I think the main benefit of knowing about these typologies is to show that others have completely valid ways of looking at the world and experiencing life that are different from mine.
Some less enlightened people (not anyone here) might believe that the only right way of thinking, doing, being is THEIR way. That anyone who does not see the world as they do and function as they do is wrong, uneducated, misinformed, or even mentally ill.
The first time I was exposed to the Myers-Briggs types it blew my mind. It gave me a window into how others see the world. It kind of removes one from the center of the universe chair.
Sometimes people think that their particular brand of intelligence, suffering, problem solving, etc., is unique. They feel very special, either in a good, superior way or in a bad, inferior way. But the first time you read the Enneagram description of your type and it really clicks, you realize that you're not all that special-- again it removes you from the center of the universe chair. This particular collection of attitudes and quirks can be found in lots of other people of your type.
This is particularly helpful if you're stuck in a negative place. You realize that lots of other people like you have suffered in just exactly this way... and my reaction was always to say "if they can get through it, I can get through it."
Each of the Enneagram types (or fixations) is a way of coping with the... how should I put this... basically with the fear of death and annihilation. This is the existential fear that comes with being alive: the fear of non-being. Each of the nine types copes with this fear in a different way.
Even the cheerful and upbeat 7 is running from death and distracting him/herself with planning and acquiring things. The 5 is buffering his fear with all the knowledge and information he can find. The 1 clings to the assurance that s/he is always right. The 6 finds refuge in institutions, such as the army or the church. And so on...
The first time I read the description of the 4, I was shocked and embarrassed. I laughed out loud. It was as if someone had been looking over my shoulder. The description fit me to a "t." I felt enormously relieved that I was not uniquely cursed as I had pretty much believed up until that time.
Not everyone likes to know this stuff. My late H feel discounted and minimized somehow to know that his quirks and traits could be categorized this way. My bf feels belittled, too. I always felt very relieved.
Martelo, do you truly see no benefit to knowing about these patterns as they apply to interpersonal relations?
