Introduction & The Basics

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This is a little intro on the subject of this blog and a little breakdown of the formula of my analysis so you can easily follow along on any post. If you're new to 16 Personalities/MBTI or to the cognitive function theory, this will help you a lot though I'm trying to make it less necessary to have that knowledge to understand the process of my new approach. So, first off, this is a hybrid blog where I not only analyse characters - starting with my favourites - but also wax poetic about why I love them so much (or don't, for that matter). I know a lot about people. I am very, very good at reading them, and I partially honed this skill by voraciously consuming media. While media depictions might be exaggerated, this was actually a benefit as it made the patterns in human behaviour and the underlying principles of it all that much more obvious. All I had to from there is scale them back down to reality and I could apply them to real life, with pretty good results. So in part, this blog is all about celebrating that important developmental time in my life.

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Through his many observations of human behaviour over a number of decades, psychoanalyst Carl Jung broke the human experience down to its most basic fundamental elements

● We think

● We feel

● We have sensory experiences

● We possess intuition (what he means by intuition is the implied information between what we pick up with our senses, not some kind of superpower)

We cannot be reduced to less than these four components, so what Jung did next was split them into two categories, introverted and extraverted. Quite literally, introverted functions look inward, and extraverted functions look outward. This results in eight functions:

• Introverted Thinking - Ti

• Extraverted Thinking - Te

• Introverted Feeling - Fi

• Extraverted Feeling - Fe

• Introverted Sensing - Si

• Extraverted Sensing - Se

• Introverted Intuition - Ni

• Extraverted Intuition - Ne

Now, of course we all feel, we all think, we all sense, and we can all interpret the implications of our senses. We experience all eight of these things, but we all have biases/preferences towards some more than others. Another way to put it is that more of our energy and attention is naturally directed towards some than others. Jung didn’t create this theory and then apply it to people, it was the other way around. He noticed these aspects of people, having worked with hundreds of patients and his entire vocation being the study of the human mind, and developed a system of understanding the distinctions and connections of human motivation. This ties neatly into the idea of this blog, since as anyone who writes or critiques fiction will tell you - the most important aspect of character writing is the character's motivation.

After Jung established the concept, other psychologists developed it. Among the most notable include Harold Grant, Alan Brownsword, Linda Berens, John Beebe, Katherine Cook Briggs and Isabel Myers Briggs. The latter two being responsible for the letter dichotomy 16 Personalities.

​Perceiving Functions	Judging Functions
- Sensing - Intuition	​- Thinking - Feeling
- These functions are how we take in information from the outside world, like we do through the 5 senses. - But there is also information between that data, eg. I meet a new person, there are now limitless abstract possibilities from that point onward that are implied. What did the interaction mean?	​- These functions make judgments on the information received via the perceiving functions. - From the previous example, the judging functions would be the deciding factor on what action I would take towards this new person and what kind of expectations for the future I would generate.

Even though they are both Perceiving, Sensing and Intuition oppose each other due to being concrete vs abstract. Even though they are both Judging, Thinking and Feeling oppose on the grounds of logic vs emotion.

Introverted Thinking (Ti) is like objective subjectivity: “Though my subjective viewpoints are entirely idiosyncratic, they are based on my logic, not my feelings.” That personal logic is formed through absorbing outside information and filtering out what doesn’t fit your personal logic structure. This means you can be entirely logical and still entirely off the mark.

Ti is also systematic, so people with high bias for Ti are drawn towards things that are similarly systematic, ie. video games, engineering, programming, etc.

Extraverted Thinking (Te) is all about logic applied externally, so think rules, organisation, making sure everything goes to plan, all the cogs are working as they logically should be etc. Te is also about achieving truth through amassing data rather than through pure reason, evidence is more important than whether or not something has subjective logical consistency.

Introverted Feeling (Fi) is all about subjective experience. Individual values, beliefs, personal experiences, identity etc. We all have emotions, but Fi is about how you interact with your own emotions, your awareness of them, priority of them etc. high Fi bias has a strong internal positive/negative reaction to things.

Extraverted Feeling (Fe) is all about observing external emotional data; awareness of other people’s values, social norms, being able to fit into social settings gracefully etc. Judgements are then made based on this information, which can be used to influence the emotional states of others, for better or for worse.

​Introverted Sensing (Si) is about refining the sensory experience through details and has a past-focused lens, so: “what has been optimal for comfort and pleasantness previously and why?” is essentially what Si comes down to, think routines, paperwork, accounts, spreadsheets, stuff that records past details to ensure or maintain success. It’s also therefore attributed to risk-aversion. Additionally, it seems to have a link to one’s connection with their own body.

Extraverted Sensing (Se) is about being in the here-and-now, essentially. And what force one can apply to that here-and-now to influence it. It’s a sensory function which means it has a real-world, practical focus.

