Introducing the Whole Person Index

How we measure success in 2035

“The goal of individuation is wholeness, as much as we can accomplish, not the triumph of the ego.”―James Hollis, The Middle Passage: From Misery to Meaning in Midlife. Image courtesy Joshua Earle

A postcard from Gracey about competition
June 21, 2035

There is only one core difference between the way you measure success in your world and how we measure success in 2035: Independence vs. Inter-dependence.

Throughout your school years and even during young adulthood you were taught you had to compete: you had to get the best grades, you had to find a job that paid well so that you could fend for yourself. You were taught that “it’s a big bad world out there” and that you needed to develop essential life skills to win in a tough environment. Sport is essentially a national addiction and winning means everything.

In our world we’ve replaced ‘compete’ with ‘collaborate.’ We’ve realised that everything is connected and that the desire to win is one of the natural outcomes of left thinking. We still enjoy sport, but we partake for the enjoyment of the game and to stretch ourselves as individuals. We don’t keep score — in sport or in life.

In your world, you strive towards individualism: more credentials, more stuff, more recognition, more things that show the world how successful you are. In our world, the only thing we strive toward is holism. That basically means we celebrate collectives rather than individuals; the whole is bigger than the sum of its parts. Left thinking teaches ‘parts of whole things’; right thinking teaches ‘whole things.’ So we never measure our success as individuals. We don’t get grades, we don’t win medals and we don’t display status symbols. The only public display of our success is our Whole Person Index, which forms a part of our digital identity — our Trust Cloud.

Every individual’s Whole Person Index is a ratio of a range of inputs and variables that are constantly updated and recalculated. Our devices, our clothes and sensors all over the world record and track data about every aspect of our well-being. I understand that you’re uncomfortable with data collection, but that’s only because in your world, data is collected by others. In our world we collect and own our own data. The more we collect, the better we can analyse and improve — ourselves and our world.

What the Whole Person Index measures

Every individual’s WPI always adds up to 100. We designed the system like this intentionally so that we are constantly reminded that everyone is equal. What makes each person’s WPI unique is the ratio of the following characteristics.

1. Perception of reality: To what extent can the individual objectively tell the difference between the good and the bad, the highs and the lows?
2. Acceptance of self, others, and nature: To what extent can the individual see reality as it is and accept responsibility for it?
3. Spontaneity, simplicity and naturalness: How capable is the individual of doing what feels good and natural for themselves simply because that’s how they feel?
4. Problem centering: To what extent is the individual focused on problems outside of themselves: others, society and the planet?
5. The quality for detachment, the need for privacy: Despite the social-mindedness, to what extent does the individual enjoy times for quiet reflection? Can the individual be close to others without the need to communicate with them?
6. Autonomy, independence of culture and environment: To what extent is the individual capable of doing things for themselves and making decisions on their own; do they believe in who and what they are?
7. Continued freshness or appreciation: To what extent does the individual experience a joy in the simple and the natural? Do they still enjoy playing the games they played as a child? Do they have fun?
8. The mystic experience: How many experiences has the individual experienced in which they literally felt they were floating? Do they feel in tune or at one with the world around them? How often do they feel as if they are, for a momentary period in time, part of a different reality?
9. A feeling of togetherness: To what extent does the individual have a feeling for all of humanity? Are they aware and sensitive to the people around them.
10. Interpersonal relations: What is the depth of their interpersonal relations with others. Are they capable of fusion, deep love and more perfect understanding of their relatively few friends?
11. The democratic character structures: To what extent does the individual believe in the equal nature of living creatures, that every individual has an equal right, and that each person has strengths and each person has weaknesses?
12. Discriminating between means and ends, between good and evil: To what extent does the individual know the difference between means and ends and good and evil and do they refrain from twisting them in a way that hurts themselves or others?
13. Philosophical and unhostile sense of humour: To what extent does the individual enjoy humour. Do they like to laugh and joke, but not at the expense of others? Are they generally seen as good-natured, even though they are capable of being very serious?
14. Creativeness: How creative is the individual, expressed by writing, speaking, playing, fantasies, cooking, painting, singing and a range of many other dimensions?
15. Resistance to inculturation, the transcendence of any particular culture: To what extent is the individual above their culture and do they maintain a strong individuality?
16. Embracing imperfections: To what extent is the individual aware of their imperfection? Do they see these imperfections as opportunities for learning and growth?

Summary

Our measures of success lean more towards inclusion than individualism.

Questions to Explore

• What is holism and why is it not taught in schools? Ask Google
• What is a self-actualised person? Ask Google
• How do rich and powerful people define success? Ask Google

Postcards from 2035 is a series of profoundly simple interlinking ideas describing life in a highly desirable society, where everything and everyone is advanced, happy, intelligent and problem-free. It’s a blueprint of the world we need to create. The best thing you can do to help us get there is to share with your friends and get the conversation started with the questions this postcard has raised.