What is quadra? general description

Quadra is a group of four sociotypes, united by common socio-psychological priorities and performing a strictly defined mission in the process of social development.

Socionics regards the process of evolution in society as a sequence of alternating stages, each of which is characterized by its own moral and psychological climate and a system of professed values. For each of these areas of development is responsible for one of the four quadras (lat. Quadrum - quadrangle). Quadratic groups alternate as follows:

The first quadra (alpha) is the Illuminators, who create and disseminate fundamentally new ideas of social development in society. The Enlightenment quadra includes the Seeker (ILE), the Analyst (LII), the Enthusiast (ESE), and the Mediator (AEI). The main features of this quadra are democratism (openness, pluralism, the prevalence of horizontal managerial relations) and disputability (deliberation, lack of a power component in decision-making).

The second quadra (beta) is the EMPLOYERS who transform the original concept into a complete ideology and introduce new orders, creating the corresponding organizational structures). This quad is composed of Mentor (EE), Marshal (SLE), Inspector (LSI) and Lyric (IEI). The main features of this tough quadra are aristocracy (closeness, the prevalence of vertical, hierarchical, managerial ties) and resoluteness (decisiveness, a great deal of weight of willpower).

The third quadra (gamma) is the REFORMATORS, which remove the contradictions accumulated at the previous stage through the criticism of the mistakes made and carry out the reform of the outdated rigid structures. The Quarter of Reformers includes the Sociotypes Politician (SEE), Entrepreneur (LIE), Critic (OR), and Keeper (ESI). The main features of this quadra are democratism (openness, decentralization, multi-structuredness) and resoluteness (priority of power methods, decisive and vigorous actions).

The fourth quad (delta) is the PERFECTORS (enhancers) who bring the original, but reformed idea to exhaustion through improvement. Perfection Quadra consists of Administrator (FEL), Master (SLI), Advisor (IEE) and Humanist (EII) sociotypes. The main attributes of perfektory are aristocracy (closeness, elitism, quality of life) and disputability (deliberation, decision making by non-violent methods).

Quadra is considered a group of maximum comfort. It provides ease of communication and restoration of the physical and moral strength of people. However, it does not solve the problem of creating a working voltage, it leads to a gradual attenuation, since it does not generate the necessary contradictions for the upward development.

Each quad is specialized in its environment and its time. In general terms, this specialization is as follows: 
- the quadra alpha ideology is effective in small cozy family-type groups (orientation toward eternity), 
- quadra beta ideologically wins in large centralized groups, united by the common goal of fighting for any national, class or religious ideal (orientation for the future), 
- quadra gamma value norms will inevitably prevail when acting alone on the basis of temporary agreements for the sake of material interest (orientation to the present), 
- the delta quadra ideology is optimal in medium-sized corporate-type groups, where the overall result equally depends on the success of each participant (orientation to the past).

Alpha Quadra - Peripheral Individualists

Socio-economic aspect
For the alpha-quadra, a family-type economy is naturally suitable. With such an organization of labor, all family members work according to their strengths and abilities. Nobody overloads, but at the same time and does not shirk. Approximately as much as the family can consume is produced and stored. This type of farm is fully adapted to the surrounding natural landscape.

The power of this quad does not happen. Of course, some of its representatives sometimes get into central management positions. Yes, they are there, but only as an exception, confirming the rule. Alpha types have neither the power nor the financial leverage to effectively manage organized groups.

State institutions in the alpha society are not developed, dominated by the authority of their elders. In this quadra there are no managerial social types endowed with logic and sensory. State power is therefore exercised by aliens, or anarchy reigns, but not in the sense of “rogue freemen,” but as the situational leadership of someone who at the moment will be able to interest, captivate, demonstrate knowledge.

In the state as an apparatus of coercion there is no need, since there is no serious aggressiveness, lust for power, an excess of product that could be appropriated by force. This democratic quadra is very hard to react to punishment, force coercion, the dictates of old traditions or a formally introduced law. The alpha type, limited to such a framework, psychologically dies, just as an aborigine, who is used to living in unity with nature, dies and is placed in a city apartment.

