"What all persons have in common is their uniqueness."
-- Sam Keen & Anne Valley Fox, Telling Your Story

Premises of Sui Generis

a. Originality or Individuality

Sui Generis is based on a celebration of the uniqueness of each person, and being true to oneself and one's "calling", however that is understood. Based on this premise, some of the primary characteristics of originality are creativity and self-expression, a quest for wholeness and maturity, sometimes nonconformity, and a sense of accountability to oneself and to the world one lives in. The following are also evident:

• originality is not an anti-social activity or attitude.
• not all originality is healthy or beneficial.
• originality doesn't need to be evident.
• individuality is not rugged individualism, which is actually a conformity to nonconformity.
• originality has nothing to do with slogans, "isms", identifications, minorities, majorities, nationalism, media, advertising, political correctness, correctness, authoritarianism, uniqueness at the expense of others or of my "called" or "real" self, uniqueness for its own sake.
• any of us do not necessarily hold anything in common, except something deeper than what we can readily define or specify.
• originality does not mean doing whatever we like or are inclined to do. That each individual is unique is no excuse to do whatever we want.
• relationships and social interactions are based on respect of the other.

b. Polarity Dynamics

Individual persons are not complete in themselves, and to fulfill themselves need to be with others who embody complementary qualities. Polarity Dynamics (in particular Xenn Polarity) is a cardinal foundation for health, wholeness, and life. Individuality and uniqueness need to be moderated by its complement, that is, concern for and interaction with others. Diversity needs to counter and be countered by unity. A society needs to honor the needs of its members as well as its own needs, and hold these complementary needs in tension. Xenn Polarity offers a strong basis for self-regulation, freedom and openness.

Sui Generis believes that an understanding and the application of Xenn Polarity is essential and crucial for the health of individuals as well as the society in which they live. Both support and temper each other. Without the other, one side can easily slide into excess. Although the presence of the other may lead to frustration and tension, this quality of temperance and moderation is critical to the well-being of both. A confusion between complements, opposites, and extremes leads to behavior that is counter-productive to both elements.

An understanding of Xenn Polarity helps to alleviate this confusion. Xenn Polarity has two meanings. In simple and general terms, it refers to the fact that everything we deal with in the world has two sides to it, even though the connection between those two sides can become a little complicated. But for it to be useful, it needs to be practical and effective. In this context, Xenn Polarity refers to a new cognitive framework that can identify different parts of a polarity as well as the specific and concise differences and connections between them, and also how to work with these. These relationships between complements, opposites, polarities, extremes, etc., are expressed using a simple chart that clears away confusion and misunderstanding. Xenn Polarity offers the basis of a new way of thinking that underlies the way we deal with the world -- not just the physical world, but also the metaphysical world of emotions, feelings, thoughts, ideas, etc. Xenn Polarity is commensurate with a world larger than just the physical, on which our present cognitive framework and thought structure is based.

Xenn Polarity supplies the infrastructure on which Sui Generis is based. It also supplies the wisdom and understanding for a person to fulfill the two seemingly opposite requirements of being a person, that is: a) being who they are, and b) being a part of a community.

c. Different Differences

There is a decisive difference between diversity and depravity. Diversity does not embrace all differences, i.e. some are due to depravity and degeneracy, such as cruelty, ill-will, malice, dishonesty, etc. Diversity can be defined in a wider or narrow sense. In its narrow sense, it does not include or imply any form of depravity. If the elements within a diversity are moderated by their complements, the structure automatically confines itself to this narrow and healthy sense, i.e. it is self-regulating.