What explanation exists for the structure of an Activity in the world to map exactly to the four dimensions of character? What have I missed?
Understanding = Purpose
Doing = Evaluation
Gathering Information = Methodology
Obtaining = Motivation
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Your question is… kind of impenetrable. I’ll try and answer it as best as I can, though.
The way I think about it is through the four Situation Types: Past, Present, Progress, and Future.
Purpose is inherently tied to the past. You want what you want because of the things in your past. Sort of a Freudian concept, if you think about it. Understanding is about coming to terms with the past, Planning is about overcoming the past, and Memories are about considering and living in the past. For example, in a story I was working on, it was a character’s Projection of rebuilding the past that was the main spur of his actions. He wanted just to rebuild his old estate, but the Steadfast Main Character convinced him to expand his dream out to the entire city (Speculating a wider range of influence). The way characters respect the way things were is critical to understanding their goals.
Means of evaluation is tied to the way things are changing. I think this is pretty obvious. As things change, you need to know how they’re changing and to what degree. Doing is about making that change effective, Being is about embodying that change properly, and Instincts are about responding to these changes. So when all a character worries about as the war continues is whether their Cause is right, redirect their attention to the positive Effects the war has brought. So the change seemed bad at first, but a new way of evaluating that change makes it seem better.
Motivation is tied to the future. You act the way you act because you are drawn to a specific future that you desire. This is why characters Pursue, or Control, or Help: because they believe that’s the way to get to the future they want. Obtaining is about claiming a certain future thing or state. Becoming is about changing into a future something. Desires are about what you want for the future. So when a character believes that the only way to save his daughter from certain death is by Opposing a certain course of action, there is no way you can ever convince him to Support it instead. He sees Oppose as his only motivation towards the future he craves.
Methodology is specifically about how the present moves. A different methodology means the way a character interacts with the present changes. A character may Pursue because they want to reach some future, but they fill the present through Acceptance or Inaction. “Pursue through Inaction,” as I put it once. Gathering Information is about claiming the present. Conceiving is about having a new point of view towards the present. Contemplation means your attitude towards the present. So a character struggles with his day-to-day because he’s too Protective. Only letting go, being Inactive, will make his present struggles go away. His methodology is causing the present to be difficult.
…Does that answer the question? 
Afraid not. As you suggest, Situation might appear to be a better lens with which to explore Character, yet the latter’s elements patently map exactly to Activity.
For me it makes more sense for Motivation to be tired to the past and Purpose to the future: my purpose is to acquire a lot of money, my motivation is a childhood of poverty. I suppose that my example rather links Motivation with Obtaining. As for Means of Evaluation, I have yet to see a linkage with the Types either; Doing, Wisdom, Enlightenment, Skill & Experience don’t exactly tie in.
So the question still stands.
This has been answered before … but of course I can’t find the direct link. As soon as I can, I’ll post it here for you.
Oh. Well, sort of my point was that Past=Understanding=Planning=Memories. They’re all the same thing, just in different Domains. It doesn’t make any sense to say they map better to one than to the other. And the exploration of character occurs at the Element level, not the Type level.
EDIT: I think people struggle a lot with trying to match the words with how they would normally use them. But in Dramatica, words have very specific meanings. The difference between motivations and Motivations is huge. A Purpose can’t just be any old purpose. It has to fit in the mindset Dramatica uses. And really, this is all for the best. It’s to help you break up in your mind the Purpose and the Goal, or the Motivation and the Methodology. English is sticky and unclear; Dramatica is not. Which really, you know, means we need a new language just to really talk about it properly.
“Simple” Answer:
Apples and oranges – they do not relate because they are in different contexts.
Though the dimensions of character APPEAR to be the same scale and orientation as the throughline’s Types, they are not explored in the same manner. The four sets of elements that make up the character dimensions are best understood IN THE CONTEXT OF CHARACTERS (and 64 Elements), while the four Types best understood in terms of PLOT.
- The four layers of character elements are best understood when stacked (that’s how you can “drill down” to create character archetypes).
- The four plot types are best understood in a sequence (Signposts).