MSI Press Blog

    Portland Kids Meet Belarusan Kids First, the Portland  kids met the Minsk kids in Belarus, and then the Minsk kids met the Portland kids in Oregon. Both trips took a lot of work, lot of collaboration, and a lot of breaking new ground. While I was in Minsk, accompanying the Portland kids as their guide and the person making sure that all the pre-arranged commitments were carried out—and the interpreter on site, the idea arose with the superintendent of schools that the Minks kids might benefit from a trip to the Oregon. This was right after the thawing of relations between the two countries and path existed at the time to make it happen. So, the educational staff and I met day after day when my time was not needed to be with the kids. The staff found out what kinds of documents would be needed to build an exchange from the Belarusan side and drafted them in Russian; I translated them into English. The faculty from the Portland Public Schools who had come with the kids ...

  Carl Jung’s typology gave us a language for how people perceive the world: through sensing or intuition . Later, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Socionics (Filatova) refined this idea, showing that these two preferences shape not only how we think, but how we love, parent, and collaborate. So, what happens when a Sensor and an Intuitive fall in love, become friends, or raise children together? They’re not just opposites — they’re two halves of how humanity perceives reality. Defining the Two Sensors (S) Sensors trust what they can see, touch, and measure. They live in the here and now , grounded in experience and detail. They value reliability, practicality, and the tangible world. Notice what’s real and present Prefer facts to theories Thrive on routine and mastery Communicate concretely and directly Feel secure when life is predictable Intuitives (N) Intuitives trust what could be . They live in the realm of patterns, possibilities, and meanings ....

  It’s tempting to say “we are all one human family” as if it were a comforting fact, something automatic and effortless. But anyone who has ever lived in a real family knows the truth: family is not defined by biology — it is defined by how we choose to treat one another. A family can be nurturing, or it can be chaotic. It can be a place of healing, or a place of harm. It can grow into wisdom, or collapse into rivalry. The same is true of the world. 🌍 One Family, Many Personalities Humanity is a household of different temperaments, histories, cultures, and wounds. We misunderstand each other. We compete for resources. We project our fears onto strangers. We cling to our corner of the world as if belonging were a limited resource. But difference is not the problem. How we respond to difference is the problem. Just like in any family, the question is not whether we disagree — it’s whether we learn how to disagree without destroying one another. 🧭 Dysfunction Is Easy Dysfunction re...