Such a society can theoretically exist indefinitely, but dies as a result of natural disasters or contacts with more aggressive neighbors. It is possible only in conditions of a very protected periphery, a special parallel world, which, knowing about the existence of a civilized world and even touching it, nevertheless remains outside its direct influence.

Spiritual and psychological aspect of
family and cognitive values

In alpha types, there is a focus on others' neighbors - their own small group. In other words, they are characterized by moderate individualism. On the one hand, it manifests itself like a child's egocentrism - the inability to look at the situation from the point of view of another, a stranger. On the other hand, the strong dependence of this quadra on its closest environment does not allow alpha types to turn into anti-collectivists.

In a society for which manifestations of hostility and hatred have become typical, the family is practically the only source of kindness and love and mutual respect. The most family types in the socion are the Mediator (AEI) and the Enthusiast (ESE). The types most in need of individual care within the family are the Analyst (LII) and the Seeker (ILE).

The knowledge of alpha-quadrant Scientists has the purest and most innocent forms, based mainly on simple curiosity. It never turns into dogma or powerful creed, recruiting fanatical adepts like beta, and is not set in motion by material interest, direct monetary gain (applied science), like gamma.

For alpha cognition, special tools and research laboratories stuffed with expensive equipment are not needed. This quadra learns the fundamental laws in contact with the studied matter in the course of ordinary life. Therefore, the laws it uncovers are not hard dependencies. These are just empirical generalizations of frequently repeated events. However, without such work of the mind, a mature specialized science would not have been possible.

In any quadra, not only the potential of moving forward, but also the mechanism of self-destruction is laid. Alpha-quadru ultimately ruins her curiosity. Being the most open and trusting to new information, alpha types like a moth on fire are flying towards their doom. Penetration into it of any perfect tools or techniques, dramatically increasing productivity, awakens the instincts of power and possession. And from this one step to class stratification and the emergence of regular power, that is, the beta way.

People united by alpha values ​​are close to the pattern of harmonious (in the sense of L. Gumilyov) individuals, that is, hard enough to provide themselves and their offspring with all necessary, but not sufficiently sophisticated and competitive to create the necessary surplus for expansion.

Quadra Beta - central collectivists

Socio-economic aspect
Beta is a quadra of central collectivists, characterized by public (state) ownership in conjunction with authoritarian power. This combination allows you to connect and hold for a long time under a single management of large areas.

The norm for this quadra is a mobilization economy, built on the concentration of all material, informational, and human resources in the same hands. She is really justified where extreme situations arise. The economic finale of such a structure is reduced to a simple formula: there is a lot of money, there is little money.

In beta, a strict hierarchy of seniors and vassals is always maintained, or, in modern terms, a rigid management vertical. For the first time, a comprehensive justification of the need and main functions of the state from beta positions is found in the famous “Leviathan” by T. Hobbes. The philosopher argues that the state, like the sea monster Leviathan, should cause fear and awe from its subjects.

Beta types are thus the most pronounced and consistent statesmen. But forms of statehood are evolving. Over time, military vassal relations are replaced by the institution of bureaucracy — the apparatus of quadra beta at a late stage of its development, when the transition to gamma is already underway.

Quadra beta can rightly be considered a quadra of unrest and revolutions. Only she effectively acts in extreme crisis conditions, without losing cohesion and organization. And English, and French, and American and any other revolution did quadra beta and no other. I came to the conclusion that attributing J. Washington, M. Robespierre, Cromwell and other "fiery" revolutionaries to the alpha - it means not knowing the socionics of life, the behavior of sociotypes in real situations.

With quadry beta is directly related to the phenomenon of nationalism. Nationalism flourishes when one ethnic part of the population imposes on the other part alien values ​​in a non-democratic state. The leaders of an oppressed nation (as a rule, they are sociotypes of EIE, LSI) take the path of separatism. The slogan that they put into practice: one nation - one state. Therefore, when power is in their hands, then other ethnic minorities are denied the right of sovereignty. Quadra beta advocates unitarism.

