Predictably, the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Federal Supreme Court has immediately given rise to the chattering classes and their political analysis. Much of the discussion revolves around Sotomayor, a Latina woman, giving President Obama leverage in the political arena because of the growing U.S. Hispanic population. Then there are the more subtle discussions about diversity and bringing a new perspective to the court.
But what good is that discussion if we don’t fully understand the perspectives expressed and why they are valuable. Though conversations on the political elements of the choices involved are abundant, what are the emotional elements of the perspectives involved? How does this choice match President Obama’s emotional motivations and vision for the court?
We haven’t always been able to give great answers to these questions. But an analytical tool that we developed allows us to more accurately, understand the political, economic, social and even technological impact of this and other decisions that affect cultures, companies, and groups of any size; even, perhaps most importantly, individuals. It does this by making the most misunderstood, yet most predictive, element of decision making and communication understandable and therefore usable: the emotional component.
In the matter of Sonia Sotomayor, her ascension to the bench provides much more than a political balance. The cultural balance she brings is far more important because in this case it is the weightiest vessel carrying emotions, the most predictive driving forces for decision making and influence. For all of the discussion about judicial objectivity the reality is the brain just doesn’t work that way. All of the information that reaches our frontal lobes to be “objectively analyzed” has been filtered through the instinctual or reptilian part of the brain then the limbic or emotional part of the brain and when the analysis is completed it must travel back through those filters before action can be taken. Ultimately, though we manage them with logic, our choices are chiefly determined by the way they make us feel – even for Supreme Court judges.
We are all the sum of our individual experiences. But our unique individual experiences often happen within a more common experience, or culture. This is not news to social scientists and anthropologists but this new tool provides the capability for anyone to accurately analyze what the impact of the relationships involved is. Until we get to know Sotomayor better we will have to wait on predicting her unique personal emotional influencers, but the relationship of cultures involved is easily analyzed with accuracy.
There are six intrinsic and intuitively understood (i.e. universal) roles of man, each of which is predictive of the emotional elements in play. But for the case of this discussion we are going to look at the intuitive cultural roles of Puerto Rican and American Culture, those cultures presumably most familiar to Sotomayor. Many Hispanic cultures fall into similar cultural roles, but not all, so it is important to be specific.
Based on the Hoye Model we intuitively understand that the American cultural role, and the natural role of President Obama, is the role of the HERO. And the Puerto Rican cultural role is that of the MOTHER. So let’s analyze the differences in emotional motivations and the relationship between these roles in a few areas of national importance:
| The Hero’s Motivation | The Mother’s Motivation | |
| Political | We aggressively seek resources to support our missions. | We aggressively seek resources to make a better community. |
| Economic | Monetary milestones help us to determine if we are reaching our goals and moving forward. | We want to work to support our community our families and ourselves. |
| Social | As a group we need a mission. | As family we are here for each other. |
| Technological | Technology has the answers we are seeking. | Technology should bring us together not come between us. |
Clearly, there are counter-balancing opinions, but what do you do with this knowledge?
In this case it is simple. We use this model to analyze Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination from a more important perspective than the political discussion. In this case the clear determination is that her nomination meets President Obama’s goal to shift the US culture to a more MOTHER based experience. This allows us to understand the importance of this nomination from a less judgmental and more intuitive manner.
Most of us have given up on the political process as a force for good because all of the conversations surrounding political analysis are about leverage and beating the other team. This divisive language just doesn’t speak to the authentic American experience. Where our neighbors and friends all feel the same way we do about wanting a brighter future for our children and grandchildren and the vitriol and duplicity in Washington is tiresome and painful to watch and follow for the those of us who have day jobs. With shared knowledge of this tool we can lead the discussion in a new and powerful way.
Now genuine appreciation becomes effortless, choices of others are easily understood and choices of our own can be made with the most complete understanding for the best possible results.
