Narcissism and Reality

[Flâneuse]

I agree that narcissism and its worst symptoms (unwillingness to question one's own judgment and failing to empathize with others and even to recognize they are fully human too) are behind a lot of problems in the world, from individual acts of cruelty to large-scale injustices.

However, I don't think using MBTI is necessarily a sign of narcissism - it depends on how it is used. Narcissists don't want to discover their real selves, so instead of using type theory as a tool for genuinely learning the truth, they would use it superficially and counterproductively as a means to validate their self-image and, in some cases, as a way to validate their images of others as inferior. They likely pay attention to the parts of type and function descriptions that make them sound gifted and special, taking them at face value without really questioning how true it is of them, while avoiding getting too deep into the ugly side of being a particular type. They also are probably quick to buy into negative stereotypes of certain other types, while ignoring or failing to recognize the value of their strengths, as a way to boost their feelings of superiority. (For example, how some people use a certain typing to augment their "special snowflake" or "super-genius" delusions about themselves while believing that certain other types are generally stupid, shallow (ironic!), irrational, or weak, etc. I've seen some of this here, but far less than on certain other typology forums.)


I think that using typology in an honest and nuanced way, however, can help people increase self-awareness and better understand others and their perspectives (and that different perspectives can be equally valid according to different values), which can lead to greater empathy, which is counteractive to narcissism and elitism. In order to be a useful tool to deepen understanding of the self and others and lead to growth, MBTI and function theory should be used to confront the self's weaknesses and recognize the value of others' strengths just as much as it used to recognize and value the self's strengths. (It can be useful in this way, but because many are more comfortable sticking to comfortable self-delusions it may be more common for it to be used to in the narcissistic, self-obscuring way, possibly giving some the impression it's never useful.) Also, types and functions should be used as heuristics rather than perfect maps of the self and others - people should recognize that every individual is unique and that no one fits perfectly into one of the boxes, but instead that the boxes just define patterns themselves, not individuals, and that these patterns fit different people in different ways and to different degrees. Instead of just taking what is said in descriptions at face value, a person should take what is said as suggestion and observe for themselves what is true or not. I think Jung & MBTI offer some very insightful suggestions that can speed up the process of learning about other people. And sometimes a particular suggestion is found to be untrue, but it raises a topic or question that one wouldn't have thought of themselves, and this leads to the person finding their own insights about the topic.

 

[entropie]

And just like the USA government Typology Central is infected with narcissism and out of touch with reality. To believe we can apply an unreliable and invalid personality test to ourselves and interpret the result, in order to know and understand our own personality, is the height of narcissism and out of touch with reality.

Tho I share your opinion regarding the unreliable and invalid test, I dont think that typeC members are especially fond to narcism. I rather witness more often the victims of narcist around here, namely those people who try to self-reflect their actions before taking them.

Regarding narcism as our western ideal culture, things are indeed going down the drain. The refugee situation here is a huge topic in the media but the latest report about the rich and poor, nobody is concerned with. It said that 50% of the working population has 1% of the money that is in the country. Only 5 years ago the statistics said, 50% of the working population helds 3% of the money.

That is an ideal soil for right-wingers. Maybe'll get our chance in our lifetimes to witness a real empire. Freedom seems to have become such a luxury, we forgot about it.

 

[Mole]

Tho I share your opinion regarding the unreliable and invalid test, I dont think that typeC members are especially fond to narcism. I rather witness more often the victims of narcist around here, namely those people who try to self-reflect their actions before taking them.

Regarding narcism as our western ideal culture, things are indeed going down the drain. The refugee situation here is a huge topic in the media but the latest report about the rich and poor, nobody is concerned with. It said that 50% of the working population has 1% of the money that is in the country. Only 5 years ago the statistics said, 50% of the working population helds 3% of the money.

That is an ideal soil for right-wingers. Maybe'll get our chance in our lifetimes to witness a real empire. Freedom seems to have become such a luxury, we forgot about it.

Islam still preaches against usury. You remember, in the West the Jews were accused of usury, but today we no longer accuse Jews of usury, but Islam is opposed today to usury and Jews.

