2. Life Areas/ Value Categories
The twelve Value Categories listed below (also called Life Areas) are applicable to any of us. Within each area, we may have our own detailed "Personal Values", that we can list and clarify individually. These will be called just "Values" in this book. For example, the category "Relationships" may contain a detailed Value "To make new friends", and/or "to know what-to-say-when-how". Values (V) are personal objectives and intentions that last over long periods of time, evolving across "Life Seasons", from childhood to retirement.
I use the form "To xxx" for Values, for example "To make new friends", "To search for my purpose in life".
I use the first person, "I, my, me" to apply also to any of my readers, who can read those sentences as their personal Value statements, as if using the first person themselves. Each reader can assign to each of their personal Values a level of personal importance (Vimp, 0 to 100%). Therefore, if a Value does not apply to them, they can set Vimp=0. Otherwise, the Vimp level, up to 100%, is a personal measure that can be used in the calculations of personal achievements.
Any one reader may have some personal Values that are not discussed or mentioned in this book, but the same OVAX methodology can be applied to any such Values.
TWELVE VALUE CATEGORIES
(PURP) Purpose of Life: To search in philosophy, in religion, in psychology, in my past experiences,... for the meaning of life and the path to happiness.
(PRIN) Principles: They are regarded as general/ important Values, and affect most of the other Life Areas. Principles make up my character, and have a long-term presence in my Self, evolving (hopefully improving) over life.
(SYST) System: To manage life goals, actions, and time; to monitor and celebrate achievements; to use persistence, good habits, life balance, and motivation tools.
(SPIR) Spiritual: Modern and ancient spirituality, self-awareness, to be present in "the now"; religion, philosophy, faith, hope, charity; self-esteem, love, gratitude.
(RELA) Relationships: Spouse/ partner and children, relatives, friends, my support network, "neighbours"; to give; to follow good examples; to understand the "worlds of others"; conflict resolution; associations, teams, interest groups; legacy; to know what-to-say-when-how.
(PHYS) Physical: Enjoyable exercise and diet; good sleep; health; contact with nature.
(LEIS) Leisure: Creative leisure; to play expressing my "inner child"; sports, art, hobbies, inventions; to "Enjoy the life journey".
(KNOW) Knowledge: Articles, books, research, lectures, sermons, the encounter between science and religion.
(WORL) World issues: Awareness of current affairs; discoveries in my travels; my legacy in support of world peace ; my efforts to make the world a better place, even in small ways.
(WORK) Work life: My job or enterprise, my professional and charity work, delegation, efficiency, IT; to follow my passions in my work; good cooperation with co-workers and employees; to achieve fame and popularity.
(WEAL) Wealth: To build, preserve, and use material and financial assets; to develop investment; to optimize inheritance plans.
(STYL) Lifestyle: A congenial lifestyle well supported by the facilities at home, in harmony with my home life, with pleasant settings for work and leisure, with proximity to natural and cultural environments, with optimised routines, and with novelties and excitement, in my different homes in UK, Italy, Jamaica.
GOOD AND BAD VALUES
It is usual to find in books and articles, an implicit assumption that "Value" means a "good Value". For example, we read that it is good to live a Value based life, that the Universe evolves according to Values, that if you follow your Values you will be happy. Good people seek the Values of freedom, compassion, efficiency, spiritual development, … All this implies that the word Values means Good Values.
In my OVAX model, I use the concept (and the mathematics) of Values in an operational mechanism that explains decisions: these could be even selfish or evil decisions. This is the case of applying OVAX to the study of antisocial phenomena, like "Terrorism in our society", the "Values of Mafia", or the "Rise and fall of Nazism". Such studies need to explore selfish Values, for example "To increase power and wealth by whatever means, honest or dishonest" (certainly not my Value!). Any of these Values, that are generally considered "Bad Values", can be used in the OVAX model to analyse and quantify selfish or criminal behaviour that could be the subject of a study in social and political science.
In other cases, at the opposite end of the spectrum, we read about what we may call "Devine Values" which do not find a "why answer" in the OVAX methodology. For example' we may read a story of a man or woman who started life as a good person, then run into some kind of troubles, disappointments, misfortunes, took up drugs, went to prison, … Then, miraculously, by the hand of God or destiny, they saw the light, converted, their life changed, devoted themselves to the help of the needy, and became happy and grateful about their new life. This evolution can be described using the OVAX model: it does not explain the Guidance from above, which is certainly the key in such a situation, but it describes the steps and identifies the Values that evolved during such a story.
All the above aspects of the OVAX model will be explained in detail over the following chapters. I hope that other researchers and professionals will take up this mathematical model for further development and application in their work.
SUPPORTING OR CONFLICTING VALUES
Some of our personal Values may support each other, for example "Physical-to practice exercise for good health" and "Leisure-To enjoy exercise". By including several of these supporting Values in the table, the calculations and decisions will be biased towards sports and exercise, because the decision-maker in this example is "subjectively and operationally" inclined towards sports and exercise.
Some Values may be in competition with each other, e.g. "V1-To exercise with the best possible facilities" versus "V2-To save money". The OVAX methodology takes care of this by providing negative measures of achievement (VAach) when applying these Values to our choice of Action. For example the Action of joining an expensive gym (A1) will produce a negative V2A1ach=-50 in an OVAX Table, for the VA combination that relates our Action A1 to our Value "V2-To save money".
Values could also be in a strong conflict with each other. As an example, we may look at two conflicting Values: "V1-To forgive my enemies", versus "V2-To seek revenge". In another example: "V1-To help the poorest countries", versus "V2-To control immigration and keep job availability for the citizens of my country". The personal measures of importance, V1imp, V2imp, of the decision-maker will condition the personal level of achievement (VAach) for these Values when combined with the possible Actions. For example, V1imp=0 and V2imp=100 describe a decision maker who is totally selfish. These measures will explain attitudes and decisions of communities, politicians, governments. The mathematical formulae for this will be explained later. In a psychological context, conflicting Values within the same individual will lead to insecurity and unhappiness. In a cultural context, they will lead to fights in society.
If you are interested in this methodology, read the blogs in order, starting from the first one.