ESI: The Case for UDP
This can also be found here, on my userlist.
Finally, after so much observation, I've been able to place UDP in the Gamma niche. There are a lot of minor details which contribute to UDP's being an ESI, but those will be dealt with after the major factors have been considered. Firstly, why is UDP part of a Se/Ni valuing quadra as opposed to a Ne/Si one? Well, for two reasons. One, there is his consistent interest in Ni-related symbolism (often he'll have something like a Chinese character or a spiritual figure as his avatar) and a spiritualistic idealism which arises out of his valuing Ni. Although many would consider this to be more of a Beta ST fascination as opposed to a Gamma SF one, I personally don't feel it's limited to Beta, and in any case, I doubt UDP is Beta, as I'll explain in further detail. Deltas are uninterested in spiritual enlightenment in the way UDP is (certainly none of the Deltas on the forum has demonstrated such an avid interest as he). I, as a Ni/Se valuer, can sympathise with his fixation on this kind of lifestyle (a few years ago, I was fanatical about Eastern spiritualism), and I expect many other Betas and Gammas on the forum a) will also sympathise and b) will understand completely where UDP is coming from. Most of the Deltas, however, will most likely not feel any kind of affinity with his perspective. Two, UDP has this Se edge about him, one that I can only personally vouch for intuitively; something which I recognise just from the way he acts. He has a rigidity above and beyond the LSE, and, moreover, a Ne/Si valuing quadra; there's a grounded steadiness to UDP, but one which is readily combative. He has no problem expressing why he has an issue with someone or something someone has done or said, which would suggest that he is willing to accept the consequences of his own words.
The second question, arguably more important than the first, is why he is Fi base and not, say, Te base. The answer is threefold. Firstly, there is this moralistic drive in UDP, contrary to whatever he might say about any "morals". I'm making no claims about said system, and what he values morally and what he does not value, nor am I attempting to assign any specific moral code to his own agenda. What I am arguing for is that UDP displays complete support for what he would (and does) deem to be morally righteous. For a start, there is his affinity with Minde, which he would argue is duality. In actual fact, what UDP is appealing to is not her Fi to aid his own efforts in a Fi dual seeking way; rather, he is identifying with that in which he is competent and that in which he is glad to see that Minde is competent also. UDP himself willingly expresses moralistic sentiments about any given person's behaviour, without the help of any Fi ego individual. Secondly, there is UDP's consistently demonstrated focus of his personal sentiments regarding individuals. For example, in one post in a thread I had created specifically to agitate this trait, he explained that I was annoyed (conveyed in a retaliative post to his initial post on the thread) that he didn't like my joke, while he found everyone else's funny. Most of the threads he starts are either about his trying to convey that he is competent in Te (more about that later) or, moreover, about how he feels about individuals both on and off the forum (refer to his posts about dinner with IEIs, or about the people in his life that he enjoys spending time with etc.), which indicate strongly that he has more of a focus on Te than he does on Fi (nonetheless, he evidently does express that he values Te), and thus more skill in Fi than in Te. Thirdly, his supervision of me is overwhelming. He persistently regards what I say and do as either being deliberately provocative, or as having a negative impact on himself or on others. He implicitly demonstrates his disappointment that he can't relate to either what I or what other Fe valuing individuals say or do. This only causes me to react aggressively towards him in effort to wind him up further, which merely escalates the situation and lowers his opinion of me.
There are a few other, more minor arguments than the two main ones outlined above. UDP asks a lot of questions, and a great many more than any of the other Te ego types on the forum have done so. Such conduct is related to an individual who desires information which comes primarily from Te; that is, he craves Te. UDP is unable to evaluate "what is going on" as such; the logic of the situation, if you like, which Te egos are perfectly capable of doing, and which Te base types in particular should be very adept at doing (UDP, however, is not). Another point worth taking into consideration is his temperament. I've seen him on cam, and I've heard him speak, and he is not EJ temperament. I've had experience of EJs throughout my life as well as on the forum, and UDP displays this groundedness I mentioned before which the EJ lacks. There's a seriousness about him I can only attribute to IJ; in fact, I've never known anyone to take himself so seriously. UDP internalises rather than expresses. He doesn't hand out information like a Te ego type does; rather, you get the feeling that he always takes into consideration everything that you're saying, in a kind of "I may use this later" Se way. What I was referring to about his attempts to convey Te in his posts are actually a very good example of a Te dual seeking individual. It's as if he's looked at a description of Te, seen that they use algorithms to achieve their goals, and posted an algorithm for washing one's hair correctly. Not only is this slightly embarrassing (as it makes people think "no, UDP, that is not what Te is about) - whatever his intentions, even if they're not the ones I just outlined - but it's actually very revealing. It shows that he has a clear desire for the kind of algorithmic behaviour associated with Te types.
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Originally Posted by Ezra
), which were overall rather atypical amongst the other Alpha threads in the sub-forum.
