Directions

Chapter 1 - Worldview

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Previous page: The two core dimensions - Directions - Next page: Hidden layers

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Back to Book or directly to Main Page

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Directions

Welcome to the directions page

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Key takeaways

Dimensions are guiding metaphors for the complex reality that we are and our context is. They structure the totality of our agency

• Direction provides the 'expansiveness' of your world model

Hidden layers are fields created by the 'action' and 'evaluation' dimension

On top, all layers together create the third 'potention' dimension

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Core idea

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Where do the dimensions point to?

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Directions - defining the dimensions

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• 'Directions' are the extremities of the dimensions we discussed the the previous page
• 'Directions' are the arrows that define the dimension paradoxically: on the one hand they point in opposite directions, on the other hand they define a coherent reality

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On this page we limit ourselves to the action & evaluation dimensions because they are responsible for the creation of the hidden layers (see next page), which in turn creates the third potention dimension.

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Directions of the 2 core dimensions

Created directions by the (first) ACTION dimension

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The action dimension spreads between:

• "What is important to me" (AUTONOMY) to
• "What is important for us" (PARTICIPATION), creating PATTERNS

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AUTONOMY

From "What is important to me": AUTONOMY

Human autonomy refers to the ability of a person to make their own decisions and act independently. This means they can think for themselves and act on their judgment and free will rather than being controlled (or influenced) by others. . For example, a person with autonomy can make decisions about their life, what career to pursue, and where to live. They can also make decisions about actions, such as what to do or how to spend their time. Having autonomy is important because it allows people to make their own choices and live their lives in a way that is meaningful and fulfilling to them. It also helps people to develop their sense of self and become independent and self-sufficient.

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PARTICIPATION

To "What is important for us": PARTICIPATION

Human participation refers to the involvement of people in activities or processes that affect their lives or communities. Taking part can include decision-making, development or activities. . Participation is essential because it allows people to have a say in the things that affect them and to be involved in shaping their own lives and communities. It also helps to build a sense of community and belonging and can lead to greater understanding and cooperation. People can participate by volunteering their time or resources, joining organisations, speaking up and expressing their opinions and ideas, and working with others to achieve common goals.

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Created directions by the (second) EVALUATION dimension

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The evaluation dimension spreads between:

• "What has meaning to me" (COHERENCE) to
• "What is the meaning for us" (CONNECTEDNESS - INVOLVEMENT), creating PRINCIPLES

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COHERENCE

From "What has meaning to me": COHERENCE

Human coherence refers to being logical and consistent or fitting together in a way that makes sense. It can apply to many things, including ideas, arguments, and explanations. . For example, a coherent argument is well-organized and follows a logical progression, with each point supporting the main idea and leading smoothly to the next. A cohesive explanation is clear and easy to understand and presents information logically. Coherence is essential because it helps people to understand and make sense of complex information and ideas. It also helps to ensure that communication is effective and that people can follow and understand the presented thoughts and ideas. Many factors can affect a person's coherence, including their level of education, language skills, and emotional state.

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CONNECTEDNESS

To "What is the meaning for us": CONNECTEDNESS

Human connectedness refers to the state of being connected or related to something else. It can include participating in activities or processes and working with others. . It is essential because it allows people to be a part of something bigger than themselves and contribute to the success of a group or community. Connectedness can refer to the sense of belonging or attachment to a group or community. It can also help people develop new skills, connect, and feel a sense of accomplishment and purpose.

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Dive Deeper

Dimensions have an extension indicated by the directions they extend. This also implies that a reality exists between the extremes.

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An overview of the ACTION dimension

If one imagines a single dimension with Autonomy at one pole and Participation at the other, these two concepts are rather directions of a continuum that describes the degree to which a person acts purely as a self-governing individual versus as an embedded member of a collective. Between these directions lies a rich gradient of intermediate concepts, each representing a different balance between self-direction and social embeddedness.

