I’m not though. My mind hasn’t been bent and twisted the ways yours has, or vice versa. Neurodivergent, we.
Even if we weren’t neurodivergent - say you go to sleep and your brain rewires in the pattern of mine, and whatever awareness of you has been at the controls slides over to the side and lets my awareness drive - I still wouldn’t do what you’d do, I still wouldn’t have your view. What would you do if you weren’t you?
Over on my YT livestreams, I’ve broken down some of the categories of differences that comprise a ViewPoint into Alignment, Attitude and Orientation.
ALIGNMENT
Alignment I lifted almost wholesale from tabletop roleplaying games. What would we do if we weren’t us, but those guys there in the room with the dragon?
Not too unlike the alignment on your tires, as you proceed through life down the arrow of time, your alignment determines which way you swerve in any given situation. Alignment is made up of a foursquare divided by two axis, the first being good or evil, the scales of Self v. All. It can be considered a self-sacrifice threshold, or how likely you are to share your bread.
The other axis is a similar threshold metric, but is a measure of preference/tolerance for Order & Chaos. In the tabletop games, Order is often represented as Law. This axis can be considered a combination of Conscientiousness and Disgust Sensitivity on the Big 5™ personality matrix.
In the games, they help players determine their approach to authority. An Ordered Selfish person is represented as Lawful Evil, the sort that uses the Law for their own gain. The type that would plant patented genetic wheat next door to you so that he could sue you for your farm when plants do what plants do. This is contrasted with the Chaotic All type Chaotic Good character, the steal from the rich to give to the poor, Robin Hood types.
ATTITUDE
In one sense, Attitude is the measurement of capacity to play pretend, to LARP if you will. Aside from Selfishness to Altruism and in addition to Chaos and Order is the axis of the Sacred and the Profane.
For this I’ve only come up with the unfortunate example of a man and a woman in room. If those present are up toward the Sacred, then it can make a great deal of difference if that woman is a Queen. Attitude is the ability to LARP on the plane of socially constructed identities, the interplay of what the selves think of themselves.
ORIENTATION
All of these internal views of self and behavioral tolerances are contained and encapsulated within one’s overall worldview. The worldviews can be complex and intricate, but lean in one of two overall directions: This could be Heaven or this could be Hell.
As my gaze falls on Penny the Cat dozing in the morning sunlight, my worldview shifts toward the Love of Being and how Heavenly existence can be. As I shift my view to the ashtray to take a drag off the cigarello smoldering there, I slide back into a tiny little Hell.
IF I WERE YOU
Given the swiftly swirling nature of our ride in our Worldview Bubbles down the River of Time, should I find myself if your self & situation what I would do would always be a little different than what you would do.
I’ve found it’s good to remember how we can only see things from our own point of view, and over time come the things that shape and skew. With a good sounding of our axis and a tweak of the WorldView or two, I’ll float on in the bubble next to you.
https://youtu.be/15xkPmoh2EQ?si=m_pHtPDRX7ZQDrKK
This guy shifted my axes around the other day. Great essay Grim.
bubblicious .. Do our savings throws protect against bad attitudes?