On Type and Personal Interests (Part II, the Alphas)

     Previously I talked in general about what makes a type tick and how that influences what the individual is interested in, or rather how they're interested in it. This time I'd like to delve into specifics, starting with the four quadras, but I feel I need to explain what a quadra is made of and how to make use of the information they give us.

     In order to understand what a type has in common with the other three members of its quadra, you'll need to know some of the quirks of each kind of function. The nature of subjective functions is that they tend to be more... serious or refined, more focused on specific parts of the realm they deal with. They're limited in their view of reality because they have a scope defined by the individual, but they tend to have a more honest attitude in that they're more open to a varying quality of conclusions. Objective functions look directly at the world and thus have a more realistic starting place, but the broad scope tends to make them... optimistic. Perhaps as a way of dealing with a much broader array of information, objective functions seem to take things less seriously and focus on the good things found in their sphere.

     The easiest way to explain this is probably with Ni and Ne. Ni is a subjective set of patterns and connections, disconnected from anything outside the person. Because Ni is subjective, it tends to regard a much higher spectrum of possibilities than Ne. Ni, depending on the individual, is more likely to pursue a single vision or single possibility rather than open up and explore other possibilities. This can be harmful in some cases, but because Ni is willing to go anywhere to find the absolute best possible explanation, Ni-types often pick up on much more complicated and realistic possibilities than Ne-types. Fe, by contrast, is concerned with connections, emotions, and values of others. Fe often takes a more friendly approach, trying to affect everybody else instead of making itself honest. Its ethics are more practical and realistic than Fi's, but its self-knowledge can be severely lacking.

     What a quadra is is a sharing of this preference in all functions. While the types and temperaments can vary wildly, and communication may not be the best because of flipped preferences, but they are subjective and objective in the same place. Each quadra contains two very different sets of people, but often the only barrier between them is communication.

     That said, here they are with my thoughts:

     Alphas are the types that have Ti-Fe and Si-Ne. Socionics describes this as a very lighthearted and friendly quadra, which is... not inaccurate, but it's not entirely true. Ne is a very optimistic, lighthearted and talkative function and Fe is a very warm, outwardly emotional function. When a typical Alpha gains energy, it shows up as a bubbly warmth. Alphas tend to be the types that find each other and form close-knit friend families, though this isn't exclusive. They're common performers and actors. Their internal world is more rigid and thoughtful, sequential and logical. They like categories even if they lack discipline to organize and enjoy having a large set of boxes in their heads to help them sort alike and unalike things.

     -FeSi have the strongest articulation of the Alphas in lead Fe. They like getting out and influencing people, and at their best have a strong inclination to make sure that everyone is happy and to express themselves emotionally. Si gives them a very linear and categorical thought process, so they tend to spread Fe influence in small, individual ways according to a set of static values they apply to each situation. They like doing things where they can build connections with people. A lot of Fe-leads are into combat, martial arts, and building/engineer work, but I can't for the life of me figure out why. Maybe it's the integration of polar Ti that pushes them to be more thorough and refine their Fe get-stuff-done attitude.

     -SiFe are similar with some key differences. Their Si map of the world is bigger and more detailed, their ethical strength is a little more subdued, and they're perception leads. A lot of these types are actors, and they're usually characterized by an easy-going warmth. They tend to like to do things for people, and the leading Si aids them in remembering and categorizing how to best take care of or interact with individuals. Look for friendly homebodies or acclaimed handsome actors who think of themselves as friendly homebodies.

     -NeTi are... fascinated. That's a good way to put it. Enthusiastic, friendly when they have to be, and keen on learning and talking about interesting things. They don't tend to have a set list of jobs they're interested in, but a pile of skills and experiences that lend to a unique collage of stuff they like to do. Sort of Renaissance folks but less focused. Some are artists, some are singers, some are actors, some scientists, some inventors, and most have dabbled in multiple of these things and then some.

     -TiNe are similar to NeTi but are a little easier to predict. They're very philosophical in their approach to things, be it science, math, art, music, film, writing, and so forth. Contrary to MBTI tradition, TiNe aren't that great in hard sciences like chemistry or applied physics. They are quite logical and detached like a good scientist, but they like ideas more than facts. Facts aren't plastic enough. If you want to find a TiNe, look for awkward, outsider-y actors, satirists, and basically anything an NeTi would do except they're only doing one or two things and they're probably pounding it into dust by overthinking it.


Next part, I'll discuss some of the inclinations of Betas.

On Type and Personal Interests (Part I)

   
       Sorry for the looong stretch of no posts, but this post has been a long time in coming. In retrospect this was a little ambitious, but hopefully getting it out in multiple parts will help.

       This is a topic many typologists, of all schools or thought, have been trying to understand for a long time: what effect does one's type have on one's personal interests, decisions, and intelligence? I would sum this question to ask: How much of one's personality does his or her type make up? It's a difficult puzzle to be sure, especially since typology, throughout its history, has lacked an empirical basis upon which to say "This person is definitely this type and here's why". Because of this, many systems (Keirseycoughcough) even start from the end of interests and archetypes and determine type from there. Even now, with Cognitive Type growing and refining in its ability to accurately type people with little to no subjective element, the correlation between what one is and what one likes has only cleared up somewhat, especially since the theory is still quite small and has yet to accrue a sizable sample set from which to work.
     The point I'm trying to make is not that your type is unrelated to your interests, only that it doesn't have to be- or, technically, it doesn't have to seem like it on the surface. Because how we think and process is our type, pretty much by definition, there are patterns to the kinds of things we like that correlate to it. Let's recap our functions and see if we can discern anything about ourselves...

• Se is a directed, focused, tangible, and concrete method of gathering information from the world.
• Ne is an exploratory, symbolic, associative, and abstract method of gathering information from the world.
• Te is an efficient, perfectionist, empirical method of affecting change in the world.
• Fe is a fluid, political, interpersonal method of affecting change in the world.
• Si is a tangible, separative, preservative, pastiche method of interpreting the world.
• Ni is a projecting, causal, extrapolating, connective method of interpreting the world
• Ti is an impersonal, philosophical, precise method of understanding the world.
• Fi is a personal, ethical, value-driven method of understanding the world.

