By: Matthew Willarch
OwlFeed Journalist

¨There are three kinds of people in this world. People who make things happen, people who watch things happen, and people who ask what happened.¨ No, Steve Backley, there isn’t. There are actually four kinds of people and I’m gonna tell you how.

There are, as I’ve found through thorough research, actually four types of people in this world. In truth, in a world where power defines how and even if we are able to function, there are four ways to handle it.

There are in fact four different “personalities” or “types”. There are those who have power but don’t use it, which are Naturalists, those who fear power but don’t reject it which are Romanticists, those who reject power but don’t fear, which is an Existentialist, and those who use power but don’t have it which are Nihilists.

These different parties of people don’t necessarily fall within a political or economic bracket apart from a Naturalists and Nihilist/Anarchist. These titles are mainly a philosophical and social viewpoint or a way of life. With many of the values of these groups are left up to personal definition.

Let’s start off with the Naturalist, as defined by Britannica, it’s “a theory that relates scientific method to philosophy by affirming that all beings and events in the universe (whatever their inherent character may be) are natural. Consequently, all knowledge of the universe falls within the pale of scientific investigation.” So the idea is that whatever you were in your bloodline is what you will be in your bloodline. So if your parents were a farmer, you in turn will be a farmer. If your parents are lawyers, you in turn will be a lawyer. If you are born into power you in turn will be powerful without the need to show it.

Next we will go over Romanticists, of which philosophybasics describes as “a philosophical movement.. which emphasizes emotional self-awareness as a necessary precondition.” This means people who follow a Romanticist ideology are often very introverted and focus on how the situations at hand make them feel and are very at one with themselves. This causes them to fear power as they are more in tune with the emotions it provides while not fearing its existence.

Then there are the Existentialists. I have talked about Existentialism in detail in my article entitled “The benefits of being an existentialist,” where I talk about how an existentialist cares more about their own personal beliefs and how they cope with a world they cannot control so in turn they seek self control, not worrying about anything beyond themselves. This means they reject the idea of power, but don´t fear it.

Lastly there is the Nihilists/Anarchist. As defined by Merriam Webster, a Nihilist is  “a person who rebels against any authority, established order, or ruling power.” In other words, it’s a society of people who don’t believe in a society. In both theory and practice this is counterproductive. These people believe that the only true form of discipline is chaos and therefore things like government go against the natural order of things and must be stopped in turn. So anarchists don’t have power in today’s society but are not afraid to act like they do.

So there you go, we went over a little history and some socialist perspectives that are definitely out of the norm of today. But these types of people are the sort that make up how the world go round.

So my advice for life advice: know who you are.