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independent & interdependent
Sep. 10th, 2007 01:16 pmOne of the recent series of blurbs on the daily 7 habits calendar was describing the differences between dependence, independence, and interdependence. The first difference is this: independent folks are self-reliant; dependent folks aren't. So what's interdependence? Interdependence is when independent people decide to work together on a common goal. What caused me to "get it" was the assertion that only independent people can be interdependent. Dependent people aren't reliable or strong enough to be interdependent.
Some other thoughts on this:
Being Independent & Interdependent but not Co-dependent
Toward a New Formulation of Self-Esteem: Dependent, Independent, and Unconditional, which compares this process to learning to walk:
Some other thoughts on this:
Being Independent & Interdependent but not Co-dependent
Toward a New Formulation of Self-Esteem: Dependent, Independent, and Unconditional, which compares this process to learning to walk:
Initially, we don’t have a sense of self, no grasp of being a differentiated entity. In the second stage of development we are dependent on the support of others—parents, teachers, peers—for our sense of self. In the third stage of development, our sense of self is independent of others and we are strong enough to stand by ourselves: we provide our own self-evaluation. After a while, when we become more comfortable with this independence, we are ready to move to the next level of development in which we are no longer concerned with self-evaluation. We simply, and naturally, exist.This article also notes:
[...] I do not believe that it is possible to experience detachment at all times. Unless we choose to live in isolation on a mountaintop by ourselves, it is inevitable that we sometimes lapse into comparison and dependence. As our self-esteem strengthens we experience less and less of these attachments, but to entirely rid ourselves of them seems unrealistic to me.Also, a 7 Habits Summary.