     Simple enough, just a recap of what I've said before. If you want more depth to these definitions, you can refer to my previous posts on the subject. Here, though, I hope to explore the relationship these functions have to our interests and career preference.

     These functions are heavily algorithmic, which basically means that what they're trying to get at in life is based on a reductive (or simplistic) formula that can be interpreted differently based on the situation. See where I'm going with this? What, say, Si finds interesting in one context and one person will be different from one it finds interesting in another. Similar situations will breed similar reactions in the same function, but context is never exactly the same for any two people, no matter how similar it is. Think of a function as a quadratic equation, rather appropriate considering the mathematical definition of a function.

X + 2 = Y

     In this situation, X represents the context and Y represents the conclusion drawn by the function. What is the function itself? It's the whole thing, really. The part that says that every situation (Y) is the context (X) plus something. If we say that input 3 for X, we can solve the equation and say that 3+2=Y, or Y=5. Cognitive functions are much more complex than this, but not unimaginably so. Let's get to an actual example. 

     Bob is an FiNe. That means Bob has Fi, Ne, Si, and Te. When Bob was a child, he saw a rabbit in a cage at the pet store and thought it looked scared and afraid because it was shivering. I would be scared and afraid, thought a very young Bob, if I had to stay in a cage without my friends. In that moment, all of Bob's functions are firing off, attempting to learn from this instance. His Ne-Si captured that entire context of emotions in a snapshot that would be carried with him into adulthood. His Fi-Te determined that it was bad to keep rabbits in a cage without his friends, and that people shouldn't do such a thing. 

     If Bob continues to be exposed to shivering, frightened rabbits in cages, a pattern will develop. His Si will constantly deliver a message of "rabbits in cages are mistreated" every time Ne encounters a new instance and relates it to the past. Every time Si delivers that message, Fi reprocesses and determines each time that it is morally reprehensible to keep rabbits in cages. And then Bob's Te will determine the reasonable course of action is to prevent rabbits from being put in cages, thus avoiding the morally reprehensible situation.

     Whether or not any of the rabbits were being mistreated is irrelevant to my point. If they were or if they weren't, Bob perceived it to be so and it left an impression accordingly. All of this, the impression that Bob's experiences left on him, is X. It changes from person to person based on how and when and where they live.
     Now imagine that Bob is 20. He's a smart kid and a good study, so he graduated college early. He now lives on his own and what does he see on his way home from his first day at work? A small bunny sitting in the window of the pet store. Bob is older and wiser than he was at four, so his response isn't quite so simplistic. Even if the rabbit in question seems quite content, Bob experiences a feeling he might later describe as "I just can't stand to see a rabbit in a cage". 

     In reality, his Ne took in that information and related it to all his snapshots of caged rabbits from his past, eliciting a similar emotional response. We'll give Bob some credit and say that he has balanced Te- that is, he acts responsibly because he knows the rabbit isn't necessarily suffering and he has no money right now, rather than giving in to his first Fi impulse to BUY THAT POAR BUNNY AND SAVE HIIIM. Using his FiTe in tandem, however, Bob is inspired to volunteer at the local shelter on Fridays and Saturdays after work as a way of contributing to the well-being of animals. That way of handling the context is his +2, and the decision to work is Y.

     See what I'm getting at now? I chose that kind of a situation on purpose because volunteer work is pretty common among FiNe- helping others in tangible ways according to their strong sense of personal ethics is a pretty decently common outlet. But then we hit the tricky part. Functions work in tandem with each other, as I mentioned, in addition to what we've experienced. It's impossible to say that all FiNe are kindhearted volunteer working humanitarians, because people are individuals.

     Stay tuned for part two, where I'll get into my thoughts on each type in regards to interests.

Type Profiles- NeTi: The Genius Ditz

NeTi

aka ENTP (MBTI), ILE (Socionics)

Lead Process: Ne>Si

Support Process: Ti>Fe

Quadra: Alpha

Function Build: Explorer-Type (Pe-lead)

Famous NeTi: Adam Savage, Kari Byron, Jim Carrey, Daniel Pudi, Anne Hathaway, Freddie Mercury, Hans Zimmer, John Powell, Steve Wozniak

Historical NeTi: (TBA)

Fictional NeTi: Sokka (Avatar: The Last Airbender), Milo Thatch (Atlantis: The Lost Empire), Phineas Flynn (Phineas and Ferb)

Famous ENTPs who aren't actually NeTi: Robert Downey Jr. (TeNi), Hugh Laurie (TeNi), Richard Feynman (TeNi), Bill Maher (SiTe), Tom Hanks (TeSi), Hugh Grant (TeSi)

     In case you couldn't tell from the previous section, there's a bit of a misunderstanding of what NeTi actually is. Many of the famous ENTPs you'll find are actually Te-types, and this belies an even deeper misunderstanding of Te. NeTi are primarily exploratory, curious, and often optimistic people (Ne). Their primary modus operandi is to see and learn all the things, returning later to a cool and logical understanding of the things they experienced (Ti). They are often affable and warm people and, despite not being personally very feels-y, are quite socially competent and sensitive to others (Fe). Polar Si means that they have a strong affinity for certain familiar things, traditions, flavors, etc. but the scope is very narrow, and they rarely let their minds rest long enough to just enjoy them.

     As Pe-leads, they have a loose, casual energy to them, often quickening in pace when excited or they just feel like it. While they aren't strong gesticulators most of the time, they are very active listeners and it's often difficult to get them to not speak if they're really engaged in a topic and feel they can contribute. Having Ne in particular makes this loose/casual energy very light, buoyant, and some would say childlike. Ne constantly engages in what's called transcontextual thinking (more on that later), which studies show is associated with happiness and laughter. Deciding what car you would be if you lived in ancient Rome is just funny, I guess. All high-Ne types, but the Ne-leads in particular, get a really strong positive emotion when two concepts are connected or something new is learned, hence the light and optimistic energy. Their Si is not the strongest, but it contributes to Ne's exploration by taking notes and holding the data for Ne to connect. This lower Si is what causes all high-Ne types to become enthusiasts of their favorite subjects; the strong affinity for certain ideas or facts will cause NeTi to enjoy connecting their favorite things together (robot-vampires, monkey-werezombies, The Avengers, etc) in creative ways.

