#jungian typology

[windudemon]

JUNGIAN COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS ARE REALLY NEUROTRANSMITTERS

Dopamine (Ne) is all about exploration, novelty, and active engagement with the world. It’s testing, experimenting, seeing what works, and staying open to multiple perspectives in real time. It’s "what if" thinking, bouncing between ideas, trying them out, and learning through trial and error. This is why the dopamine pathway is short and reactive, driving people to act quickly and be highly responsive to stimuli.

Acetylcholine (Ni) is much more about conception, depth, and refinement. It’s about filtering through possibilities, refining, and finding the most efficient path. This is more about a long-term vision, where you discount distractions and focus on what’s likely to work based on deep internal understanding. Like Ni, acetylcholine works with refined material, builds on past knowledge, and strives for clarity over time. Quality control over quantity. The pathway is longer, as it requires more time for reflection and synthesis.

Norepinephrine (Se) = Sensory Engagement / External Stimulation: Norepinephrine is often about stimulation, arousal, and action in the present moment, which matches Se's focus on immediate sensory input and the world outside. Se engages directly with external stimuli, maximizing the sensory experience—seeing, hearing, touching, and reacting to what's right in front of them, seeking novel or impactful experiences. Norepinephrine similarly drives people to engage with their surroundings, often seeking intensity and excitement. Both want to be in the moment and responsive to the environment.

GABA = Si (Introverted Sensing): GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter, meaning it calms down neural activity and contributes to a sense of stability, relaxation, and grounding. This is highly similar to Si, which is about internal sensory recall, stability, and creating a grounded mental state based on past experiences. Just like Si helps us process and stabilize memories and experiences, GABA contributes to calmness and internal balance.

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Ooops. Clickbait. Only the perceiving functions can be directly associated with neurotransmitters but here is why:

Perceiving functions (Ne, Ni, Se, Si) are more fundamental in terms of information gathering and conceptualizing because they deal with raw data, sensory input, and ongoing experience. These are processes that happen almost automatically and are more closely tied to the REACTIONS of the brain to immediate stimuli, which is where neurotransmitters like dopamine, norepinephrine, GABA, and serotonin come into play.

Judging functions, on the other hand, are higher-order, more abstract, and deal with organizing, categorizing, and deciding how to act on the information the perceiving functions gather. These processes tend to be more cognitive, involving more logical, computational thinking (yes, fi too!), which requires less direct chemical input and is mediated by higher-level brain areas like the prefrontal cortex. They are more internalized, less reactive to real-time input, and more about evaluating and controlling the data.

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But hey! If you really twist my arm, I could associate Fi with serotonin and Fe with oxytocin.

When it comes to Te and Ti, all I can think of is the lack of serotonin and oxytocin. You lack love, you are less moody, you think more robotic, sticking to the facts as opposed to idealistic or personal or communal values.

[rosquinn]

typology is so funny because you can literally excuse everything with it. your honor it's true that my client committed attempted genocide but have you considered he's a if(s) 4w3 sx/so 486 efvl therefore a potential hater

[cordelia-archer]

Everyone keeps saying Anthony Lockwood is an ENFJ not an ENTJ because he is empathetic, emotionally supportive, sweet, constantly caring... But HEAR ME OUT, Anthony Lockwood is DEFINITELY an ENTJ!!!📣

Generally, ENTJ is described as "Decisive, Strategic, Organized, Energetic, Articulate", which is the perfect description for Anthony Lockwood.

To be more specific, we can look into the 2 functions that separate an ENTJ and an ENFJ:

📍1. Te as primary function:

📍Lockwood makes it quite clear that he cares about efficiency the most. That's why he left for the case before George finishes his research and is complained repeatedly by George because of how he does everything so fast, without enough preparation.

📍Lockwood is relentless, achievement-oriented, action-oriented, and is described as the exact opposite to George, an INTP (we all know that ENTJ and INTP have the exact opposite functions).

ENTJ: Te, Ni, Se, Fi

INTP: Ti, Ne, Si, Fe

"In many ways, Lockwood was the complete opposite of George,... He had no interest in the mechanics of ghosts, and little in their individual desires or intentions. All he really wanted was to destroy them as efficiently as possible." (from book 2)

Lockwood doesn't care about exploring and figuring out how things work, what causes the Problem,... He just wants to focus on the next goal, get work done in the most efficient way, wants to achieve, to make Lockwood & Co. become the best agency and so on. He is impatient with what he perceives as inefficient, which is spending a lot of time on preparing and researching like George always does. His Te primary function is obvious when compared with George's Ti primary function.

📍However, this doesn't mean he doesn't care about others' well being and feelings. You all need to stop saying Lockwood is an ENFJ because he has golden retriever energy, he is sweet and caring, etc... WHY CAN'T AN ENTJ BE EMPATHETIC, ENCOURAGING AND SWEET? An ENTJ is so much more than those harsh, controlling freak ENTJ stereotypes. Have you seen Gordon Ramsay, an ENTJ, spending time with kids and his own daughters? He's also really sweet, supportive and encouraging when the kids make mistake and stressed out.

Having said that, it doesn't mean Lockwood isn't being a jerk sometimes. Because of his Te primary function, he ignores Lucy's words to leave her out of public attention and go on to talk about to talent in order to promote his agency. Lockwood also left for the case without waiting for George and his research, leading to their enormous debt, just because of the same reason: his Te primary function.

📍2. Fi as inferior function

📍"Fi is ENTJ's last function. Fi helps them to assess situations to see how things match up to their values and beliefs. They may think of their Fi as their “gut instinct”. It helps them learn to be sensitive to the values and feelings of those around them. It can act as a warning system when they think a decision makes sense logically, but somewhere inside, Fi is the alarm saying it’s a bad idea. However, because Fi is the TeNi’s weakest function, they will often act with the swift decisiveness of Te first, before considering how their actions might affect the feelings of others or taking time to think about whether their decision lines up with their values."

Lockwood risks his life a lot just to build his agency's reputation. He loves dangerous cases as they make the agency famous, and also makes a lot of money to keep the agency working. Though this may sound like the fastest and most efficient way to achieve his goal, it is a bad idea. But since Fi is his weakness, Lockwood couldn't hear that inner voice and just do it anyway.

In the books, when Lockwood is stressed and in a weaker mental state, his Fi inferior function comes out. Then he will start to think about all of this, wonder why he does what he does, and if it aligns with his personal values...

📍We can also compare with ENFJs. ENFJ has Fe as their primary function, which means they rub off with others' emotions, they love to connect with people and they focus heavily on relationships.Lockwood, an ENTJ, on the other hand, is a bit reserved, he keeps personal feelings close to his chest and he DOESN'T connect with other people at all (at first, it takes quite a long time for him to actually open up, and before that, he just stays distant.)

Relationships is actually his WEAKNESS, since Te is his primary function and Fi is his inferior function. Lockwood prioritizes efficiency and task completion over personal relationships and emotional well-being (in both himself and others, but mostly himself), which is a very ENTJ thing to do. He risks his life for dangerous cases because those make the agency more famous, he avoids Lucy's personal questions and refuses to develop his relationships with George and Lucy any furrther at first. Then he grows and learns to open up, becoming a better ENTJ.

📣 Besides, he leads the team well mainly because of his charm, his determination, his recklessness and also his logical thinking, rather than his empathy and compassion, like an ENFJ does. 📣

📍I think his craving for public attention is an Te primary function.

📍The craving for public attention is rather a craving for achievements, because he wants his agency to grow and become famous.

[mj-says-hey]

how to break a Ti user: give them a problem they can’t solve

[innumerablebackstages]

Os Iusti

A Playlist About Ni as a Dominant Function.

This is an unapologetical ramble that will be soon followed by a lot of even verbos-er rambles. Give the Playlist a listen if you found this somehow interesting.

A disembodied hand carrying a key is the perfect metaphor for Introverted iNtuition (Ni): the key itself represents the unfathomable knowing, but the unseen door leaves us questioning what is it that can be opened, known. What lies beyond is veiled, both to others and to the Ni-Fe themselves, until the moment of revelation. This playlist mirrors the labyrinthine and multi-dimensional nature of the Ni dominated psyche, mapping a journey that is simultaneously personal and universal.

Os Iusti, meaning “The Mouth of the Just,” speaks to Ni’s relationship with revelation. Though silent and elusive, when Ni does speak, it unveils profound truths that resonate on a mythic and symbolic level. It won't necessarily be well translated to others, though, and here arises a Cassandrian problem for the Ni-dom. This function often “sees it all coming” long before others catch up, only to be dismissed until hindsight vindicates it. How well developed the J-functions of the user are will determine how much they get out of the alluring mind palace of Ni.

