Breaking Down Your Values
I've spent most of my life trying to understand people. One of the things I've noticed over time is that most people have only a few values that they use as guiding principles. Concepts that trump all else. Some common virtues would be family, freedom and compassion.
How this is done is pretty simple. Consider the topic; I started with Politics, and determine the most important issues to you. If there's one or two things you could change or protect forever, what would it/they be? Then start asking why. Keep asking why you feel the way you do until you feel you can comfortably answer in a single word: your virtue. It may be that you end up with two or three values that each turn into a different virtue by the time you're finished.
The importance of these is understanding where we each begin our thought process. Knowing how we're different fundamentally is the first step in finding ways to work together.
Here's what I value:
Source
Politics
Politically my main concerns are for universal healthcare and more fairly run elections that allow for a greater diversity of voices in the government.
Why?
I believe a government should represent its people and provide to its citizens some guarantees of health and happiness, the level of which is based on the wealth of the country.
Why?
I believe all people should receive just compensation for their contribution to society regardless of occupation. I also value economic studies that show an efficient economy is one with a modest wealth gap, not like the wealth distribution today.
Why?
I believe that, at birth, all people in a country should have equal opportunity at birth. That will bring out the best talent in the country and improve our overall well being.
This is important because I value equality and reason/evidence the most. Those are my guiding principles, at least when it comes to politics.
Source
Social Life
I'm happiest with a single best friend/lover that I feel I can trust with absolute certainty.
Why?
I prefer small groups. I feel exposed if I let myself get close to people, and I don't like doing so with many people.
Why?
It's exhausting spending time with people. I feel more content if I can control what people know about me.
Why?
I'm an introvert that values energy preservation and privacy. These determine when and where I socialise.
Source
Work
I enjoy an atmosphere that is run efficiently and with talented people involved.
Why?
Doing tasks slowly because better processes and tools aren't being adopted annoys me. Talented people inspire me to do more.
Why?
I value efficiency and inspiration. Particularly due to the inspiration aspect, I tend to really value innovative coworkers and strive to be innovative myself. Maybe this really boils down to "Innovation".
Source
Love Life
Well, that's the end of this article! Seriously, I don't know enough about my own tastes in romance to comment on this one effectively. It's a good topic to go over with your significant other though. Find out what they truly want out of your relationship.
None of this, of course, is scientific. It's based on one man's observations and isn't exactly testable nor predictable. It is intended to get past surface level values and get to the core of your life's meaning, so if you feel so inclined to do some self-searching include your results in the comments!
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Very interesting article. I often use this technique in relation to discovering "who I am," but I have never thought to do it in order to discover what I value. Its funny though, if you keep going deeper and deeper with this method, you eventually reach a point where nothing makes any sense. At least not intellectually.
Doing this can even show us how our mind creates illusions. I often refer to the "self" as an illusion since it is made up of many words and labels that exist as nothing more than thoughts within our mind. I suspect that this would be the same for our value systems.
hmmm... I am going to try this at some point. Nice share. Really gives me something to think about :)
Glad you enjoyed it :) I've found it crucial not to bring "sense" into a conversation about personality. Humans are constantly doing things that don't make sense or are intellectually inconsistent. I've been caught on that a few times, but it's insanely difficult to determine the flaws in your own logic.
I agree that it is difficult to see the flaws in your own thinking. Sometimes we get caught up in our own perspective and cannot see things another way. Sometime we need an outside perspective in order to see things clearly.
Great thought exercise! It's helpful to write down the logic behind some of those "gut feelings" that define my core values.
It really is. It's also little exercises like these that help me understand others too. Once I learned to understand my fundamental values I was able to realize how people may not value the same things. That really helps to gain a respect for differing points of view. In most cases at least.
Realizing that ego is a construct (an animalistic survival instinct, in my view) is something that not enough people take the time to fully appreciate.
Thanks for the enlightening post! Human nature can be a very nuanced subject, however as you've shown it all breaks down into specific fundamentals, values.