     The external and, some would say primary, world of the NeTi is that of Ne and Fe. Being Alphas, they are affable and curious, preferring to create group harmony and consensus by playing games or group trivia. Apples to Apples is a common game for Alphas to play, and NeTi love getting into the mindset of other people to pick just the right card. Non-competitive games where things are randomized and fun will attract NeTi like moths to a flame, as will the promise of learning a new game entirely. They can be quite competitive, but only so far as the group atmosphere allows. If it would hurt or alienate someone to be competitive, they would rather not, and they themselves are equally sensitive to sore winners and losers. It's just a game, after all, and nothing spoils the mood like someone who values the game more than the group.

     Contrary to what appears on the surface, however, NeTi have a meticulous and cool inner world of Ti and Si. They're rarely aware of their own feelings and personal preferences, so they're quick to argue opposite of what they actually believe to maintain balance or for a good laugh. They're chill, calm, and calculating when they try to be, and are quick to learn almost anything they put their energy into. This world is smaller than the outside world, in their mind, so they prefer to not play there too often. They often feel inadequate in terms of intelligence because of their light and active temperament, but this is often far from the case.

What you probably know about NeTi

     NeTi are insanely creative people when they try to be, able to take a single point of data and generate a huge number of possibilities for it, realistic or no. Ne's drive to learn and discover, with Ti's impersonal quest to understand Truth, means that NeTi can be very busy, perhaps even overachieving people. They love the world and the universe and all the things and want to experience and know every part of it, so they are often entertaining several pursuits at once. Once they reach a satisfactory level of understanding or expertise, they drop it and move on to something else- keeping the info and connections made to use later on other projects and conversations. Because of this, older NeTi often have a laundry list of things they've tried and done and, like TiNe, take pride in being able to contribute something to any conversation they're in.

What you probably don't know about NeTi

     Because of the nature of Ne's exploration, NeTi don't always feel the need to be with people, and many often identify as extraverts. The difference between an introverted NeTi and a true TiNe, though, is that NeTi are filling their alone time with things and intellectual stimulation. They can spend just as much time in their room and away from people, but they're often doing things. Listening to music, watching a movie, reading a book, writing- I have a friend who does all these things at once, but he does them alone. 

     NeTi are also more externally feels-y than NeFi, and many mistype as ENFP. Unlike the ENTP stereotype of the nonchalant, dismissive and sometimes endearingly rude friend everyone has, real NeTi have a very strong Fe and value being kind to others as well as the game of interpersonal politics. They'll often develop social habits like greeting people they barely know, perhaps as a way to foster the sense of community that all Alphas crave. This is more than can be said for NeFi, who, though sensitive, value being genuine more than being affable and will not always give others what they want in the same way an NeTi would. Unlike the TeNi for which they are often confused, they're more into puns and quips than quick, blunt sarcasm.

What it feels like to be NeTi

     Imagine being the wind. You have little material of your own, so you float and swoosh around, rarely picking up anything but for a few moments. Something compels you to always go, to always see more. There's a great big, beautiful world out there to see and touch, and you won't get to see much of it if you stay in one place too long. So away you go, lightly brushing everything you can in an attempt to eventually touch everything. Not for a purpose, not as a tool; the world itself, even the parts you can only imagine, are inherently beautiful and interesting to you. The wind passes across all kinds of objects, catching itself on them and feeling and exploring them, but soon moving on. But before the wind can explore anywhere close to anything, it realizes something. Some things respond differently when you push on them, and some things even react with other things. Not only is there a material world to explore, there are invisible worlds lying inside it, worlds unseen made of connections and associations. Clouds, water, and ice are just different versions of the same thing. Rock melts into lava the same way that ice melts into water, but the two are also somehow different. There can be three rocks as well as three seashells, but for some reason the rocks are heavier- egad! There are still more things beyond our sight, aspects of matter and ideas that we cannot even discover with our eyes or hands.

     By this point, the NeTi has turned two or three and is just learning to talk about these things. Where other types see the world as a home, or a challenge, or formula, NeTi look at the world and see a playground. The Great Unknown is less a dark shadow monster waiting to eat you, but more like a big jolly Santa Claus offering presents and games and new friends. NeTi love them some new friends. But they need and love their old friends, too; just like the TiNe, NeTi's constant zooming out of reality into that hyper-optimistic world of the unknown can cause them to swing from recklessly carefree to unnecessarily fretful; constantly imagining every possibility from becoming a zillionaire to being eaten by the boogieman can be taxing. Like TiNe, they need a good friend, a hug, some cookies, and a movie containing high levels of hijinks and shenanigans to remind them that the familiar, normal things are just as good as the shiny new ones.

What you really probably don't know about NeTi

      NeTi are common composers, as the Ne affinity for collage-work projects is exercised by compiling dozens of instruments, and often unusual ones, into the one big piece. Hans Zimmer is famous for having chunks that he writes and simply rearranges and reuses (I'm looking at you, Inception BWAH), and his protege, John Powell, often incorporates things like kazoos into otherwise traditionally orchestrated pieces.

Type Profiles- TiNe: The Dorky Sophisticate

     (I figure it's finally time to do some type profiles. I'll only do these as I feel confident in my understanding, hence why I'm starting with my own type, so this will be an ongoing thing along with my other posts.)

TiNe

aka INTP (MBTI), LII (Socionics)

Lead Process: Ti>Fe

Support Process: Ne>Si

Quadra: Alpha

Function Build: Compass-Type (Ji-lead)

Famous TiNe: Stephen Hawking, Jimi Hendrix, Alanis Morrisette, Sigourney Weaver, Ashley Olsen

Historical TiNe: Immanuel Kant, 

Fictional TiNe: Ginko (Mushishi), Abed (Community), Tenzin (Legend of Korra), Bruce Banner (Avengers version), Mulan (Mulan)

Famous INTPs that aren't actually TiNe: Albert Einstein (NeFi), Abraham Lincoln (NiFe), Charles Darwin (SiTe), Richard Dawkins (TeSi), Tina Fey (SiTe)

     TiNe is probably one of the types we're most familiar with in terms of the original MBTI community. "INTP" is among the larger demographics in the type community, along with INTJ, INFJ, and INFP. TiNe have a natural skepticism (Ti) balanced with an incredible curiosity (Ne), so they usually considered intelligent people. They are usually in touch with their Si, so despite being detached and critical they are very sentimental people that enjoy good atmosphere and familiar faces. Their Fe is polar, so they will go back and forth between having the energy to be charming and socially confident, and having no energy at all and preferring their own thoughts and projects.