We can see in Jung's Psychological Types (1921):

Inner objects appear to the intuitive perception as subjective images of things, which, though not met with in external experience, really determine the contents of the unconscious, i.e. the collective unconscious, in the last resort. Naturally, in their per se character, these contents are, not accessible to experience, a quality which they have in common with the outer object. For just as outer objects correspond only relatively with our perceptions of them, so the phenomenal forms of the inner object are also relative; products of their (to us) inaccessible essence and of the peculiar nature of the intuitive function.

that Ni is untranslatable; the things a Ni-Dom user experiences as their normal cognitive process is composed mainly by images, impressions, vague certainties. These types are very specific kind of people: I see online a tendency to broaden what it means to be Ni-Dom, but Jung is clear with it: introverted perception is aloof and loony and guides itself with impressions of the body and the imagery of absolutes. This is what is so fascinating about introverted perception functions: they deal with probability, yes, but the user experiments those probabilities as absolutes. The user will rarely focus on "all the possibilities" but on The One Possibility their powerful perception marks. We can understand the Pi functions as internal maps: one based on impressions of the body and the other, "of the soul". "The Soul" here means the archetypes of the universe. The Sun, The Warrior, The Emperor... They all masquerade as situations rise and fall over time in a never-ending cycle. A repetition. An eternal return. All closely guarded by the collective unconscious. For the introverted intuitive, the world is a constant flux of cycles that repeat themselves and can be gazed at. At least partially. As images. As impressions.

You see, the experience is as puzzling for the user as it is for our inner circle: as exhilarating as my certainties can be for me, I don't really know where they came from or what exactly do they mean. A "vibe" I get from someone can assume the form of a vivid image of them kicking someone in the balls for fun while smoking a joint. Or something less explicit: I can feel they are terrible violent people by the way they smiled. Why? Hell knows. I can just feel snakes crawling up my arms when they smile. What does that even mean? I will give you a delicate shrug. You do you, my gut told me. I trust it with my bones.

Finally, and we will follow with the songs and why they're there I promise, we need to understand something about Ni: it is narrative in nature. The impressions it deals with are composed mostly by images that serve a deeper, much bigger focal point.

Thinking on images means an acute sense of aesthetics too, of the aesthetic nature of patterns: perception means contemplation and passivity, not capable of judgement. It reminds us of The Crone, the ancient chaman who knows the secrets of the stars. Ni deals with equilibrium and divinity and the impressions evolution and society have made us grasp with the strength of a baby in need. Ni sees the egg and the snake that coils under the earth. Necessarily, a Ni-dom gets their impressions from images, because the introverted intuition deals with the disembodied triggers a sensation can awake.

Or, as Jung would eloquently put it:  

Intuition receives from the sensation only the impetus to immediate activity; it peers behind the scenes, quickly perceiving the inner image that gave rise to the specific phenomenon (…) It sees the image of a tottering man pierced through the heart by an arrow. This image fascinates the intuitive activity; it is arrested by it, and seeks to explore every detail of it.

Without further ado, the songs:

Hide - CS01 version — Dorian Concept

whispers in motion

This track is about how Ni feels. It's disorienting and elusive. It's also full of patterns. Here, it's mean to speak about the layers of abstraction behind Ni-images. This function only perceives sensorial information to generate images.

I once told a friend Ni feels like structures building themselves. Without my knowledge, action or conscious effort insights sharpen into crystalline clarity only to fragment under their own weight. Some of them don't, but I have no compromise with them. They're product of the wild energy of being a flesh machine. I judge their beauty, their soundness, their structure. And I won't ever find a way out.

The disjointed rhythms evoke this. In this moment, I become an observer, piecing together fragments of a vast structure underneath. Constantly moving from one filament to another, piecing into an unconscious web of... Something. Introverted intuition feels constantly as something that occurs outside of me, like a spider would inevitably create a web. This is a joy and a pain in the ass.

A Dark Cloud is Coming — Moby

an apocalyptic vision

This one is slow and paced and builds up to an intense ending. It's a little over the nose, isn't it? Well, the gift of prophecy can only be understood as a dangerous delusion: it bears an indistinct sense of impending doom that grows clearer with time. Yes, of course the impressions are useful. I have already stated how much I trust them... But it still gets itself into visions of doom. It feels like a constant weight on the shoulders, real or not. In a lecture, Jung (1938), speaks of a persona gifted with a second vision. Her delusions are not "of neurotic origin" and so she's not considered mentally ill. These visions, however, give her a "strong personal dissatisfaction"; she was absolutely terrified by sensations that were not entirely real and were not entirely hers.

This also delves into the very annoying, very real apocalyptic visions Ni can give the user. When under stress, they can be realistic and feel like accurate depictions of what will become reality. Here, the absolutes Pi deals with become a double-edged sword: if your always trusted perception tell you there is something off going on in the world... Will you ignore it? Exactly.

In this Album, Moby channels his reflections on contemporary life and personal torment into jagged post-punk. However, this time they emerge wrapped in a deceptive gentleness—like the smothering embrace of a down pillow, soft and suffocating all at once. This is an album about his fear of the species future. His eclectic style and the beautiful lullaby this song is felt just right.

If I Were — Vashty Bunyan

mammals yearn

My story with this song is from long ago. The first time I listened to it my hairs went up and it felt like I had discovered something of ultimate importance. I yearned. I yearned painfully and I did so because of the images in my head. The feelings they gave me. I became aware of my gut-wrenching, existentially itchy habit of contemplating (sometimes believing in) alternative realities.

Not as mere fantasy, but as something that illuminate the present and they do so because we are plagued by impressions of our past. We have developed a collective, evolutionary, memory that makes us enjoy and be terrified of basically the same things. Bunyan’s lilting voice and bittersweet lyrics imagine a world shaped by care and gentle longing. Ni yearns to align the external world with its internal tapestry of symbols. Whatever these images are, they're much more beautiful than wherever the Ni-dom is currently dwelling. Beauty, as stated before, is a main driver for the psyche of introverted intuiters.

Ni doesn’t just seek beauty; it obsesses over it, hunts it down, and then mourns its impermanence. It creates these beautiful, impossible ideals, then leaves you stuck in a world that can’t match them.

Jung, has something insightful to say about this, actually:

 it is an aesthetic problem, a question of perception, a 'sensation'. In this way, the consciousness of his own bodily existence fades from the introverted intuitive's view, as does its effect upon others. The extraverted standpoint would say of him: 'Reality has no existence for him; he gives himself up to fruitless phantasies'

I rest my case.

Forest Nativity - Francis Bebey

this tropical ape

This song is about something I mentioned before. Ni sees the snake. Why the snake? Well, as a symbol it is connected to the earth, to clay, to water, to flexibility and longevity. The snakes are one of the most ancient evolutionary enemies of primates. It also symbolizes lost of control, danger and chaos.

We fear them with such uniformity that out brain is wired to recognize snakes in less than a second (2016). What I'm saying here is our ecosystem has influenced the way our brains react and think collectively: if we all come from the same savannah, then we have the same primal fears. The same, old, tropical fears. I, personally, think archetypes primarily arise from there. From terror.

This track is about intricate rhythms connected to instinct. Here, I only want to remind you, and me, that Ni is a function born of instinct. Of music and religion as catalysts of society. No matter what we perceive, our feet are touching the jungle's soil, always —it’s that gut feeling of “there’s something off,” the perception that always feels just outside of reality, dancing on the edge of the conscious.

This constitutes, then, a liminal zone for the psyche: trapped among excel sheets and the animal impulse, broker of ties and marriages and skin boots. Ni thrives in these liminal zones. In the in-betweens. It weaves meaning from the interplay of this forest nativity. Ni fleshes out these collective memories through narratives and images, constantly exploring this... And for a Ni-Fe, that also means the human drama.

Olsen Olsen - Sigur Rós

trascending as a sweet

Sigur Rós is a band of icelandic Post-rock. Yes, cope. Their music is ethereal, and made to be beautiful: their creative process follows first the sound and then the meaning of each track. That is a familiar feeling. Stephen King, a famous Ni-Te, describes its creative process as unplanned: he just follows his internal map. What works. What can be envisioned as beautiful. Whatever beautiful means in a given situation.

Like Ni creative process, this song goes away from mundane concerns and toward the sublime. With its otherworldly vocals and expansive melodies, It is firstly concerned with creating sensations and crafting an image. The song was written in an invented language specifically for it, one that will be revisited by the band in future songs, but is just crafted to sound beautifully.

Few tracks embody both Ni tendency to transcendence in the sublime and the irony of its prison of flesh. The ending of the song, after a long descent into imagination and memories, a childhood sweet or a card game, crashes us with the familiar low roar of a supermarket.

Buzzcut Season - Lorde

detached awareness of impermanence

I will be honest, Lorde was not my favorite during most of my life, until her EP in maori came out. I had had my head up my ass all this time about an amazing artist. Buzzcut Season was a serendipity: and in this case it talks very openly to me about the inevitable detachment I feel for the world. And about how it feels to grow up when you don't think it has any meaning. About ignoring and fantasizing.

Something I already mentioned comes to play here, a weaving of opposites. I perceive collective dissonance and their inner tension between empathy and cynicism. I am weighted down by the impossibility of eternity. Lorde's detached delivery contrasts with the emotional gravity beneath the lyrics. I knew when my childhood ended with painful clarity, and I remember the details of my particular tragedies with detail. I still struggle to find myself outside of my head.

Now, this detachment is not in an emotional sense exactly. It's of a different nature. It's more of a hyper-involvement in a symbolic layer that renders the mundane world irrelevant.

