Beyond the Book
Human Beings. We are complex! I found Daniel Nettle’s book to be a valuable and interesting resource regarding human personality. Beyond this book, however, I was reminded of the amazing Creator who has woven us together in all of our intricacies, known and unknown to us.
Personality: What Makes You the Way You Are
British psychologist, Daniel Nettle, in his book Personality: What Makes You the Way You Are, takes on the ambitious task of describing the psychology of personality. He aims to show that people have “enduring personality dispositions that partly predict what they will do, and which stem from the way their nervous systems are wired up.”[1] He also highlights that “a renaissance is underway in the study of personality,” bolstering scientific credibility and revealing valuable insights.[2] This renaissance is due to the recent development of the five-factor model of personality dimensions, recent strides made in the field of neuroscience, and progress made in understanding human genetics and genomics.[3]
Nettle devotes the bulk of his book to the five-factor model, which consists of five evidence-based personality traits, agreed upon by scientists, which create the most “comprehensive, reliable, and useful framework for discussing human personality that we have ever had.”[4] He goes on to explain that this model for understanding personality describes” five major dimensions along which all human characters vary.”[5] These dimensions include: extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness.[6] Together, they are known in the study of personality as the “Big Five.” Nettle discusses each of the five traits in the context of relevant brain research and genomic study, as well as illustrates his points through various case studies. He also “applies evolutionary methodology to consider what happens physiologically with each trait, how it happens, and for what effects on natural selection the traits would have developed.”[7]
Beyond the Book
Upon finishing Nettles book on personality, I was, of course, motivated to take The Newcastle Personality Assessor at the end of the book and asked my husband to do the same.[8] The results were interesting and predictable. I score high in agreeableness, my husband in conscientiousness. What struck me, however, even more than the practical and useful information in this book which helps us to understand ourselves and others, is the complexity and beauty through which God works to create each human being. Nettle especially caught my attention when he compared the human personality to fractals.[9] I recently ran across fractals in my NPO research, which focuses on the benefits of nature on human health.
Fractals: Natural Beauty
Here is what I learned, relevant to my NPO: Researchers have theorized many reasons why humans are attracted to the natural environment. Studies show that we are drawn to “beauty in nature that is rich in detail and diversity, while simultaneously ordered and organized. This quality of organized complexity is known as fractal geometry.”[10] Fractals are patterns in which the pieces reflect the whole and though the individual pieces are not identical, they are similar. Some examples of fractals in nature include snowflakes, leaves, fern boughs, river deltas, lightning bolts, and shells.[11] How interesting that human personality construction is similar to the structure of many natural features in our environment. We are rich in detail and diversity, while simultaneously ordered and organized.
Nettle comments, “Just as the self-consistent properties of fractals are generated by the mathematical functions that define them, so the self-consistent properties of personality seem as if they are generated by some physical property of the nervous system of the person in question.”[12] He continues in saying that talking about someone’s personality is a way to describe how that person’s “particular nervous system is wired up.”[13] Our unique wiring drives our “large-scale narratives” that shape our careers and relationships, as well as the “tiny interactions” of our lives that steer how we shop, dress, and decorate our homes.[14] Interesting! The wiring of our nervous system and the resultant actions reflect the fractal-like patterns found throughout nature.
Conclusion
I find Nettle’s presentation of personality and the renaissance in the study of personality interesting and valuable in understanding myself and others. Even more fascinating to me, though, is the reminder through this text of the complexity and beauty with which God has created humans and the world. There are many ways we benefit from the detailed glimpses of life we gain through science. Of one thing I am sure, however: we will never fully understand the ways in which we are created, shaped, and connected to a beautifully complex universe. I’m ok with that.
I don’t have to understand it fully in order to appreciate it. I find it interesting to continually be learning more about our world and ourselves, but I also find comfort in knowing that the ways in which God has created humans and our world are far beyond what we can fathom. We can continue learning and growing and still, God and God’s design will be too much for us to fully digest. That spurs me on to know God more deeply. Our God is immense, beautiful, present, and accessible. I am reminded of Walter Bruggeman’s word: “We live our lives before the wild, dangerous, unfettered, and free character of the living God.”[15] Thanks be to God for enriching our lives with his full love and self, though we ourselves are only capable of seeing God, our world, and selves in part.
[1] Daniel Nettle, Personality: What Makes You the Way You Are (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2007), 8, 13.
[2] Nettle, 9.
[3] Nettle, 9-11.
[4] Nettle, 9.
[5] Nettle, 9.
[6] Nettle, 29.
[7] Ray Olson in Booklistonline.com, Booklist 17, December 1, 2007, https://web-p-ebscohost-com.georgefox.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=74864d91-bf56-4d07-a18e-433cc5eb00a7%40redis.
[8] Nettle, 250-253.
[9] Nettle, 7.
