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.
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