Kinkajou: So what are the Enneagram Types?
Erasmus: The enneagram types are numbered one to nine. I’ll briefly summarize what I believe to be some of their characteristics of the enneagram six in the Ennegenes (enneagram gene) model. Now remember, other authors may have a slightly different point of view, because my view is based on what I believe the underlying genetics of the people involved are.
If you have a particular gene, you will act in a way that a particular gene will program for you. And the six gene (serotonin gene), is one of the most unique and distinctive genes of all the enneagram’s genetics. The six gene is about permutations and possibilities. In any situation, it gives the blessed individual the perspective to effectively see a situation in “colour” and to see the colour in language. Compared to enneagram sixes, many of the other enneagram types are essentially limited to a black-and-white perspective of a situation.
Brain in Colour
That is not to say that one cannot learn to see a situation as an enneagram six does. All humans are capable of modifying their own behaviour and are capable of learning. But innately, no one can do the behaviour like an enneagram six does.
When people are talking, the cynicism and sarcasm of the enneagram six is often completely misinterpreted by other people with whom they are conversing. They see the language as insulting or hurtful, and it takes a long time for other people to learn to think in the same spectrum in which sixes routinely think.
The sixes within the enneagram are a head type. That is much of their life exists solely within the confines of the head. There is a powerful imaginary life. There are always things to think about. There are always dreams. There are always permutations and possibilities. There are always questions.
The "City Fathers" asking questions: a SciFi perspective on thought.
Having an enneagram six perspective, is as distinctive as colour vision but it is the colour vision of thinking. The main enneagram types with enneagram six genes are enneagram sixes (of course), enneagram threes and enneagram twos.
To be a six is to live somewhere where no other human being can be.
Cool Kats seeing something no one else can see.
Kinkajou: Wow! But in the enneagram, don’t nines stress to the enneagram six.
Erasmus: Absolutely. But it is a situation which is very temporary and which does not intrude into most of their lives. And enneagram nine when stressed will ask: who? What? How? Why? When? With whom? How often? Where? And all in very rapid-fire perspective. An adjunct of a very active mind.
Kinkajou: So you are saying that the heightened brain activity in the enneagram nine in times of stress causes brain (serotonin) activation, effectively pushing the enneagram nine to enneagram six level of function.
Grainger Pilot of the Hooded Swan : an extra mind to think with.
Grainger's partner: the "Wind".
This creates some interesting questions.
Erasmus: I think I can see where this is going.
Kinkajou: If brain chemistry can be altered naturally, what about with pharmacotherapy. Drugs!
Erasmus: Again. Spot on. I think it is possible to change who you are and how you think by altering your brain chemistry. And chemicals designed act on brain chemicals such as antidepressants or any chemical affecting histamine, adrenaline or serotonin can have substantial and lasting effects on behaviour. People can become someone else, to who they naturally are. People can even choose the behavioural set to which they wish to belong. Imagine being able to choose to think in colour. Would you really want to be anywhere else within the enneagram?
Kinkajou: Yes an interesting question.
Erasmus: Much of our commentary on medications targeted to brain chemistry such as the antidepressants is much simplified. Many of the SSRI family of drugs (common antidepressants) have cholinergic, histaminergic and adrenergic effects. In fact each drug within the family, is effectively unique in terms of its effect on brain chemistry. So it becomes rather hard to deliberately engineer a specific behavioural pattern.
Unusual behaviour patterns are well documented. For example, Prozac when first introduced obtained a reputation for triggering suicidal or violent behaviour. And I think this was largely dependent on the genetics of the individuals involved. People with violent tendencies or narrowed perspectives to begin with, became increasingly motivated and focused by the use of the medication.
I remember one friend telling me about a patient (an enneagram eight) who was on Prozac. He got the idea into his head of going off to kill his wife. He picked up his gun and hopped into the car. The quick action of all his friends in talking him out of doing this was the only thing that saved the situation. He was certainly not clueless. In thinking about the situation, he decided that it was the Prozac that was responsible for him acting in such a reckless and determined fashion. He decided that it would be best for him not to continue taking this medicine.
