Urggh, fine I'll play...
Doing the same things again and again, generating the same kind of situation again and again, favouring the same kind of outcome. Again and again.
of course.
Individuality would lie in individuation, the ability to recognise the nature of the "again and again" process, wouldn't it? Or if not recognise, then at least form some habit of addressing. Which doesn't necessarily mean you have to marry MBTI, but... what else is there free from the idiosyncrasies of your own perspectives? To actually perform the individuation doesn't require MBTI nor typology, of course, but what else is the process if not addressing one's own persistent perspectives?
I have yet to see a good definition of individuation, so who knows what it really means. To become more healthy? What is that?
As for the bold, MBTI gives a nice skeletal framework-but it doesnt really supply a toolkit to move beyond the frame. To modify the skeleton, look to the wide variety of mediative techniques. Mindful meditation for instance strengthens Se, even in an NFP. Meditation with the goal of detachment moves you away from Fi and towards a state of Fe-but note how the buddhist monks describe it as being almost painful at first to go through that detachment process.
My knowledge fails me here-but doesnt a lot of cognitive psychology emphasize the ability to step above and meta-observe your own behaviors-then choose to do something else. That meta observation is a learned tool. But first you have to know what the patterns of behavior are-which can easily be determined based upon MBTI.
Perhaps the most promising tool may be nuero-linguistic programming, in spite of its questionable rep. It is a very diverse toolkit-with no basis in theory-thus it's results can be pretty sketchy-as certain things may only work with certain MBTI types. Yet you can seriously fuck up your own mind if you play with it. Based upon work my entp and I have seen and done, it appears to allow swapping of functions and simultaneous use of functions. The results are very strange and extremely obvious to the person.
Even something as simple as focusing primarily on optimism, dismissing negative thoughts and dismissing your sense of self pride, finding humility? That is Te/Fi moving towards Fe-but it sucks to do so.
See, if cognitive functions are anything, they're constitutive of your psyche. They aren't tools. They're foundations. So, do they come in stronger and weaker varietals? Would you want them to? If they did come in stronger and weaker forms, which one would you buy?
I'd suggest the hypothosis that functional strength is genetic-perhaps epigenetic. This is pure BS guessing, but I see accelerated Te usage in every EXFP in my family-from early childhood. If it is stressed imposed, via the mother, it may be epigenetic. In a stressful situation this would be a good thing-an EXFP cannot afford to be kind if there is not enough food available. Thus social stress shapes cogntive strength-perhaps epigentically. But all Ne....
That doesn't mean the lower level functions are to be pitied in their weakness. They aren't weak. Weakly conscious, yes, but not weak in and of themselves. But weakly conscious means they're not that much of what you're about. They'll affect the direction of thought and personality, but not... well, consciously.
I would suggest if you manage to pull them from the depths-they can be exceptionally strong in their power-but exceptionally simplistic in how they work. Assuming a biological basis-you are turning a switch that is opening up entire dormant pathway-the pathway hasnt had pruning. Strength does not equal maturity.
OOoo, but wait... conscious drawing of functions out of prescribed positions... that happens. A life spent attending to concerns other than those one was made for... that'll bring to prominence other functions. Or will it? Wouldn't it just make a crippled psyche? Misshapen and abused. How meaningful is function order?
It makes for ENFPs who move into executive positions.
It makes for utterly fascinating people who actually are more interesting than the norm. I went to dinner with a nobal prize winner in genetics the other night. He said to cherish those who are different as evolution eliminates them. Yet because they are different, they have perspectives that the rest of us do not have-insight. Thus you should listen to these "crippled" individuals as they have stepped outside of the 16 boxes and perceive and jundge in unexpected ways.
And it's important to one day leave home? Sounds reasonable. But I'd like to see some description of some mechanism. Actually, if there were a description of that mechanism, a description of what cognitive maturation is, that'd be cool. How conscious is the process of maturation, I wonder. Technically, since it is the maturation of consciousness, it should have some conscious component. But it seems like there has to be some large unconscious component too. Where the original foundation comes from perhaps. And this does or doesn't shape, even limit, the conscious possibilities?
Cognitive maturation. To develop a function you must use the function-so says my mbti instructor. But to use it is to fuck up. I'd suggest to never look at cognitive functiuon in isolation-look at the pairs. Ne-Fi, Fi-Si, Te-Si for enfps-but for intjs Ni-Te, Fi-Se, and then Te-Se???? Yeah i dunno....
And a nice quote to end on, just to remind us of why it is we may sometimes act in more negative ways... we really are all just patterns in the end. We will lash out to defend the cognitive function that most closely identifies with our ego. However maturation of that function-that requires stepping away from that defensive reaction-inserting a pause.
I still suffer from feelings of inferiority, although, they are usually caused by my idea of what I should be (self-imposed standards I can't meet), rather than comparisons of myself to others. I usually don't find other people intimidating, but those that I do, are people that irritate me. Those irritating people are quickly put through a systematic mental breakdown, in which every one of their flaws are thrown onto the table in an effort to make them small again. Now, People that have desirable qualities, and don't irritate me, are secretly admired; idolized even.
No one is perfect though, because no one can be perfect.
But, ALL aspects of myself and my interests, and life experiences, taken in their entirety? Well, there's only one me when it comes to that.