This song is about Ni's tendency to detach from the present, observing it as though from a distance. Recognizing the impermanence of everything that has ever existed and the underlying patterns that shape them, yet unable to scream in horror. The Ni-dom is at deep emotional resonance with the world’s beauty, tempered by an almost clinical awareness of its fragility.

Illusion of Seclusion - Photay

I am one, or all, or nothing

I might sound like some kind of purist here, quoting fucking Jung and all, but I do think there is value in whatever insights and further readings into typology new blood has to give. The people from Cognitive Type, for example, have very interesting takes on Ni. Its creator explains that Ni's perception is translocal: meaning all information gathered, processed and burped out as an automatic castle will be working in function of an axiom.

This is why Ni can feel so disjointed from the “now”—because it’s not just analyzing the present, it’s tying it to an entire temporal and spatial continuum.

It will always have a direction, a focus, it will follow a specific narrative. While introverted sensation knows the facts in a sort of bulleted manner, introverted intuition inevitably arranges the facts as if they were part of a thematic web. Ni has, intrinsically, a direction. A focalized pull. Even the smallest data sets of the pathway must conduct towards the completion of the spider-web.

The previous gives birth to another characteristic of the Ni-dom, a certain idea of panpsychism and synchronicity. The psyche of Ni dominated people tends to think of the world as one. Or everything. Or nothing. But all of it for sure. It’s that nagging sense that every event, every detail, even the most mundane moment, serves a larger function in the grand scheme.

Beneath it´s solitary exterior, Ni is constantly weaving connections, weaving a web of meaning that reveals the unity behind apparent separations. For Ni, sometimes, all of the mental and physical objects are but buttons and shafts being pulled by the same forces since the beginning. Solitude is, then, an impossibility.

Os Iusti, WAB 30 — Anton Bruckner

divinity in beauty

This piece is the spiritual core of this playlist. I had the idea while giving this a listening. But first, Os Iusti comes from a bigger quote. It's from the bible, Psalms 34:30, and reads as follows:

The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is just.

So this song is about prophecy and truth. Allow me to get a bit mystical with my creative depiction of how it feels to inhabit Ni. To keep it short: beauty is divinity. Transcendence and divinity are but tied to the same log and they flail against the absurd with savage strength. Ni doesn't exactly believe in the teleological nature of the universe, but it certainly acts based on this idea of repetition and symmetry. Bruckner's beautiful chorals address this with the grandeur it deserves, from a higher dimension.

But, it's also related to another dimension of divinity. This playlist, you might have noticed, is not only about condensing Ni, but condensing Ni as the dominant function of an INFJ. This choral piece also resonates with Fe’s moral blade. Its liturgical. It evokes my inner cathedral, where I constantly voice my questions of justice, duty, and alignment.

Although the Pi type is inward-turning in nature, this function:

has little inclination to make a moral problem of perception, since a strengthening of the judging functions is required fo this, only a slight differentiation of judgment is sufficient to shift intuitive perception from the purely aesthetic into the moral sphere (...) only a slight differentiation of judgment is sufficient to shift intuitive perception from the purely aesthetic into the moral sphere

and that:

It is different with the morally oriented intuitive. He reflects on the meaning of his vision, and is less concerned with developing its aesthetic possibilities than with the moral effects which emerge from its intrinsic significance

Yes, Ni is meditative and silent and won't necessarily make a fuss out of it. But just you wait. “Os Iusti” speaks not of human justice, but of cosmic harmony.

We Have a Map of the Piano - Múm

and the piano is everything

This one is more of a metaphor. The piano is... Well, everything. We are the pianos and our human drama is the piano too. Ni, sometimes, feels like having an internal map for everything that has happened under the sun. An hermetic, deeply confusing map. More often than not, the map of the piano will be much more important than the piano itself. The image will impose over reality and instead of grasping the deeper truth, I'll be chasing my own shadow.

In these archetypes, therefore, all experiences are represented which have happened on this planet since primeval times. The more frequent and the more intense they were, the more clearly focused they become in the archetype. The archetype would thus be, to borrow from Kant, the noumenon of the image which intuition perceives and, in perceiving, creates.

The map is, however, fucking alive. Do you know what cell membranes are made of? Oil and coloidal substances suspended in water: meaning, their very own structure is a fluid mosaic. Always changing, always different. The map is the same.

The collective unconscious doesn't work for the Ni-dom, we just glimpse at it with uncanny precision sometimes. Still its prisoners tho. Remember what I said about a map of absolutes, at the beginning? I am talking about one of its downsides: what happens when we fix in the wrong absolute? I will tell you what happens: nihilism and despair.

This song is about the use of the internal map to move around. The crystalline structures my mind creates without agency may not be entire useful, but they provide me with an unshakable sense of direction.

Soul Alphabet - Colleen

on the interpretation of shadows

If the former song was about the maps of everything, this one is specific to us Ni-Fe's. The map here turns on how we process emotions, how we process the world of people, the social economy. It's a soul alphabet because, yeah sure, we will read an entire room and pick out the weirdos, the nice, the disgusting and the arseholes in less than 15 minutes... But, then? Knowing and perceiving are absolutely nothing without their corresponding real object being affected.

A soul Alphabet means to know the exact words needed to open a door... Or it should, if the alphabet was not composed of archetypes and their implications. Yes, yes, they're useful, but seeing my boss as "The Emperor" and predicting his behaviour based on it can only take me so far.

You might have caught the problem a few songs back. Ni gives a lot on how to navigate relationships, but it also picks you apart. The belief that you already know what will happen is, very often, an obstacle to feel involved with your loved ones. With the world. And to accurately understand what is already going.

What happens when the image of the object is as heavy in your psyche as the object itself? Which one is more beautiful? Whom did I say had a fixation with beauty? Starting to get it? It, introverted intuition,

perceives all the background processes of consciousness with almost the same distinctness as extraverted sensation registers external objects. For intuition, therefore, unconscious images acquire the dignity of things (Jung, 1921)

As I have tried to convey during this entire verborrhea: Introverted intuition is both a joy AND A PAIN IN THE ASS. More often than not I will feel utterly overwhelmed by the information I'm perceiving (shadow Se much?) and will need time to understand what, in the first place, this all means for me. Yeah, sure, I know Frederick's got a crush in this german girl because of the way he looks at her. Because I get his butterflies while he smiles. I won't necessarily care, since it's an aesthetic problem first, until I have had time to judge... And it will take a while.

It's a beautiful song, tho. Having a soul alphabet in perpetual growth IS beautiful. I find human emotions so utterly beautiful in their primal savagery, and yet, I will feel removed from them. Alienated.

I know the end - Phoebe Bridgers

do you?

Yes, of course I already saw it coming. Do I care enough? Do I want to experience it anyway? The paradox of anticipating the inevitable while wrestling with an unspoken melancholy. This is one of the many dilemmas I’ve hinted at throughout this. From here on, I’m peeling back more of the darker layers of Ni.

What does it mean to know the end? Well, for the Ni user it implies both the constant sensation that the world can't really be a surprise, and an unspoken melancholy. However, do I really, really know the end? No, I don't. Ni isn’t omniscient—it’s a trickster. It feeds you archetypes and calls them truths, maps that blur the contours of reality. This song is both about sadness and stubbornness.

I've already said Ni takes archetypes too seriously. It takes its images as real objects and not machinations of the unconscious. What if the perceived end is one of these delusions? What if it's an apocalyptic vision breed by stress and insecurities? Ni craves the grand design but struggles with nuance. It clings to archetypes—its own self-made gods. Despair isn’t in not knowing. It’s in thinking you do, it’s being so sure you’re right that you refuse to look at the details.

Just like before, the illusion of knowing is a constant danger for these types. Bridgers captures this tension. The song’s crescendo mirrors this: a widening lens that swallows the world in its entirety—hopes, fears, and all—before collapsing into the emptiness of knowing.

You see, the thing is the map will definitely loose sight of the trees.

God, turn me into a flower - Weyes Blood

aren't magnolias pretty?

Ni doesn’t scream. It doesn’t need to. Ni is forceful in its own way. It demands attention—not through volume, but through gravity. This song is about surrendering to that gravity—a dissolution of self into something purer, quieter, beyond language.

“God, turn me into a flower.” A delicate, fleeting bloom, enduring for as long as it’s meant to. Let me be found by those whom are looking for the same divinity as me. Are we not flowers already, tho? Yes, God, tune me out the horror of reality.

But this isn’t a prayer for peace. It’s also a cautionary tale. The myth of Narcissus looms large here, twisted through the lens of modernity. In an age of reflections—be they digital or mental—we often mistake the image for the thing itself. As Weyes Blood laments:

You see the reflection and you want it more than the truth You yearn to be that dream you could never get to 'Cause the person on the other side has always just been you

Ni’s greatest strength is its ability to craft those reflections—shimmering visions of what could be. But therein lies its deepest flaw: the tendency to elevate these constructs above reality, turning them into prisons. We, like Narcissus, chase the reflections we’ve gazed at: the archetypes, the futures, the images of ourselves we wish were real.

What Weyes Blood offers is a counterweight. A call to soften. To stop chasing reflections and instead bloom where we are. Flowers don’t pursue their own beauty; they simply are. Maybe that’s the secret Ni longs to uncover: divinity isn’t in the vision—it’s in the act of blooming.

