A Practical Metaphor

As I reflect on the almost obsessive way some folks approach type, it is as if they think that there is an actual part of the brain where the functions of type are located.  And such "thinking" about type is somewhat dangerous as it leads to an overly concretized view of how all of it works.  And that is just one step away from a deterministic view of personality.

I prefer to think that Jung was attempting to give us a practical metaphor for very complex things in the way the brain works.  He was reporting on patterns observed in literature, philosophy, and available evidence from his lab studies.  In essense, I think it is helpful to think of Sensing, Intuiting, Thinking, and Feeling as labels for very complex neurological processes.  In a sense, each is a "gestalt" of a particular neurological system.

An example I offer is the difference between Sensing and Intuiting.  Jung referred to these as irrational and I prefer to see them as pre-rational processes.  As perceiving processes, we don't turn them on or off--they just are and they serve our need to have information about the world.

If my proposition is correct that Sensing and Intuiting are labels to lots of complicated elements of perception, then think of Sensing as the aspect in our psychological processes that calls upon realistic awareness and verifiable evidence.  Intuiting is the aspect in our psychological processes that seeks out patterns, linkages, or pathways among data points.  In either case there is a great deal going on, which is why I think it is often hard for individuals to imagine doing the opposite of their preference.  It feels like it would take a great deal of energy to see the world from the others' lens.

And I think it would take a great deal of energy for Sensing folks to work on Intuiting and Intuiting folks to strive to see the world through Sensing in any exculsive way. 

We double the trouble when we start reflecting on how these perceptions operate with Extraverted or Introverted energy.....which of course they do and produce remarkable consistent takes on what is real and how to perceive experience.   And I plan to share some thoughts about this complication in a later blog entry.

A metaphor serves as a a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, or is something used, or regarded as being used, to represent something else; emblem; symbol.

We certainly know that there are specific parts of the brain dedicated to sensory input but how that sensory input gets transformed into an aspect of the Sensing preference as we think of it in type is both very complicated and mysterious.  So Sensing as a term is a metaphor (a figure of speech representing something it is not in a literal way) about how much psychological energy is put into the experience of life in a direct way.

And in a more profound sense, when we think of Sensing and Intuiting as contrasting ways of becoming aware of experience, we realize that together they make more of a whole than just by themselves and that they are tied together in a way that only consciousness and unconscious processes can make sense of.  So if you have a preference for Sensing in conscoius awareness you can count on Intuiting processes being very busy in unconscious ways, and vice versa for Intuiting.

I call it a practical metaphor simply because it makes complex things accessible and understandable; it gives us a way to understand experience--our blindspots and our pulls toward and away from information in life.

It seems freeing to me to think of type this way as it indicates that we are at a gateway of a journey not at the end of it.  We are just beginning to discover rather than have an answer.  Further, it implies that propsection about one's psychological patterns is more useful than description.  In other words, how I use the understanding to move toward solutions and adaptation is more important than the degree to which am absolute in my description of the processes of type.

Psychological Energy

When I think about psychological type, I think of psychological energy.  And the word energy is quite useful. ( And please stick with me through the following stage setting.)  Definitions include:

The strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity.

A feeling of possessing such strength and vitality.

Consider a somewhat more scientific set of issues: "It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems....The total energy contained in an object is identified with its mass, and energy (like mass), cannot be created or destroyed..... A system can transfer energy to another system by simply transferring matter to it (since matter is equivalent to energy, in accordance with its mass).  Energy may be stored in systems without being present as matter....."

Energy is about strength and vitality which "works" on other things and can be transfered and stored.

With psychological type, the word energy is often first associated with Extraverting and Introverting processes.  You might hear comments like: Extraverts get their energy from engagement with the outerworld and Introverts get their energy through reflection and cogitation in their inner world.  You might also hear that extraversion is using energy in the world outside your skin while introversion is using energy in the inner world. 

Jung writes of how the extravert directs energy on to objects in the environment while introverts direct energy to internal thoughts.  Martha Wilson's work in the 90's showed that those with an Extraverted preference were stimulus hungry and those with and Introverted preference were not--they had enough going on in their heads.

This is vital to keep in mind: both extraverted and introverted "energies" however directed and acquired are essential for every human being to adapt to their daily life demands. 

When any individual is engaged in his or her environment, it is safe to say that engagement is an expression of extraverted energies.  But what kind of focus and expression is it?

Focus on factual concrete things is different from expressing ideas and possibilities.  Again, you do both but not at the exact same time or with the same level of effort and interest.  It is safe to say that these forms of extraverting and introverting energies are different and serve very different purposes in giving you a psychological lens on life:

Sensing that is Extraverted (Purpose: scanning and mentally placing)
Sensing that is Introverted (Purpose: contretizing and cataloging experience)
Intuiting that is Extraverted (Purpose: generating possible paths of action)
Intuiting that is Introverted (Purpose: identifying emerging scenarios)
Thinking that is Extraverted (Purpose: analyzing for "logical" outcomes)
Thinking that is Introverted (Purpose: critiquing to find the underlying model)
Feeling that is Extraverted (Purpose: connecting with others to promote comfort)
Feeling that is Introverted (Purpose: evaluating and applying ideals to actions)

I've only touched on one aspect of the purpose of these eight kinds of energy.  My point is that there are different kinds of psychological energy we need to manage and survive.  Much of it goes on at an unconscious level; nonetheless, they serve us to keep us stable in the midst of overwhelming stimuli that need to be sorted, organized, and acted on.

Why does this matter?  Do you have an energy problem?  You may have if you find that you aren't making psychological space for these energies to be activated.  And the absence of any of these energies show up in errors (to name a few)--missed body language of a colleague, inaccuracies, lack of innovative effort, missing logical sequences, or failed connectivity with others.

I do not believe we can be fully conscious of these eight funcitons all the time--nor do I think we need to.  I think we need to know these are operating 24/7 and serve us and that we should be intentional about stretching them from time to time (hobbies, stretch assignments, etc) to build capacity. 

I want to be clear: each type (e.g. ENFJ) has an energy system integrity that is different from another (ISTP).  Though both of the types in this example use all eight of the energies noted above, these are used with different qualities, frequencies, and utility.  

Opening Invitation

For more than thirty years I have been watching how psychological type affects everyday life. I am inviting you to engage with me as I share observations about how type can enrich your life.  My hope is to expand both your understanding and application of a very dynamic model.

If you have taken assessments like the MBTI(R), Golden Personality Type Profiler, Majors Personality Type Indicator, you have been exposed to psychological type.  Far too often, individuals confuse the instruments with the theory or model, and far too often, the descriptors are prescriptive and judgmental.  I want you to be exposed to the theory (with all of its warts) so that it may become more useful to you.

Psychological type is about patterns in perceiving and judging every day experiences.  It is about how psychological energy is distributed and renewed.  Psychological type is connected to our conscious and unconscious selves. 

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