best fit type

[ashlesha]

well type isn't going to perfectly capture you as a human being, so you look for the type that is the "best fit." but what if your type fits too small and its really uncomfortable and cloying? you can:

1. look into other types that might fit better.

2. readjust your conception of yourself to fit the type.

3. readjust your conception of the type to fit yourself. but what if you don't understand yourself very well? then you don't understand types very well.

4. walk around constantly pulling at the collar and unbuttoning the pants of your type so you can breathe better, constantly feeling wrong.

5. just blow off the entire type thing altogether.

i've already tried all of these except for 2, which I refuse to do. granted, 1 and 5 were kind of half-assed attempts. i think 3 is the crux of my problem.

thoughts?

[Beautiful sky]

You shouldn't be made to fit a type. A type fits you. Everyone has a hard time seeing their Base function. Other functions about themselves is much easier, especially our creative, because that's the function we help others with by telling them what they should do. I tell my sister what ideas work and what possibilities I see unfold in situations and I even give lots of examples. Everyone except for myself saw my Fi, which was that I'm a calm, serene person, who loves to help others and contribute to healthy and stable relationships. I couldn't see that much about myself until I observed my actions and noticed how much i love human beings and humanity.

[stray]

5 is the only option if it comes down to it. My attempts at 5 are half-assed as well though. I could do it if I was more occupied. I just got Netflix, so I'm just watching things and reading some websites at the same time. Good times.

[ashlesha]

5 is the only option if it comes down to it. My attempts at 5 are half-assed as well though. I could do it if I was more occupied. I just got Netflix, so I'm just watching things and reading some websites at the same time. Good times.

omg i just got netflix too and i've had hopes it would provide a distraction from this, but not much luck so far. i watched sister act last night lol.

[Jarno]

use a different selftyping method.

everybody here is often too much focussed on IM elements.

Just use 4 dichotomies, and see them as groups of people instead of characteristics of yourself. For example if you think sometimes I'm an introvert sometimes I'm an extravert then you're using the wrong method. With the right method you rather say I'm part of the introvert group or part of the extravert group.

Many people find their type in 5 minutes, it's not that hard.

[stray]

omg i just got netflix too and i've had hopes it would provide a distraction from this, but not much luck so far. i watched sister act last night lol.

Time for Sister Act 2.


I don't know why you or I couldn't be EII-Ne btw. So you're not Betty Crocker. That's a good thing (shit... doesn't Martha Stewart always say that? Maybe I am Delta).

[cracka]

For you Netflix newbies... Check out the documentary called "The Parking Lot Movie" in the instant view titles... it's a pretty neat flick about guys that work at a parking lot... I figure some of the socionics crowd may like it.

[d1ffe7]

3. readjust your conception of the type to fit yourself. but what if you don't understand yourself very well? then you don't understand types very well.

yep!

HMM. socionics has invaded my mind, but still doesn't explain it.

I don't know who I am, what my personality looks like. I feel like my youth is a problem as well.

[Creepy-male]

3a. Expand what is a limited system until you can adequately explain why you're the type you are and why quirks and personal traits don't mean diddly for contradicting it.

My name's Gul and I'm a Creative SEI.

I think I settled on 4. though. Socionics is meant to be applied loosely. The types don't exist. The only thing that must be rigidly observed is the concept of intertypes. Everything else can be thrown about fairly loosely.

[Nexus]

instead of best fit types you could go for a one-type-fits-all

for instance, everyone has a little LSI in them (except for IEEs, who like to project static internals on others and so are the embodiment of denial)

problem solved

[Jarno]

In any literal sense, my type amounts to… what?

I see what you mean.

It's like a sort of tool or addition that you posess.

Like if you have big hands and strong muscles you can more easely become a construction worker.

[Exodus]

well type isn't going to perfectly capture you as a human being, so you look for the type that is the "best fit." but what if your type fits too small and its really uncomfortable and cloying? you can:

1. look into other types that might fit better.

2. readjust your conception of yourself to fit the type.

3. readjust your conception of the type to fit yourself. but what if you don't understand yourself very well? then you don't understand types very well.

4. walk around constantly pulling at the collar and unbuttoning the pants of your type so you can breathe better, constantly feeling wrong.

5. just blow off the entire type thing altogether.

i've already tried all of these except for 2, which I refuse to do. granted, 1 and 5 were kind of half-assed attempts. i think 3 is the crux of my problem.

thoughts?

laghlagh, if a type doesn't fit you, either A) you should abandon it or B) your conception of that type is too narrow. Thus, #3 is the most correct. Look for the most essential aspects and what your underlying motivation in life is (which primarily corresponds to the leading function). You are smart, so I think you will be able to figure it out. But Jarno is ignoring the fact that not everyone is really good at self-analysis.

P.S. you have more than a few funny bits of imagery in your post.

