I would like to contribute this to you (the reader’s) future:
There are no set of personal values that are good, bad. In fact, there are no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ values although there are several societal pressures that would like to claim otherwise. I want to clarify, I am not talking about our behavior which could be categorized as good or bad, right, or wrong, appropriate, or inappropriate and are interpreted as such by and large on the situations and or circumstances. Let’s define values, what are they? They are what is important to us. Not what we like, dislike, but what is important to us. Consider that if we dislike something, yet, we do it it means that it’s important to us, and therefore we value it.
Values are distinct from behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes. Values exist at the un-conscious level for people and each one of us has a unique and distinct set of values. Much has been bandied about in recent years about how some people have values while others are without them. This narrative is a clever marketing scheme designed to program and deceive. Much is discussed about the “right” values, or how ‘our’ political candidate, school board member, parent, corporation, etc., have them and the opposing or competition do not.
If people understood that theirs and other’s values better, they would probably laugh at the absurdity of the idea that there are good and bad values. Here’s the punch line… EVERYBODY has values. So, when we subscribe to the myth that we have values and others do not, it’s not only silly, but also inaccurate. Consider that other people’s values may not be our values, and could seem unfamiliar, foreign, even un-relatable, wrong, or inappropriate.
Since people are individual entities, their values are different, although there is a systematic push for uniformity in values in our society, and a push toward having everyone have the same values.
It will not work if human beings remain human beings and are not micro-chipped or altered entity.
Now, of course, there are common values among people, however, the first few things to remember are:
- Values are not what we like but what is important to us
- Every person has values
- Every individual’s set of values is different from another individual’s
- Our individual values are organized in sets of priorities…some values are more important than others and in a hierarchy of priorities.
But more important depending on what values are present we can gather valuable information about what kind of thinking is prevalent for that person according to their individual values.
Thoughtful post, Brian
I agree with you and our values from individual to individual. What I might value you may not.
I am working on the triad relationship of Values, intuition and inspiration. The three affect each other. You covered the value dimension well in your post.
Values define people’s thoughts and how they want to live and share their experiences with those around them.
However, there are also a number of values shared by society and which establish the behaviors and attitudes of people in general, with the aim of achieving collective well-being.
Therefore, values can be classified according to their importance according to the priorities of each person or company.
Understanding which principles we prefer most (eg fairness, seriousness, justice, etc.) consists in understanding which qualities and virtues are most significant for us. Our awareness of the most important values guides us every time we have to make a decision.
Values can be an important resource or they can become a limit, it is precisely a greater awareness of ourselves that is essential to be able to consider them a precious help.
Understanding, recognizing and feeling our personal values helps to understand ourselves more. It helps in making decisions, favors a path of personal growth and improves our way of seeing reality.