Cervantes’ tale of the deranged gentleman who turns knight-errant, tilts at windmills and battles with sheep in the service of the lady of his dreams, Dulcinea del Toboso, has fascinated generations of readers, and inspired other creative artists such as Flaubert, Picasso and Richard Strauss. The tall, thin knight and his short, fat squire, Sancho Panza, have found their way into films, cartoons and even computer games. Supposedly intended as a parody of the most popular escapist fiction of the day, the ‘books of chivalry’, this precursor of the modern novel broadened and deepened into a sophisticated, comic account of the contradictions of human nature. Cervantes’ greatest work can be enjoyed on many levels, all suffused with a subtle irony that reaches out to encompass the reader. Read more.
Description of socionic types made by Elena Zamanskaya and translated by Olga Yuska:
Dons are absolutely extraordinary representatives of the socion; they are gifted with superior intelligence and ingenuity, restless character and enormous interest in how the life works. Taking to the world like a duck to water, they are ready to endless exploration of various phenomenons; getting down to those general mechanisms that underlie nature of things and phenomenon. Taking the world as a regular mine of various information, Dons are able to perceive consistent patterns of various phenomenons and their correlation. They enjoy not only exploring the ways the world works, but also fantasizing how it will look in the future. Dons can travel not only through distances but also through time. Extraversion of Dons manifests itself in their ability to think with global categories, to invent the ways of changing the world for the sake of human intelligence and development. Dons’ intuition lets them be flexible, see array of opportunities and alternatives for development; and their creative structural logics helps them think both paradoxically and objectively. Whatever is their occupation, Dons are constantly cognizing the world taking interest in lots of irrelevant and seemingly contradictory things. Nonetheless, this very spread of interests lets them obtain such facts about the world, that can be hardly given by standard education. Incredible variety of surrounding world inspires Dons to generate new and new ideas. Their zest for life is expressed in realizable need to explore, constantly shifting from one task to another. Dons have certain difficulties with introducing their ideas into life. They find it hard to turn away from constant process of thinking and get easily repelled by routine and painstaking completion of a beautiful concept or a promising scheme. Something which is already known doesn’t attract their attention with the same power as unexplored things. At the worst Dons’ life is burdened with endless caravan of unaccomplished things and unrealized plans. Despite that, Dons as careless and cheerful personalities seldom hang their head and hope for better future and find their rest in fantasies, intellectual disputes and hobbies.
Interpersonal relations are the most difficult area in Dons’ life. In this area they often make fool of themselves and show others up demonstrating their own disrespect to generally-accepted conventionalities. Dons are extremely independent people who know the value of freedom, take their life as an adventure and have no fear before ups and downs; therefore stability of family relationships seems too scary to them. Being once heart broken they need long time to lick their wounds and consequently lose their habitual trust to the world, get disbalanced. Being good in detecting other people’s talents, they usually fail to discern attitude of others to themselves. For that reason Dons either fall into idealism feeling love to all the humankind and seeing a nonpareil in their partner that one day suddenly breaks into pieces or having mistaken their partner keep on slaving away out of a mere sense of guilt and freeze their feelings. Dons need a partner able to accept their enormous and logically chaotic world, a person who won’t get terrified of sudden impulses and tests on stability of relations. In the person who can show Dons the whole world of beautiful feelings, lead to perception of subtle sensations and take responsibility for their relationships, the person who will be kind, non-intrusive and value freedom as much as Dons do, ILE can find not only a close friend and sexually attractive partner but also a close associate, companion, inspiration and loyal accomplice in all their amusements, games and affairs. There is another area of life that Dons would eagerly escape. Everything related to organization of their household, healthcare, clean clothes, smart hairdo and things alike. Dons are waiting for someone able to share their ability to directly perceive sensual aspects of being and look after themselves. It is also important that such a person could teach Dons to take rest, relax, gather momentum for active and colorful life. Being a compulsive person Dons may forget about their rest and sleep, fail to spot accumulating fatigue and then wonder where all this apathy comes from. Kind support, funny jokes and of course a new rave will help them overcome their inertness and weakened vitality.
