The term ‘Dualism’ can be traced back to the early days of Plato and Aristotle and more recently and significantly to the 17th Century and René Descartes. Even this far back, we saw the tension of opposing views showing up as dualisms; ‘Soul/Body’ (Plato) and ‘Mind/Body’ (Descartes) and the study of relationships between two opposing entities. René Descartes and Plato, these two well-known philosophers, argue that people have a mind or soul, which is somehow connected with the body, but the mind or soul can exist independently from our body. Descartes introduces the mind-body argument while Plato presents the soul-body argument.
Taking the definition of Dualism; ‘being a division of something conceptually into two opposed or contrasted aspects, or the state of being so divided’. Some may see the construct of ‘Dualisms’ having some limitations, whereby others might see the benefits of seeing both sides of perhaps the same or similar coin. WickedPeople embraces the dualist theories that exist today and of yesteryear to the betterment of our clients/customers and our own learning advancement. We recognise the richness of dualisms, the opposing definitions, the relationships that exist, and more importantly the context of when one becomes more relevant than the other in any given situation. The richness for opening dialogue from a starting point of dualisms, even opposing dichotomies, can be explored, and expanded when dissolving harsh contrasts as polarities and often complementary to each other.
As a suggestion, finding the time to better understand this theory might create an improved and different position and hopefully a relevance of its use in everyday professional practice. Having a deeper understanding of the various ‘Dualisms’ that exist might well help to transcend today’s traditional approaches and siloed thinking towards something more useful to counter many of the complexities that we and others witness first-hand every day. As a Christmas treat and following the festive ‘12 days of Christmas’ WickedPeople will be sharing our ‘12 dualisms that make a difference to help you to dip your toes into the practical benefits in the understanding and use of dualisms in everyday practice.
Our ‘Top 12’ shared is not an exhaustive list, just an initial thought piece… more wisdom and insights to follow.
We will share one dualism a day, from Christmas Day up to and including 5th January 2022. We would welcome your thoughts, encourage your participatory input over this festive break where we will progress these insights further into the New Year and 2022. A hopefully different and insightful campaign of dualistic understanding, learning and development. See you all in 2022…