However, it is wrong to think that the second quadra cannot exist without despotism. The ideal of government in the second quadra is the enlightened monarch. In Plato, as is known, the philosophers were to rule the state. In ancient times, this ideal was embodied in Marcus Aurelius, who was not only a successful emperor, but also a talented philosopher.

Spiritual and psychological aspect.
Romantic-power system of values.

In quadra beta, the most quarrelsome types of people are concentrated. To keep them together, we need a strong patriarchal family consisting of several generations living under the same roof, guided by the firm hand of its head. Such is the natural organization of family life for beta people from the lower classes.

For the upper class, historically there was another option. In aristocratic circles, it was customary to give birth to born-born children, and then send them to private boarding houses or boarding schools. Thus, the necessary psychological distance was maintained.

The Beta is characterized by maximum collectivism, which is supported by the image of the enemy. This image is formed from the initially clear opposition we - they. A single religion and ideology serves as a reliable means of “cementing” a beta society. Any dissent is perceived as undermining the fundamentals, and therefore is suppressed in one way or another.

Only in this quadra, romanticism looks psychologically reliable. On its types a triangle of characters of any romantic work is built (rivalry between two men - one worthy, and the other not - for a woman). Beautiful young heroes either die, or win and marry. But a quiet family life they can not taste. The lot of heroes and sufferers is a struggle. Therefore, if the author writes the continuation of their history, then he must come up with some kind of aggravation in the form of a sudden threat coming from outside or from within (treason). In any case, he will not be able to manage without the image of the enemy.

Other respectable values ​​of beta-quadra are heroism and dedication. It can rightly be called quadra passionaries. The drive, according to L. Gumilev, is a person who is able to sacrifice many, even his own life, in the name of the struggle for the idea. Beta is the main supplier of selfless fighters and fanatics of any kind.

One of the most beloved beta slogans is justice. History knows many mass movements under this slogan, ranging from slave uprisings and peasant wars to modern political populism. They are invariably accompanied by equalizing moods connected with the redistribution of property by force.

The beta square to strengthen its ideals is very much shown the Spartan way of life, implying asceticism, constant training, both physical and spiritual, as well as forced collectivism. Such an organization of society gives extraordinary stability in time. A good historical example is Sparta, which existed for about five centuries.

When beta betrays relaxation, lives in luxury and externality - this is already a precursor of its imminent sunset. Not without reason, the founders of totalitarian spiritual and religious sects of the most varied sense exploit the model of increasing tension. Based on the analysis of quadral values, charismatic leaders and spiritual teachers are always from beta.

So, quadra beta, sacrificing the personal to the public, is targeting others, that is, large groups. It is in this sense that it must be put in the first place as the socially most influential quadra. It most fully embodies the ideological system, which is called Eastern values.

Quadra Gamma - Central Individualists

Socio-economic aspect.
The quadra gamma is characterized by the priority of private property over state and democratic power over authoritarian. In beta, property can also belong to one person, but only as a matter of management, and not of final ownership. It can always be taken away by force, transferred to another person, nationalized, etc. The Gamma principle is the same: the state is for the person, not the person for the state.

To implement this principle, a system of checks and balances has historically emerged. To prevent beta-quadral usurpation of power, John Locke developed the concept of separation of powers. Thus, he became the ideologist of the gamma-state, in contrast to T. Hobbes, a theorist of the beta-type government.

State life in the quadra gamma is built on the broad autonomy of individual territories, linked together economically rather than politically. Unitarianism in it prefer the principle of federalism. Parliament has a bicameral device. Regional leaders are elected and not appointed. The ideologists of the second quadra, as you remember, insist on a unitary centralized state.

In the economic life of the quadra gamma introduces commodity-money relations. Its native element is a free market economy. In our case, this multi-valued term should be understood as follows: 
- limited state participation in the economy, in particular, rule of law, macroeconomic regulation, non-profit social programs, 
- healthy competition without monopolism, mafia, racketeering, pressure of shadow capitals and other beta inclusions , 
- an open economy, that is, with low taxes and low import duties, 
- a free labor market with a mobile workforce, 
- a developed banking system that ensures fast capital investment in more profitable industries.

