Space dimensions as analogies for type dichotomies

[Eric B]

Had been trying to create this analogy for years, and it dawned on me; the first thing they teach in any type workshop (including MBTI class itself); how "preferences" work using a most common experience; right or left handedness. You prefer one (for most of us, usually the right), but you can still use the other hand; it's just more difficult.
The basic premise, is that the functions, like directions we look in, are "divisions of reality", which are artificial concentrations of consciousness created by our immersion in [an otherwise undivided] reality, splitting it into opposite "poles" based on our location, and where we're fully conscious of one direction, and fully or partially unconscious of others.

So to use space dimensions, starting with the four compass directions, a person faces one direction (dominant), and then points with his preferred hand (auxiliary), in the perpendicular direction that hand lies in, with respect to his body. So for facing in each direction, there will be two different "auxiliary" preferences. with this method, there will only be eight "types" possible; each compass direction with only two variations; right or left, which will automatically determine the other direction. If facing east, then right will always be south, and left will always be north. To make a complete analogy to 16 types, there should be four variations of each dominant direction. Above, I tried to use time.
But one way to get two more variations is to use the remaining space dimension; which will flip left and right. So now, the rightie facing east can point north, if he's upside down!

facing east, pointing south (rightie, upright) RESU
facing south pointing east (leftie, upright) LESU
facing east, pointing south (leftie upside down) LESD
facing south, pointing east (rightie, upside down) RESD

facing west, pointing north (rightie, upright) RWNU
facing north pointing west (leftie, upright) LWNU
facing west, pointing north (leftie upside down) LWND
facing north, pointing west (rightie, upside down) RWND

facing north, pointing east (rightie, upright) RENU
facing east pointing north (leftie, upright) LENU
facing north, pointing east (leftie upside down) LEND
facing east, pointing north (rightie, upside down) REND

facing south, pointing west (rightie, upright) RWSU
facing west pointing south (leftie, upright) LWSU
facing south, pointing west (leftie upside down) LWSD
facing west, pointing south (rightie, upside down) RWSD

The unpreferred directions will of course be opposite. In the first example, the unpreferred left hand will be north, and his back will face west. The "shadow" or a "reflection" of the person will be flipped.

 

[Turi]

Eric, can you clarify how this relates to typology?

 

[Eric B]

Sorry; forgot to add [and just now added it], that the common thread is the "division of reality", which is how I had begun characterizing the type preferences. One of the reasons people don't understand typology (and many outside of these forums are uninterested in it) is because it is "abstract", and so I looked for a more "concrete" analogy using the physical dimensions, so anyone could see how "preference" and the "mirroring" dynamic that determines the position of what's unpreferred, works.

It works pretty much the same way. A conscious ego immersed in reality will divide it into different poles, with one "preferred" as we tend to "look one way", and the others defaulting to being less conscious. The opposite direction will be totally unconscious, and the perpendicular dimensions (right/left) will be partially conscious, and yet there will be a slight preference for one of those in some way. (So this is really a great analogy, as it sometimes seemed as if Jung surmised "two auxiliaries", which would perfectly characterize our right and left hands).
The original idea was then to extend this to an analogy of all eight possible functions, and why they would fall where they do. Basically, the compass directions are like the functions, and right side up vs upside down are corresponding to the attitudes; hence the literal "shadow" would be an image rotated vertically the opposite way, if you could see it as a full image.