Dimensional thinking in practice
Chapter 1 - Worldview
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Welcome to the Dimensional thinking in practice page
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Triangulation is a particularly illuminating method for clearly defining your own position or that of other actors in society regarding what matters to you.
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Introduction
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If you are not familiar with dimensional thinking, it is advisable to review the previous pages and especially 'Dimensional thinking summary'.
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As a human being, you continually position yourself in the physical world. However, this also applies to your position in world culture. Together, both determine how you actively participate in society, moment after moment. What you experience in society is never one-dimensional, but revolves around interests (which trigger action), values (which evaluate whether those actions are worth carrying out), and the goals that flow from the previous two (and are assessed in context for their relevance and potential for the future).
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The core elements
Dimensional thinking
Active dimension – aka your Interests
- Interests represent our active dimension, spanning from autonomy (what is important to me) to participation (what is important for us). This dimension captures why we act and what drives us toward particular behaviours and life pursuits. Interests are not merely preferences – they are deep motivational currents shaped by our biology and learning history.
Evaluation dimension – aka your Values
- Values constitute our evaluation dimension, stretching from coherence (what has meaning for me) to connectedness (what has meaning for us). Values function as the interpretive lenses through which we assess situations, make judgments, and decide what matters. They are the principles by which we evaluate experience and coordinate with others.
Potention dimension – aka your Goals
- Goals define our potential dimension, extending from competencies (what can I do) to relevance (what we should do). Goals emerge from the interplay of interests and values over time, representing the concrete future orientations that guide action planning and give direction to life.
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Triangulation
Four simple steps (template at the end of the page) ensure you get a clear picture of what is on your mind. Of course, it is wise to do this in team.
Step 1:
- Define the concept you want to explore
Step 2:
- What are the action-, evaluation- and potention dimensions of the concept?
Step 3:
- What defines the directions of these dimensions?
Step 4:
- Where are the parts of the concept you want to discuss located in the triangle relative to the dimensions and directions?
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Hereafter, I present you with an example concerning the concept 'Trust & Responsibility'.
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In this example I descibe the view of Deci & Ryan on trust & responsibility. The two stars are (fictive) positions of two persons in a discussion:
- Red: "I feel at my best when I can showcase my competencies and have the autonomy to act on them."
- Yellow: "My strength lies in participating in working groups. My goal there is always to achieve something concrete."
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More examples
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Again, this example does not mean that these are the definitively determining societal factors. It is the result of a discussion that makes it clear that such a subject is never one-dimensional.
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The acronym WEIRD, stands for Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic. It was introduced by Joseph Henrich, Steven J. Heine, and Ara Norenzayan in 2010 to highlight the fact that a significant portion of psychological research has been conducted on a very specific subset of the world's population: mostly individuals from North America, Western Europe, and other developed, democratic countries. With this example, we discuss how this viewpoint shapes the view of politics. Note also that here we are primarily zooming in on the 'dimensional level'.
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This example shows how George Monbiot analyses the sustainability movement and detects three fundamental currents within it.
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Template
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