According to the personality tests also available online, I am an INFJ (standing for Introverted, iNtuitive, Feeling and Judging), basically someone who is not content to live life along a set pattern, but who seeks to give it real meaning and purpose. This usually involves looking for ways to do or create something lasting that will be important and useful to everyone else. INFJs typically have a strong worldview and values, and never lose sight of what really matters – not necessarily according to others or society at large, but to their own common sense and intuition.
INFJ is said to be the rarest personality type, accounting for only about 2% of the total population. From a certain point of view this makes perfect sense, as there are not too many people who write books, especially not for free and in the hope of making the world a better place. At the same time, I don’t want to make myself look better than I am, because I have said or done things in my life that I am not proud of, and have done wrong, hurting someone or causing harm to others in the process. But because I know I’m not perfect, I don’t expect anyone else to be – instead, I think what’s really important is that we try to correct our mistakes, while seeking to prevent the missteps that are possible in a civilized, sustainable and livable society.
However, this requires not only personal determination, but a social order and systems that help and support us in this endeavor. And since the world in general does not really work like that today, it seems clear that systemic changes are needed, and not only at a socio-cultural, but also on a political and economic level. This is also because our current way of life is not sustainable at all, and we need a fundamental change of mindset to reform it substantially. And although this change of mindset has already begun, in a certain sense, at certain levels of individuals and communities, its effects will unfortunately not become general until they prevail at higher levels, in the processes and decisions that fundamentally affect our lives.
The main question for changing this is not whether one’s views are liberal or conservative, left or right, but what are the common, universal values – the really important things – that we should all keep in mind in order to increase solidarity, cooperation and organization in general. Personally, I am neither fundamentally conservative nor liberal – while I agree with certain views and values from both schools of thought that I consider simply ‘normal’, I reject extremes in general. Just like I don’t really like being pigeonholed and labeled, because I believe that every human being is unique, and it would be a mistake to always classify or to consider people as mere statistics for the sake of simplification.
Since I don’t like labels and pre-defined limitations, it’s not where I come from that defines me, but where I want to go. Accordingly, financial gain is not what I had in mind writing this book and trying to distribute it, but I rather consider it as an investment in the future. I must admit that, while I do have a degree, I have no particular expertise in most of the fields covered in this book. At the same time, the content is the result of many years of experience, information-gathering and research, and I spent a considerable amount of time trying to present a true picture based on the latest developments in science on each topic, within the limits of the objective. And while it is true that a kind of broader, higher perspective is essential to look at the world as a whole, a common sense and logical approach, or the average person’s point of view, is equally important.
I would like to show people the world in its entirety if only because I feel that informing others is my essence. I usually like to make others think, including by asking questions about our place as individuals in this great ‘jigsaw puzzle’ that we mostly just call the world. And the ultimate goal is to encourage people to think independently and critically, enabling them to become not only passive sufferers but also active shapers of their own lives and the destiny of human civilization.
I suspect that to many people, this sounds a lot like an obsessive idealist chasing utopias. In today’s world, however, I think it is more the idealist who thinks she can create an isolated reality for herself and her loved ones, a kind of safe haven where she can withdraw from the chaotic madness of the outside world. Instead, I see myself as a kind of realistic idealist who, while taking into account the circumstances, tries to remain optimistic and make the best of the situation. And I dare say that if the problem is not with the way I want to live, but with the way the world is now, then it has to be changed in some way.
So my main motivation is ultimately that I cannot, but certainly do not want to, live in a world in which existential opportunism is the dominant principle – because as long as it is, we cannot have a truly civilized society or advanced civilization. And besides being infinitely fed up with existentialism at the expense of each other, I particularly hate it when people take me for a fool and try to manipulate me or lead me by the nose… After all this, I had to realize that I basically had two options in life: either I live in a world in which both myself and humanity as a whole have a real opportunity for self-actualization and to fulfill their potential, or, if this is not a given or possible, I want to work to make it a reality. And since hopefully there will still be people around when I’m gone, it’s not so bad if it doesn’t happen in my own lifetime…