Suspirium - Tom Yorke

eureka!

It’s not fear, not really. It’s more like standing at the edge of something vast and unknown, staring into it, and wondering, is this mine? Can I claim this abyss? Or does it claim me? It’s a question we’re never ready for, but that’s exactly why it sticks. The light, the heat—it’s all there. But they’re inseparable from the shadow. That’s the thing about Ni, right? We see the whole thing, the light and the dark, and we can’t look away.

Sure. Just keep moving, right? Pretend you’re not aware that you’re stuck in the same dizzying cycle. Keep dancing in the waltz, behind the wall, pretending the laughter and the old songs are enough. Pretend you’re not aching to stop, to sit in the silence and ask yourself, what’s on the other side? The truth is, it’s not the spinning that keeps us going. It’s the hope that when we stop, we’ll still be okay. That we won’t unravel. That we’ll find something whole

Then there’s the final plea: “When I arrive, will you come and find me?” The search for something or someone—answers, resolution, a sense of belonging. But Yorke wraps that in a veil of uncertainty. Will we find each other, or will we just get lost in the crowd? It feels inevitable, and yet entirely unknown. There’s a mother, pulling us back. No tomorrows, no next steps—just a final moment of peace. But is that peace something we’re even allowed to feel?

In a way, it’s a beautiful mess. The waltz, the repetition, the dance between light and dark, the questions we keep asking and never quite answering. Suspirium is a swirl, a cry, a whisper, a pull—a glimpse at something both unknowable and familiar. And maybe that's the whole point.

This song doesn’t just ask you to feel—it asks you to exist. To sit with the weight of being, of moving through cycles you might not even understand, of carrying the light and the dark and everything in between. Ni doesn’t scream, it murmurs, and Suspirium is its hymn. Quiet, unrelenting, heavy with beauty and questions.

Is the darkness ours to take? I don’t know. But I do know that I will have to watch it.

Le Miroir - Alcest

toolkit for indirect knowledge

If Ni was a movie, Alcest would write the whole damn soudntrack. Their shimmering post-rock isn’t just music—it’s a vessel, an immersion into the space where reality blurs and meaning sharpens. Le Miroir is exactly what it claims to be: a mirror, but not the kind you glance into before heading out the door. It’s the kind that shows you and the world. The tool for looking in the corners.

This one is a mirror image in the shadow. Always slightly removed, a step back from reality, gazing at the world itself and at the veiled truths behind it. The shimmer of something more. But here’s the catch: is it a revelation, or just your own shadow staring back? Ni-users know this tension all too well—this need to decode the archetypes, to give form to the formless, to pull the unseen into sharp relief. But at what cost?

“C'est pourquoi je réfléchis.” The clever double meaning: Reflect light, reflect thoughts, reflect existence itself. Mirrors, they reveal, but only indirectly. There’s danger in that constant reflection. You can get lost in it, in the labyrinth of your own interpretations, mistaking the shimmering surface for the depths.

Alcest doesn’t give you answers. It doesn’t hold your hand. It hands you the mirror and asks, “What do you see?”

Je suis une image dans l'ombre un lieu vaguement ébloui (...) c'est pourquoi je réfléchis (...) tout ce qui passe tout ce qui change

Typewriter Lesson - Cornelius

collapse of meaning

Does Ni ever drown in its own depths? Oh, absolutely. Does Ni's ability to see patterns collapse under the weight of over-analysis? It does. If Ni is the all-seeing oracle of the psyche, then Typewriter Lesson is the moment the oracle stares so long into the abyss that it accidentally starts narrating the phone book. This track isn’t just music; it’s a chaotic exercise in over-interpretation.

Let’s get one thing straight: Typewriter Lesson isn’t “about” anything. And yet, that’s precisely why it feels so perfectly Ni. It’s a looping, rhythmic mechanism—clinical yet oddly hypnotic, a melody as sterile as it is strangely evocative. The problem is, Ni can’t leave it alone. It’s like a dog chasing its own tail, hearing the clacking keys and spinning them into grand metaphors: cycles of life! Patterns of communication! The machinery of the human mind!

But then you step back, and what’s left? A glorified typing exercise. Instructions, abbreviations, nonsense syllables. It’s like Cornelius handed you an IKEA manual and said, “Figure it out,” knowing full well you’d end up philosophizing about the meaning of furniture instead of actually assembling it.

And that’s the trap of Ni—this unbearable need to turn everything into a symbol, even when the thing itself is aggressively, stubbornly meaningless. If archetypes are Ni’s favorite playthings, then Typewriter Lesson is the moment it realizes it’s been playing with a piece of Ikea cardboard the whole time.

The beauty, of course, is in the collapse. The sheer absurdity of assigning meaning to something that refuses to hold it. Cornelius serves up a mirror here, reflecting back Ni’s own self-indulgence. You hear the keys, the repetitions, the structured chaos, and you think, Surely, this must mean something.

But does it? Really?

Staircase - Radiohead

tragically trapped

How much control does Ni really have over its webs of meaning? Is it weaving them out of choice, or is it compelled, trapped in a Sisyphean task of interpretation and reinterpretation? Staircase is about the Ni-dominated psyche staring into infinity, endlessly pulling threads, only to realize the whole thing is unraveling faster than it can be spun.

This song is a descent into chaos, into existential horror. Your mind is the delicate spider always spinning it's beautiful web. Non stop. Never-ending. The cyclical rhythm, the disjointed beats—they echo the way Ni perceives patterns in everything, yet never fully pins them down. Each step down this staircase only reveals more steps, more questions, more webs tangled into chaos.

But here’s the twist: if Ni assumes there’s a grand design, why doesn’t it ever reach the architect? Why the hesitation, the half-commitment? Because it, we, know there is no architect. This is also the saving grace; Ni is used to chaos. To nothingness. To provide the structure itself. See, this is my favorite, the collapse, or descent, is but an opportunity. Remember Little Finger?

Chaos is a lader

Radiohead’s layered production mirrors the Ni-user’s internal experience: dense, abstract, and vibrating with tension. The synths and fragmented percussion create a space where agency and inevitability blur. Is the staircase moving you, or are you moving the staircase? The song doesn’t answer—because Ni doesn’t answer. It just keeps spinning.

[bmtalbott]

“Existence is only real when it is conscious to somebody. That is why the Creator needs conscious man even though, from sheer unconsciousness, he would like to prevent him from becoming conscious.”

C. G. Jung, Psychology and Religion, CW 11, par. 575.

“The process of becoming conscious, requires both seeing and being seen, knowing and being known.”

“The pursuit of consciousness, then, does not allow one to rest in the attitude of being known and contained in God: the ego has a responsibility to the Self to be it’s knowing subject as well as it’s known object.”

- Edward F. Edinger, The Creation of Consciousness: Jung's Myth for Modern Man

“God makes us to know him, and his knowing is his being, and his making me know is the same as my knowing, so his knowing is mine: just as, in the master, what he teaches is the same as, in the pupil, the thing that he is taught. And because his knowing is mine, and his knowing is his substance, and his nature and his essence, it follows that his substance and his nature and his essence are mine. And his substance, his nature and his essence being mine, therefore I am the Son of God. Behold, brethern, what manner of love God hath bestowed upon us that we should be the Sons of God!”

- Meister Eckhart, ed. Pfeiffer, vol. 1, p. 31.

[sp6ghetti]

hello there, i come for your wisdom once again🙂‍↕️

I found 548 sx/sp very fitting for me at the moment. but i still cant beat my way around my MBTI/socionics. my Fi is a lot stronger than my Te. but im sure im a Ni dom in all systems. and im 90% sure Im on the Te-Fi axis. I would like to delve on the possibility of being an INFJ NiFi like you. so could you tell me what theories support this model, and how is it supposed to look like overall? i didnt find anything about it in socionics except for the subtypes which arent very elaborated. but i personally think that ILI-3Ni should equal NiFi. I'd like to hear your opinion!

You’d have to go more into Jung. Myers Briggs purely used Grant stacks, so adhering to her theory, IIEE/EEII stacks don't exist in mbti. The way I, like most people I've seen, understand Jung's theory in this specific regard is that the introversion or extraversion of the auxiliary function simply doesn't matter; it is just a support to the dominant function. You can also see this in the way Jungian types are formatted, which in this case would be IN(F), though people do often like adding the extraversion or introversion of their aux. Just because it isn't as important doesn’t mean it doesn't exist. I highly highly recommend reading Carl Jung’s Psychological Types for this because it's just a more direct source of information, but that's the gist of it according to my own understanding. As for how this model looks is fairly simple, you are essentially just switching the intro- and extraversion of the grant stack, so in the case of INFJ that would be Ni>Fi>Te>Se. 

In general I do believe the Jung type should match up with the socionics type, so in that aspect I would recommend looking at IEI. Though frankly this is something I've questioned before in the same regard, so I suggest critically comparing both types yourself. Adding subtypes here can either work out perfectly or have the opposite effect where you might try to justify typing as one type due to all the ‘but’-s on top (this goes either way). If ILI seems to work for you, that is absolutely perfect!