     As Ji-leads, their energy is calm and rigid. They prefer not to make excessive motions unless they need to, but they're more controlled than lethargic and will easily generate warmth and gesticulations when speaking. Ti is dispassionate and calm by nature, so TiNe will often feel and look very neutral. Their energy seems very meticulous, with very precise hand gestures and shifting between various postures that they will hold themselves in for extended periods. Fe is very much present in their psyche, though not as strongly as Ti, so they are able to navigate social situations in which they feel free to be themselves. Like all Ji-leads, TiNe are highly independent and will resist people they feel controlled by, using Fe and Ne to passive-aggressively avoid subservience rather than outright challenging.

     Their inner world is made up of Ti and Si, meaning they are dispassionate and prefer serene or safe situations. Zen is a common interest for them, perhaps even originated by them; many project as hippies because of this, despite being intensely logical  people. Philosophical interests are almost a given, and even those not actively interested in philosophy itself will easily be swayed by or attracted to philosophical arguments and explanations. Ti's rigorous internal logic and Si's need to concretely categorize abstract ideas gives TiNe a philosophical approach to almost everything they do or think about. This in turn makes them more prone to absent-mindedness, as they often slip into a state of analyzing the nature of what they're doing and why they're there.

     Externally, TiNe deal with people and things through Ne and Fe. This is pretty much the definition of the Alpha quadra, members of which are known for being quirky, forgiving, simple of taste, and otherwise incredibly Hobbity. They perceive things in terms of patterns and similarities (Ne), and communicate warmly and with social consciousness (Fe). This means they are generally quite soft and friendly in their speech and actions, though Ti-leading will cause their default mode to be somewhat serious. They often speak indirectly, unable to describe anything first hand and in plain speech, but instead dance circles around their subject by describing similarities and exceptions to the rule they're trying to communicate. Their sense of humor is generally lighthearted, referential, and dispassionate; they prefer company that knows their intentions already and are thus free to quip about anything without offending or alienating anyone. Puns are a favorite among American Ne-users, and TiNe contribute a calm irreverence to the subjects of their quips.

What you probably know about TiNe

     Like the INTP stereotype, TiNe are incredibly logical and sometimes pedantic. They love learning and are often geeks/nerds. More balanced ones could be better described as enthusiasts, having three or four pet theories and mind projects that they very much enjoy talking about and are always willing to share. They tend to perform okay in school, but not for lack of ability. Ji independence combined with ease of learning and understanding means that TiNe will often prefer to get straight B's with little effort and have time and energy leftover to pursue their actual interests, rather than invest all their effort into getting straight A's and have no time for fun. They enjoy groups but despise group projects, as they feel their success is tied to the lowest common denominator and they don't have the freedom to complete things at their own pace.

What you probably don't know about TiNe

     TiNe are often recommended to be computer guys, math majors, or scientists by personality profiles, but Ti is actually poorly suited for this kind of rigorous empiricism. TiNe are much more interested in philosophy and cultural studies, where their Ti can process Fe issues almost without exception. Another thing that's often missed by INTP profiles is that TiNe are very aesthetically-minded people. Ti's subjective nature means that, unlike Te, it is flexible and very suitably applied to music, art, poetry, writing, and other arts. I myself am an obsessive doodler and have loved to draw and tell stories every since I was a child; there's a beauty and a symmetry to the way the pieces of a story interact with each other to create a whole.

What it feels like to be TiNe

     

     As a child, my world was my imagination. I was a typical Calvin (of Hobbes), imagining big worlds and asking big questions. I loved the outdoors and I would run barefoot through the woods in the spring, and just feeling the silence and the breeze and hearing birds and hunting for some new insect or, if I was lucky, a reptile. The future seemed so far away and so full of possibilities I never picked just one thing I wanted to be "when I grew up". I'd discover that paleontologists don't get paid well and hang out in the desert all day, and that veterinarians have to deal with blood and guts, and that every other job isn't what I thought it was, and I'd move on. I'll find it eventually, I thought.

     Truth has always been my true love. Not facts or knowledge or intelligence, but Truth, that transcendent concept that things are what they are whether I understand them or not. Rather ironically for a type prone to atheism and Buddhism, my Ti search for Ultimate Truth (c) is what has allowed me to be a person of faith. I question my faith all the time, I engage it with hard questions, and it has held up remarkably well. I've never felt the need to abandon Christianity or integrate the tenants of other faiths because Truth is not in my head- Truth is Truth, and if I've found a place that promises Truth and has not yet steered me wrong, there's no need to leave. Truth always requires work and patience to find, and I've found Christianity to always give a reasonable answer if I wait long enough.

     Because Ti is so dispassionate and in love with Truth, it tends to phase in and out of the present place and tackle larger and larger problems. TiNe are constantly aware that the meaning we place on things disappears when we do, that in reality things just are, regardless of how we value them, and that the earth is really a tiny wet speck of dust in a vast universe and that everything I do only matters if it affects others but even then this span of human history is infinitesimal compared to the vast eternity that stretches out before us and... such is the plight of the TiNe. You can see why many of us struggle with motivation. We feel life is best lived calmly pursuing things we enjoy rather than making ourselves miserable to gain things that don't matter to eternity anyway. We're prone to devaluing everything we do by measuring it on a cosmic scale (what is thinking, anyway? why do I think? why am I aliiiive?), so if your TiNe is looking down, please, give them a hug and some soup, tell them how much they matter to you, and put in a fun movie. We need that more than we're willing to admit.

What you really probably don't know about TiNe

     TiNe's calmness, kind eyes, and controlled, graceful air makes them good fashion models, as they naturally strike random poses and have the patience to wait in them. The waifish wisp of a body they tend to inhabit doesn't hurt, either.