[10] Patricia H. Hasbach. Grounded: A Guided Journal to Help You Reconnect with the Power of Nature – and Yourself (New York, NY: Adams Media, 2022), 69.
[11] Hasbach, 69.
[12] Nettle, 8.
[13] Nettle, 8.
[14] Nettle, 7-8.
[15] Walter Brueggemann in https://wildatheart.org/daily-reading/wildness-god.
About the Author
Jenny Steinbrenner Hale
16 responses to “Beyond the Book”
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Hey Jenny,
Once again, I am blown away by your ability to pull from a vast quantity and range of resources in your post. Great job! You write “Our unique wiring drives our “large-scale narratives” that shape our careers and relationships…” How has your personality uniquely set you up for the role you currently serve in?
Hi David, Thanks so much for your positive comments and your encouragement! Thanks, too, for the great question. I had to think on that a bit. I scored high on the “Agreeable” spectrum in Nettles personality assessment. People with the agreeable traits tend to be high in empathy and I think this serves me well working with youth experiencing homelessness. I’ve always had a desire to see people have the opportunity to live up to their potential and that is a great fit for my current job.
Thanks again for the comments and question. Hope you’ve had a good two weeks!
Amen! Outstanding post. Self-awareness is key and awakening. Beautiful job with fantastic resources. Will understanding personality now in greater depth modify your ministry or NPO in any way?
Hi Michael, Thanks for your encouragement and your great question. I wonder if I might now be more mindful of developing my NPO in a way that is accessible for all personality types. Maybe there are ways I can offer something for everyone, through careful thinking and planning around the various personality traits. Appreciate you challenging me to think about this!
Amen. Praise the Lord! Great Post and greatly appreciate how you brought your NPO into your post. Well done!
Thanks so much for your encouragement, Greg! I really appreciate it. Hope you’ve had a good couple weeks.
Jenny,
Now I am interested in Nettle! You drew me in when you began to talk about your research! Fantastic job! I am going to be considering fractals for some time now.
i love this:
Studies show that we are drawn to “beauty in nature that is rich in detail and diversity, while simultaneously ordered and organized. This quality of organized complexity is known as fractal geometry.”[10] Fractals are patterns in which the pieces reflect the whole and though the individual pieces are not identical, they are similar. Some examples of fractals in nature include snowflakes, leaves, fern boughs, river deltas, lightning bolts, and shells.[11]
Your post makes me excited to read your final research /hear about your prototype!! Great quote here:
Walter Bruggeman’s word: “We live our lives before the wild, dangerous, unfettered, and free character of the living God.”[15]
I am going to text you some beautiful fractals that I saw in the weeds I walked by the other morning while on our walk and talk in nature!!
Please continue to inspire me and our cohort in seeing God in nature!
Hi Kristy, Thanks so much for your encouraging comments. I greatly appreciate it. It is so inspiring to be learning from everyone and expanding our areas of interest and knowledge. Thankful for our cohort!
Thanks for sending the photos. So amazing!
Jenny,
Great post! Did you enjoy the book on personalities? Or was it a challenging one for you?
Hi Tonette, Thanks so much for your comment and question. I really enjoyed the book and would love to learn more about the big five personalities at some point. Glad to have a little base knowledge. 🙂 Hope all of your work is coming together smoothly this week.
Your quote at the end from Bruggeman is strikingly similar to something I’ve been reminding myself from The Chronicles of Narnia. Mr. Beaver says to one of the children, “safe? who said anything about safe? Of course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.”
Your post is a reminder, just like this bit of C.S Lewis that I’ve been pondering, that life, the world, and all that God is putting before us and around us may not be totally safe or free from danger. But as we experience it and explore it we can be reminded of God’s goodness and find new ways and reasons to worship.
Caleb, Thanks so much for your comments. I love that quote from the Chronicles of Narnia. It’s so true, isn’t it? Life is not safe. Thanks for pointing out that we can actually worship and know God in ways we might not have been aware of, now that we have experienced that life isn’t safe. I so appreciate your insights!
JENNY! AMAZING!
Way to bring that NPO in there! What is your favorite fractal in nature?
Hi Alana, Thanks for your comment and your question! 🙂 I think the snowflake and the fir branch might be my favorite fractals!
Jenny, great post! You did an amazing job bringing in outside sources and insight into this book. I loved this: “What struck me, however, even more than the practical and useful information in this book which helps us to understand ourselves and others, is the complexity and beauty through which God works to create each human being.” There is such beauty in all of God’s creation and in the ways He has made each of us unique. We are not meant to be the same, we are meant to be different.
Hi Becca, Thanks for your comments! It’s so true, our differences are amazing, aren’t they? Yesterday, I was watching a mother as her three boys were being baptized. They are all so different and the mom just looked over each one with pure love and delight. It was very cool. This must be how God looks over each of us.