Many people like to think that their preferences and choices are their own. But to what extent is that really true? How much autonomy do we really have to make our own decisions?
If you know about MBTI and Enneagram, you already know that these two orientations of personality can make a huge impact on the style with which you approach life and the direction you choose. However, one theory, the Strauss-Howe generational theory proposes that even the timing of our birth can cause us to take on the attributes of the our generation’s zeitgeist in cycles of 4.
There are 4 different generation archetypes: the prophets, nomads, heroes and artists. The emergence of these archetypes are centered around two distinct periods of heavy activity.
The first distinct period of heavy activity is described as the crisis, where “institutional life is destroyed and rebuilt in response to a perceived threat to the nation’s survival. Civic authority revives, cultural expression redirects towards community purpose, and people begin to locate themselves as members of a larger group”.
The second distinct period of heavy activity is described as the awakening, when “institutions are attacked in the name of personal and spiritual autonomy. Just when society is reaching its high tide of public progress, people suddenly tire of social discipline and want to recapture a sense of self-awareness, spirituality and personal authenticity.”
Prophet generations are born near the end of a Crisis, during a time of rejuvenated community life and consensus around a new societal order. Prophets grow up as the increasingly indulged children of this post-Crisis era, come of age as self-absorbed young crusaders of an Awakening, focus on morals and principles in midlife, and emerge as elders guiding another Crisis.
Nomad generations are born during an Awakening, a time of social ideals and spiritual agendas, when young adults are passionately attacking the established institutional order. Nomads grow up as under-protected children during this Awakening, come of age as alienated, post-Awakening adults, become pragmatic midlife leaders during a Crisis, and age into resilient post-Crisis elders.
Hero generations are born after an Awakening, a time of individual pragmatism, self-reliance, and let-things-be attitude. Heroes grow up as increasingly protected post-Awakening children, come of age as team-oriented young optimists during a Crisis, emerge as energetic, overly-confident midlifers, and age into politically powerful elders attacked by another Awakening.
Artist generations are born during a Crisis, a time when great dangers cut down social and political complexity in favor of public consensus, aggressive institutions, and an ethic of personal sacrifice. Artists grow up overprotected by adults preoccupied with the Crisis, come of age as the socialized and conformist young adults of a post-Crisis world, break out as process-oriented midlife leaders during an Awakening, and age into thoughtful post-Awakening elders.
So how does this correspond with our present day? Keeping note that the age ranges of these generations are not set by any one authority, we are still able to see the formation of a plausible model that fits within the generational trends we see today.
Baby Boomers, who would be between 52 and 70 in 2016, would be the Prophets. They experienced unprecedented good fortune within their youth having been born in an economy post-world war 2.
Generation X, would be between 35 and 51 in 2016, would be the Nomads. Think The Breakfast Club.
Generation Y, or millennial, 18 and 34 in 2016, would be the Heroes. The millennials were the last generation to see life without the internet yet on the cusp of new changes with technology. The Hero Generation comes of age during a crisis period, and with the emergence of The Great Recession and issues like ISIS, it makes sense that we are currently in a crisis period.
Generation Z, will include those below 18 and those who have yet to be born, featuring as the Artist generation.
What we can learn from observing these theories, is that each archetype is formed in response to the previous generations. Generation X incited a spiritual movement from the lack of soul within the strong and cold institutions they saw. The Baby Boomers sought to create unity as embodiments of society’s idealistic visions for the future. These different generations of people were all influenced by their predecessors and their births at specific periods of time. The personalities of these people, despite likely seeing themselves as autonomous individuals with their own goals, created a unique faction that represented an overlying message. It makes you wonder what our personalities could have been like, given the same experiences as our predecessors, what our dreams and goals would be like and whether we would understand people from different generations more.
Given these theories of MBTI, Enneagram and Strauss-Howe generational theory, we can almost get a sense that we don’t choose our own destinies, but our destinies choose us. The real battle may be a matter of whether we choose to embrace our roles or fight against the tides.
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