Orientation to Compatibility

Fitness is not Enough

Fitness is a primal need, which means it is a survival requirement, and the focus here in THEE is on social life. The determinants of social fitness as developed in a previous section, make considerable demands on each and all. While some individualization is possible, the dominance of the group is noticeable: click thumbnail to see.

However, social life would be poor if restricted to unavoidable or forcible fitting in. It is natural that you seek to fit in with others who are ready and willing to fit in with you, especially if you have interests in common.

When there is a willing mutual fitting in, there is social compatibility.

Q: How do you know in advance that there will be social compatibility?
A: Closed You don't!

Despite common interests and rules of thumb like similar status, age and the like, there can never be a guarantee of fit. Social incompatibility is distressing and usually time-wasting. So an important aspect of personal functioning in social life involves clarifying social compatibility—and that is the framework that will be developed in this section.

Acceptability is Fundamental

When a person deals with change, the psychosocial pressure that is activated is held to be acceptability. This pressure applies to all entities within the Domain even though it will be overlaid in various ways with other psychosocial pressures depending on the taxonomic location.

«Acceptability» as a term does not just refer to an inherent neuro-biologically-based pressure. It can also refer to a specific state of affairs as it exists now or as may be generated.

The question always asked is: what exactly is the state of affairs that is more or less acceptable?  As explained in the depiction paradigms and when improving clarification, the state is what you or others say it is.

A shared acceptability, even if there are differences in degree, enables a willing agreement with others on situations and proposals. Clarifying compatibility will involve determining acceptability at every step.

Originally posted: 6-Oct-2026