158 practice makes perfect Advanced English Reading and Comprehension
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1 No two people are the same. Even identical twins with the same genetic makeup are distinct
in their thoughts, feelings, and behavior. he diferences that make us unique are referred to as
personality, which the Oxford Dictionary deines as “the characteristics or qualities that form a
person’s character.” here are thousands of interesting personality traits, but more fascinating is
what actually makes us think, feel, and behave the way we do.
2 he oldest theory of personality can be credited to the Roman surgeon Galen of Pergamon
(129–c. 200 c.e.), who related the four body luids, or humors—irst identiied by Hippocrates 500
years earlier—to four temperaments: melancholy, sanguine, choleric, and phlegmatic. Humor-
ism, which was considered more an explanation of what causes disease, dominated Western
thinking until the twentieth century, when psychology emerged and personality became the sub-
ject of scientiic study. Since then, theories ranging from biological, behavioral, psychodynamic,
humanist, and trait-based have been put forward. he controversial nature-nurture theory
explains personality in terms of the inluence of genetics (what we inherit from our parents) and
our environment (our upbringing, culture, education, experiences, and so on). People have also
been classiied as Type A (active, outgoing, extroverted) and Type B (passive, withdrawn, intro-
verted), or according to a ive-factor model of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness,
neuroticism, and openness.
3 An ancient system rooted in Sui mysticism, the Enneagram (Greek ennea for “nine” and
grammos for “point”) identiies nine major aspects of being. Unlike other personality theories,
the Enneagram ofers a model that symbolizes the unfolding of human consciousness. As indi-
viduals, we are born with one temperament or type, but we can see ourselves to some extent in all
nine. While each type has certain attributes, it is organized around a chief feature of character or
passion, which can become either a neurotic habit or an ally in attaining self-awareness.
4 Each type does not operate in isolation from the others. Based on the Law of hree, the nine
types are comprised of three kinds of intelligence, or ways of receiving intuitive information, and
characterized by three emotional predispositions:
◆ Types 1-8-9 are belly-based, or physical, with a predisposition toward anger.
◆ Types 2-3-4 are feeling-based, or emotional, with a predisposition toward not knowing one’s
true feelings.
◆ Types 5-6-7 are head-based, or mental, with a predisposition toward fear.
As the following diagram illustrates, each type is joined to the others by lines that indicate which
types actively inluence the predominating, or inherent, type under stressful or secure circum-
stances. When under stress, a Nine type, for example, will behave like a hree, and in a secure
situation, like a Six. Each type has two adjacent wings, one of which will act as a complement, or
second side, to the personality. A Nine has either a stronger Eight or a stronger One wing; a Four,
a more dominant hree or Five wing; and so on. In some cases, both wings exert an equal inlu-
ence, and in others they may exert minimal inluence, or none at all. In addition to wings, each
type consists of three subtypes that relate to issues in relationships: intimate and one-to-one,
social, and self-preservation.