Class: The Tacit Dimension

It is unfortunate that we label economic levels by including the word “class” as in lower class, middle class, and upper class for class has nothing to do with money. Class is something that describes an X Factor in people. It is something that one cannot see on first meeting someone.

I had a professor, Dr. Robinson, in my program at Duke who spoke about the book and theme of The Tacit Dimension by Michael Polanyi. Polanyi described a dimension wherein         we can know more than we can tell which is the definition of tacit. That is also a good definition for class. (I have a Duke Classmate who reads my blog. He is a fellow who is a great leader in difficult situations. He must be smiling now as he reads that title of Polanyi’s book. It brings back memories of a challenging course.)

Let me begin by saying what class is not. Class is not a matter of the intellect. Just because you are smart doesn’t mean that you have class. Robert Coles at Harvard proved this when he had student who got all A(s) but flunked life. Coles learned that when that student went home from his ethics course with the label, my best student, he belittled and made fun of the cleaning woman who took care of his room.

Class is not how you dress or look particularly in fashion advertisements or pictures of Hollywood actors or actresses on the red carpet.

Class is not about physical prowess.

Class is hard to describe, but you know it when you experience it in many different aspects of your life. Not everyone would agree with your using that title for someone.  That’s not important. What is important is what you believe.

There are certain observations that you may use to explain it to yourself which is good enough if you say to yourself, “that’s it.”

He/she makes me proud to be a human being.

He/she seems to know who he/she is.

I feel better after spending time with him/her.

He/she is a giver not a taker.

I was born this way whatever this way means to me.

I know there are things that he/she can do that I can’t do, but he/she also is very interested in what I can do that he/she can’t.

He/she reminds me that I may be one person in the world, but I may be the whole world to one person.

He/she surprises me with the power of their gratitude and humility.

He/she thinks of others first.

He/she makes me feel that I am their best friend, but I learn that they have many people who hold that view of him/her.

Is it more than we can tell?

These are a few things that come to my mind when I think about what makes someone who has class in my psyche/soul. What do you look for to lift another to that level and be named classy. Is it so many things that it is difficult to describe to another? I think Professor Robinson would say, it should be!