[limNol]

well type isn't going to perfectly capture you as a human being, so you look for the type that is the "best fit." but what if your type fits too small and its really uncomfortable and cloying? you can:

1. look into other types that might fit better.

2. readjust your conception of yourself to fit the type.

3. readjust your conception of the type to fit yourself. but what if you don't understand yourself very well? then you don't understand types very well.

4. walk around constantly pulling at the collar and unbuttoning the pants of your type so you can breathe better, constantly feeling wrong.

5. just blow off the entire type thing altogether.

i've already tried all of these except for 2, which I refuse to do. granted, 1 and 5 were kind of half-assed attempts. i think 3 is the crux of my problem.

thoughts?

You can't really capture the essence of someone as a human being. People don't make sense. Or at least, we aren't really smart enough to understand the logic behind how we function -- the fact that we turn to systems like socionics is proof of that. Socionics helps us see general patterns in our behavior and thoughts, but it's important to remember that these patterns emerge from a backdrop of constant contradiction.

No matter how well we understand ourselves, we'll probably always feel like there's some aspect of us that eludes our analysis. We're self-questioning by nature; if we weren't, we'd be dead. So we just gotta accept that we will never be 100% 'satisfied' with our sociotype, even if we're typed correctly and understand socionics.

We have motivations and thought patterns that run deeper than our sociotypes. Socionics is useful for understanding some aspects of ourselves, but to get the most out of it you have to remember not to demand too much from it.

[ashlesha]

But it isn't anything personal, or at least it shouldn't be. It's just a type. Some structural differences in the brain you happened to be born with. Little different IMO than other impersonal objectifiable traits people can be assorted by—along the same lines as saying I'm 6'1", caucasian, have brown eyes, American nationality, and ENTj sociotype.

Obviously traits like these do decisively influence our life experience; if I were an awesome basketball player my height likely wouldn't have been enough to go pro, and the fact that I was born here predisposed me to a vastly different upbringing relative to some place like Bhutan.

None of these traits are personal though—at best they're demographic stats (of course some do personalize such things and attach subjective weight to race, nationality… and sociotype ). But in any momentary departure into existentialist questions of 'self-identity', neither my type nor any of those other traits ever registers upon my mind; I'm me, it doesn't need qualification.

In any literal sense, my type amounts to… what? Some parameters that regulate fluctuations of some brainwave patterns going off inside my skull. Well, that doesn't sound terribly impressive. But is interesting in and of itself, and given that you have to play the hand you're dealt in life, I figure it's a good idea to have some working knowledge about it. My type isn't me, but it is a set of conditions influencing how I operate. Part of the means I have to work with, but ultimately doesn't determine me nor my ends chosen.

this is pretty much what i wanted to hear. but unfortunately still kind of unsatisfying because i can't find the lines and its so messy for me. i can't make myself believe what you said as much as my mind does. partly because i have a really hard time seeing how type isn't "personal" when it affects things that are so close to us, like how we see the world and what kind of people we get close to. i know that i exist separate from and in much more color than a type, but not being able to draw those lines has got me expecting too much from this, which has put me in a state right now where i just feel like rejecting the whole thing because i'm frustrated. not because i don't "believe" in type or whatever, but because maybe i'm just not in a space right now where it's good for me or something. and if it's not good for me at this point in time, then can i turn off what i already see? not really. blah. i do realize conceptually that there's a difference between myself and my type, so it's not really a matter of conceptual understanding so much as...sfdblah. and tbh i feel like i'm smarter than this and i keep waiting to just snap out of it but it hasn't happened yet. maybe it still will.

P.S. you have more than a few funny bits of imagery in your post.

hah, i hadn't noticed, that's interesting.

People don't make sense. Or at least, we aren't really smart enough to understand the logic behind how we function -- the fact that we turn to systems like socionics is proof of that. Socionics helps us see general patterns in our behavior and thoughts, but it's important to remember that these patterns emerge from a backdrop of constant contradiction.

No matter how well we understand ourselves, we'll probably always feel like there's some aspect of us that eludes our analysis. We're self-questioning by nature; if we weren't, we'd be dead. So we just gotta accept that we will never be 100% 'satisfied' with our sociotype, even if we're typed correctly and understand socionics.

We have motivations and thought patterns that run deeper than our sociotypes. Socionics is useful for understanding some aspects of ourselves, but to get the most out of it you have to remember not to demand too much from it.

yesyesyesyesyesyesyes, thanks.

honestly i wonder how much of this is just from taking other peoples' ideas about types too much into account to the point where i'm wondering why i'm not fitting into the conceptions that other people have. and that's obviously never going to happen. at least i'm becoming more and more certain about being a nine. and that goes back to the whole thing about different perceptions and how i could conceivably be EII according to my own perception and SLI according to someone elses' perception even though i'm still the same person doing and saying the same things. which is like to me.