Erasmus: Interesting to see how any enneagram type even an eight can have insight into their own behaviour. And even an eight with the limited perspective given by brain pharmacotherapy, can decide that a course of action is not a good idea. And they can even see through to the probable cause of the altered behaviour, can make a decision that they do not like making these type of decisions, and can decide to make changes to stop any possibility of such a situation arising again – in particular where they may not be fortunate enough to have friends to “talk them down”.
Erasmus: Yes. Humans are amazing.
Kinkajou: So tell us a little bit more about the enneagram six.
Xylon Six: not your usual "Six".
Erasmus: Six: You can always recognize a six (or affiliates like “twos” and “threes”), by their sense of humour. They have a sarcastic cynical outlook. Many of the other personality types in the enneagram lack this gene and have difficulty getting used to this behaviour or mode of speech. To many other people it comes across as rude, till they get used to it. Then they realise it’s just a way of speaking or thinking, that the individual can’t help. Typically this happens over many years when in living with such a person, you become much more familiar with their motivations and behaviour.
“Sixes” may or may not have drive, depending on their other personality genes. With an extra dose of the “six” gene, these people can look rather paranoid and suspicious. This behaviour to many people can look like being almost crazy. Enneagram sixes all like to know or to think about what is really going on behind the scenes. They are more interested in the “real” truth of the situation rather than just the superficial appearances and the headline news. Because of their sarcasm, which is not a common feature of many other Enneagram types, they often take a bit of getting used to. Not everyone’s cup of tea.
Seeing things like they do is not everyone's cup of tea.
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One of my friends was a social “eight”, a mother with four (4) children. She was flirty, smiling, forward and assertive. Exactly what you would expect from a social “eight”. I really surprised to work out that her husband was a self-pres “six”
“Eights” being forward, assertive or aggressive is not something that lots of people tolerate. So “eights” tend to partner with more easy going personalities or people who believe they need the coddling and protection that an “eight” can offer. So to that extent if her husband was a bit quiet, it could be quite easy to let the woman (“eight”) take charge and run his life.
The “self-pres” vs. “social” bonding though really didn’t make sense, but I think I can see how it came about. They both met and connected in a “sexual” mode. The woman toned down her social streak to socialize with her husband one to one. Having kids from another partner may well have clamped her “social “wings so to speak as well. The man came out of his self- pres to become a bit more intimate with just one more person. Living together would have worked out quite well with just them and one child in the family.
As more kids began to be popped out over time, the female “eight” built her social network based on a large family. The husband now forced to cope with large scale social intrusions into his little life, retreated into his cave: well out of the family’s way.
They get along well. The family works. The behavioural compromises and adaptations are more than a little surprising, but they do work.
Problems: If the “six” “self- pres” male becomes too divorced from his family, he can begin chasing all the usual male bad habits: e.g. alcohol in this case. It’s easier to drink if you feel yourself to be outside the social network of the family than if you feel more woven into the family network.
A Sixes' family tree: thinking & seeing in colour
Kinkajou: Any more examples?
Erasmus: I went to my school reunion. One of the fellows there I encountered was very loud and with a weird sarcastic sense of humour. It was a very intrusive pushy yet bizarre behaviour. I think I had come across a sixish eight or an eightish six. A very very unusual animal indeed. A person whom if you met in the course of your life, you would have a very great difficulty understanding their motivations and the humour.
But once you understand the enneagram’s genetic model, you can see exactly where they are coming from. And you can begin to relax and enjoy the show.
Kinkajou: Yes people watching can be great fun. If I were a God and made a world, I don’t think I could ever have dreamt up such bizarre animals as we see existing in the world of humans around us. But we can finally begin to understand them, simply based on an understanding of the genetics.
Kinkajou: Next. There are lots of other Personality Models besides the Enneagram. Aren’t hey just as good?
New Human Model
Learn about Cloning and Cell Growth Control in Science. WWW.ENKtechs.COM "Cloning & Cell Growth Control".
Kinkajou: Alternate Personality Theories vs. the Enneagram.
Erasmus: Yes, but none are anywhere near as good or as insightful. I like the enneagram as a personality model because it works. I don’t think that there is any other personality model that can so describe a person, how they react to stress and how they react to relaxation.
The enneagram model suggests that people of any enneagram type, behave differently in circumstances of stress and differently again in circumstances of relaxation. This sort of makes sense. In stress or relaxation, our levels of brain chemicals change and it would be expected that the behaviour perceived would change also.
