ISTJs do you think some of the stereotypes in your type descriptions like being a traditionalist or sticking to the good old fashioned way have any truth to them or are they false?
I would say they have some truth to them, but it's a really nuanced thing.
As Jung's introverted sensation type, we're defined by our detachment from the object, when instead we perceive things as their impression.
Jung said:
Normally the object is not consciously devalued in the least, but its stimulus is removed from it and immediately replaced by a subjective reaction no longer related to the reality of the object.
One of my favorite comparisons for Si is Plato's allegory of the cave. In a sense, we're perceiving the shadow. That may be good enough, or it may be spot on (to stick with the analogy, picture a large black stone casting a large black shadow. The impression cast on us by the object could be pretty much identical to the object, and hardly matter as much when they're just objects, instead of people).
Jung said:
If the object is a person, he feels completely devalued, while the subject has an illusory conception of reality, which in pathological cases goes so far that he is no longer able to distinguish between the real object and the subjective perception.
These impressions are formed by our experiences, so in a way, we're stuck in the past, favoring our impressions of things (almost a nostalgia) over the objective reality of what they are (which Se would do).
The huge caveat though is that, as Jung put it, this is a description of pathological cases. Of course, this was Jung's job, and it was how he defined all the types: by their extreme cases. When the creators of MBTI adapted Jung's work to both describe "normal folk" and to make it a tool for employee evaluation, they made some real changes in how type was defined. One such adaptation was saying that Si doms are traditional, when instead they have a tendency toward nostalgia. Many interpret "traditional" in a certain picket-fence, church-going, wife-and-2.3-kid-having way, instead of "nostalgic."
Te is the other part of the equation in this for ISTJs. Te leads us to favor what we have been taught and experienced over deep re-interpretations of systems, which would be more of an Ti thing. Generally, we will favor what we know over what is new, but keep in mind that everything we've learned was once something new. We will learn it if we want to, and if it makes sense, but it has to pass that test of fitting with our existing "factual" and "objective" knowledge. INTJs would be much the same way.
I have tattoos, led a BDSM lifestyle for a short time, and had an open marriage. I'm very strongly liberal, support same sex marriage (and in fact I feel outraged that it's considered unacceptable anywhere), and I'm an atheist. In some other ways, I'm pretty traditional. *straightens tie*