If you appreciate the Enneagram, you will likely agree that the polarization of issues is unhelpful and even harmful to us individually and societally. Thinking that there are only two sides to an issue creates debates versus dialogues, combat versus conversations, and arguments over agreements. It’s hard to come to any harmony, unity, peace—if there are only two sides. And each of us will stick to certain binaries based on the Enneagram types we are strongest in.
It’s not our fault, however. Humans naturally divide things into two. Psychologists call this binary bias[1]. We finite beings with limited brains can’t help but want to simplify complex issues into two categories. It’s why a solution to climate change, an extremely grey issue, is so hard to find[2].
All of us categorize things into two. We all, at times, simply things by making them into binaries. And our Enneagram type will likely determine the categories or binaries that we sort things into. Here is a list of 27 damaging binaries based on the Enneagram Types that we all make, and need to stop making.
Type 1 Binaries
Right Vs. Wrong
Good Vs. Evil
Spiritual Vs. Secular
Type 2 Binaries
Selfish Vs. Selfless
Give Vs. Take
Helpful Vs. Useless
Type 3 Binaries
Productive Vs. Unproductive
Winner Vs. Loser
Success Vs. Failure
Type 4 Binaries
Meaningful Vs. Meaningless
Beautiful Vs. Ugly
Full Vs. Empty
Type 5 Binaries
Smart Vs. Stupid
Logical Vs. Irrational
True Vs. False
Type 6 Binaries
Safe Vs. Dangerous
Stable Vs. Rocky
Dependable Vs. Uncertain
Type 7 Binaries
Happy Vs. Sad
Fun Vs. Boring
Meaningful Vs. Meaningless
Type 8 Binaries
Good Vs. Evil
Innocent Vs. Oppressor
Strong Vs. Weak
Type 9 Binaries
Selfless Vs. Selfish
Peace Vs. Conflict
Urgent Vs. Non-Urgent
Related: How To Be a Better Leader
Do you know your Enneagram Type and your binaries?
Depending on your Enneagram profile (what type you are and how strong all the other types are in you), you will favor specific binaries more than others. You likely categorize most things into your type’s preferred binaries, but you may also have learned to develop the binaries of your type’s Rich and Relaxed types, your family’s, or your culture’s type (e.g., American is generally considered an Enneagram 3 culture)
By understanding your Enneagram type and its tendencies, you can more quickly and effectively crush your binary bias and think through issues well and wisely. This is not to say that there is no such thing as good or evil, or that any of the things above do not exist. I am not saying that Marie Kondo’s advice is wrong. But I am saying that maybe everything cannot be categorized as things that spark joy and things that do not. Things, life, people, cannot be so simply categorized into either 1 category or another.
People are complicated. The world is complicated. And the only way to live with complicated people in a complicated world is by resisting the natural impulse to simplify everyone and everything, embrace ambiguity and complexity, and start thinking well and wisely.
What binaries do you struggle most with? How might they be hindering you from experiencing a richer life?
Find out your Enneagram type here.
Bibliography
[1] Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know (New York: Viking, 2021), 165.
[2] Ibid., 173.
