Cimarron
IRL is not real
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2008
- Messages
- 3,417
- MBTI Type
- ISTJ
- Enneagram
- 5w6
- Instinctual Variant
- sp/so
This may be the only entry I ever post to this blog. I'm not trying to make it sound all dramatic 
, just to let anybody reading it aware that they shouldn't expect me to do this often, or at all. But I felt an urge to write these particular thoughts down somewhere.
It's nothing big, just my self-analysis of my MBTI type. Why bother questioning it when I'm already so sure it's none of the others? Because the usual descriptions still have a few inconsistencies, and that's what I would like to get rid of, or at least find an explanation. I'd like to have as much "closure" as possible, to use that old J-buzzword.
There are some "dead give-aways" that MBTI likes to use, and some of them really fit me, while others miss the mark. A great example is the old story about ISTJs enjoying lists. Over this summer, before I had investigated my MBTI type, I was making lists for fun--for fun! I have several lists stored on my computer now, and I'm not even planning on using them. I just made them because it was fun to think about and organize in such a way, to balance and weigh the different values and choices. While writing them, I always had the urge to do something with them--I hate leaving things lying around when they could be serving a purpose--but as much as it frustrated me, there wasn't really anything I could do with my lists. In the end, I just accepted that they were being made for fun, lists for lists' sake. Also, throughout my life, I have been an ardent perfectionist. It has driven people crazy. But I have no love for accounting, in that old stereotype.
Contrary to all that, I did this by function; I've found that system to explain a lot more than the general 16 types out-of-nowhere personality descriptions. So as an ISTJ, I have in order Si>Te>Fi>Ne . Overall, this seems to fit me. I don't know if I would say Si is "dominant", but then again it could be so pervasive that I don't even realize its dominance. Still, I definitely use it a lot. Te is obvious to me. I can also see Fi in my leisure activities, and in personal relationships, where emotions are stronger and more exposed. Ne is something I'm less certain about, but I think I have identified it in a lot of my thought processes.
However, we always hear that the 4th function does not substantially develop until well into adulthood. An important question here is "how strongly developed?" This is one source of my skepticism. I have identified plenty of examples of Ne from my own life, but I'm much younger than most who "develop" that function. It could be an anomaly, sure, just an off-chance that happened. But for me to claim that I gained significant use of the function 15 or 20 years before it's supposed to "manifest more fully" seems a little arrogant and presumptuous. So maybe I'm just misinterpreting things as Ne.
I considered each of the 8 functions to see which ones I identified with.
Se vs Si
I can notice some Se tendencies in myself, but this may be because Se is much more obvious. Si is also noticeable, but is much more nebulous to me. I think this function isn't explored very much, and most people are not sure what exactly it is. At least, I know I'm not sure what it is. Usually, I don't use this dichotomy as the defining aspect, and first see what the other ones show.
Fe vs Fi
I think it's accurate that my feelings are generally "turned inward". Skipping over all the subtleties, I am pretty certain my Fi is stronger than my Fe.
Ne vs Ni
This one is interesting. As I said above, I have found a lot of instances in which I use my Ne, or at least it seems so to me. On the other hand, if I understand the meanings sufficiently well, my Ni is very weak and anemic. Once I found that Ni is my 8th function, it made a lot of sense to me. Most of the challenges that have been hardest for me to overcome have been things that call for Ni as the best fixing tool. (And ironically, isn't that connection I just made dependent upon Ni...?) But then, am I using Ni as a convenient way to categorize my life's problems?
Te vs Ti
This is actually the toughest call. Again, it probably sounds arrogant to say that I may be good with both. But if I am, it may have something to do with being raised and coming of age in an environment that shows disdain for using F over T. A large problem here is that I'm having a lot of trouble understanding what the difference is between Te processes and Ti processes. I have a general idea of how the dichotomy is supposed to work, but I don't see how it relates to their use and application at all. From what I can tell, though, I can picture both of them being strong, but it makes sense that my Te is stronger, in examples like my desire to organize things.
I conclude that I may be ISTJ with stronger Ti than normal, which I don't feel so arrogant saying when I remember that many members have said the same about an imbalance or anomaly in their own function order. Vague areas that I would like to explore and research are Si, Te, and Ti, to reach a better understanding of what they are, so I can make a better analysis of this whole thing.
