Serious Involvement

A participatory response to a stimulating idea, situation or event, does not tell you whether it will be worth becoming seriously involved.

A serious involvement is one whether your willingness is activated more specifically leading to you becoming embroiled for better or worse.

The initial step is to depict the reality (L3), then to see whether it accords with your internal reality i.e. your beliefs (L2), and finally to have a go (L1) and see what you can make of the actual reality.

L3: Facing

The moment that the choice to participate and potentially get involved has been made, the requirement to face up to the reality of that challenge emerges.

There will be some idea of what is involved from reading, advice and hearsay. But your are a unique person in your own unique situation. So how you see it matters. It is easy to deny or distort realities to fit what you expect or hope for or to make yourself more comfortable. But this is not the route to an good result.

Example: An investment opportunity comes your way from a group you know. As the group makes their living from offering risky ventures, they are incentivized to persuade you to become involved. You may be stimulated to participate, but have you got the picture clear in your own mind? are you being blinded by the promised returns? do you appreciate the investment structure? have you considered market conditions? have you consulted with friends with more experience?

Note that you are not directly taking any risk at this level. You are solely concerned with grasping the reality and ensuring its depiction is reasonable and acceptable. To add to the difficulty, reality often has to be depicted and evaluated in terms of probabilities, and most of us are not good at that.

Centre(s)

Dynamic Duality: Facing reality will generate two polarized but connected Centres: L3_P and L3_S.

Why?

On the one hand you are fully in control of what you let yourself see and know. However, the actual reality has nothing to do with you, and you do not control what others see. They may well have a more informed view or be less or differently biased. Fortunately, you may benefit from listening to them.

We will label L3_P: Determine Crucial Facts

and label L3_S: Listen to Independent Assessments

Channels

L3

Whatever the outcome of your commitment, you cannot blame others. So, valuable as their assessments and advice may be, the dominant Centre, must be your own determination of the reality. You must focus on critical facts that will whether and how you participate, and what you must do. In doing so, you will be influenced by independent assessments.

This means the L3_P Centre is dominant (i.e. placed on the right side of the Tree), and a channel between the two polar L3-Centres is necessary. Listening to others helps you determine the essential facts, and your determination of what is important will help you select, listen and understand the perceptions of others.

L3_P↔ L3_S is provisionally labeled Assistance

L4 ↔ L3: There are potentially two L4 ↔ L3 Channels:

L4_B↔ L3_P and L4_B↔ L3_S

Your participation in the challenge will help focus your attention on relevant facts and increase precision in appreciation your nature and impact. As you become clearer about the realities of the challenge, you will be able to clarify and adjust your participation to suit yourself.

L4_B↔ L3_P is provisionally labeled Refinement

Participation will bring you into contact with a variety of people who are familiar with the scene. You will hear their views, possibly even have those views forced on you, and you will naturally respond by adjusting your participation. The reverse influence is also likely in that independent assessments will be affected your participation.

L4_B↔ L3_B is provisionally labeled Responsiveness

L2: Believing

Centre(s)

A person maintains their beliefs with the knowledge that there will be times that they must be used to direct, shape or restrict action. So in any challenging situation, beliefs will be activated and applied.

Dynamic Duality: In all cases, there is a fusion of personal-private and socio-situational factors.

Why?

Believing is an internal and often largely private matter, but when willingness is operative in a situation, others become aware of beliefs that are being applied. They may question actions, request explanations of the situation, or ask directly. The application of any belief will be a matter under control of the person. However, the application must suit the situation and therefore situational factors will simultaneously be operative.

So, in the Tree, this level becomes a single balanced Centre: L2_B.

We will label L2_B: Apply Beliefs

Channels 

L4 ↔ L2

Beliefs will be used to explain why getting involved in this challenge makes sense and is worthwhile. The value of participation will similarly justify beliefs that are held.

L4_B↔ L2_B is provisionally labeled Justification

L3 ↔ L2

Independent assessment of relevant realities

L3_P↔ L2_B is provisionally labeled Validation

Determination of crucial facts will open the door for the application of beliefs. Alternatively it will inhibit, block or even prohibit the application of beliefs. Beliefs are always used in the determination of reality: sometimes forcing denial but often enabling a clearer perspective.

L3_S↔ L2_B is provisionally labeled Permission

L1: Trying

Centre(s)

The first step in dealing with any serious challenge or request for assistance is to try to make a difference.

Dynamic Duality: In all cases, there is a fusion of personal and socio-situational factors.

Why?

Trying must depend on personal factors. Responsibility will be particularly important, but interest will play a part as well. If you are not interested, then it is hard to mobilize the required effort. However, you cannot try something that is not available to you in the situation, and permitted by laws and the culture. Trying may be socially required without being socially supported.

So, in the Tree, this level becomes a single balanced Centre: L1_B.

We will label L1_B: Keep Trying

Channels 

L3↔ L1

The realities that you perceive in relation to the challenge will direct whatever you try. At the same time, your attempts, successful or not, will bring certain realities of the challenge to the fore and direct your attention to clarifying them.

L3_P↔ L1_B is provisionally labeled Direction

Independent feedback and assessment of the reality will ideally encourage you to keep trying, either that or it will be discouraging. Keeping on trying will benefit from independent views of the situation and so there will be an encouragement to get feedback and listen to the assessments of others.

L3_S↔ L1_B is provisionally labeled Encouragement

L2↔ L1

Trying depends on having relevant beliefs about the activity and yourself. So keeping on trying confirms these beliefs. At the same time, the beliefs confirm the importance and necessity of keeping on trying.

L2_B↔ L1_B is provisionally labeled Confirmation

L4↔ L1

Participation does not directly affect trying or vice versa because any influence must be mediated by the realities which direct trying or by beliefs which confirm the trying. Without those mediating centres there would be no external check (L3-realities) or internal check (L2-beliefs) on why trying-and-participation are occurring and even whether it is sane.

Blockages

The lower Centres and Channels are about getting yourself involved with a particular challenge. The influences amongst the lower 3 levels are where blockages emerge rather easily.

Instead of confirmation, when you look deeply into what you believe, your attempts may be disconfirmed.

Independent assessments of the challenge may discourage you and invalidate your beliefs.

Your view of the reality may misdirect you and inhibit the application of your beliefs.

Your views may interfere with listening to feedback, and outsider feedback may interfere with your own judgement.

Once you move above L3-Facing reality, the situation changes. There may be more or less responsiveness, refinement or justification, but complete blockage is unlikely.

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Having clarified how involvement manifests, it is possible to consider how it is buttressed by the higher levels of willingness.

• Centres of significant commitment.

Originally posted: 20-Feb-2026.