"Sometimes I'm a Dog, Sometimes I'm a Fish": On the Permanence of Type and the Nature of the Functional Stack

     Greetings, all. How has you holiday season been? Good? Watched lots of Christmas movies? You're doing better than me, then... anywho. This post I'd like to devote to a very common misunderstanding of how type works: its permanence over time. Type does not change, period. You are genetically born with a single type, and though that type is complex and there are many variations that appear based on other personality factors, how you were raised, where you are in your life right now, etc., the underlying basic structure does not change from one type to another.
     Let's start with how this misconception came to be. The obvious part of the equation is that people grow and mature. They do change as people over time. A forty year old doesn't think the same way as he did at twenty. But this isn't the same thing as type changing. Type isn't what you know or what you value, it's a formula for the kinds of things you value. It's a set of algorithms for how you process information and what you want out of life, not wisdom or experience or anything else that makes you change over time. If you couldn't swing a hammer properly at eight, but now that you're twenty-five and work construction for a living, it's not because the hammer changed. A TiNe at five is just as logical and mentally exploratory as a TiNe at thirty- but the thirty year old is smarter because she's learned how to use her tools better.
     The second issue is that of the MBTI itself. As I mentioned in this post, the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator ignores the actual components of type (the functions) in favor of directly testing for a four-letter code that was supposed to represent the functions in the first place but doesn't. You're offered a percentage at the end, and whichever you "prefer" more is supposedly your type. The practitioners claim that the test must be taken multiple times over time in order to give a more accurate result, and this is a fair claim, but the test is still faulty because it's measuring the wrong thing. Additionally, the percentage at the end does not mean you are 75% N and 25% S. The actual function of this percentage is to say that it's a 75% chance that you are an Intuitor based on the questions provided in the test.
     I've given the test as fair a run as I can, but unfortunately there's way more wrong than right with it. As I hope you picked up from my series on the functions, there is no such thing as a "Thinker" in terms of the MBTI. There are actually eight kinds of each- Ti and Te are completely different mental processes that are never found together in one person, and Thinking types can have Ti or Te in their first or second spot. The way you use them is flexible, but their position in your brain is set. A TiNe has Ti>Fe primary dichotomy and Ne>Si supporting dichotomy. Changing a single letter in the MBTI code (INTP) will change it into a completely different type. Saying that you're INxP because you're 50/50 on T/F is like saying that sometimes you have two arms and sometimes you have three. It's a structural difference as literal and physical (though brain-based) as your ethnicity or your species.
     Let's make a more tangible example. The P/J dichotomy is the worst offender, especially because introverts usually test as balanced. You'll often hear INTPs and INTJs claiming that they go back and forth, and it's also common with ISTJs and ISTPs. This dichotomy makes you as different as night and day in all areas of your type- an INTP is actually a Ti-Ne-Si-Fe, and an INTJ is actually an Ni-Te-Fi-Se. Let's count the number of ways this is an impossible crossover:

1. TiNe is a Judgment-lead and NiTe is a Perception-lead. This is huuuuge as far as cognitive processing is concerned- the only thing a type is guaranteed to have in common with another type in terms of brain activity is whether or not your brain's CEO/Big Boss region is over your left or right eyebrow. If it's over your left, you are a Judgment-lead, primarily processing by taking a stance or drawing a conclusion as soon as possible (whether or not you actually believe it or act on it or even say it) so you have something to work with as more info comes in. If it's over your right, you are a Perception-lead, and your brain processes first by attempting to take in all the information before even trying to figure it out. How you perceive and judge are a separate matter, but the biggest different between any two types is what region is sitting in the driver's seat of their brain.
2. Ti and Fi. TiNe leads with Impersonal Subjective Processing, always trying to make sense of what's at hand irrespective of personal convictions, values, and emotions. NiTe doesn't even process like that, and the processing it does have, Fi or Personal Subjective Processing, is potentially the weakest link in their conscious function system. There's no transitional point between these two.
3. Fe and Te. NiTe has a strong Je function in Te. Their primary mode is to draw from their Ni system to articulate and act upon it using the strong and impersonal shove of Te. You tell a TiNe to shove anything and they'll be mortified; not only is their Je function the lowest in the stack, leaving them naturally unwilling to act unless absolutely necessary because it opposes their primary function, they have Fe, which is fluid and social and coercive rather than sharp and efficient like Te. There's no transition between strong Te and polar Fe.
4. Ne-Si and Ni-Se. It's the same story as above, so I won't over-elaborate. TiNe take in a symbolic picture of the world around them, the essence or the reduced abstraction of things, and stores it in a literal fashion, in a patchwork catalog that cannot extrapolate what it has no information on and is used to break apart and play with the pieces of idea on the basic level. NiTe take in a literal picture of the world, the details and actual results of things happening, and stores it in a flexible web that extrapolates past experience into the unknown, anticipating realistic causality. NiTe are often very confident people because they don't register the holes in their perspective. They are filled with a constant sense of "I probably know the answer, and if I don't I'll figure it out when I get there. No need to waste energy figuring out all the possible bad outcomes when I can spend time building and bringing about the best possible outcome". TiNe are nothing like this. While they do understand that they can usually figure things out and are usually not fretful over the idea of being stupid or unable to solve problems, they are constantly using Ti to build and fill every hole in their perspective and, pretty obsessively, fretting that if a single aspect of their worldview is unaccounted for the whole thing will topple. Predictably, NiTe tend to be confident visionaries and TiNe tend to be meticulous troubleshooters. Those are not even comparable methods of thought; they're so different they can't even be considered opposites.

     The P/J divide is by far the worst offender, but they all suffer from this. Even the E/I divide, famously the smallest difference between two types, changes that first and most important point if all the other letters are equal. There's a huge difference between leading with Fi (FiNe or INFP) and supporting with it (NeFi or ENFP) psychologically, though these two types are among the most similar.