The final state of this kind of economy is just the opposite in comparison with the economy of the mobilization type: there are a lot of goods, there is little money. Hence the strong role of advertising and the variety of ways to sell excess goods (sales, discounts, prizes, multi-level marketing, etc.). The exact characteristic of a mature gamut will therefore be the term consumer society.

The next most important sign of the arrival of gamma values ​​is the dynamization of social life. Any country begins to thrive, as a rule, after reforms introducing extensive privatization of property. "Babylon and Tire, Carthage and Tarent, Athens and Rome, Venice and Genoa, Novgorod and Pskov, the United Provinces of the Netherlands and the United States of America - the wealth and power of these republics are invariably associated with the triumph of the principle of the integrity of the social I-can of every citizen principle. "

The Meiji Restoration in Japan, the Stolypin reform in Russia, the modern transformations in China - all these are more close to us in time examples of full-fledged gamma reforms.

As historical practice testifies, such a state cannot continue for a long time, since it leads to a war of “all against all” - the ultimate aggravation of social tension between the rich and the poor. You can let off steam only by redistributing the national product through high taxes on large incomes (the principle of social democracy). But it hinders economic growth. This is how the driving force of gamma values ​​is exhausted.

Spiritual and psychological aspect
Liberal-pragmatic value system

Characterized primarily by individualism. Individualism should be understood as an orientation towards oneself, and not towards others. Selfishness as a feature of human nature is no longer hidden, but is considered the norm. The desire to make a profit permeates all aspects of human life, including family relationships.

Hence the special role of money - the main commodity, which can be exchanged for any other commodity. They become a symbol of human success. If money is destructive for the second quadra (corruption undermines the foundations of any beta-quadratic empire), they are beneficial as a source of growth for the gamma.

Even friends and close relatives prefer to maintain individual autonomy. Love by calculation, marriage contracts, early leaving of children from the parental home, unwillingness to follow public stereotypes in private behavior - all this serves the purpose of strengthening daily independence. In the collectivist "society of justice" quadra beta people with such values ​​can not be lured.

The root value of gamma quadra is pragmatism. As is known, the traditional ideology of the Anglo-Saxon countries is based on it. Their ruling and educated circles are notable for their dislike of structural logic, generating comprehensive systems. True recognizes all that benefits (the philosophy of pragmatism). Absolute truth or even striving for it is rejected.

Another ideological pillar of quadra gamma is liberalism. Functionally, it should be understood primarily as freedom of choice. It is clear that such a situation is impossible in the long run without tolerance for dissent, and not only in politics. Any dogma is crumbling, beta prohibitions are removed. Over time, liberalism is increasingly manifested as the desire to put everything upside down, to connect the incompatible.

Liberalism has serious consequences for the intimate and personal sphere. Free family relations cease to amaze. Sexual minorities are emerging from the underground. The emancipation of women is in full swing. Mixing gender-age roles delivers a final blow to the patriarchal beta-morality. The loss of guidelines, in the end, begins to threaten the mental health of society.

Life turns into an endless holiday. Everywhere music is playing, advertising signs and shop windows are lit with bright lights. The minds of people seize hedonistic consumer morality. When a person is saturated with individual dishes or drinks, he begins to mix them. Such a mixture, eclecticism, is a characteristic feature of a mature quadra gamma.

In intellectual life, critical and anti-dogmatic processes take place - what is now called postmodernism. Postmodernism is a broad philosophical doctrine of an eclectic sense, based on a mixture of genres and blurring of boundaries. Postmodern aesthetics in the theater, cinema, painting, literature as in a mirror reflects the ideological system of gamma-quadra, which is commonly called Western values.

Quadra Delta - peripheral collectivists

The socio-economic aspect of
Delta-quadra somewhat resembles beta with its commitment to public ownership. However, property becomes moderate in the degree of socialization — not state, but corporate. Managed geographically, not departmental. Over time, the delta is regularly formed into a society of self-governing territories, which are relatively small in size.