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ACTION dimension

Intermediates
Autonomy	Autonomy is the fullest expression of self-governance: the individual agent determines their own rules, acts on self-endorsed values, and is free from coercion or external substitution of their will. As the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy describes it, it is "the capacity to be one's own person, to live one's life according to reasons and motives that are taken as one's own". In political philosophy, it connects closely to individual rights, non-interference, and the limits of state power.
Independence	A step toward the social world, independence still emphasises freedom from reliance on others, but it acknowledges an environment in which others exist. The independent agent does not need to conform to others' directions or depend on their resources, yet they are already in a world co-inhabited with others. Independence is self-sufficiency in context, not pure self-legislation. It is close to autonomy but slightly more situational and practical.
Self-reliance	Self-reliance refers to the practical application of autonomy within a social environment, emphasising the ability to support oneself and one’s community without depending on external powers or hierarchies. Johan Galtung's political theory of self-reliance highlights the importance of operating at multiple levels - individual, community, and national - rather than being an isolated individual stance. This perspective acknowledges that the 'self' requiring reliance may actually be a collective agent.
Reciprocity	Reciprocity is the principle that governs relationships through mutual exchange—what one person gives, they can expect to receive in return. It is not simply about acting for oneself (pure autonomy) nor about being part of a collective (full participation), but rather about establishing a structured relationship between distinct individuals who acknowledge each other's claims. Many social contract theories, cooperative frameworks, and solidarity economies are built upon reciprocity as the ethical foundation for collective life.
Interdependence	Interdependence acknowledges that individuals are mutually dependent on each other in ways they cannot fully escape. Individual autonomy is not merely enhanced by collective life but is partly constituted by it. The self is understood as socially embedded rather than self-sufficient.
Solidarity	Solidarity transcends mere mutual benefit (reciprocity) or shared need (interdependence) by fostering an identification with others' situations and a commitment to their well-being. In Honneth's theory of recognition, solidarity entails social appreciation for individuals' unique contributions and qualities. It serves as the emotional and ethical bond that unites a community. People act for the sake of others, not just because they require assistance, but because they recognise each other's intrinsic worth. Solidarity connects an individual’s inner psychological state with a group's collective concerns.
Engagement	Engagement is an active, invested form of involvement that precedes formal participation structures. One is engaged when one cares about a shared matter and is willing to contribute time, voice, or effort — but the form and degree of influence remain open.
Collaboration	Collaboration means sharing responsibility for both processes and outcomes, with power distributed more evenly among participants. Unlike mere consultation, where feedback is gathered but decisions remain top-down, collaboration involves working together in a meaningful way. This includes joint planning, shared ownership, and the distribution of tasks among all involved.
Participation	Full participation involves active engagement in a group's decisions, actions, and direction, creating a situation in which the distinction between the individual and the group intentionally blurs. Arnstein's highest levels of participation - partnership, delegated power, and citizen control - illustrate situations in which citizens possess genuine power over outcomes. In emancipatory research traditions, true participation is synonymous with empowerment: the individual gives up ownership, making inclusion the guiding principle. Therefore, participation, in its fullest sense, is about individuals actively shaping the collective agency.

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An overview of the EVALUATION dimension

This dimension runs from Coherence in one direction to Connectedness at the other. It is the axis of relational and principal reach: how far the ordering or unifying principle extends, from entirely within a single system, outward to relations between distinct systems or agents.

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EVALUATION dimension

Intermediates
Coherence	Coherence is a property belonging wholly within a system's own boundaries. In epistemology, a body of beliefs is coherent when the beliefs are logically consistent, mutually supporting, and explanatorily integrated. More broadly, coherence means the parts of a whole 'hang together', they display a stable internal relational structure. A coherent system allows its components to maintain their distinctness while serving the larger whole. There is no need for any reference to anything outside the system.
Consistency	Where coherence involves positive mutual support among parts, consistency is the absence of contradiction. A set of beliefs, rules, or elements is consistent if none cancel out or contradict any other. Consistency operates purely at the level of form and is agnostic to whether the elements support or explain one another — it is coherence stripped to its logical skeleton. Still entirely internal to the system, it sets the baseline from which richer ordering can grow.
Integrity	An integral system not only avoids internal contradiction at any given moment but also sustains its inner unity amid pressures, changes, and challenges. The word carries its etymology with it: integer, whole, untouched. A psychological or physical entity has integrity when its core structure is preserved even under external perturbation. Integrity is still a property of the thing itself, not of its relations to others. Still, it anticipates the boundary, because integrity is only meaningful in the presence of an outside world that could threaten it.
Integration	Integration is coherence made dynamic and purposive, describing a process — the active binding of distinct elements into a unified system. In neuroscience, integration is the process by which distributed brain regions coordinate to produce higher-level cognition; in psychology, it is the reconciliation of previously separated mental contents into a more complex self-understanding. Integration implies that the parts were not always unified — there was a difference or separation that has been actively overcome. It therefore stands slightly further along the dimension than integrity: not just maintaining wholeness, but producing it through the bringing-together of differences.
Alignment	Agents are considered aligned when their goals, values, or phases are directed in the same way. Alignment refers to situations where processes support each other instead of creating obstacles, sharing a common strategic direction. Importantly, alignment can occur even across boundaries: two separate entities can be aligned with each other, sharing the same orientation and phase, without being directly connected or coupled. Thus, alignment inherently points outward and is most meaningful when there is something external to align with.
Resonance	Resonance is a form of mutual responsiveness that is more than information exchange. It implies that the other's vibration finds something already latent in the self. To resonate is not merely to be coupled but to be moved. Resonance, therefore, carries a hint of recognition across the boundary between systems, one that is absent from the more purely mechanical notion of coupling.
Attunement	Attunement is the moment-to-moment process of adjusting one's attention and presence to the felt reality of another person, group, or environment. Drawn from attachment theory and phenomenology, attunement describes a relational sensitivity that is both inward (tuning into one's own inner signals) and outward (sensing the subtle cues of others). Unlike coupling, which can be mechanical, attunement implies a form of responsiveness, an active, felt orientation toward the other.
Belonging	To belong is to be recognised as a legitimate member of a whole — a family, a community, a category and to recognise oneself as such. Belonging is a precondition of healthy order: everyone belongs; every member has their rightful place, and everyone deserves recognition. Belonging is therefore an entitlement to be included and a felt reality of fitting into a larger whole. It binds internal experience to external relation.
Connectedness	Connectedness refers to the relational aspects between agents, indicating that ties, pathways, or relationships link them. Importantly, connectedness does not make any claims about the quality of these relationships; it only asserts their existence. Two agents can be connected through weak, instrumental, or entirely external ties. Therefore, connectedness is a basic relational concept: it confirms that the boundaries between agents have been crossed and that no entity is completely isolated. However, it does not address aspects such as coherence, resonance, or a sense of belonging for either party involved in the connection.

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