     Again, I need to elaborate that fitting a profile you read online is not the same thing as being that type. The test does not know all, and you may be a completely different type but have an incorrect understanding of yourself, or the profile has an incorrect understanding of the type (which is often the case). Here's a quick list of test results and the types that are commonly mistaken for them (frustratingly common mistypes in bold):

• If you test as INTP (TiNe), you may be NiTe, TiSe, SiFe, SiTe, NeTi, TeNi, NiFe, FiNe

• If you test as ENTP (NeTi), you may be NiTe, TiNe, TeNi, SiFe, NeFi, SeTi, TiSe, TeSi

• If you test as ISFJ (SiFe), you may be FiSe, FiNe, NiFe, TiNe, SiTe

• If you test as ESFJ (FeSi), you may be FeNi, SeFi, TeSi, NeTi, NiFe

• If you test as ISTP (TiSe), you may be SeTi, NiTe, SiFe, NiFe, NeTi, TiNe, SiTe

• If you test as ESTP (SeTi), you may be NeTi, FeNi, TeSi, TiSe

• If you test as INFJ (NiFe), you may be FiNe, TiSe, TiNe, SiFe, FiSe, FeNi, NeFi, NiTe, FeSi

• If you test as ENFJ (FeNi), you may be SeTi, NiFe, NeTi, NeFi, SeFi, FeSi, TeNi

• If you test as ISFP (FiSe), you may be FiNe, SiFe, SeFi, NiFe, NiTe

• If you test as ESFP (SeFi), you may be NeFi, NeTi, FiSe, FeNi, FeSi, NiFe

• If you test as INTJ (NiTe), you may be TiSe, TiNe, TeNi, TeSi, FiNe, NiFe, SiTe, SeTi

• If you test as ENTJ (TeNi), you may be SeTi, NiTe, TiNe, FeNi, TeSi

• If you test as INFP (FiNe), you may be NiFe, FiSe, SiFe, TiNe, TeSi

• If you test as ENFP (NeFi), you may be NeTi, NiFe, FeSi, SiFe, SeFi, TeSi, FeNi

• If you test as ISTJ (SiTe), you may be TiSe, TiNe, TeSi, NiTe

• If you test as ESTJ (TeSi), you may be SeTi, NeFi, TeNi

     On the whole, it's more common to mistype yourself as an Intuitor than a Sensor, because Intuition is usually falsely given a monopoly on creativity, abstract thinking, and intelligence. Men are more likely to test as Thinkers and women as Feelers (in America, at least) because of cultural stereotypes concerning gender differences, despite the fact that the dichotomy is pretty close to 50/50 for both. Ji-leads (IPs) often test as J types and Pi leads (IJs) often test as P types. SiFe, SeTi, SeFi, FiSe, TeNi, SiTe, TeSi, and FeSi are generally poorly understood due to mistypes, so their profiles will often describe them inaccurately even if it got them "right". And if you missed it- everybody types as INFJ. Hyperbole aside, there are more INFJs online that are not actually NiFe than actual NiFe.

     

     Why are there so many mistypes, though? Sure, the test is a problem, but shouldn't it be easy to understand yourself if you know the right places to get your data from? The answer is simple- you only have one type, but the stack is not entirely rigid. In an SeTi, Se and Ni oscillate between each other, Ti and Fe oscillate between each other, Se's new data gets passed to Ti to process, Ti processes and refine past information stored in Ni, Fe takes a shortcut to action by skipping Ti and pulling straight from Ni, and Se gathers data created by Fe decisions and action. Some days you operate higher on one of these combos, and some individuals do so as a matter of course. To make an archetypal example, Aang of Avatar: The Last Airbender is a classic FeSi "hero" that also relies heavily on his Ne. because of this high level of friendliness and energy, he's generally considered by the MBTI community to be ENFP, or NeFi. 

     To get more theoretical, imagine a TiNe with a strong affinity for his Si and Fe. Because he relies heavily on keeping details and acting upon his ideas, he may mistype as INTJ "because J means you're organized". If a TiNe has heavy Ne, it's likely he'll flip-flop between INTP and ENTP, because his energy and talkativeness will be higher than another TiNe. If he's unhealthy and the only function he cares about is his meticulous Ti, he may mistype as ISTJ or INTJ- but once he goes to college and learns to open up and think about things differently, his other functions will begin to work properly and he'll appear to change type completely. Most variations and shades within each type are completely healthy and natural, though, so don't be put off too quickly if you dislike or disagree with something the profile said or compared you to. 

Profile's stupid anyway.

Temperament Theory and Group Dynamics

     Last post, I bashed Keirsey's temperaments as badly founded and unnecessarily archetypal. This time, I want to point out that the idea of temperaments itself is not a bad thing, on the contrary, it can be very useful if you understand how to look at it. The most famous system of temperaments is the Four Humor system, which has been around since literally medieval times. You've probably heard of it -- each individual is either a fun-loving but flighty Sanguine, a perfectionist but nit-picky Melancholic, a dynamic but controlling Choleric, or a calm but lazy Phlegmatic. It's the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it's the four elements, it's every kid's show cast of four, it's everywhere. Many modern proponents of the theory like to mix and match, and it's generally considered that you have all four in varying percentages.

     If you know me in person, you know I feel very strongly about inexact systems of measurement. If your system allows everyone to be structurally different from everyone else, you might as well not have a system. People obviously have individual differences and interests, but you shouldn't systematize unless you can find real commonality. This brings me to a use I've found for this system that fits its fluid nature: group dynamics. The idea is that these "temperaments" don't represent an unchanging mechanism in your mind (the way cognitive types do), but social roles played in groups of four, and preferences the individual has toward playing certain roles.

     In order to understand why this works, we have to dive a little deeper into human group politics. Believe it or not, humans actually have a system of alphas and betas like wolves do, but far more flexible. Alpha and beta are used later on in typology to mean other things, so I'll call them the... Fire-type, Grass-type, and Water-type. Perfect. It works thus:

     In any reasonably sized group, there is one Fire-type, and the rest are Grass-types.  As long as the group is small enough for everyone to coordinate with each other and hold a decent conversation, there will be a single Fire-type to whom everyone else listens. Perhaps the person is assertive of her own opinions, but also cool and humble about it, so everyone likes her. Maybe he represents the average opinion in the group and is known for being a reasonable guy, so everyone trusts him to give a good opinion and mediate well. Maybe she has the car. People are complex creatures, and the system by which people relate to each other is equally so.

