• By isolating axis effects i.e. halves: vertically and horizontally.
• By distinguishing central v peripheral positioning.

These are reviewed below.

Enduring the Human Condition: Diagonals

The two diagonals in a TET typically define the two essential and complementary functions that the Typology serves. It is usually obvious what these are—if the Types are properly understood and the Axes are correctly named.

The two functions served by the Primal Quests to enable a distinctly human existence form two sets dealing with:

• Immersion in Reality
• Equilibrium in Reality

Immersion in reality is essential to maintain sanity and for self-restraint.
Why?

Sanity refers to being able to make sense to yourself and others about what is going on and acting accordingly. Self-restraint refers to the taming of animal/biological impulses. Both are required for happiness and meaning.

But immersion in reality, whatever the Primal Quest, provides a bumpy ride. Unexpected disappointments, accidents, illness and misfortune strike all of us.
Why?

However sensible and organized your efforts, the outside world, physical and social, is not designed to suit you. You are but a fragment amidst the vast forces at loose in the natural world. You are also at the mercy of social forces, often blowing in from alien sectors of your own society or from other societies. You may also find yourself at the mercy of unpleasant individuals: faceless hoodlums, corrupt rulers, incompetent bureaucrats.

Equilibrium in reality is essential to bear suffering and endure misfortune.
Why?

Shocks, even trivial ones, can stop you from thinking straight or taking sensible action for a time. Severe disappointments or losses are potentially overwhelming: discolouring your world view, draining life of meaning and interfering with staying positive. Only the Quests provide a systematic and continuing way to handle major destabilizing disruptions.

Review relevant analyses:

Differences as you move up or down each diagonal.
Getting the benefit of both diagonals.

Contrasting Existential Possibilities: Quadrants

Diagonally opposite quadrants in the Primal Quest TET reveal the effect of axis combination. Quadrants reveal both an affinity between the pair of Quests within each quadrant, and marked contrasts between diagonally opposite quadrants.

Immersion Contrasts

Immersion is not action, but it requires action. Purposeful action, however trivial or unsuccessful, generates feedback that enables us to locate ourselves psychosocially and practically.

Reminder of Details

In the upper left quadrant, the Salvation and ObedienceQuests enable an immersion that is discretionary and focused on social interaction. Here, the personal ramifications are largely under your control, even by withdrawal from the particular initiative or situation.

In the lower right quadrant, the Creation Quest leads to an immersion best described as entangled. Initiation of creative activities has consequences for yourself and others that cannot be controlled and from which you cannot easily withdraw when things become difficult, confusing or unpleasant—as they will.

Equilibrium Contrasts

Equilibrium requires getting away from the painful nature of reality, without becoming inappropriately disconnected. There are two methods: using feelings and using reasoning.

Reminder of Details

In the lower left quadrant, the Pleasure and MeaningQuests focus on feeling good. Here, well-being is not enough. You have to feel good about feeling good. So self-esteem and the avoidance of feelings of inferiority are essential. No-one but yourself can ultimately determine what enables you to feel good.

In the upper right quadrant, the Enlightenment and SpiritualityQuests focus on knowing clearly. Knowing here is not about book knowledge or skills or competencies. It is truth-focused knowing that generates beliefs that go to the core of personal existence. The beliefs emerge from reasoning about awareness, but many misperceive them as anti-rational because the process does not accord with conventional empirical science.

Isolating Personal-Social Effects: Halves

The effect of being high or low on one TET dimension (irrespective of the value of the other) can be represented by cutting the TET in halves, either vertically or horizontally. In both cases, the division reveals surprisingly sharp differences.
More ►

• The horizontal halves ignore the degree of transcendence of current reality, and only consider the significance of greater or lesser detachment from the ego/self.
• The vertical halves ignore the degree of self-detachment and only consider the significance of greater or lesser transcendence of current reality.

Detachment from Ego/Self: Horizontal Division

Detachment from the ego/self does not mean that personal experience is never used or is permanently extinguished. However, a major deficit in the ego/self can make Quests irrelevant because there is an inability to do much, relate to others, or function intelligently.

The four Quests in the upper half require a high degree of detachment. Non-attachment is valued, and there is an active effort to become detached. This serves to protect the ego/self.

The three Quests in the lower half do not speak of non-attachment or becoming detached, because the pursuit of each Quest depends upon using the ego/self explicitly. The consequence of making the self into an instrument of the Quest is that you put yourself at risk.

Review Key Issue:
Effect of a damaged self on choice of Quest.

Transcendence of Current Reality: Vertical Division

Every Quest transcends reality—but not equally.

The three Quests in the right half, require that a person engages mentally with a new, different and better reality than currently exists. This demands openness to experiences and generates an inner tension. External (empirical or social) constraints contribute to that tension.

The three Quests in the left half, require that a person accepts the current reality, and gives attention to sustaining and improving it. This effort reduces inner tension. Internal personal constraints naturally serve as a guide.

Review Key Issue:
Use of «right» to evaluate outcomes.

Auspices: Peripheral v Central Positions

In constructing the TET, the more extremeQuests were plotted before the more central ones. This central v peripheral positioning typically defines Cycle-1 and Cycle-2 in a Spiral trajectory that is maturational or developmental for an important aspect of personal functioning. The Spiral currently remains one of the unexplored Root Frameworks.

Constructing the TET like this was just a convenience. However, there is a deeper and meaningful distinction between these two groups, and it relates to the auspices under which the Quests are enabled to function:

• Central Quests function under social auspices.
• Peripheral Quests function under personal auspices.

Review Key Issue:
Effects of social obstruction on use of a Quest.

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• Having looked at the TET from various perspectives, it is possible to bring these together in regard to self/inner world versus society/outer world.
• The other items in this Review are:

• some FAQs
• an investigation of alternative TET layouts.

• Then this framework is taken in an unexpected direction by humanity's imagination.

Originally posted:  10-Aug-2012.