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The irony of enneag

Il Morto Che Parla

New member
Joined
Oct 9, 2012
Messages
1,260
MBTI Type
xxTP
Enneagram forums are so wierd and sect-like that even those who prefer the system, choose to discuss it on on MBTI themed forums.This speaks ill of the "school of thought" as a whole, suggesting it is not very open to theory and critical thought.

Discuss.:D
 

SilkRoad

Lay the coin on my tongue
Joined
May 26, 2009
Messages
3,932
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
6w5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
Weird and sect-like is one way to put it - I probably would have thought of "flaky and hippy dippy" or something. I think there's a whole "spiritual" side you can buy into which you may not choose to and maybe that's part of it. I remember that what I glanced at of Gurdjieff seemed rather weird.

I've found enneagram very useful but yeah, I'd prefer to discuss it on an MBTI forum ;)
 

Standuble

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Joined
Aug 23, 2011
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1,149
Enneagram = Roman mysticism + Forer Effect

It doesn't really have a good leg to stand on from the beginning. I suspect critical thought would tear it to shreds with minimal effort and I suppose no forum really wants to be cut up like a Christmas ham. The MBTI isn't much better really.
 

Standuble

New member
Joined
Aug 23, 2011
Messages
1,149
Enneagram = Roman mysticism + Forer Effect

It doesn't really have a good leg to stand on from the beginning. I suspect critical thought would tear it to shreds with minimal effort and I suppose no forum really wants to be cut up like a Christmas ham. The MBTI isn't much better really.
 
G

Glycerine

Guest
Just for the fun of it, I once looked into some academic databases for MBTI/enneagram and most of the research had only slight statistical significance (usually just on specific sections) or none which is pretty laughable on an academic level. Also, it was mainly from 10-20 years ago and some 30+ years ago.
 

highlander

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Dec 23, 2009
Messages
26,562
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
6w5
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Enneagram = Roman mysticism + Forer Effect

It doesn't really have a good leg to stand on from the beginning. I suspect critical thought would tear it to shreds with minimal effort and I suppose no forum really wants to be cut up like a Christmas ham. The MBTI isn't much better really.
I think it is actually better than MBTI. It has helped me to learn more about myself. I have studied both a fair bit and a reasonably objective person.

Read Naranjo, Palmer and Almaas.
 

Standuble

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Aug 23, 2011
Messages
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I think it is actually better than MBTI. It has helped me to learn more about myself. I have studied both a fair bit and a reasonably objective person.

Read Naranjo, Palmer and Almaas.

Ok, I'll keep an eye out for their works.
 

skylights

i love
Joined
Jul 6, 2010
Messages
7,756
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
6w7
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
As far as my personal feelings go, most typing systems are best used for self-growth and are simply another "tool" in the psychological toolbox. Anyone who takes any single tool to be a panacea is suspect. That's why I prefer this large, varied, not-MBTI-or-Enneagram-only forum over any other.
 
G

garbage

Guest
I can see that.

We can jump to misguided logical conclusions with virtually any typing system--but, from what I've seen, the Enneagram is often kept within the domain that it's actually able to answer questions about. That's because it's overall 'lighter' and more spiritual, so it's seen more as a tool for personal growth than for in-depth logical explanation. This probably answers one of your questions, by the way..

On the other hand, yeah, Enneagram forums take it so spiritually that they come across as sects. That's not exactly good, either.

I agree with [MENTION=10496]skylights[/MENTION]. I'd add that having a rounded set of tools at our collective disposal makes us naturally generalize and frame our discussions around 'psychology' and less around one specific mindset.
 

the state i am in

Active member
Joined
Feb 12, 2009
Messages
2,475
MBTI Type
infj
Enneagram
5w4
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sx/sp
most of the enneagram gets lost in translation. much like jungian psychology as a whole.

i think jung's personality theory, however, is different with respect to that because its focus is not on an embodied kind of psychological truth. as a result, it faces different issues.

instead, because of the cognitive revolution, it doesn't seem as fruitful to me to stick to jung's original texts as a kind of bible of personality. it's a misguided approach. typological fundamentalism never makes sense to me because the categories, as universals, can never be fully described as particulars. the evidence is in the degrees of confidence, not in the necessity of a particular outcome (thinking so would be a logical type error). as of now, we have a great deal of trouble integrating scientific method with typological thinking. typological thinking exists in the way it is embedded within schemes of perception, the paradigms that allow us to contextualize our observations. computational science will make it easier to invest more resources in this stage of the modeling process. if invested in ecologically smart ways, this will improve the recursive, reflexive kind of learning that allows typological thinking to reorganize the conditions for meaningful difference and to see the forest for the trees (with respect to meaningful contexts that inherently supply some of the purpose for observing at all).
 
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