In quadra, the delta has its own managers, these are the Administrator (FEL) and the Master (SLI). But they lead not departmental and centralized, but in place, taking into account regional specifics. If local self-government is given into the hands of the second quadra, feudal fragmentation will inevitably come - ignoring the central laws leading to separatism. Territorial self-government, safe for the integrity of the state, is a function of the fourth quadra.

Thus, there is a certain contradiction between the departmental principle of beta control and the territorial principle of the delta. There are people who intuitively understand how to resolve the conflict between beta and gamma values ​​administratively. In this vein, the struggle of A. Solzhenitsyn for the revival of zemstvos — the rudiments of quadra delta in Russian life of the 19th century — proceeds.

Since I refer this Russian writer to EIE, they may ask me: how can a Beta representative advocate for the delta? - There is nothing surprising. The values ​​of one's own quadra lie in the region of the unconscious. And what is consciously declared is in many respects a matter of the free will of the person himself.

The power in the delta belongs to the elders - experienced people who deserve appreciation for their many years of activity. For such a form of government adopted the term meritocracy. True, there is also its negative type - gerontocracy. A vivid example of gerontocracy — the “Kremlin elders” who ruled the Soviet Union after N. Khrushchev — has not yet faded in the memory of my generation. But this is a delta in beta, that is, only the last stage of the evolution of power in a totalitarian state.

If the term consumer society is a key characteristic for a gamma society, for the delta this will be an ecological society. The bulk of the population of such a society will not live in the city, but not in the village, but in the suburbs, urban-type settlements, etc. In an ecological society, a person behaves not as a ruler of nature, but as a necessary element of biogeocenosis.

Spiritual and psychological aspect of
humane and labor system of values

Its cornerstone is real, not declarative humanism. What is behind this concept, reveals the comparison of the beta-sociotype Mentor with the delta-sociotype Humanist. The teacher preaches universal moral principles with a word (remember the Gospel of John: there was a word in the beginning ...), in fact, they often violate them. It is unlikely that a successful public preacher will emerge from the Humanist, since nature has not endowed him with eloquence. But in everyday affairs, he is closer than any other sociotype to a categorical imperative: act towards your neighbor as you would like him to do towards you.

In the delta quadra there is no scientistic installation that dominates the stage of industrialism. The reliance on science as the driving force of social progress is leaving, hopes are being placed on the moral sense of man himself. Delta will be completely different from the world of robots, clones, mutants and similar Scientist products, which are crammed with American gamma films about the future. The flow of scientific discovery will run out.

Religion will come to the fore again. However, it is now not about confessional religiosity based on dogma and church organization and, therefore, has little to do with delta values. Religion will more likely resemble neo-paganism, something like faith in the "cosmic mind."

Delta-types rallies moderate collectivism. They adhere to the time-tested tradition. Their life is organized within the medium groups that exist as a system of small groups. It is in such a society that you can reach the maximum level of spiritual comfort. One duality and a cozy family is clearly not enough for a person to experience the full life.

For the first time, the delta tendency was vaguely caught by anarchists of the 19th century. Peter Kropotkin, in particular, believed that in the state as a bureaucratic mechanism for coordinating the behavior of people with opposing interests because of their different social status, there would be no need. The future will be for small teams, united by a common goal. Cooperation in this case will prevail over rivalry. In our century, psychologist and philosopher E. Fromm wrote a great deal about the transition from gamma to delta. He dreamed of such a structure of society, which he called "humanistic idealism." He imagined this painful process as a change of attitude toward the possession (centrality) of attitude toward being (peripherality). In socionic terms, non-violent “being” of people voluntarily abandoning the “grasping” F-values ​​of people is society

Another example of a primary island of human labor values ​​is a boat trip “Ra” across the ocean of Thor Heyerdahl. His team can be considered as a small model of interpersonal coexistence on the basis of delta principles. From this, however, it does not follow that Thayr Heyerdahl himself "by blood" is a type of delta-quadra. He is just a pioneer, groping for a non-violent cooperative environmental society of the delta-quadra.