inferior function, its unconscious drive and anxiety

[INTP]

at first id like to start with a quote from Rollo May(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollo_May); "You're are only anxious about things you value".
i think this is essential on understanding our inferior.

at this point i should explain the concept of shadow(personal, not archetypal).

Shadow
Hidden or unconscious aspects of oneself, both good and bad, which the ego has either repressed or never recognized.

Ego is the conscious part of you.

functions arent either conscious(in ego) or unconscious(in shadow), they are partly in ego and partly in shadow, dom function takes bigger part of ego than inferior, therefore inferior is more in the shadow. others are something between depending how you have integrated them into your ego(learned how to use them/gotten conscious control over them).

self is the whole you, both ego and shadow. all of the functions have things they value, values can come from the shadow part of self or the ego part of self. now change the word "you" to self in that quote.

im pretty sure that all of us have had some sort of anxieties(big or small) about things we do not quite understand or see where it is coming from. those sort of anxieties come from the shadow part of self.

the fact that something causes anxiety to you is a sign that it has value for you, whether you realize it or not. if you just push things away that are causing anxiety to you, you are pushing things away that are valuable to you and inhibiting your development and in the end of the day, your well being.

this sort of anxieties that you do not consciously recognize where they are coming from, are the drives of the shadow, in most cases drives of the inferior.

so the next time something causes anxiety for you and you dont understand why, i suggest looking at it from your inferior(or tertiary) point of view. because you know, if it wouldnt be important for you, you wouldnt cause any anxiety.

 

[Eric B]

I've just gotten Quenk's Was that Really Me?, yesterday, and will be reading it in the coming weeks.
I had skipped over it before, because it takes the four-process theory where the Inferior is "the shadow", and I believe in the eight-process theory that discusses "the other four" (and their archetypes) as the shadow. But even Beebe acknowledged that as many as all eight can be "shadow", if they are not developed (like for a really young person). So that agrees with degrees of shadow or functions being "partly in shadow".
In strict Jungian terms, "the ego" and it's "differentiated" function is really just the dominant. The others fit in as part of a "network" set up by the ego around its dominant.

So I figured Quenk's book will still be very good in understanding unconscious functions and how they affect us.

 

[INTP]

Bump. Iso moar replies