Introverted Intuition (Ni) is about reducing the complexity of abstract things. It takes in data and simplifies it into a more easily digestible idea. It’s also about consequence awareness, a sort of intuitive ‘sense’ of what the future might look like based on current information. The best example to explain Ni is symbolism eg. the Cross in Christianity. Its design is literally just 2 straight lines, but within those 2 lines lies history, an entire faith, potential implications on the character of the person wearing one etc. That’s Ni to a t.

Extraverted Intuition (Ne) is about possibilities and connections, if Ni is reduction, then Ne is pure expansion. How is this connected to this? And then this? And this and this and… you get the idea. How many connections are there? People with a high bias towards Ne tend to ramble, often with only a tenuous idea of how they got from one idea to the next, even though, somewhere there is a link.

Here’s a scenario as an example of the difference in how people with different biases would react to a situation. They are put in a room and there’s a cup with a feel good slogan on a table. As I said, we have all eight, so the example is obviously simplified to include no interaction with the others.

Ti - Why is this cup here?

Te - What is the most efficient use of this cup? And how can I use it to acquire more cups?

Fi - I like that slogan!/I don’t like that slogan!

Fe - That slogan made me feel good, I should share it with my friends.

Si - I’ll make a nice relaxing cup of tea.

Se - What can I do with this cup? Throw it! Put it upside down for no reason! Try to balance it on my head! Improvise a dance move involving it!

Ni - What does this slogan say about the nature of existence and the human condition?

Ne - Ooh, a cup! I could put juice in it! Hey, juice makes me think of parties, a party is a social gathering, social gatherings are full of people, that reminds me of one time at this one party where this one person… [3 hours later] … and that’s why I think we’re all ultimately one consciousness! Wait, what was the subject again?

You’ll notice that in this model each archetype only has 4 out of the 8 functions attributed to them. Where are the other 4? The opposite functions are referred to as the ‘shadow’ functions. Now, some people don’t believe in the shadow functions, but then, some people don’t believe in the functions at all because they don’t “exist”. Well, neither does the unconscious, technically, but that won’t stop your ignorance of it potentially running your life into the ground, because these are just terms we use to explain the abstract concepts at play. The cognitive functions are really just a representation of how we interact with aspects of ourselves and the world that do exist. Empiricism exists. Subjectivity exists. Shared values exist. The 5 senses exist. And so on… So of course, if we have 4 ego functions, the other 4 still exist in other people and in the world meaning we still have to deal with them. We just don’t do so particularly well, which leads to distortions in the aspects which we do not have bias towards, hence… the shadow. The functions in our ego are in the light, and where there is light, there is shade.

The functions also exist on an axis to each other on the basis of both whether they are Judging or Perceiving (we’ll call this the J-P axis [hey, those are my initials]), and whether they are Introverted or Extraverted (we’ll call this the I-E axis).

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This line marks where my own additions and applications for the theory begin, although I can technically include the above explanation of the shadow functions, because while I didn’t come up with the concept by any means, I’ve never seen them explained like that, despite it being - at least to me - blatantly obvious.

The functions which are on the J-P axis are the 3 that counterbalance whichever function is being focused on. Taking Ni (my own primary bias) for example, my counterbalancing functions are Ne, Se and Si. In that order of intrapersonal relationship difficulty.

Ne is a Perceiving function just like Ni and is abstract like Ni, but is in opposition on the I-E axis. This opposition is Symbiotic and therefore the least challenging. Ni cannot do its job of reducing without Ne gathering more to make that reduction more impactful and effective. For example, if I don’t know how many options I have in regards to career opportunities, the less impactful it is when I decide the best one. They have a focus on the same thing but opposite approaches.

Si is both Perceiving and Introverted. This opposition is Dichotomous. Because of this, these 2 will be the furthest apart in the order of preference, they have completely opposing functionality. Ni is big picture and future-focused, while Si is small details and past-focused. Si cherishes the mundane, while Ni focuses on refining the most important and meaningful. They will be the two most difficult to reconcile.

Se is a Perceiving function but with a concrete focus while Ni has an abstract focus, meaning Se is trying to drag Ni back down to reality at all times. Se is also opposite on the I-E axis, so it isn’t fighting for as much attention in the same space as Si, so to speak. Ni wants to focus on the future they are dreaming up in their minds, while Se wants to live in the here-and-now. Opposing motivations but with different areas of focus that can align. This opposition is Challenging.

Each of these functions and their relationships with their counterbalancing forces are explored in detail here.

This is what I'll be using to do these character assessments. The formula will be:

• Character Intro
  

• My personal take on the character
  

• How balanced is each function (in relation to its counterbalancing ones)?
  

• How balanced is the character overall?

The final thing is, despite the name and general idea of the site, I will also be assessing different philosophies and worldviews in a similar way, among other ideas. These will have a slightly different formula as I'll just assess the idea from the viewpoint of each function.