Andy
Supreme High Commander
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2009
- Messages
- 1,211
- MBTI Type
- INTJ
- Enneagram
- 5w6
Hello friends, colleges and complete strangers
I've been working on essay that describes how I understand function theory and I've decided to post it here to find out what other people think. Quite possibly you'll think it's incomprehinsible codswhollop - for one thing, it's a little different to what you'll read else where. Still, I hope enough people find it interesting or useful to justify the effort I've put into writing it.
It's fairly long, and will take up more than one post here. If anyone wants a continuous document containing this information, send me a private message with an email address and I'll send you one.
Finally, I'd like to thank Highlander for his assistance in editing the first draft. His comments helped me iron out some of the more arcane paragraphs. So without further rambling, here it is...
Urge Theory.
Introduction.
Jung’s work on cognitive functions has spawned many children - MBTI, socionics, and the broad range of ideas sometimes called function theory. It doesn’t seem to be a very happy family, though. While these theories often use similar terms, they can have different and sometimes contradictory meanings which leads to confusion for those new to the field. The internet exasperates this problem, presenting the reader with a huge number of information sources, some of them incomplete, many dubious and all of them pulling in their own direction.
Jung’s original work on the subject is perhaps responsible for a large amount of this befuddlement. The man himself seems to have never got his ideas straight enough to put down a consistent description - his book on the subject isn‘t exactly easy reading. The many offspring are various peoples attempts to fill in the gaps and round off the edges.
So what is “urge theoryâ€? It’s one more attempt to finish what Jung started, of course. I could have just called this document “Function Theoryâ€, but after some debating with myself, I decided to group my ideas under a single, unique heading rather than dumping them into the choppy seas of generic function theory. I did this for two reasons. First, while my ideas are drawn from function theory, they have diverged a long way from most of what I’ve seen written elsewhere and I feel they are now complete and self consistent enough to warrant a proper name. Second, it’s a way of separating what I’m about to write from the aforementioned internet sea of misunderstood tripe. With luck, the reader will digest the information here without too much ill chosen seasoning from outside sources. Of course, if you do find or invent some tasty ideas, feel free to sprinkle them on top and see what comes out. I just rather you finished digesting the ideas as presented before you start to turn them inside out.
I've been working on essay that describes how I understand function theory and I've decided to post it here to find out what other people think. Quite possibly you'll think it's incomprehinsible codswhollop - for one thing, it's a little different to what you'll read else where. Still, I hope enough people find it interesting or useful to justify the effort I've put into writing it.
It's fairly long, and will take up more than one post here. If anyone wants a continuous document containing this information, send me a private message with an email address and I'll send you one.
Finally, I'd like to thank Highlander for his assistance in editing the first draft. His comments helped me iron out some of the more arcane paragraphs. So without further rambling, here it is...
Urge Theory.
Introduction.
Jung’s work on cognitive functions has spawned many children - MBTI, socionics, and the broad range of ideas sometimes called function theory. It doesn’t seem to be a very happy family, though. While these theories often use similar terms, they can have different and sometimes contradictory meanings which leads to confusion for those new to the field. The internet exasperates this problem, presenting the reader with a huge number of information sources, some of them incomplete, many dubious and all of them pulling in their own direction.
Jung’s original work on the subject is perhaps responsible for a large amount of this befuddlement. The man himself seems to have never got his ideas straight enough to put down a consistent description - his book on the subject isn‘t exactly easy reading. The many offspring are various peoples attempts to fill in the gaps and round off the edges.
So what is “urge theoryâ€? It’s one more attempt to finish what Jung started, of course. I could have just called this document “Function Theoryâ€, but after some debating with myself, I decided to group my ideas under a single, unique heading rather than dumping them into the choppy seas of generic function theory. I did this for two reasons. First, while my ideas are drawn from function theory, they have diverged a long way from most of what I’ve seen written elsewhere and I feel they are now complete and self consistent enough to warrant a proper name. Second, it’s a way of separating what I’m about to write from the aforementioned internet sea of misunderstood tripe. With luck, the reader will digest the information here without too much ill chosen seasoning from outside sources. Of course, if you do find or invent some tasty ideas, feel free to sprinkle them on top and see what comes out. I just rather you finished digesting the ideas as presented before you start to turn them inside out.