[internetdweller3]

I think a very bad issue within the typology community is how people shape themselves to adhere to their typology.

I recall a friend of mine who identified as an TiNe it(n) sp5 and they ensured the way they acted and responded to things were how a “typical e5 should respond”. It’s just kinda sad to see because people within the typology “community” will go against their natural human nature and response to comfort themselves that they’re the typology placements they are, if that makes ANY sense.

It should really be vice versa; you adjust your typology placements accordingly when you find that something doesn’t quite align with your behaviour, not you adjust your behaviour when you fine that it doesn’t align with your typology. But even then, one TiNe and another TiNe person are the same. It’s just really silly.

[phvle]

IN(F) — Introverted Intuition supported by Feeling

Continues to work instead of seeking treatment for failing health. Sometimes has phobias. Likes to go out, to dance, knows how to tell a stor. Experiences hypochondriac neuroses, claustrophobia. Before an important event experiences strong emotions, may lose appetite. he Is blind to his own hunger. He ponders what is the point of something, the meaning, symbolical nature. "What will this do for me?", he worries about what he can do to affect others, what are people thinking about, how society, the collective, perceives him, how his friends feel about him. He often smiles, has a cheerful nature, but it is usually fake, not so sincere. Neurotic, obsessive pedantic and egoist yet soft, friendly and welcoming. Expressive, he likes to maintain a comfortable emotional ambient, he focuses on making human relationships and Keeping everyone united. A hopeless romantic, prone to stalking crushes and compulsive overthinking They fall in love, they aren't loving, they are within limerence. "Teen love" - this is a good name for it. He idealizes everything, he doesn't has clear opinions, his beliefs are dictated by the collective: he either believes or gets skeptical about love, because he usually understands love only in a specific sense - the standard sense. When he thinks about emotions, he thinks about pop. mainstream. generalized emotions. Humanity for a long time idealized and represented love as romantic or erotic; so this type suffers from this: he easily believes in doing anything in the name of love, he would do anything for his loved ones, if he ever falls in love with someone, of course. Avoids showing his true feelings, he could be crying in one moment, and then in the other, he enters in a group, a collective, and he adapts to it, he stops crying and starts smiling, "acting". Very inclined to escapism, hallucinations, delusions and religion, ideology, existentialism and politics. He often relies on external sources, academics, he doesn't know how to explain things, so he needs to talk about his sources, he shows what people think, out of fear of being wrong. Anxious about being humiliated, he has a weak selt-esteem. The romantic dreamer likes to lay on a sofa with a book, or go to the countryside to spend time amidst nature. Many manifestations are inclined to cosplay, they like to live alternatives - finds ways to avoid boredom, uses old things and people in a new way and bringing the positive future into the present and past, staying light and hopeful in spite of anxieties. Struggles with videogames and orders: he is verv trial-and-error. He mav be cold. withdrawn. asocial. timid and extremely introverted; a gloomy figure with low confidence.

He hides his insecurities. runs into situations of trust and marriage. Intense connections. Fantasizes about people, delusional imagination of being accepted, praised. They find difficulty to express what they want, often times they do not realize what they wish in life; they ask people "how do you create interest?" because they lack actual desires and passions. Individualistic in some manner. Creates music, laments his own existence, prone to atheism, agnosticism. Diligent but unfocused, non-disciplined, often loses concentration, but he is always doing something - it could even be living in his dreams. He compares himself with other people, tends to be jealous, envious, yandere. Inclination towards mysticism and superstition, beliefs in prophetic dreams and omens. He is a person who is emotionally labile and uninhibited, does not control his own emotions, some manifestations of the type make fun of people and are sarcastic. Some versions, instead of comforting people with the warmth of his soul, begins to manipulate other people and act capricious and touchy. "Everything is wrong" and "things didn't turn out to be as desired". Many times expresses a desire to be hugged, to be protected and helped, he is weak and thinks of himself as someone "not prepared", he worries and worries. Some people of this type spend their time alone, don't have many friends (may not even have friends. He likes to dive himself in meditation. It is important to understand everything. Therefore, if you ask him about the difficult things sometimes, you can hear the answer that he understands them (only a very peculiar). It is important that everyone knew him as well. If understanding is impossible, that human self-esteem drops, so it does not like to admit that something is not understood. It is important to praise the consistency, likes to boast that he was up to something thought of himself. Often he loves to refer to some everyday stories, because nobody will not even think to check their authenticity, in general likes to refer to someone as a way to protect their reasoning. He is a person prone more to reflection than action. "If I understand correctly, then I am a good person". The fear of turning out to be incompetent greatly narrows down the areas in which the person dares to demonstrate or apply their knowledge. This type wants to solve his problems by collecting objective data. It is necessary to consult the experts, to obtain the data and results of studies, to receive objectively reliable new information. "Any unpleasant sensation or experience it's best to endure and wait over, than to seek how to improve one's state or move to another place that offers better conditions."

[windudemon]

how to manipulate 16 types by hitting their child function

EXTP: easier to manipulate. praise them. laugh at their jokes. make them think oh they are so fun to be around. but don't try to go deeper unless they want it. make them think you are REALLY having fun when you are with them.

IXTJ: medium level. make them feel oh so special and unique and intelligent and knowledgable. make them think you are genuinely INTRIGUED by them. "ooooh, i want to understand you because you are so mysterious" kinda thing too. ask them deep questions, listen with starry-eyes. make them think you are fascinated by them.

ENXJ: harder as it requires highest sensory effort. their tertiary function is se, so they want to see progress and quickly. so what you need to do is joining them in accomplishing those goals and creating that progress. even though enxjs seem like they are very capable people, they don't really like to do things hard way and grind and grind slowly (this would be isxx's most strong quality). enxjs start really impactfully with the child se but then their energy drops down if results are not satisfactory. so somebody they can trust with "consistent and strong and durable se" will be very valuable to them. impress them with your toughness and determination.

INXP: easiest, since si child. baby them up, pet them, call them good girl or good boy and later, puppy or mommy's best slave. gently caress them. ok this is too romantic and intimate right now. but basical principle applies. don't ever shock them with se, be really nice and gradual and soft while talking to them in an si way, be "really, really nice" to them, buy them ice cream, spend quality time with them. comfort them.

ISXP: hardest? (requires a lot of wisdom.) with the Ni child, these types often have wierd, not-fully-fleshed-out, obscure, out-there, unconventional, edgy ideas. so if you can understand what they mean they will instantly feel a connection with you. they will think you GET them unlike others.

IXFJ: similar logic applies here. Recognize their fragmented Ti insights and see the hidden potential in their logic. Since these types also have Fe auxiliary, affirm their EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE!!! ooooh yeah! this applies to all introverts, doesn't it? they seek acknowledgment for their inner refinement, while extraverts look for recognition for their impact or action (especially around their child and hero functions).

EXFP: these types have Te child. they're often the first to take initiative and jump in with a solution when everyone else is waiting around. they’re the first responders, offering the initial, somewhat reasonable solution. to manipulate them, encourage their proactive nature—tell them, "hell yeah, let’s do that!"—and make them feel smart while subtly fixing any gaps or incomplete aspects of their plan without letting them realize it.

ESXJ: finally, these are Ne childs and they want to believe they are creative, they can think out of the box, their ideas improve things etc. the same as above, go oh wow, especially when it comes to their on the spot what if kind of ideas. play along, even if that what if idea fails laugh off and say well that was a good try. like feynman or confucius or somebody once said, we didn't fail, we just found a way it shouldn’t be done.

[hammerheadmarc]

from Jung’s The Red Book

[fartgirl4000]

i keep on questioning if i’m actually an ENTP and not INTP

[hermitessun]

as a choleric-sanguine, do not put me in a room with another choleric sanguine because we will fight each other. actually

[randomfoggytiger]

Personality Typing: Bringing Up Baby

Happy early Birthday, @baronessblixen!

I wanted to whip you up a post that had a few of your interests all blended in one; and-- wouldn't you know?-- it has an INTP main lead, too!

Now, let's attempt to type these characters as they run amok with two leopards, a yappy dog, butterfly nets, leashes, and not one braincell shared amongst them.

MAIN CHARACTERS 

David Huxley- INTP 

“Now it isn’t that I don’t like you, Susan; because, after all, in moments of quiet I’m strangely drawn towards you. But… well, there haven’t been any quiet moments.” 

David Huxley is an INTP, which places him neatly as a Background Type and trips him right into the Intellectuals (xNTx) group. Background Communication Types are Informative (discuss a topic while providing all the possible information without taking a decisive stand on anything, allowing the other person to decide their own role in the mutual conversation), Responding (prefer to wait for the other person to initiate a conversation, then stay in the passive role while allowing the conversation to be guided by someone else), and Outcome (value the goal of the journey, carefully planning their steps to a specific endpoint and deliberately taking a measured pace to obtain the right result the first time.) 

David’s 8 cognitive functions dictate how his brain intakes information, processes it, and makes decisions. 

INTPs leads with Ti Hero, which is all about distilled logic, “if this then that”, facts, verification, criticism, and deductive filters: if it doesn’t make sense, it isn’t true (hence his near infuriated frustration with Susan Vance’s illogical nature and decisions.) 