How a person reacts in these situations is unique, but quite predictable if the enneagram model is followed.
In contrast, the enneagram types are distinctive enough and recognizable in every person. The distinctiveness of the behaviour patterns led me to suspect that the enneagram actually describes in some fashion the contribution of DNA genes to a person’s behaviour. I.e. Each behaviour described by the enneagram describes a specific behavioural phenotype.
Sixes thinking in colour like seeing in colour
The descriptions the doctors use are clumsy, not relevant to normal people, do not allow predictions of other aspects of “usual” behaviour and do not recognize that behaviour can change in times of stress and relaxation. Most of the medical descriptions of pathological behaviour, are really pathological extremes of the typical enneagram types. If we use that Paill Spectrum model as well, you can see some quite bizarre behaviours – in effect the behaviours of brain-damaged people. Censored
My friend’s wife, who is a sexual nine, starts to look like a self-pres six, if stressed. There is not much optimism. Just a massive list of rapidly shot out questions with a thick layer of encrusted paranoia. It happens every time she becomes substantially stressed.
What did you do? Where did you do it?
Why did you do it?
Who knows?
Who did you tell?
Why did you tell them?
Who did you do it with?
Who else was there?
(I think you get the picture).
Even if you have never seen this sort of behaviour in the enneagram nine with whom you are associating, the enneagram model tells you that it will be there. I do not think any other behavioural model lets you do this. Most of the models rely on looking at the behaviour, analysing the behaviour and then expecting to see more of the same answers that you have gained you’re your analysed.
The enneagram lets you expect to see behaviours that have not arisen yet.
A friend’s son moved out with his girlfriend. She was an enneagram one. Very soon he decided he did not like her pushy and dominating behaviour which he had not seen while she was living with him at his own home. He had not expected to see this behaviour as he had never experienced it in his long courtship time with her. But from my own point of view, I had spent the last few years wondering how he had managed to come to an accommodation with the enneagram one behaviour. My friend’s son had not seen the behaviour, but I really knew it was there from the moment I learned she wasn’t enneagram one.
Some of the behaviour models of personality are probably even best looked at as cut down versions of the enneagram.
Each enneagram type is unique. The key thing the genetics model gives you is a little bit more perspective on how genotype can blur into phenotype. How even the enneagram types can sometimes blur a bit together. How behaviour can be predicted based on the knowledge of the enneagram and of the enneagram genes that make up the individual.
In the genetic theory of enneagrams, sixes are people who possess one or more fast serotonin genes. (These genes can affect either the brain receptors or brain pathways). There may be the variable presence of other genes especially slow histamine or fast noradrenergic genes. This leads to a very distinctive behaviour pattern. “Sixes” have a distinctive sarcastic or cynical bent in their behaviour. This type of behaviour can also be found in the enneagram “threes”. Also enneagram “nines” in situations of stress can manifest some of the paranoiac elements of "six" behaviour.
Sixes can have some variation in their gene mix. So it is the presence of the serotonin gene, that makes this enneagram type so distinctive.
"Sixes" Like Ferreting out Secrets
Many traditional theorists describe sixes as the devil’s advocate, or as the trooper. They say sixes have lost faith in the power structure or bureaucracy when they were young. Sixes remember being afraid of those who had power over them. As adults they carry suspiciousness or paranoia of the motivations of other people’s behaviour.
Again what bullshit. Are we to believe that everyone who has a bad experience with authority as a child will become a six. Surely not. Life is full of people who having experienced adverse events or loss, blithely blunder on seemingly unaffected by their experiences, through life.
The development of "six" personality may well be influenced by bad experiences with authority or bureaucracy as a child. But it is the genes that the side the drive and the development. Sixes are not weird paranoiacs or anti-authoritarians. They are human beings with simple basic drives based on the genes they have inherited.
Because of some of the variability in the presence of other enneagram genes, the behaviour of sixes covers a wide range of characteristics. Sixes can have strong deciding genes such as in ones or eights. They can have as much drive or scattering as a four or seven. But it is the presence of fast serotonin genes that give this enneagram personality type so much of its distinctive flavour.
Assemble the genes to create the personality.
Erasmus: To be an enneagram six is to think in “colour”, and to see ; ">situations in colour. Absolutely Unique
Alternate Mother Figure: six humour.