Many people hate typologies. You might be one of them. I am convinced that you have plausible arguments against typologies. Also, I am willing to listen to them if you are in the mood to share. But in this writing I will try to bring pro arguments. Even try to convince you to loosen up. Here is why you should.

Despite the criticism and controversy, I still give my vote to the enneagram when it comes to personality types. Typologies and systems of typologies are present from ancient times in human thought. They fulfill a need of ease in understanding. Thinking in categories makes it easier to understand although it often oversimplifies. The oldest one seems to be the Ayurvedic categorization on doshas, even older then the four humors theory of the Greek Historian Hippocrates.

For those of you who don’t know already, the short term ‘enneagram’ usually points the system of the nine personality types. There is another way to use the enneagram in self development and understanding, called ‘the process enneagram’, but for now we are going to stick with the 9 types.

Avoid to pigeonhole people.

The main argument against typologies in general is that it pigeonholes people. I tend to say that this is often true. I saw and keep seeing so many demonstrations of this. You know, when some wise guy jumps at you like: “You are acting like this because you are a 6.” (cause in enneagram types we use numbers). I can accept that this is somewhat ‘normal’ when you are familiarizing yourself with the types. Still, it leaves room for impertinence.

Learning how to recognize typologies is not about pigeonholing. Then why you should learn it? Why is it good?

Here I give you 4 reasons why typology is good:

1. It makes you more human. You have the chance to realize the main unconscious drives that make us act in so many different ways.
2. It makes you more tolerant. Understanding people, seeing how they follow unconscious drives, seeing yourself acting quite the same way makes you less abrasive.
3. It helps communication. ‘Knowing’ how people tend to react when you approach them, knowing what to expect in general, are helpful hints for an efficient communication.
4. It helps you develop your sense of humor. I guess this is a bonus. By realizing how mechanical we often act and pursue chimeras – should make you smile. Self criticism is also a first step for a healthy sense of humor.

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