Ne Parent balances the Hero function: it is constantly aware of others’ intentions and the end results of other people’s choices; and that instinct is always right (which is why David is always spot on with assessing how much trouble Susan will get into… and how much she gets him into.) Not only does Ne Parent allow them to become masters of “I told you so”, but it also makes them spot patterns of human behavior easily… and become easily bored with human nature's predictability (which is why he ends up falling for Susan, who he can’t predict and who keeps the thrills coming; because INTPs have a bit of the thrill seeker in them, and this one in particular found he really likes them.) 

Si Child is capable of incredible, unwavering steadfastness, conviction, endurance, discipline, and faith; and to “abuse” the child would be to imply an INTP is, somehow, disloyal-- which sends them into apathy mode, not caring if the accuser sticks around or leaves (hence why David isn’t too fussed about his fiancee leaving after she implied he was a philanderer.) 

Fe Inferior (the last of the four dominant functions) is easily guilted as it fears making other people feel badly; which, in turn, allows them to be easily maneuvered, exploited, and rug matted all in the name of being a good person (hence why David won’t walk away from Susan, despite all her messes-- because he is compelled to help her out of them.) If INTPs are accused of being uncaring, they shift into protective (and havoc-wrecking) Demon mode: their apathy kicks in, and that person becomes effectively dead to them (again, what happens with his fiancée, but also his “who cares what others think of me anymore” attitude by the end of the film.) 

Te Nemesis is in constant battle with the Hero function (serving as its “villain” to war with and become stronger for it): Te is all about outsourcing information or opinions to others around them; and it challenges (and thereby worries) the Ti’s logic to see if it’s “out of date.” If an INTP is wise, this will force them to outsource their current information, ridding themselves of stagnant or outdated facts (which is what David learns to do with Susan: constantly check in with her to see what new story or lie she has concocted so he isn’t caught off-guard.) 

Ni Critic is the cynical parent figure to the Parent function: it takes note of Ne Parent’s observations-- that no one is responsible with what they want-- and chooses not to want anything, which locks the INTP into a paralysis or inaction. This is why INTPs become so solitary or stuck in unproductive (and unhealthy) ruts, professionally and personally (as David does with his first relationship: wanting to marry a partner who railroaded him without apology), and are drawn to (and can fall back into) the familiarity of those cycles-- healthy or toxic-- for comfort’s sake (being drawn to Susan who overrides his concerns like Alice did… but at least Susan reflects and changes whereas Alice never did.) 

Se Trickster, the bane of an INTP’s existence: they have no physical awareness, whether that be how they come off to others, their comfort over aesthetics fashion sense, or the various potholes, ditches, sidewalks, cars, or other places they fall into or flat on. However, they are masters at remembering how to spot and avoid various Se Trickster traps when trained (ex. David never getting caught in the same kerfuffle twice, even though he gets roped into an entirely new faux pas via Susan’s next misadventure.) 

And lastly, Fi Demon pops up when INTPs have been hurt either by their Si Child (calling them disloyal or flaky… or a “butterfly”) or their Fe Inferior (that they aren't caring enough despite the shirt being guilted off their backs): full-on depraved debauchery-- anything that will self-soothe or make INTPs feel good is indulged and indulged and indulged, effectively causing willful self-destruction (David snapping in Susan’s white robe at her aunt and snarkily commenting in the jail cell are moments where his Fi Demon is starting to come out. They end rather quickly because new developments happen so fast that they shake the situation up-- and by proxy his annoyance or aggravation.)

Susan Vance- ESFP  

"Oh, David, if only I could make you understand-- you see, all that happened happened because I was trying to keep you near me and I just did anything that came into my head."

Susan Vance is an ESFP, flinging her in the Starter category and jamming her into the Artisans (xSxP) group. Starter Communication Types are Informative (communicates all possible information while discussing a topic without taking a decisive stand in the conversation), Initiating (seeking out others in social situations, starting conversations, and keeping others in the information loop), and Progression nee Movement (moving toward any result without a fixed destination, plan, or outcome because they fear inaction and stagnation more than optimizing for the best outcome.)    

Susan’s 8 cognitive functions help her intake, analyze, and process information so she can output them with decisions. 

Se Hero took me by surprise: normally, Se is completely in-tune with the physical world around them (its performance, finesse, observation, and physicality of a person’s body as well as the tangible realm around it.) However, Susan is such a klutz that I thought there was no way she as an ESFP-- but facts don’t lie, and the other assets of Se (short term memory, seeing what others are doing and wanting to participate or involve others in its activities) fit her to a T (not to mention, one of her last lines-- admitting her shenanigans aren't well thought-out because she wanted to keep David around-- clarifies why she is so out of tune with her Se Hero: desperation.)

Fi Parent is there to keep ESFPs responsible with their morality to behave socially or ethically. The problem is that this translates-- to an immature ESFP-- that they must have others think they are good people to feel good about themselves even if they truthfully aren't (which is why Susan collapses in tears when it finally dawns on her that David doesn’t really like her… which prompts his Fe Inferior to comfort her) rather than reflecting or putting any work into themselves to become a good person (although she changes this about herself by the end of the film.) 

Te Child is smart, very very smart, with an incredible field of knowledge (which explains how Susan knows so many odds and ends tricks, i.e. lockpicking, olive throwing, purse snatching, etc.); but is easily wounded by others’ assumptions that an ESFP isn’t smart or believable (which is why she is hurt by some of David's assumptions and also why she creates an elaborate alternate identity that the cops and psychologists would believe while in jail.) 

Ni Inferior is unconquerable in achieving anything they put their mind to… to a point, as ESFPs often hold themselves back from their plans because they fear it won’t work (i.e. Susan losing confidence in her madcap strategies the more the film dragged on, which led to her more active Ni Inferior in the climax and end of the film-- understanding how much trouble she gets David into and wishing to atone for her ways.) 

Si Nemesis worries that it lacks discipline, duty, and honor, which forces ESFPs to evaluate themselves constantly and fear that tomorrow might not be as good as today. To overcome this failure to decide anything, they must exercise maturity by fulfilling the obligations and commitments they’ve made that they can’t seem to, or are afraid to, finish (which is why Susan dragged David with her everywhere: because without him, she wouldn’t have done any of those things-- just floated around and worried.) 

Fe Critic is super selfish and hypocritical, wanting the best for themselves while thinking the other person hasn’t earned it; and ESFPs have to learn not to assume the worst in others because it reflects their own poor character back on themselves (i.e. Susan not meeting Alice but immediately wanting what she has-- David-- for herself; and then learning she doesn’t really "deserve" David, regardless.) 

Ti Trickster believes that there are no absolutes, that anything can be true or false, and overall can’t figure out how to logic a situation. If they learn to take the time to carefully evaluate and assess thoroughly before making a decision (taking in everything before acting first), ESFPs will then become master strategists, angling her solution different ways until everyone wants to take a bite (her first conversation with the constable, her conversations with Aunt Elizabeth and Major Applegate, and her big charade with the police in jail.) 

Ne Demon is activated when they are given no freedom of choice, causing them to strip everyone else of that freedom, too (ex. Aunt Elizabeth holds a million dollars over her head, so Susan holds that million and a leopard and a bone and the dog over David’s; and later, Susan also holds a faux fess-up in-exchange for her freedom over the police's heads.)

MINOR CHARACTERS

Alice Swallow- ESTJ 

"Stop it! Really, David, there's a time and place for everything."

Alice Swallow (David Huxley’s overbearing fiancée) is an ESTJ, setting her into the Structure category and slotting her in the Guardians (xSxJ) group. Structure Communication Types are Direct (communicate in clear, specific, and concise language so that there is no doubt behind their intent), Initiating (take an active role in conversation or social situations, seeking others out to keep them informed or “in the loop” ), and Outcome (value the carefully planned, focused, and deliberate steps to achieve the right end goal the first time.)  

Her 8 cognitive functions dictate how Alice’s brain intakes, processes, and outputs information to analyze and make decisions.  

Te Hero: metrics, achievements, reputation, societal standards, labels, beliefs, and rules (which is why Alice immediately squashes David’s physical affection while both are in front of a superior, stating “There’s a time and place for everything. What will Professor think?”) 

Si Parent gives ESTJs a drive to experience everything once, but tempers it with vast amounts of self-discipline and duty (i.e. Alice getting married but insisting she and David come right back to the museum, curtailing both their present and future for “his work”) and responsible, tested-and-tried loyalty (which is why she immediately breaks off her engagement after learning about David’s “disloyalty.”) 

Ne Child dabbles in metaphysics, seeing all possibilities and somehow making anything come true by pulling a few strings (hooking David up with an interview to get a donation of a million dollars, for instance.) 

Fi Inferior is afraid they lack the principles to be moral enough; but if they seek meaning and prove their worth, there is no one who can invest more into values or people (declaring "Oh, David, what did you do?!" can be a sign of Fi Inferior; because if David messes everything up, then Alice has cosigned her reputation to his foolery.)

Ti Nemesis is the reverse of David Huxley’s process: Te Hero’s aggregated knowledge is constantly picked at by the nagging voice of “that doesn’t make sense”, causing them to verify the accuracy of their collected beliefs (which is what Alice does not do at the end of the film.) 

