Temperamental Diversity
Philosophers have not done justice to temperament; social scientists have not done justice to temperament; psychology has not done justice to temperament, and yet temperament lies at the foundation of all human interaction.
I have more in common with someone — anyone — with whom I share a temperament, regardless of their age, income, ethnicity, social class, or sexual orientation, than I would have in common with someone who does not share my temperament but who is my perfect match in terms of those conventional categories of human social diversity.
The fundamental diversity, and therefore the fundamental point of convergence or divergence, is temperament, and it is ultimately temperament that shapes civilization and all the institutions of civilization, because individuals cannot come together and get things done unless they share those qualities of temperament that make it possible for them to work together.
