Reposting from another thread:

by K4M:

VI plus common sense is the best method and the most objective for typing real life characters and learning about the actual cognition for each type (obviously it doesn't work with fictional examples). Human beings have an easy time believing in evolution, but don't believe that physical tells evolved over time that give human beings a way to size up key parts of people's personalities. Strange. The other methods just mainly rely on subjective assessments of behaviors. You can still get to the right typing through the longer method with enough time, knowledge and practice but you can reach the same typing in a much shorter time if you know the VI for each socionics type (plus subtype).
As an example, I put on a VI clinic in the Elon Musk thread. This was VI:

http://www.the16types.info/vbulletin...55#post1253655

This was the longer way:

http://www.the16types.info/vbulletin...16#post1258416