Se Critic creates elitist hypocriticism in ESTJs: appearance, to them, represents intelligence; and they heavily criticize others that are a bit off or have a hair out of place (reproving her fiancé for his slang) while not noticing their own inappropriate apparel or behavior (talking down to David next to both their superior.) 

Ni Trickster tricks ESTJs into thinking they know what they want when they don’t-- never let them make big decisions alone, let alone mutual ones (hence why her plans for their future are so unattainable and wouldn’t have lasted long for either Alice or David.)  

And lastly, Fe Demon ruptures if ESTJs are accused of being unfeeling or uncaring: they are very loving and caring but express it differently. If they aren’t given their dues, they strip away their care and vindictively take away that other person’s ability to receive care from others, usually by offering them love on a platter… which turns out to be poisoned (ex. Alice getting fed up with her fiancé’s actions and “lovingly” or "calmly" or "peacefully" giving him sole blame in the end.) 

Alexander Peabody- ESTP 

"Dr. Huxley, when I play golf I only talk golf. And then only between shots."

Alexander Peabody is an ESTP, putting him in the Structure category and placing him in the Artisans (xSxP) group. Structure Communication Types are Direct (communicate in clear, specific, and concise language so that there is no doubt behind their intent), Initiating (take an active role in conversation or social situations, seeking others out to keep them informed or “in the loop” ), and Outcome (value the carefully planned, focused, and deliberate steps to achieve the right end goal the first time.) 

His 8 cognitive functions dictate how Alexander’s brain perceives and outputs information. 

Se Hero is an observer and master of the physical environment as well as the people in it, as effortlessly good at directing others (David Huxley, the constable, and psychiatrist) as well as his golf balls.

Ti Parent is skeptical over what others state is true or false, requiring tangible proof before they make final judgements or decisions (which is why he came to the jail before stating definitively his client wasn’t there.) 

Fe Child is very loving and giving, willing to hand out prizes and favors to anyone close by (or a million dollars and a dinner to talk it over to David); however, ESTPs are deeply wounded if someone takes the unfiltered truth (and sometimes harsh truth) of their Ti Parent and uses it to label them as uncaring, unfeeling, or even malevolent.  

Ni Inferior makes ESTPs (and ESFPs like Susan Vance) afraid of making the wrong decision, tying them up in indecision (hence why he wants a second conversation with David Huxley to absolutely know for sure before making a final decision.) 

Si Nemesis fears that they are not dutiful enough to carry out the demands of whatever the future holds, again contributing to their indecisive nature (i.e. previous example.) 

Te Critic assumes everyone else is stupid, including massive societal structures, sources, or even religions; and ESTPs must individually test every single thing they’re told, lighting the falsehoods on fire and clutching the tried-and-true to themselves forever (again, dropping into the jail personally with promise of swift punishment if proven correct.) 

Fi Trickster believes anything can be good or bad, leading them to have (basically) no moral principles and to do what they believe is good or bad for them (ex. being hurt that “David” impolitely throws a rock at his head instead of being affrighted that “David” is scrounging around in his yard late at night.) 

And Ne Demon (like Susan Vance the ESFP) will destroy everyone else’s freedom of choice if they aren’t given it (hinging the donation of a million dollars on his terms-- golfing and dinner-- and seriously thinking of revoking it when David Huxley skips out both times.)

Dr. Lehman- ISTJ

"I have no doubt you will find you made a very important haul."

Dr. Lehman is an ISTJ, stamping him in the Finisher category and check marking his status in the Guardians (xSxJ) group. Finisher Communication Types are Direct (communicating clearly in concise language leaving no doubt as to their intent), Responding (letting the other person initiate and guide a conversation, or waiting for others to keep them “in the loop”), and Progression nee Movement (always progressing forward without a specific goal in mind-- movement is better than stagnation, the journey is more enjoyable than the endpoint.) 

The 8 cognitive functions of Dr. Lehman’s Type help him perceive, process, and output information. 

Si Hero is defined by duty: loyalty, endurance, faith, effort, steadfastness, habit, and sharing; and an immature ISTJ is more willing to boast about what it can endure rather than be humble in what it has endured. ISTJs crave loyalty; and will discipline themselves to give the best “experiences” (how they come across to others) to earn that loyalty, striving to be "above reproach."  

Te Parent is all about names and titles-- metrics, rules, labels, reputation-- desiring those accolades for itself (and thinking it’s earned a VIP status with all the hard work ISTJs put in to polish themselves.) It also seeks a proper routine, system, or algorithm to quickly find, evaluate, and streamline beliefs or reference points. They rely heavily on this framework, using it to figure out why people behave irrationally (hence why he immediately diagnoses David Huxley one nothing more than a simple, one-sided question from Susan Vance.) 

Fi Child has miraculous sympathy, but is often ignored by other people because of an ISTJ’s “soulless” pursuit of trying to understand life with their metrics and tried-and-true rules (i.e. when he distances himself from his and the constable’s mistakes after Mr. Peabody insinuates what terrible people those mistakes would make them-- and it also affected his Si Hero's "above board" reputation.)

Ne Inferior is afraid of the “what ifs” and metaphysics and intangibles of life; but once they use common sense to walk themselves through every possibility, ISTJs no longer fear or catastrophize their future (ex. Dr. Lehman almost losing his cool over the purse mix-up.) 

Se Nemesis feeds into their Si Hero: ISTJs worry they are giving others a bad Se experience, which would smack them right in the face of their Si; so, they work overtime to check and check and check this blind spot constantly (for instance, whenever Dr. Lehman corrects his posture or monocle or carefully seats his wife at the table.) 

Ti Critic assumes ISTJs are the smartest people in the room; and believes the other person is guilty because they perceived that person as guilty (assuming and affirming Susan Vance is insane because he misinterprets her actions, for example.) ISTJs must be made to verify these beliefs, comparing their initial impressions with actual facts. 

Fe Trickster gives ISTJs zero social awareness-- hence why they come off as robotic or disconnected to some people-- and blinds them to the fact that others do not share the same values or goals that they do. Those others can then read an ISTJ's disinterest in the subjectives of societal or social norms as terrible or heartless behavior, which kicks an ISTJ’s Fi Child in the ribs and sets off their demon function. 

Ni Demon becomes a high-chair tyrant if an ISTJ’s needs aren’t met: catapulted by the fear of others’ intent (Ne Inferior) and further goaded by someone accusing their Fi Child, ISTJs will launch into a self-indulgent focus on only themselves and their needs, seeing that their detractors have abused their Si Hero’s willingness to honor the Te Parent rules (and is why Dr. Lehman leaves the constable to bear the brunt of the mistake alone: Lehman thinks he did everything right and the constable did everything wrong-- especially after observing said constable's lack of interrogation techniques; and doesn't think he deserves any blame for the series of misadventures that unfolded.)

Mrs. Lehman- ISTP?

"Frederick, where is my purse?"

Mrs. Lehman is just a guess, but I'll put her down as an ISTP, sliding into the Finisher category and settling into the Artisans (xSxP) group. Finisher Communication Types are Direct (clear, concise, precise communication leaving no room for misinterpretation), Responding (preferring that the other person to initiate and guide a conversation), and Progression nee Movement (forward movement and a wonky end product is better than some of the stagnation that comes with measured planning for the perfect end goal.) 

Mrs. Lehman’s 8 cognitive functions help her intake and output information and make quick, actionable decisions (and is a near perfect match to her husband’s ISTJ Type.) 

Ti Hero is identical to David Huxley’s Ti Hero; but their differences become very pronounced with her Se Parent, which is a very physical, actionable, “fix things with my own bare hands” function (i.e. grabbing at her purse from David’s hands before bossing her husband to fix the problem… the implication being “before I do.”) 

Se Parent is also responsible with its physical and mechanical prowess, using it to get others out of destructive comfort zones and to team up with their Ti Hero to become excellent hands-on teachers.

Ni Child is the equivalent of literal, definable “lady luck”-- somehow surviving impossible scenarios with very little injuries or long term consequences (in Mrs. Lehman’s case, getting her purse and diamond broach back intact because it wasn't even stolen.) 

ISTPs share Fe Inferior and Te Nemesis with INTPs (David Huxley)-- fear of making others feel bad and worrying if others are factually correct respectively-- but differ with Si Critic: they have a hard time committing to anything or anyone, yet expect others to commit to them. Once ISTPs develop self-discipline, they then also have to admit that they have the memory of a goldfish while erroneously thinking that they, an elephant, never forget. 

Ne Trickster thinks that something isn’t real until they can touch it or see it, which leaves them weak to others’ intentions and open to covert or subtle attacks; and when the bus hits, they scramble to figure out what happened. 

And lastly, Fi Demon self-soothes via the INTP method: depraved debauchery all the way down.

Aunt Elizabeth- ENTJ

"Heh. Susan, imagine giving a dinner party with your husband stalking like Hamlet's ghost all through the meal."