And one of the tell-tale signs of a totalitarian ideology is anti-semitism.

 

[Thalassa]

I'm with you Victor. The United States has progressed into a narcissistic culture, and it's affected even the average American, not even just the upper class. About 10 percent of people in their 20s in the U.S. are estimated to have full blown NPD.

I also agree with you about Islam. I don't hate individual Muslims, in fact I greatly admire certain individuals like Malalia, but Islam is everything you say it is. A professional psychologist has even retrospectively diagnosed Muhammad as having NPD and paranoid delusions.

 

[KitchenFly]

I don't think Narcissism is the major problem with our sheared social reality, if it was we could fix it in not time. It is amazing that things work as well as they do.

Ignorance not narcissism is or major problem and following that is the lack of cooperation between people with differing instinctual energies. The left Vs the right and the centre.

Everyone wants there own bias and symbiotic needs met. The simple living people want there needs met and the complicated people want there needs met.

That maybe needed is reframing of the system but that is most likely not going to happen unless the unthinkable happens and the global economy implodes, it may but if it dose or that will happen is marshal law will kick In and we all will have to do what we are told to do to gain or food coupons and other coupons for essential services.

As for the quality of the typology central question air I have never taken it so I don't know how good it is, but one thing I do know is it is best to begin with the end in mind when drafting a question air. I know the basic pattern and the results they recently published suggests science has much trouble working with subjective things like personality. It's like asking a computer to understand a human's experience of all three sense think and feel and the individual intuitive of the self own individuality. Good luck.

But having said that given time I am shore in time it will be worked out. But there must be a process that must be followed on that path for the process to be scientific.

Anyway it is a game and like all games those who control the game get to pay with thee boundaries of that makes the game the game played at any point of time.,an example. I recently did a free enneagram typing question air at the enneagram Institute web sight and it typed me as a 9w8 I am a 9w1 so someone has been tinkering with Don Riso's good work and made an inaccurate question air. Shame but once people finally get the power to do what they want then some times they make changes that that make things less good, or they manipulate things to solicit information without revealing true intent. It's called experimentation.

If there is a Narcissist out come in store for us all then WW3 will be the out come and that will trim the globe population and with a renewed focus forged from much hard ship the remaining global population will advance forward.

Seven years of chaos and then a quantum leap forward for the human race.

They will need my one to one correlations as a templates to work from if psychometrics is to be integrated into computer lead learning models for education. The computer as the teachers aid and or teacher, a talking computer with a sudo personality to motivate and educate via constantly measuring the academic and psychometrics of the student.

 

[yeghor]

Narcissus gazed into a pond and saw his own reflection but did not know it was his own reflection. So Narcissus was out of touch with reality. Just as today narcissists are out of touch with reality, whether they are in the government of the USA or in Typology Central.



The government of the USA is infected with narcissism and like any narcissist believes it creates its own reality. And such narcissism led to the criminal invasion of Iraq and the destruction of Iraq and Syria.

And just like the USA government Typology Central is infected with narcissism and out of touch with reality. To believe we can apply an unreliable and invalid personality test to ourselves and interpret the result, in order to know and understand our own personality, is the height of narcissism and out of touch with reality.

So narcissism is a national problem, from the highest reaches the lowest personality test.

Will reality correct this national narcissism? We have recently seen one Global Financial Meltdown (GFM), leading to no significant reforms of the financial system in the USA, and the USA is on track for a second GFM, to be paid for by the American taxpayer. Only this time it looks as though the American GFM will occur at the same time a Chinese GFM. The Chinese are at the moment defying financial gravity, and they will come crashing down too. Leading to a GFM that is so big that not even the American taxpayer will be able to pay for it.

And so narcissism will collide with reality.

But in the Ancient Greek myth of Narcissus, when narcissism collided with reality, Narcissus drowned. Will we drown too?

Narcissism is synonymous with deficiency of self-awareness.

When you are self-aware, you can't pretend you are awesome or flawless or blameless and that it's always other people who are to blame for your problems and errors. You cannot live in the la la land any longer.