Human Design Perspective on Behavior

Human beings, as we know them today, have been successful as a species for many thousands of years. Over those millennia a number of behaviors have sustained us and helped us to survive in many different circumstances. Most of our behaviors have stuck with us for so long because, in general, our living conditions, haven’t changed all that much. I don’t mean living conditions in the sense of caves versus houses, or cars versus horses, but the conditions of our lives together.

I want to give you a very brief description of the 3 major behavior groups set forth in Human Design as a little bit of background to understanding ourselves. These 3 groups are the foundations of our major human themes. Deeply buried in our DNA they impact us as individuals in our everyday lives far below the threshold of consciousness.

Tribal
Very early on we developed a group of behaviors that were useful and valuable when we lived in a small community environment such as families, clans, tribes. The living conditions between people in that kind of general environment are pretty close, pretty intimate, with a lot of interdependence as well as a lot of competition.

When you live in a very close-knit community there are rules that govern property, ownership and marriage, and these rules are usually rigid and based, to a large extent, on status. By and large the status in these kinds of social groups is directly related to how much survival value a person has. Strength, stamina, hunting skills, skill in war, as well as general life experience (wisdom) memory of tradition, and what has worked in the past all contribute to status. A good hunter and a wise elder are of great value, thus they have high status.

These small groups were founded on some kind of kinship (blood or marriage). The closer the relationship between the members the more they are willing and able to provide for and protect each other. These behaviors are still genetically encoded in the human DNA. Every person, depending upon their design, will have a greater or lesser genetically to these behaviors.

Collective
We have also developed a group of behaviors that are useful and valuable when we live in a community environment where the ties of blood kinship are much more diffuse. Towns and cities are an example of this living condition. By and large people in this condition simply are less inclined to support each other in the same way that family members support each other. From the point of view of Human Design, in the collective there is a general agreement that there is some collaboration in certain areas (e.g. defense, education, etc.). Behaviors that are valuable in such an environment include logic, planning, organization, exploration, story telling. Status here is based upon one’s ability to help the group achieve common goals.

Because large groups require more organization to achieve a goal, the people who are good managers and good innovators are prized. The democratic system – a simple majority of 51% - is a good example of the collective.

Individual
Throughout all of the social interplay that goes on in human society and culture there is a rock bottom foundation – the individual. Without a bunch of individuals you never have a group. The behaviors that are useful and valuable to the individual are essentially about personal survival and personal satisfaction. Individuals typically form short-term alliances (think social networking). Individual behaviors are, to a great extent, somewhat of a threat to tribal and collective groups because by their very nature those groups want to be stable. The individual, however, cares very little about the stability of the group, and in fact, often disrupts it – usually unintentionally.

To a group any individual is a “stranger” - someone with their own way of doings things. In Human Design there are really quite a few of these “individual” behaviors. They are genetically important because by ensuring the satisfaction and survival of the individual they often wind up helping the tribe or collective – though that is not their goal.

The Result
As people we often run into a lot of problems dealing with others because one person is (at the moment) manifesting a tribal behavior while the other person is manifesting a collective or group behavior. They don’t fit together very well. As you grow better at understanding the kind of behavior coming from yourself as well as from the other, it’s easier to resolve differences.

What’s really interesting, to me, is that pretty much all human behavior falls into one of these three categories. If you learn, even in broad terms, what characterizes the groups it’s not that hard to spot the behaviors in yourself and others.

In the next article I’ll share some possibilities with you.