Aunt Elizabeth Random is an ENTJ, zipping her into the Structure category and firmly squeezing her into the Intellectuals (xNTx) group. Structure Communication Types are Direct (communicate in clear, specific, and concise language so that there is no doubt behind their intent), Initiating (take an active role in conversation or social situations, seeking others out to keep them informed or “in the loop”), and Outcome (value the carefully planned, focused, and deliberate steps to achieve the right end goal the first time.)

Aunt Elizabeth uses 8 cognitive functions to make decisions, perceive the world around her, and process new and startling information. 

Te Hero is focused on the beliefs-- what the collective believes to be true having greater weight than what the meager dissenters prove to be true-- as well as the rules, the metrics, the systems, and the titles of the world around them. They work hard to earn and wear their accolades with pride (ex. Aunt Elizabeth expecting others to respect her requests or demands because of her family name), rising up any successful ladder with diligence, speed, and focus.

Ni Parent wants everything responsibly, letting themselves give in to very little of their temptations-- and only then because of their Se Child. 

Se Child is the epitome of a kid at a birthday party, spoiling themselves and others with quality excess and delighting in both receiving and giving (or, in Aunt Elizabeth’s case, having her nephew ship a leopard so she can keep it as her extravagant pet.) 

ENTJs share Fi Inferior and Ti Nemesis with ESTJs (Alice Swallow)-- afraid they aren’t moral enough and worried they aren’t intelligent enough respectively-- but their Ne Critic separates the path again: ENTJs feel abandonment more than any other Type, and constantly assume others will betray them constantly. This leads them to loyalty check those closest to them constantly (ex. Aunt Elizabeth calling her own niece crazy and second-guessing if she should give her a million dollars.) 

Se Trickster forgets EVERYTHING; and they need constant reminders or notes to refresh their recollection. As a result, their brain latches onto only the most important information… which are their worst memories because of the self-preservation paranoia of the Ne Critic (and causes Aunt Elizabeth to remember most clearly the things that annoy her presently or hurt her in the past.) 

Lastly, Fe Demon ruins everyone else’s opportunities to feel loved or connected if an ENTJ’s Se Child is accused of being unloving or uncaring (which Aunt Elizabeth never had an opportunity to exercise.) 

Major Applegate - ENFJ

"Gentle as a kitten? Well, I don't know you why didn't mention that before--"

Major Applegate is an ENFJ, hopping him into the Structure category and pinning him soundly in the Idealists (xNFx) group. Structure Communication Types are Direct (naturally communicated clearly, concisely, and precisely so that nothing is misconstrued from their intent), Initiating (chooses an active role in social situations, seeking others out to keep them “in the loop”), and Outcome (deliberately plan their steps to reach a perfect end point or achievement.)

Major Applegate uses his 8 cognitive functions to perceive, inform, judge, and process the world and information around him. 

Fe Hero is tied directly to inclusivity, acceptance, collective ethics, support, and bonds, striving to outreach and care for those around them (ex. Major Applegate trying to help Susan with the correct time, teaching Aunt Elizabeth a leopard’s call, trying to help David and Susan catch the wrong leopard, and correcting Aunt Elizabeth’s error about her niece not being in jail.) 

ENFJs share their Ni Parent and Se Child with ENTJs-- responsible with their wants and extravagant with their sharing-- but their Ti Inferior is their own: ENFJs are afraid they are unintelligent or incorrect, often being portrayed as the stereotypical dumb blonde. In reality, they are quite smart but largely held back by the implication or accusation of being stupid (i.e. Major Applegate stumbling over his words in the police station when the constable and his men start to look at him funny.) 

Fi Nemesis is worried about their own moral self worth, overcoming their doubts by doing good and helping other humans (for instance, “saving” Aunt Elizabeth from the leopard and teaming up with Gogarty to hunt it down.) 

ENFJs also share Ne Critic (assuming others will betray them) and Si Trickster (forgetting everything but the worst moments) with ENTJs; but separate once more with the Demon function. 

Te Demon destroys the voice of others when no one will listen to them, especially if their Inferior has been trampled consistently and labelled as "worthless." They then squash and trample and make themselves be heard; and if they still aren’t, ENFJs rip the structure out from underneath everyone and let them fall to their destruction (Major Applegate never got that far, but the equivalent would be to not correct Aunt Elizabeth’s assumption and let everyone stay in jail and out of his hair.)

Aloysius Gogarty- INFP

Aloysius Gogarty is an INFP, setting him into the Background category and startling him into the Idealists (xNFx) group.  Background Communication Types are Informative (discuss a topic while providing all the possible information without taking a decisive stand on anything, allowing the other person to decide their own role in the mutual conversation), Responding (wait for the other person to initiate a conversation, then stay in the passive role while allowing the conversation to be guided by someone else), and Outcome (value the goal more than the journey, carefully planning their specific endpoint and taking deliberate steps to obtain the right result the first time.) 

Aloysius uses 8 cognitive functions to perceive, make, and output impressions into decisions. 

Fi Hero is concerned about one’s own personal morals: their principles, their investment, their worth, and their mood. INFPs mature from their initial pride about what they value (ex. Gogarty complaining about the double standards of the house’s raucous meal and his own expected behavior) to tempered humility about said moral values. 

INFPs share Ne Parent (ability to “predict” the outcome and consequences of everyone’s decisions) and Si Child (deeply wounded if they are accused of being disloyal) with INTPs (David Huxley); but differ with their Inferior function. 

Te Inferior is a collector of others’ knowledge and opinions, becoming unrivaled in its scope of information (if it chooses.) However, INFPs are afraid of what others think of them-- their reputation is everything to them; and they need others to think well of them even if those things might not be true (ex. Gogarty lying about petting the leopard to Major Applegate and immediately starting a fight with the police when he is accused of stealing Dr. Lehman’s car.) 

Fe Nemesis worries that it is selfish (because Fi Hero puts its needs above others’); and it moves mature INFPs to empathetically care for and serve others to fight that concern, either personally with their loved ones or publicly with volunteer work (for instance, Gogarty teaming up with Major Applegate’s natural inclination to protect everyone from the leopard.) 

Again, INFPs share Ni Critic (avoiding risk with inaction) and Se Trickster (unaware of their surroundings and others' impressions of them) with INTPs; but they, again, separate at the Demon function. 

Ti Demon rips its way out of their peaceable chest if no one thinks highly of them (Te Inferior) or listens to their input (Ne Parent), or if anyone casts aspersions on their loyalty (Si Child): INFPs will make sure no one else’s opinion matters, either, by building a trap for their tormentors with the truth. They then stand aside casually as their enemies fall into it one by one (Mr. Gogarty was never pushed this far; but there is an inkling of Ti Demon: cheerfully acknowledging his connection to Susan Vance after the police locked him up, expecting them to get in big, big trouble at the mention of her name.)

Constable Slocum- ISFP

"Young lady, it might interest you to know that you're under arrest."

Constable Slocum is an ISFP, fumbling him into the Background category and dumping him in the Artisans (xSxP) group. Background Communication Types are Informative (provides all the possible information about a topic without taking a decisive stand on it), Responding (prefers the more passive role in conversation or social situations), and Outcome (walks a measured pace so they can carefully plan the perfect plan for their perfect end point.) 

Constable Slocum uses his 8 cognitive functions to perceive and process the world around him. 

ISFPs share Fi Hero with INFPs (Aloysius Gogarty), concerned more with their own personal “good or bad” morals over “true or false” ethics. 

ISFPs also share Se Parent (responsible mastery of the physical environment) and Ni Child (“lady luck” and feeling trapped if they are not given the freedom to make their own choices) with ISTPs (Mrs. Lehman.) 

Again, they share Te Inferior (afraid for their reputation) and Fe Nemesis (worry that they are selfish) with INFPs. 

And, again, they share Si Critic (expect commitment while being unwilling to commit) and Ne Trickster (unaware of others’ machinations) with ISTPs. 

Even though ISFPs share their 8th function with INFPs, they have a different, more personalized “mode.” Ti Demon will let their enemies’ fall by the truth if they aren’t listened to, but while INFPs make the ultimate trap to passively snare their enemies, ISFPs will make the ultimate weapon to hands-on obliterate them (which is why Constable Slocum keeps threatening even more disastrous, personalized punishments the more his prisoners annoy him.)

Thank you for reading~

And, again, Happy (soon to be) Birthday, Anika! :DDD

Disclaimers: This is a self-assessed analysis. This information is not based on the abominable MBTI system (which has been butchered from its original Jungian typology since ~WWII); instead, it’s a combination between the works of Jung’s type psychology, Dr. Linda Berens’ Communication styles, Dr. Dario Nardi’s EEG complied research with brain scans, and others’ data and practices as compiled and simplified by CSJoseph. This system is based only on the Nature side of Nature/Nurture; and each “type” is not a “box” to fit everyone into– simply a tool to help understand the basics of the human mind that science has only begun to fathom in its limited scope.

**Note**: I am definitely not an expert, so these assessments are subject to change with corrections or scrutiny.

[rambling-persona]

It always is fascinating to hear what others' perspectives are on various typing systems. I have tendency to get stuck or just have a very black and black "it's this or wrong" mentally, so I love it when I get hit over the head with hammer basically, be it directly/intentionally or not.

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In another time… Hope you aren’t lying—