The “modal” size of one’s Quad One might be inherited or constructed in childhood. Luft suggests, in other cases, that certain experiences enlarge one’s openness to the world. He identifies these experiences as “true learning.” This very-American school perspective can be contrasted with “learning” that closes us off—which is more likely to be identified by disciples of the British School who label this “the process of de-skilling.” I will have more to say about this in Chapter Five (regarding Quad Three) when I consider the relationship between self-disclosure and insight.
So how would Luft suggest that we enlarge Quad One? What experiences and “true learning” lead to an expanded “modal” Quad One? I will examine this enlargement of Quad One from two perspectives. First, assuming a Continental school perspective, I suggest that enlargement relates to social conventions and to the pressure for each of us to assume a “persona” or public mask that ultimately blocks authenticity and full expression of one’s true self in Quad One. I then turn to the dynamics that specifically operate in the interaction between two people with differing degrees of openness, as this interaction influences the expansion of Quad One for both parties in the interaction