     So whatever the reason, his heart or his shoes, The Fire-type picks what the whole group will do. If the Fire-type leaves, one of the Grass-types will evolve into a new Fire-type to take his place. At any given time, it's likely that several Grass-types are attempting to evolve, and it's up to the group which one will succeed. This obviously happens rather unconsciously, since people don't actually elect one member to be "in charge" when sitting around having lunch. Where I'm from, if there exists a person of significant age advantage over the rest, such as a senior among freshmen, they are pretty much guaranteed the Fire-type slot out of respect- because that's what this really is. A system of group respect.

     Water-types are much simpler, because that's just what everyone is when alone. Some people prefer to be Water-type than Grass or Fire, some don't. Everyone has their preference, and they'll attempt to gain that position in a group. This doesn't mean that anyone is inherently Fire, Grass, or Water. You have a preference, but it's up to the situation and how you handle group politics to determine where you actually fall.

     

     Okay, that said, what does this have to do with the four temperaments? If you're at all familiar with them, you can probably guess. In a group of four (and sometimes five), someone plays each instrument. The one that evolves into the Fire-type is obviously the leadership-oriented Choleric, and in some cases the cool and competent Melancholic. This isn't always true, as many factors go into who becomes the Fire-type, but in a group of equals, this is almost always the case. If the person playing Choleric becomes the Fire-type, the three Grass-types split into Melancholic, Sanguine, and Phlegmatic. Why is this? Group dynamics are a balancing act- if the forceful one is the leader, then those under her guidance become a Melancholic to make sure things are done smartly, a Sanguine to keep up group energy, and a Phlegmatic to keep things running smoothly and nicely. If the Melancholic is the leader, Sanguine and Phlegmatic keep those same roles while Choleric keeps group focus and productivity. This four-part structure acts, not as a way to classify individuals, but as a way to balance each other when working together.

     To bring this back to type: yes, I think certain cognitive types have a certain inclination to be certain temperaments and social roles. SeTi are never Phlegmatic, and almost always dislike playing Grass-type. TiNe, in my experience, prefer Phlegmatic and Melancholic and are generally okay playing any role in a group they feel comfortable in, though if given the choice they would float between Grass- and Water-type. There's not really a set formula, only general roles. Je-leads are usually Choleric, Pe-leads are usually Sanguine, and Ji-Melancholic and Pi-Phlegmatic are very common but the distinction is weaker.

     And group dynamics don't just involve groups of four- after hanging out on TvTropes.org, I discovered two group structures which actually bear out in real life, in my experience: Red Oni-Blue Oni and the Power (or Freudian) Trio. RO-BO is when two people are friends, and one takes the more active role while the other is more reserved. In fiction, this specifically refers to two individuals in the same sphere of work -- maybe partners, maybe enemies -- that take this approach to their work in its extreme and they end up balancing each other out. Think Adam and Jamie, for you Mythbusters fans, or Phineas and Ferb, Aang and Zuko, Zuko and Azula. The reason this works so well in fiction -- and in the real world, I find -- is because the flow between an introvert and an extravert is very positive. Even in extravert-extravert pairings and introvert-introvert pairings, one has to take the more chill or energetic role in order to not compete. Introvert-extravert pairs work very well for this reason; they naturally take the role they prefer and fun times are had by all.

     The Power Trio is, obviously, a group of three people. The roles they play are The Kirk, the Spock, and The McCoy -- the Spock plays the Blue Oni to keep the group sane, the McCoy plays the Red Oni to keep the group productive or heartfelt, and the Kirk takes the middle ground to mediate between them. Like any group, you can't just pick any two or three or four people and expect to categorize them as such- they have to be an actual group where the members interact regularly.

   

     Shew, long talk. That's all I got for now on human group politics. I hope you enjoy, and if you disagree (or agree!) please argue with me in the comments. I learn just as much when that happens.

On building types with functions, and other systems

     (Note- There's a handy chart at the bottom if you don't feel like reading the whole thing, though I encourage you to do so at some point.)

     Well, the functions are done. If anything was left unclear, I hope to speak more specifically to each function when I get to their respective types. That may be a while, since I can't really do anything except sum up the findings of others for many types, but bear with me.
     I want to take this post to talk about how to build types using functions and how the different systems of typology work together. First, a little (rough) history so everyone knows where they stand:

     Carl Gustav Jung ("Big G", to his friends) was a Swiss psychiatrist, born July 26, 1875. He was one of Freud's students- though they ended up parting ways due to disagreements on how the psyche works. In addition to his theory of psychological types (published in the aptly named Psychological Types) Jung was responsible for developing the concepts of introversion, extraversion, the collective unconscious (the idea that humanity shares an affinity for certain symbols and goals in life beyond our individual circumstances), and archetypes (characterizations such as The Hero, The Trickster, The Mentor, etc that act as formulae from which all ideas and characters are built in our minds).
     His work as a psychiatrist, a real one with patients and everything, led him to propose a system of personality types. The patterns he saw in his patients he collaborated into eight types, one for each function, plus two subtypes for each. He would call TiNe and TiSe (INTP and ISTP) the same type with some differences; he considered them both Introverted Thinking types with and additional preference for either Intuition or Sensing. Jung broke most of the typological ground, and though he had some very good insight into the structure of types and functions, the theory wasn't complete yet.
     Katherine Cook Briggs, and her daughter Isabel Briggs Meyers, got a hold of the English edition of Psychological Types and were inspired to extrapolate the theory a bit. They were the ones that invented the Meyers-Bri- oh, you know what it is. But more than just inventing the test, they pioneered the idea that a person's psychological type was even more specific than what Jung proposed. They proposed that a Ti type was more than just Ti, also with some N or S and an opposition to Fe, but that the secondary function was also specific and that it itself had another half. Jung' Ti-type became the Ti-Ne-Si-Fe and the Ti-Se-Ni-Fe, and this proved to be an important step in cognitive typology.
     The big iconic step in this new theory came during World War II. As women began to enter the workforce, most of whom had never done so before and were at a severe disadvantage in terms of understanding what they were good at, Meyers and Briggs developed the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator as an aptitude test for them. The theory was understandably complex, being a nearly comprehensive system for understanding the innate dispositions of all individuals, so they compressed it into something easier to package.
     This package was the four-preference system: Extravert or Introvert, iNtuition or Sensing, Feeling or Thinking, and Judging or Perceiving. Ti-Ne-Si-Fe, for example, became INTP. I/E preference is determined by the orientation of the lead function, and N/S and T/F is determined by the lead two functions. Why is Ti-Ne a P type, then? As we've talked about, Thinking is a Judgment function- wouldn't that make Ti-Ne a Judgment type? Congratulations, you've found the biggest point of confusion of learning types starting with the MBTI. You see, Meyers and Briggs weren't creating the test as a self-examination instrument, but as an aptitude test. For their purposes, they needed to examine what a person was good at, not paint an accurate picture of their psyche. Ti-Ne is INTP because their primary mode of interacting with the world is Perception. INTP is primarily a Judgment type when understanding their motivations and cognition, but when it comes to giving them a job to do, they will be much happier and successful when allowed to watch and understand things, and when given their own timeframe in which to do so. Is this an accurate statement with regard to cognitive typing? Probably not, not always. The MBTI does not provide an accurate picture of a type, but functions somewhat well as an aptitude test. Even if you aren't Ti-Ne, if you test as INTP you'll likely do well in a job designed for one.
     Then, in the 70s and 80s, two systems emerged from the MBTI way of thinking, perhaps in complete opposition to each other. The first was Socionics- a theory developed in Lithuania by a Russian guy (whose name I cannot type because of funny Rusian letterz) and his friends. This theory returned to the original idea of functions instead of preferences, but added a few twists. All eight functions were considered part of a person's functional stack, though only four can be used competently, and a person's type was considered to determine a set place in society because of the way each related to the others.
     This sounds really bad, but it's not really, if you consider it in moderation- functions really do have an ebb and flow to them that can be disrupted by opposing ones, and this means that communication and sympathy do not always translate from one type to the next. This does, as Socionics proposes, result in people having an affinity for or repulsion from certain types, though it's not as hard-and-fast as originally thought and certainly doesn't mean that only one type is your perfect match (I'll get to that later)... in the meantime, the eight-function model is a very handy way of explaining some interpersonal relationships, so let's not toss these babies out with the bathwater.
     The other system was Keirsey's take on the MBTI. If you read my last post, you'll know how I feel about this system, but I'll try to be fair. Keirsey, in Please Understand Me and the creatively named sequel, Please Understand Me II, basically removes all basis on the cognitive functions from the MBTI and speaks of people entirely in terms of the sliding scale between the four axes. See the problem here? Let's bring back TiNe. In the MBTI, TiNe is called INTP because its primary mode of operation in the world is Perception, despite being primarily Judging in cognition. In divorcing MBTI from the functions entirely (which is probably M&B's fault, at least partially), Keirsey created a self-awareness and communication-help book in which the MBTI is used for the very thing it is worst at. This is where talk of being "INTP but I'm really balanced on Feeling and Judging" or "Very ESTP" comes from, which is impossible the way they mean it.
     Keirsey's work was, strangely enough, very Jungian in its other contribution: the four temperaments. We've all heard of these at some point. The NTs, NFs, SJs, and SPs and their various nicknames. Four-temperament theory is something I'm very interested in, and I'll do a post on it at some point, but I'm sorry to say that this one is bust for a number of reasons. For one, it furthers the idea that type itself is archetypal, which is false. Not all "ISTP" are motorcycle cowboy ninja, and not all motorcycle cowboy ninja are ISTP. In a way, type does create archetypes in our minds as a way to understand what people are like, but this does not translate 1:1 into reality. Type is not behavior and job choice, and job choice is not type.
     This is the main reason why I can't make all the profiles yet, as I mentioned in the intro. Types cannot be reasoned out using pieces of others... I know TiNe and SeTi very well, but I can't do TiSe on the grounds that it's a cross between the two. I'll get to them sometime, but I only want to give you the best and most accurate picture I can. And I'll probably deconstruct this temperament theory later, but you're probably bored to death already.
     Quick word on the Enneagram- it's a pretty okay system of typology, but it's not measuring the same thing as the cognitive functions do. E-gram does a good job of explaining some individual differences in types, but I'm pretty sure it's nurture rather than nature, and measures motivations and fears rather than cognition itself. Are there correlations, and can E-gram results be used to further understand yourself and your mental health in relation to your type? Absolutely. But don't expect the personality profiles to do you any good, and don't take it for being more than it is.

     Still with me? All that history. Who knew? For the "Too Long; Didn't Read" sorts of people, here's a quick chart of what type is what in what system- though I hope you find the time to go back and read the rest to understand why. Quick note- Socionics uses a more efficient and psychologically accurate naming code for their types. TiNe is Logic (Thinking), Intuition, Introtim (Introverted function, then Extraverted) for LII, sometimes called INTj, which is technically more accurate than the MBTI, but the name is so similar to MBTI it usually confuses things unnecessarily.

• Actual type - MBTI - Socionics
• TiNe - INTP - LII or INTj
• TiSe - ISTP - LSI or ISTj
• FeSi - ESFJ - ESE (Ethics, Sensing, Extratim) or ESFj
• FeNi - ENFJ - EIE or ENFj
• TeNi - ENTJ - LIE or ENTj
• TeSi - ESTJ - LSE or ESTj
• FiSe - ISFP - ESI or ISFj
• FiNe - INFP - EII or INFj
• NeTi - ENTP - ILE or ENTp
• NeFi - ENFP - IEE or ENFp
• SiFe - ISFJ - SEI or ISFp
• SiTe - ISTJ - SLI or ISTp
• NiTe - INTJ - ILI or INTp
• NiFe - INFJ - IEI or INFp
• SeFi - ESFP - SEE or ESFp
• SeTi - ESTP - SLE or ESTp

Shew, long post! I have nothing else to say, seriously, I said enough. Thanks for reading! 

Franciscooo... Franciscooo... Topeka Kansas. Topeka Kansas. Topeeeka Kaaaansaaas.