, just to let anybody reading it aware that they shouldn't expect me to do this often, or at all. But I felt an urge to write these particular thoughts down somewhere.It's nothing big, just my self-analysis of my MBTI type. Why bother questioning it when I'm already so sure it's none of the others? Because the usual descriptions still have a few inconsistencies, and that's what I would like to get rid of, or at least find an explanation. I'd like to have as much "closure" as possible, to use that old J-buzzword.
There are some "dead give-aways" that MBTI likes to use, and some of them really fit me, while others miss the mark. A great example is the old story about ISTJs enjoying lists. Over this summer, before I had investigated my MBTI type, I was making lists for fun--for fun! I have several lists stored on my computer now, and I'm not even planning on using them. I just made them because it was fun to think about and organize in such a way, to balance and weigh the different values and choices. While writing them, I always had the urge to do something with them--I hate leaving things lying around when they could be serving a purpose--but as much as it frustrated me, there wasn't really anything I could do with my lists. In the end, I just accepted that they were being made for fun, lists for lists' sake. Also, throughout my life, I have been an ardent perfectionist. It has driven people crazy.
But I have no love for accounting, in that old stereotype.Contrary to all that, I did this by function; I've found that system to explain a lot more than the general 16 types out-of-nowhere personality descriptions. So as an ISTJ, I have in order Si>Te>Fi>Ne . Overall, this seems to fit me. I don't know if I would say Si is "dominant", but then again it could be so pervasive that I don't even realize its dominance. Still, I definitely use it a lot. Te is obvious to me. I can also see Fi in my leisure activities, and in personal relationships, where emotions are stronger and more exposed. Ne is something I'm less certain about, but I think I have identified it in a lot of my thought processes.
However, we always hear that the 4th function does not substantially develop until well into adulthood. An important question here is "how strongly developed?" This is one source of my skepticism. I have identified plenty of examples of Ne from my own life, but I'm much younger than most who "develop" that function. It could be an anomaly, sure, just an off-chance that happened. But for me to claim that I gained significant use of the function 15 or 20 years before it's supposed to "manifest more fully" seems a little arrogant and presumptuous. So maybe I'm just misinterpreting things as Ne.
I considered each of the 8 functions to see which ones I identified with.
Se vs Si
I can notice some Se tendencies in myself, but this may be because Se is much more obvious. Si is also noticeable, but is much more nebulous to me. I think this function isn't explored very much, and most people are not sure what exactly it is. At least, I know I'm not sure what it is. Usually, I don't use this dichotomy as the defining aspect, and first see what the other ones show.
Fe vs Fi
I think it's accurate that my feelings are generally "turned inward". Skipping over all the subtleties, I am pretty certain my Fi is stronger than my Fe.
Ne vs Ni
This one is interesting. As I said above, I have found a lot of instances in which I use my Ne, or at least it seems so to me. On the other hand, if I understand the meanings sufficiently well, my Ni is very weak and anemic. Once I found that Ni is my 8th function, it made a lot of sense to me. Most of the challenges that have been hardest for me to overcome have been things that call for Ni as the best fixing tool. (And ironically, isn't that connection I just made dependent upon Ni...?) But then, am I using Ni as a convenient way to categorize my life's problems?
Te vs Ti
This is actually the toughest call. Again, it probably sounds arrogant to say that I may be good with both. But if I am, it may have something to do with being raised and coming of age in an environment that shows disdain for using F over T. A large problem here is that I'm having a lot of trouble understanding what the difference is between Te processes and Ti processes. I have a general idea of how the dichotomy is supposed to work, but I don't see how it relates to their use and application at all. From what I can tell, though, I can picture both of them being strong, but it makes sense that my Te is stronger, in examples like my desire to organize things.
I conclude that I may be ISTJ with stronger Ti than normal, which I don't feel so arrogant saying when I remember that many members have said the same about an imbalance or anomaly in their own function order. Vague areas that I would like to explore and research are Si, Te, and Ti, to reach a better understanding of what they are, so I can make a better analysis of this whole thing.