There is a little child living in every Don, especially happy and creative one, up to the end of their lives. In childhood they become a great trial for close people. Inventors asking endless questions, picking arguments and making something up. Though Dons cause not only troubles but bring a lot of excitement. Being playful and devoted, a disputant and joker, Dons often become the heart of the company, take the lead in games and adventures. Teachers’ attempts to make Dons maintain discipline and diligently prepare their home tasks plunge them into desperate boredom and ILE keep up fooling round. Most Dons are too ingenuous for our school and therefore often become a real mischief for their teachers. They literarily grasp educational material and leave their classmates far behind since patient waiting is missing in the list if their merits. In high school Dons as a rule develop their own style of communication with teachers, their own ways of doing home assignments (or better say how not to do them); they enjoy respect of classmates because of their ability to solve the most difficult tasks and to baffle their teachers. The best way to learn for Dons is to participate actively in the process, to exchange ideas, debate, share their views, thoughts and projects. They prefer to reinvent the wheel than use a ready-made scheme. ILE would rather act impromptu and think something out than learn by heart! They need democratic teachers who respect individuality and ability to think, the teachers who create atmosphere of creative search. Dons will remember such teachers throughout all their and with sincere gratitude. Dons are trying to create similar atmosphere for their own children. They are democratic parents that play and get fascinated together with the little ones. The best they can do for their kids is to instill in them inner freedom, ability to speak up their opinion, take care of mental outfit and develop integral reception of life. Don-parents cannot teach their children discipline and neatness. However, they manage to turn most family events into interesting and rememberable communication holiday filled with debates, exchange of opinions, ideas and unconstrained amusement.
Though in company Don doesn’t try to raise someone’s interest, they quite often find themselves in the limelight. It happens because getting fascinated they involve others. They know how to live with interest and tell lively and intimately about everything beginning with books they read in large quantity, latest music and funny stories and finishing with complicated areas of human knowledge. They feel concerned with everything that happens in the company and therefore spare neither effort nor time to rattle up the people. Just not to get bored they are ready to participate in any even the most riskiest entertainment. But more often they smartly and spontaneously offer such entertainments themselves. There are legends about absentmindedness of Dons. Actually it is not weary absentmindedness of a professor, it is a distraction of a person interested rather in a stretch of imagination than household drudgery. Up to their declining years Dons keep up youth energy, creative enthusiasm and child’s curiosity. They are light on their feet and don’t think much preparing to some event, don’t plan anything. Throughout all their life Dons rely on their intuition, faith in their ability to find a way out from any situation. No extreme case may scare Dons – just on the contrary it braces them up and reveals their best qualities – courage and resourcefulness. No difficulties may stop them, Dons accept a challenge. They disgust apathy caused by lack of new impressions, changes and sense of growth. Owing to these qualities Dons prefer unbeaten tracks to well-explored, customary and conventional ones. The argument “Live like everyone lives” doesn’t find positive response from Dons. They choose their own special way and obtain wisdom through their own tests, mistakes and problems. They often realize uniqueness of their own existence and equally accept uniqueness of others. Dons are open in communication and keep up active most time, but every now and then they get thoughtful, absorbed in their own thoughts. They often speak up their mind, which by some people considered as tactlessness, disrespect for fundamentals and authorities. In fact Dons are extremely democratic by their nature and therefore readily give the same freedom to others. It is natural for them to stand up for a person who turned to be in the minority in the argument and firmly advocate their interests as well as the right for own opinion. Dons are also ready to ardently advocate their own positions even those that conflict with all recognized authorities. Like no one else they understand the relativity of truths. And like no one else they notice what was unseen by others, discern a secret in ordinary things, make discovery in what is already known. Dons bring endless joy of discoveries to other people, the life with such a person is interesting, full of life and spontaneous energy of exploratory life pattern. Whatever is their profession, education and talents Dons add interest, creative search and novelty into any practise.
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