On Conspiracies and the Nature of Fours-

On Conspiracies and the Nature of Fours

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On the Conspiracy Theories and the Nature of Fours

A correspondent wrote to me, "Well what kind of person believes in the Moon Landing Conspiracy? A Four, I'll bet."

Well Fours may be off the Landscape and a little bit suspicious and paranoid but they are properly sensitive to lies and deceit - especially of individuals close to home - rather than to fantasy constructions like a conspiracy theory. The 8-trait of 4 is about spiritual questions marks. It is, after all, the Antagony to the settled, acceptable and reasonable community-oriented solutions offered by 5. So, Fours are certainly likely to be suspicious of surface explanations, but they are unlikely to go for the ready-made conspiracy theory (CT). An established CT would be suspect in the same way that Establishment theories would be. A CT, however, that could accommodate a Four's particular interests and ideas would be more likely to be taken on board than a popular CT. Fours can be drawn inside unlikely explanatory scenarios when they are stimulated to establish the relative truth of things to their own satisfaction.

In other words, a Four might start a CT but they are unlikely to run with someone else's, except to consider it in a purely intellectual way as an interesting phenomenon. Give Fours a pat way of thinking about something or a pat answer to a problem, and another way of thinking about it will suggest itself, without he or she necessarily being conscious that that is what they are doing. They don't like to take other people's words for anything that they are particularly involved with. On the other hand, Fours want to be right. They know, deep down, they are mostly right about most things, even if they cannot phrase this knowledge in a way that convinces others. So, if they are going to subscribe to a conspiracy, they will be almost certain that it's correct.

4 is a fertile 'o' sign (as opposed to a potent '+' sign), and the direction of expression is outwards from the broad, unfocussed base of the interior of the mind. In energy terms, Fours have passions and feelings disconnected from a concrete reality that often seems to them to be distant (this is why Fours can work for the concrete goals of others). This disconnection is a necessary factor in creative thought, but it also tends to strengthen the general suspicions of the motives of those who are properly on the Landscape.

In 5, there is the notion of place in the established hierarchy of approved places - a garden, if you will, in which every item has been placed and ordered with reference to every other. Fours works to upset this order and like to re-assign values, but, depending on the Minor, may be unable to provide concrete replacements for them, only hints of where things should go, what re-arrangements would be necessary. If a Four wants to make contact with the Landscape, he or she needs people to do it. Ordinarily Fours can do without the Landscape, but when they work, associates and their needs often hamstring them.

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